Marriott's Ocean Pointe Owners and Friends

[JIMinNC]

Just wanted to post in this group that we just returned from our first ever stay at Ocean Pointe (March 6-13) and can see how so many love that resort. We really liked the layout and feel of that property. We booked within the 60-day window using Destination Points, so were able to get the 30% Presidential discount for a Ocean Front Studio on the 6th floor of the Pompano Building. We normally prefer a 1BR for the extra space, but frankly, we were surprised how comfortable the studio actually was. Since we always eat out for dinner and there were several breakfast options within a short walk, the lack of a full kitchen was no big deal.

We were at Crystal Shores on Marco Island back in November and while that is also a wonderful resort, we prefer the more spacious grounds and less high-rise feel of Ocean Pointe. We also like that Ocean Point has smaller units, whereas Crystal Shores doesn't offer anything smaller than a 2BR, making a high season stay for two people tough to justify due to the high Points cost. On the other hand, we do like the Marco Island area itself more than the Palm Beach Shores area. We liked the gulf beaches and Marco Island is a much more attractive and newer area. The Riviera Beach area just over the Blue Heron Bridge appears to be a mainly industrial area and somewhat on the decline.

We also prefer the many nice restaurant options within walking distance or a less than 10 minute drive from Crystal Shores. While we were able to find some great places to eat during our Ocean Pointe trip as well, except for Sailfish Marina (which we walked to twice), the others required a 15-20 minute drive or so (Carmine's Trattoria was superb and we also really enjoyed Frigate's). Both of these, as well as Sailfish Marina, were comparable to the places we loved on Marco Island and the places we like to go in Hilton Head. We also enjoyed two other walk-to restaurants near Ocean Point - Johnny Longboats and Two Drunken Goats - but these were a somewhat more casual/bar environment that the other three. We also ate breakfast at Johnny Longboats, Two Drunken Goats, and Mulligans. All were good basic breakfasts, but we felt Johnny Longboats was slightly better than the other two.

Our one and only gripe was the apparent failure of the Ocean Pointe management to attempt any enforcement of the rules about reserving pool chairs. Even as early as 8:30am on each morning, most chairs were "reserved" with towels which stayed there all day. At any given time however, I would say half or more of those chairs had no bodies in them, only towels and maybe a personal bag to "mark" their spot. Fortunately, we prefer the beach and had brought our beach chairs from our Hilton Head condo, so we just went to the beach; but it was annoying how people must get up at sunrise to place their towels, but only use the chairs sporadically during the day. It might have been nice to spend some time in the pool area on at least one day for a change of pace, but I don't want to have to get out at sunrise to mark my spot. MVC definitely needs more consistent enforcement of these rules.

We had a great time and our week at Ocean Pointe was a nice low points replacement for the Hawaii trip we had originally planned for first quarter 2021 (We delayed that trip to October 2021 to try to get on the other side of Hawaii's most restrictive COVID travel policies.) We will definitely look for opportunities to return to Ocean Pointe in the future, and will most likely book a studio again when we do. It was perfect for our needs. We were thrilled to be able to book an Ocean Front studio in prime March time for less than 1,900 points. I suspect COVID had something to do with there still being March availability at OP as late as mid-January, so being able to book the same thing in the future may require more advanced planning and 30% more points.

 

[Vacation1]

Just wanted to post in this group that we just returned from our first ever stay at Ocean Pointe (March 6-13) and can see how so many love that resort. We really liked the layout and feel of that property. We booked within the 60-day window using Destination Points, so were able to get the 30% Presidential discount for a Ocean Front Studio on the 6th floor of the Pompano Building. We normally prefer a 1BR for the extra space, but frankly, we were surprised how comfortable the studio actually was. Since we always eat out for dinner and there were several breakfast options within a short walk, the lack of a full kitchen was no big deal.

