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Oceana Palms info, please!

luv2vacation

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Thanks to info I found here on TUG, I learned how to retrade in II! After many good retrades, I have landed a week at Oceana Palms in mid-November. I am so excited - I am a long-time Ocean Pointe owner & a stay at Oceana Palms was definitely on my MVC bucket list!!

Any helpful tips on room selection, requests, or anything else, would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you TUGgers!!!
 

TheTimeTraveler

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Thanks to info I found here on TUG, I learned how to retrade in II! After many good retrades, I have landed a week at Oceana Palms in mid-November. I am so excited - I am a long-time Ocean Pointe owner & a stay at Oceana Palms was definitely on my MVC bucket list!!

Any helpful tips on room selection, requests, or anything else, would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you TUGgers!!!



All rooms there are nice, and all views are beautiful. You're high enough up so that you'll get a great view wherever you are placed. I think the rooms start on the 9th or 10th floor.

If sun isn't your thing then request the north side.....

Enjoy your stay!



.
 

icydog

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Thanks to info I found here on TUG, I learned how to retrade in II! After many good retrades, I have landed a week at Oceana Palms in mid-November. I am so excited - I am a long-time Ocean Pointe owner & a stay at Oceana Palms was definitely on my MVC bucket list!!

Any helpful tips on room selection, requests, or anything else, would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you TUGgers!!!

Dear Luv,

You will never want to go back to Ocean Pointe after spending a week at Oceana. The large rooms with Ocean Views in the front building are incredible. The furniture and balconies are high-end. The kitchen and appliances are first rate. The ambiance and quietness of the resort will astound you. There's a very nice pool grill with wonderful Happy Hours everyday. There's a nice water zone for the kids but this place was really built as an adult haven, or heaven-- if you will!

Let us know how you like it. I know you'll be impressed. Just ask for the first building, the one with the front desk, and ask for a villa in the front that building. If you're in the back by the elevators you'll be looking at Singer Island and the bay in the background. All parking is in garages.

Such a wonderful wonderful place. In fact it is so wonderful that I bought two weeks there, and I bought them from Marriott's Resale Dept!
 

BocaBoy

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Oceana Palms is one of Mariott's higher end timeshare properties and is very nice. We were in the back building and the views from it are also wonderful. I would ask for an ocean front room in the first building but you will love any villa assignment you get. It is very different in that respect from Ocean Pointe.
 

Fasttr

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You will never want to go back to Ocean Pointe after spending a week at Oceana.

Don't get me wrong, Oceana Palms is really nice from the villa/view perspective....but I have to say, after staying at both within the past two years, I would go back to Ocean Pointe before going back to Oceana Palms.

We tend to be pool people, and for me, the Palms was just too small of a footprint to make it feel like I was at a resort. To me, it was just like going to an outside pool at a hotel, small and crowded. It got a little boring and predictable after a few days.

Compare that to the Pointe and you have lots more room and more pool choices to pick from, as well as bocce ball, mini golf, shuffleboard, bike rentals, etc, etc, etc. To me, the Pointe feels like a resort.

As has been said in many threads....differences of opinion is what makes the world such a great place!!!
 

BocaBoy

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Don't get me wrong, Oceana Palms is really nice from the villa/view perspective....but I have to say, after staying at both within the past two years, I would go back to Ocean Pointe before going back to Oceana Palms.

We tend to be pool people, and for me, the Palms was just too small of a footprint to make it feel like I was at a resort. To me, it was just like going to an outside pool at a hotel, small and crowded. It got a little boring and predictable after a few days.

Compare that to the Pointe and you have lots more room and more pool choices to pick from, as well as bocce ball, mini golf, shuffleboard, bike rentals, etc, etc, etc. To me, the Pointe feels like a resort.

As has been said in many threads....differences of opinion is what makes the world such a great place!!!

Diversity is indeed what makes the world interesting. I rank Ocean Pointe as number 27 of the 30 MVCI resorts I have stayed at. No desire to ever go back. I recognize that many people like it a lot, however.
 

Fasttr

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Diversity is indeed what makes the world interesting. I rank Ocean Pointe as number 27 of the 30 MVCI resorts I have stayed at. No desire to ever go back. I recognize that many people like it a lot, however.

OK....you have piqued my interest....

Any chance you would reveal your ranking of the 30 you have been to.

I find that stuff interesting.
 

dioxide45

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Don't get me wrong, Oceana Palms is really nice from the villa/view perspective....but I have to say, after staying at both within the past two years, I would go back to Ocean Pointe before going back to Oceana Palms.

We tend to be pool people, and for me, the Palms was just too small of a footprint to make it feel like I was at a resort. To me, it was just like going to an outside pool at a hotel, small and crowded. It got a little boring and predictable after a few days.