We were at Crystal Shores on Marco Island back in November and while that is also a wonderful resort, we prefer the more spacious grounds and less high-rise feel of Ocean Pointe. We also like that Ocean Point has smaller units, whereas Crystal Shores doesn't offer anything smaller than a 2BR, making a high season stay for two people tough to justify due to the high Points cost. On the other hand, we do like the Marco Island area itself more than the Palm Beach Shores area. We liked the gulf beaches and Marco Island is a much more attractive and newer area. The Riviera Beach area just over the Blue Heron Bridge appears to be a mainly industrial area and somewhat on the decline.

We also prefer the many nice restaurant options within walking distance or a less than 10 minute drive from Crystal Shores. While we were able to find some great places to eat during our Ocean Pointe trip as well, except for Sailfish Marina (which we walked to twice), the others required a 15-20 minute drive or so (Carmine's Trattoria was superb and we also really enjoyed Frigate's). Both of these, as well as Sailfish Marina, were comparable to the places we loved on Marco Island and the places we like to go in Hilton Head. We also enjoyed two other walk-to restaurants near Ocean Point - Johnny Longboats and Two Drunken Goats - but these were a somewhat more casual/bar environment that the other three. We also ate breakfast at Johnny Longboats, Two Drunken Goats, and Mulligans. All were good basic breakfasts, but we felt Johnny Longboats was slightly better than the other two.

Our one and only gripe was the apparent failure of the Ocean Pointe management to attempt any enforcement of the rules about reserving pool chairs. Even as early as 8:30am on each morning, most chairs were "reserved" with towels which stayed there all day. At any given time however, I would say half or more of those chairs had no bodies in them, only towels and maybe a personal bag to "mark" their spot. Fortunately, we prefer the beach and had brought our beach chairs from our Hilton Head condo, so we just went to the beach; but it was annoying how people must get up at sunrise to place their towels, but only use the chairs sporadically during the day. It might have been nice to spend some time in the pool area on at least one day for a change of pace, but I don't want to have to get out at sunrise to mark my spot. MVC definitely needs more consistent enforcement of these rules.

We had a great time and our week at Ocean Pointe was a nice low points replacement for the Hawaii trip we had originally planned for first quarter 2021 (We delayed that trip to October 2021 to try to get on the other side of Hawaii's most restrictive COVID travel policies.) We will definitely look for opportunities to return to Ocean Pointe in the future, and will most likely book a studio again when we do. It was perfect for our needs. We were thrilled to be able to book an Ocean Front studio in prime March time for less than 1,900 points. I suspect COVID had something to do with there still being March availability at OP as late as mid-January, so being able to book the same thing in the future may require more advanced planning and 30% more points.

Ditto on comments about pool chairs. We overlapped our time there - appears we were in the same building (1 Bedroom Oceanside) - had a great meal at Carmine's too. Also ate at Cool'A Fishbar - great meal there too...early dinner on our last night at the Capital Grille - all in all - can't go wrong at Ocean Pointe! Need to pay more attention on who is at the same resort overlapping times - would have been happy to say hello. Maybe next time....

 

[NonnaandPop]

Notice pool people at pompano bldg. get special treatment this time of year. We are owners and have been going to Ocean Point for 18 years. Nothing has changed

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Notice pool people at pompano bldg. get special treatment this time of year. We are owners and have been going to Ocean Point for 18 years. Nothing has changed

Agree, not much has changed. They did remove all the cabanas on the property in an effort to increase seating around the pools, but chair "hogging" is still an ongoing issue for many.


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[PsuFrh]

Better enforcement of the holding of pool chairs at the Cobia pool is definitely needed. it is very frustrating to go down to that pool in the morning and the chairs are already taken. During pool aerobics I understand why there are towels on the chairs, but it ends, people get out and dry off, leave the towels and a book on the chairs and leave the pool area. They might come back after lunch or not. Other MVC locations tag the chairs and come back to be sure they are actually being used. Not at OP, sorry to say. Maybe if more of us express our displeasure with this practice to management, something will be done.

 

[ReinoMOP]

Notice pool people at pompano bldg. get special treatment this time of year. We are owners and have been going to Ocean Point for 18 years. Nothing has changed

How so? Jim

 

[NonnaandPop]

How so? Jim

Warmer pool. chairs left unattended and nothing done. Chairs cleaned routinely. No ball playing. Complaints about children all the time.

 

[Luvtoride]

We’re here at Ocean Pointe this week. By the Sailfish pool they were definitely picking up towels from long unattended chairs (not sure exactly how long). They were then disinfecting the chairs. Maybe not as big an issue at that pool as there are tons of chairs there.


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[PsuFrh]

Good to know. Hope that continues to be the policy at Ocean Pointe.

 

[thunze666]

[Deleted. Ads are not permitted in the TUG public forums.] <-- SueDonJ

 

[enma]

We will be there in July for the first time. Was able to piece together a 6 day stay in a studio and 1 bedroom using DC points in holding account. We have stayed at Oceana Palms before and always rented a car. Rental cars are so expensive now so I am having a hard time justifying the cost. We are flying to PBI. Have any of you stayed there without a car before? Uber from the airport to the resort? Have groceries delivered? Can't remember if enough eating places within walking distance. Don't need anything fancy .

 

[tpincus]

We will be there in July for the first time. Was able to piece together a 6 day stay in a studio and 1 bedroom using DC points in holding account. We have stayed at Oceana Palms before and always rented a car. Rental cars are so expensive now so I am having a hard time justifying the cost. We are flying to PBI. Have any of you stayed there without a car before? Uber from the airport to the resort? Have groceries delivered? Can't remember if enough eating places within walking distance. Don't need anything fancy .

There are several casual restaurants plus a better seafood restaurant, Sailfish, all within a short walk. Uber to the resort is reasonable and small groceries available at resort. Uber to better restaurants and to Publix supermarket also easily available.

 

[Frayminic]

I was wondering the same thing. We will be there in July as well. I know there are restaurants we can walk to so that is not a concern. I am just not sure if the airport has shuttles to the island and how I will be able to grocery shop or whether Publix will deliver. Does anyone know?

 

[Luvtoride]

Enma,
We were just at Ocean pointe 2 weeks ago. We had groceries delivered from Publix via Instacart. Very good service.

Although we did rent a car we really only used it to go out for dinners at night. As mentioned. Sailfish is walking distance as are several other more casual places like Johnny Longboats. We even stayed in and BBQ there one night.
I think you could get by fine without a car there.


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[TandKIsgro]

There are several casual restaurants plus a better seafood restaurant, Sailfish, all within a short walk. Uber to the resort is reasonable and small groceries available at resort. Uber to better restaurants and to Publix supermarket also easily available.

Do you mind sharing the cost of an Uber to and from the airport? Thank you!

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Uber is about $20. Taxi is about $50.

You can take the bus for about $5 but you have to switch buses a couple of times and it takes far too long.


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[ReinoMOP]

We have been here 2 weeks with 2 more to go and this new OP reminds me of a motel 6 more than the home we’ve grown accustomed to for 18 years. The front desk is unfriendly, smoking rules go unenforced. I don’t know the % of owners here but I would guess 10%. Most of the people here don’t care about the place because they are here for a week and gone. Parties at the Cobia hot tub at 10:00PM and the list goes on...

 

[PsuFrh]

That is just awful and unacceptable. Have your reported this to management of MVC? I'm sure they would not like to have this kind of notice going out to their owners and prospective owners.

 

[SeekingOne]

That is how it was when we were there in September. It cleaned up in January 2021. I thought with the new GM it would stay that way. Guess not. I know there was a board meeting coming up, but comments needed to be shared with them by noon yesterday or I would have shared. It seems there are a lot of people that are just coming in to party and are not owners. Marriott also puts people up at OP that are doing sales presentations, so they are not vested in the property either.

We are at OceanWatch at Myrtle Beach and people are vaping here. It seems that no mask areas means smoking is allowed.