Compare that to the Pointe and you have lots more room and more pool choices to pick from, as well as bocce ball, mini golf, shuffleboard, bike rentals, etc, etc, etc. To me, the Pointe feels like a resort.

As has been said in many threads....differences of opinion is what makes the world such a great place!!!

I would tend to agree about the comparison between Oceana Palms and Ocean Pointe. We have been to Ocean Pointe many times and Oceana Palms once. We had an OF in Oceana Palms. It is a great property and I like the beach there better. I also like the free strap chairs on the beach. Ocean Pointe does win out on the pool front.
 

icydog

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Don't get me wrong, Oceana Palms is really nice from the villa/view perspective....but I have to say, after staying at both within the past two years, I would go back to Ocean Pointe before going back to Oceana Palms.

We tend to be pool people, and for me, the Palms was just too small of a footprint to make it feel like I was at a resort. To me, it was just like going to an outside pool at a hotel, small and crowded. It got a little boring and predictable after a few days.

Compare that to the Pointe and you have lots more room and more pool choices to pick from, as well as bocce ball, mini golf, shuffleboard, bike rentals, etc, etc, etc. To me, the Pointe feels like a resort.

As has been said in many threads....differences of opinion is what makes the world such a great place!!!

My Friend in Orlando used to love Ocean Pointe because of the activities. This year her kids all left for college. She says without kids The Palms was the way to go.

But, don't get me wrong The Pointe is nice too. It's just that after staying in Oceana Palms I won't even take an exchange to Ocean Pointe. I love the poolside restaurant. Like at Lakeshore, it's so nice to order food and have a drink. I wish all Marriott's had that but they don't.

I also LOVE the pool area. It's not a hotel pool unless the hotel is the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Those hotel pools in Vegas are incredible. But I digress. I think the pool is lovely. I never found it crowded although I may have a different opinion after my next trip in March of 2016. I've never been there for Springbreak and I'm kind of sorry I chose it now after reading your post. I also go down in the summer to see my great nephews and it's never crowded then
 

BocaBoy

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OK....you have piqued my interest....

Any chance you would reveal your ranking of the 30 you have been to.

I find that stuff interesting.

OK, here is my list. (My wife's list would be similar, but she would have a few differences.) I should make it clear that we are not pool people so the quality of the pools is not very important to us, except where a resort is designed in a way that having a drink overlooking the pool is especially attractive. On the other hand, the quality of the villa accommodations is a major factor in how we rate a resort.

I have grouped my ratings into six groups of five resorts each, which seems to break pretty well for me. The only caveat is that the top rated resort in each group is very close to the lowest rated resort in the group ahead of it, except for a clear difference between number 20 and number 21. I have treated Maui Ocean Club and Manor Club as two resorts each.

Group I
1. Maui Ocean Club--New Towers
2. Kauai Lagoons
3-4 (Tie). Ko Olina
Grande Ocean
5. Manor Club (original section)

Group II
6. Maui Ocean Club--Old Section
7. Grand Chateau
8. Waiohai
9. Oceana Palms
10.Summit Watch

Group III
11. Sabal Palms
12. Harbour Club
13. Canyon Villas
14. Monarch
15. OceanWatch

Group IV
16. Timber Lodge
17. SurfWatch
18. Barony Beach Club
19. Cypress Harbour
20. Lakeshore Reserve

Group V
21. Newport Coast Villas
22. Kauai Beach Club
23. Manor Club (New Section)
24. Fairway Villas
25. Grande Vista

Group VI
26-27 (Tie). Beach Place Towers
Ocean Pointe
28. Sunset Pointe
29. Heritage Club
30. Harbour Point
 
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Hello BocaBoy,

What do your Groups stand for? I am sorry that I can't figure it out. :eek:
 

BocaBoy

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Hello BocaBoy,

What do your Groups stand for? I am sorry that I can't figure it out. :eek:

My Group I resorts are noticeably more appealing to me than Group II, Group II is more appealing than Group III, and so on down the list. There is generally more variation between groups than between resorts in the same group, although by that measure Summit watch should be grouped at the top of the Group III resorts. I thought by grouping them this way it would be easier to review and understand the relative rankings than if it was just one long list of 30 resorts.
 

Fasttr

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OK, here is my list.

Interesting rankings. Many about where I would expect....a few surprises tossed in for good measure.

Never been to Aruba or St. Thomas??? Don't like the Caribbean??
 

icydog

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I think your group IV should be group III And visa versa. I'm
surprised by Lakeshore and NCV Being so far down on your list and Monarch and Harbour Club being so high.

I've been to a lot fewer resorts than you but I've been to many on the list. I should make a bucket-list of Marriott Resorts! This is a good start.
 

BocaBoy

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Interesting rankings. Many about where I would expect....a few surprises tossed in for good measure.