 

[ReinoMOP]

I’ve been reading post after post regarding the Cobia towels. That really hasn’t been an issue with us. It’s the staff walking past the personal Alexa sound systems around the pool. The smokers on the balconys and around the pools. No rules and regulations passed out at front desk for people just coming in. I was told things are posted around the compound. There use to be a packet of restaraunts. No more. Pavillion redone but no date given for meet the manager at the Pavillion. Sheryl and Dennis used to walk around and make themselves available to the owners. 2 weeks and I haven’t met Andy or Brian. Pavillion use is until further notice even though it is complete. Etc Etc. We’re selling

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I’ve been reading post after post regarding the Cobia towels. That really hasn’t been an issue with us. It’s the staff walking past the personal Alexa sound systems around the pool. The smokers on the balconys and around the pools. No rules and regulations passed out at front desk for people just coming in. I was told things are posted around the compound. There use to be a packet of restaraunts. No more. Pavillion redone but no date given for meet the manager at the Pavillion. Sheryl and Dennis used to walk around and make themselves available to the owners. 2 weeks and I haven’t met Andy or Brian. Pavillion use is until further notice even though it is complete. Etc Etc. We’re selling

I am sorry to hear you are having these issues, but prior to selling I would suggest you trying your Silver ownership weeks in the fall. I have never experienced issues during the fall (Silver) and winter (Platinum) seasons.

Also, consider using your weeks to trade into other Marriott Resorts as you own some strong traders. You could go to Marco Island or Hilton Head as an alternative.......

I too miss Cheryl (as do many others) however changes can and do occur. In March I would see Andy walking around every day of the week and would say hello each time.


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[ReinoMOP]

That is how it was when we were there in September. It cleaned up in January 2021. I thought with the new GM it would stay that way. Guess not. I know there was a board meeting coming up, but comments needed to be shared with them by noon yesterday or I would have shared. It seems there are a lot of people that are just coming in to party and are not owners. Marriott also puts people up at OP that are doing sales presentations, so they are not vested in the property either.

We are at OceanWatch at Myrtle Beach and people are vaping here. It seems that no mask areas means smoking is allowed.

Yes, wintertime is when most of the 8 to 12 week owners come down. Things happen then. Thursday evening get together etc. After April you get interval folks, traders, 20 somethingers who call for availability a week before for $500 a week just to fill Ocean Pointe up. These are the ones killing us. No rules/regulations are given at front desk so they don’t know any better. No Mask instructructions given either SOS

 

[Luvtoride]

We have been here 2 weeks with 2 more to go and this new OP reminds me of a motel 6 more than the home we’ve grown accustomed to for 18 years. The front desk is unfriendly, smoking rules go unenforced. I don’t know the % of owners here but I would guess 10%. Most of the people here don’t care about the place because they are here for a week and gone. Parties at the Cobia hot tub at 10:00PM and the list goes on...

ReinoMOP, we were just there the last week in April and had no issue with the other guests at OP. In fact there were many great families there and almost everyone we met were owners. We are owners here (3 bedroom) and found the resort well maintained and the staff courteous and accommodating. In fact, they were replacing A/C units on the roof of two of the buildings and the disruption was minimal with parking spots taken out for cranes for 1 night and day only.

I’m sorry to hear if the “element” turned bad once May arrived (we left on May 1st).
I will say that the “On the Rocks” bar was quite busy which does help support the finances of the resort doesn’t it?


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[dioxide45]

I will say that the “On the Rocks” bar was quite busy which does help support the finances of the resort doesn’t it?

It helps support Marriott's finances. All that food and beverage revenue goes to them.

 

[dioxide45]

This might not be as much of an issue at Ocean Pointe, but we were recently in Orlando at Vistana Resort and Vistana Villages and regularly saw people speeding (driving very fast) through the parking lots. I even saw the resort shuttle at Vistana Resort driving at least 35mph in what they designate is only 12mph areas. Trying to back out of our parking spot yesterday to drive home from Vistana Resort was horrible. No cars coming, great. Start backing up to only have a car whip around the corner and be right on you. People need to slow down, especially with people walking and children around these resorts.