Never been to Aruba or St. Thomas??? Don't like the Caribbean??

We have been only to MVCI resorts in the United States. We have taken a couple of Caribbean cruises but don't find the Caribbean of much interest. It is not that we don't like it, but we would much rather go to Hawaii and one can't go everywhere.
 

BocaBoy

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I think your group IV should be group III And visa versa. I'm
surprised by Lakeshore and NCV Being so far down on your list and Monarch and Harbour Club being so high.

I've been to a lot fewer resorts than you but I've been to many on the list. I should make a bucket-list of Marriott Resorts! This is a good start.

Groups III and IV are much closer together in my preferences than the other groups. Although we had a good time at Newport Coast, I was not particularly impressed by our week there. I would much rather go back to Lakeshore Reserve than Newport Coast. I liked Lakeshore but for some reason it just did not feel as special as it does to many people. Perhaps it was partly because our stay there was much shorter. We will probably go back and give it another chance.

Another way of looking at my list is that the resorts in Group I are very special places that I would like to go to as often as possible. We have been to all of them multiple times except for Grande Ocean and we will be spending the whole month of January there this winter. I love the resorts in Group II and like those in Groups III and IV very much. We would happily go back to any of them. I also enjoyed staying at those resorts in Groups V and Group VI but feel no urge to go back again.
 

BocaBoy

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For those of you interested in such things, upon further reflection I have revised my rankings slightly within Group I in my earlier post, dropping Manor Club (original section) behind Ko Olina and Grande Ocean.
 

icydog

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I would love to try Grande Ocean in January. I like Hilton Head in the winter. It's more temperate than in NJ and the winter there is like Spring in NJ. I've stayed at the Barony, Harbour Pointe, SurfWatch, Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort in the Winter and I liked them all.
 

BocaBoy

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I would love to try Grande Ocean in January. I like Hilton Head in the winter. It's more temperate than in NJ and the winter there is like Spring in NJ. I've stayed at the Barony, Harbour Pointe, SurfWatch, Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort in the Winter and I liked them all.

We like winter in Hilton Head also for the same reasons you noted, plus the half price off season dining at the SERG group restaurants and the incredible bargains you get in January using DC points for your reservations. Grande Ocean is the gold standard, but two sleepers you might want to try are Harbour Club and Monarch. They were our second and third favorites of the eight on the island when we were there last year for the first time. This year we are going to stay six weeks from just before Christmas through the first week of February, with the the first and last weeks at Harbour Club and the month of January at Grande Ocean.
 

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For those of you interested in such things, upon further reflection I have revised my rankings slightly within Group I in my earlier post, dropping Manor Club (original section) behind Ko Olina and Grande Ocean.
Very interesting and thank you too for the explanation of the different Groups.
 

icydog

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We like winter in Hilton Head also for the same reasons you noted, plus the half price off season dining at the SERG group restaurants and the incredible bargains you get in January using DC points for your reservations. Grande Ocean is the gold standard, but two sleepers you might want to try are Harbour Club and Monarch. They were our second and third favorites of the eight on the island when we were there last year for the first time. This year we are going to stay six weeks from just before Christmas through the first week of February, with the the first and last weeks at Harbour Club and the month of January at Grande Ocean.

That sounds absolutely terrific. Are you retired like me. If I didn't have pets I could do the same thing but they really tie me down. Not that I mind-- because I love my dog and cat!
 

BocaBoy

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That sounds absolutely terrific. Are you retired like me. If I didn't have pets I could do the same thing but they really tie me down. Not that I mind-- because I love my dog and cat!

Yes, I am retired.
 

SunandFun83

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My List / Ranking

I have not been to Hawaii or Caribbean. I did get to Spain. Wonder where Crystal Shores ranks for those who have been What about the ski benefits of ski weeks in Utah or Colorado ( I went in summer)

Here is my ranking of my substantially shorter list (Ocean Pointe moves up)


Tier 1
Grande Ocean (only Ocean Front)
Oceana Palms
Marbella

Tier 2

Playa Andaluza
Canyon Villas
Surfwatch
Grande Vista
Cypress Harbour

Tier 3
Ocean Pointe (higher if you can get a view which is hard)
Barony Beach ( garden view is a block away)
Grand Chateau (really old rooms - get a hotel room or a $499 getaway)

Tier 4
Beach Place - On the Ft. Lauderdale strip and not a vacation to me

Just booked Custom House for May


My Hyatt Ranking

Tier 1 - Exceptional

Residences at Park Hyatt
Grand Aspen
Siesta Key


Tier 2
Coconut Plantation - great pools
Main Street - Breckenridge
Mountain Lodge - Beaver Creek
Carmel Highland ( old rooms - great view, drive the coast!)

Have not been to Key west resort


:cool:
 

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... after staying at both within the past two years, I would go back to Ocean Pointe before going back to Oceana Palms. ...To me, the Pointe feels like a resort.

We own at Oceana Palms & agree 100% with your assessment.

From an owner perspective, Palms is a resort that never became what Marriott said it would become. Oceana Palms is probably the one resort most affected by the change to the points system in terms of how the demographics & the execution drastically changes the character of the resort. Multiple week owners who own at Palms & other resorts are more likely to notice this.

Oceana Palm's appeal is easy to explain. Everyone has a view from up high & the apartments themselves are a step above the usual Marriott TS property. So yes, folks will walk away raving about the views and the sleek rooms & expansive balconies. For most, this is sufficient to overlook the "missing ingredients" that Oceana Palms has discarded now that it becomes the lynchpin resort for selling the points program.

Management is aware of the disdain felt by some owners, but truthfully there is little that can be done now that Marriott flips to a points program which requires recruiting legions of new DC guests & packing them in for preview stays, both at Oceana Palms & Ocean Pointe. Marriott utilizes these Oceana Palms views to whet the juices of preview guests & convince them to jump into the DC points pool.

The result is that most folks fail to realize that the real pool deck is compact & crowded, & windy on some days. Preview folks are on short stays & others will indeed be impressed by the high views the first visit or two. Reflections bar is peopled during the day ( partly by preview folks spending their Marriott dollars ) but usually empty by 7PM & lacking the spontaneity of Ocean Pointe's bar. Those extended happy hours aren't goodwill, it's Marriott trying to get people to come down to the bar.

No argument that most guests will love the views & those preview folks who purchase DC points will be stoked to return ( if they have enough DC points to pull it off ) . But discerning owners who know the game will sooner or later realize that Palms is a resort that lost its heart & soul when the point system supplants HOA owners ( we Palms owners represent less that 30% of the inventory as the Trust rules the roost here ). There's a window of high demand weeks where owners predominate the resort. Otherwise owners are adrift lost at sea.

What do we do with our own Oceana Palms weeks? We set aside one week every other year for an owner stay because we own ocean front & we too enjoy the views. But honestly speaking, we are beach people who watch the waves all day so our daily progression is beach /apartment/ 2 Drunken Goats. We accept that Palms lacks the cohesive energy of Ocean Pointe & we enjoy the beach & ocean. No surprise that a pool person like fasttr more readily notices Palm's deficiencies.

Otherwise we convert our weeks into points & most stay at Ocean Pointe because it has a heart and a soul and feels like the resort Palms never became. Are we "dissatisfied" owners? Not exactly. Our enrolled Palms weeks are powerful tools that we leverage into more nights & other Marriott resorts. We too are playing the game. Better to call us "disaffected" Marriott owners who can hold their nose & still find their niche.

Does any of this matter to the OP? No, not at all ;). The OP is going to have a nice stay with a nice view. Just don't fall for the DC points shell game.

Barry
 

Quilter

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Dear Luv,

You will never want to go back to Ocean Pointe after spending a week at Oceana. The large rooms with Ocean Views in the front building are incredible. The furniture and balconies are high-end. The kitchen and appliances are first rate. The ambiance and quietness of the resort will astound you. There's a very nice pool grill with wonderful Happy Hours everyday. There's a nice water zone for the kids but this place was really built as an adult haven, or heaven-- if you will!

With the admitted diversity of this bulletin board such a blanket "never" statement boggles my mind. :D I don't like being included in such blanket statements. The fact that I have been to both OP and OP2 should, by your measure, assume I would prefer OP2. But that's not so.

I do agree with the views, furniture and balconies of OP2. They are very nice. But, like Barry, the entire package lacks a personable atmosphere. Where the rooms at OP2 are a "full size luxury model" the rest of the resort is a "compact standard". I find you need a vacation experience plan that includes being flexible when it comes to the public spaces. The smaller footprint will offer fewer possibilities for finding a spot just suited to your wants. But you can go with that understanding and be flexible. The tower offers nice views from the rooms but it also throws early shade on the north pool and seems to create a wind effect in the same corner of the pool area. However, the beach is wide and there are free lounges. That's nice.

For the OP I would say go and have a nice time. It's a beautiful resort. You alone can make the stay as pleasant as you want. I've enjoyed NE corner oceanfront on the 11th floor and N oceanside on the 18th floor. The 18th floor balcony was just behind the oceanfront unit and gave us a great view. I would prefer this balcony over the one just to the west (street side) of us.

Our daily routine from OP2 is a bit different than Barry's (diversity). We would start day with walk through neighborhood across the street or over the Bluewater Bridge. Enjoyed the morning stretch at activities because they held it outside. Then maybe a bit at the pool or beach. We like walking to the Resort at Singer Island (another Marriott property) for lunch on the deck. I like cooking in the kitchen so we ate on the nice balcony.
 
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