OceanWatch- I don't get it

[crjask]

I know that a lot of Tuggers LOVE OceanWatch and consider it a top resort. Since we had a week in Hilton Head (SurfWatch), we decided to spend some Destination points to see what OceanWatch was all about. I really wanted to like the place, as it is a drivable destination for us. But….

•We arrived at 5:15 and were told our room was not ready. Lots of guests seemed to be in the same boat.

•We used Destination points to book an oceanside room, assuming that meant we would have an ocean view. Not so. We were given a first floor room (north side Scallop building) that overlooked a walkway that allowed people to look into our bedrooms. If I stood on my toes on the balcony I could see glimpses of ocean horizon between the shrubs. IMHO the first floor of those two front buildings should never have been labeled anything but garden/pool view.

•Cell phone reception. When the front desk asked for a number to call us when a room was ready, my husband saw he had no service. The receptionist told us the building is “hurricane proof” resulting in poor reception. My husband could get no service in the buildings with his AT&T phone and I had spotty, 1 bar service with Verizon.

•Pool chairs. As with many Marriotts, the chairs were all claimed by 9am. They had some signs posted that said “do not save before 9 am” seeming to condone it after that time.

•Bathroom lighting was very low wattage even after waiting for the compact fluorescent bulbs to brighten.

•No screens on patio doors. (Hilton Head had them)

•There did not seem to be anything of note within a walkable distance.

In its favor was that the rooms were very nice. Also there seemed to be a lot of activities for children/families.

What am I missing? Why do so many people think this place is great? Has anyone else found that using Legacy Destination points got you a poor room location?

 

[FractionalTraveler]

I know that a lot of Tuggers LOVE OceanWatch and consider it a top resort. Since we had a week in Hilton Head (SurfWatch), we decided to spend some Destination points to see what OceanWatch was all about. I really wanted to like the place, as it is a drivable destination for us. But….

•We arrived at 5:15 and were told our room was not ready. Lots of guests seemed to be in the same boat.

•We used Destination points to book an oceanside room, assuming that meant we would have an ocean view. Not so. We were given a first floor room (north side Scallop building) that overlooked a walkway that allowed people to look into our bedrooms. If I stood on my toes on the balcony I could see glimpses of ocean horizon between the shrubs. IMHO the first floor of those two front buildings should never have been labeled anything but garden/pool view.

•Cell phone reception. When the front desk asked for a number to call us when a room was ready, my husband saw he had no service. The receptionist told us the building is “hurricane proof” resulting in poor reception. My husband could get no service in the buildings with his AT&T phone and I had spotty, 1 bar service with Verizon.

•Pool chairs. As with many Marriotts, the chairs were all claimed by 9am. They had some signs posted that said “do not save before 9 am” seeming to condone it after that time.

•Bathroom lighting was very low wattage even after waiting for the compact fluorescent bulbs to brighten.

•No screens on patio doors. (Hilton Head had them)

•There did not seem to be anything of note within a walkable distance.

In its favor was that the rooms were very nice. Also there seemed to be a lot of activities for children/families.

What am I missing? Why do so many people think this place is great? Has anyone else found that using Legacy Destination points got you a poor room location?

I don't own at OceanWatch but what you have described here can also be the case at any other resort. Maybe you were expecting something different.

IMHO, the fact that I had no cell phone coverage, screens on doors, or dim lighting would not in anyway reduce the quality of my vacation experience at OceanWatch.

When I arrive and my room is not ready, it’s OK because I'm on Vacation! I just take it in stride and go grab a drink at the bar to begin relaxing instead of worrying about the timeliness of housekeeping services or how unfairly the check-in staff is apparently treating me.

Room assignments, well we all know its based upon a number of factors such as demand, priority, ownership status, day of check-in, etc. Not really much we can do about that but just try to put in your preferences as early as possible. I understand OceanWatch does have some rooms with great views so I wouldn't necessarily say the resort is not great because I didn't get one of those rooms.

Pool chairs, well it’s been reported here on Tug that from time to time during peak seasons this can be an issue for sure at any resort. Not sure what I can do about that either but people will be people and I'm not going to get all worked up about that since it’s not worth ruining my vacation over it.

Anytime you exchange into a resort which you are not an owner there will be owners who get higher preference than you. That seems to be fair since they purchased at that location and pay MF for this. Exchanges don't always get what is desired.

For me, not one of these things would deter me from a nice family vacation at OceanWatch.

Obviously, others may have different opinions but I don't think it’s fair to say that OceanWatch is less of a quality resort because of these items.

 

[rpk113]

Sorry FT, I disagree

Checkin is 4pm.. I expect my room to be ready somewhere in that vicinity (cause the room is PART of my vacaton), not saying 4:01 is bad, but 5:15 is pretty bad. If you were at the resort side and your room wasnt ready (@5:15), you'd be getting some comps (better room, free breakfast, something..)

WRT, the points.. if Marriott wants to charge 75 extra DC points for a view at MOW (GV vs OV), in my opinion your guaranteed the view.. for an oceanview, I wanna see the ocean, not the top of the break of a wave from my tippy toes.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Obviously, others may have different opinions but I don't think it’s fair to say that OceanWatch is less of a quality resort because of these items.

I would tend to agree but I think it is a lesser resort if comparing to the Grande Ocean or Surfwatch and HHI in general.

Not to say its a bad resort, or bad region because it is in fact a very, very nice resort (I actually prefer the newer resort at OW than older GO) and a fairly nice and certainly active region that many people love, but that doesn't mean it can't have its shortcomings.

If we arrived at 5:15 we would expect our room ready. This could just be an isolated case but if it wasn't then that would be a problem for me.

I also agree there isn't anything within a walkable distance and the surrounding location is less upscale compared to HHI so this to me and I'm sure others make it a lesser resort than the top HHI resorts.

JMHO.

 

[jdunn1]

Sorry to hear you didn't like OceanWatch, but now you know and don't ever have to go there, again. Good for the rest of us, one less person who will want a summer reservation.

My SurfWatch unit did NOT have a screen door for the patio. Maybe Grande Ocean and Barony have this?

OceanWatch is not in an area where you can walk to anything, but you can bike, if you are so inclined. Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head could not be more different in terms of walking to places and/or biking to places. Hilton Head is set-up for this and Myrtle Beach is not, simple as that.

Now that I think about it, there wasn't much you could walk to at SurfWatch or Barony. Maybe you are a Grande Ocean person and are used to all the stuff around that resort.

I'm glad that you got to visit OceanWatch. At least you know now it isn't a place for you. Lots of non DC members who can only travel in the summer will never get to trade into OceanWatch and you did, so I think you did pretty well.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

Checkin is 4pm.. I expect my room to be ready somewhere in that vicinity (cause the room is PART of my vacaton), not saying 4:01 is bad, but 5:15 is pretty bad. If you were at the resort side and your room wasnt ready (@5:15), you'd be getting some comps (better room, free breakfast, something..)

WRT, the points.. if Marriott wants to charge 75 extra DC points for a view at MOW (GV vs OV), in my opinion your guaranteed the view.. for an oceanview, I wanna see the ocean, not the top of the break of a wave from my tippy toes.

I very much agree with you. I have just decided that it’s something not worth getting upset about since it's out of my control and I'm on vacation.

It does me no good to be upset at the front desk staff because of something out of their control as well. Usually, they try to offer me a room that’s available earlier but with a less desirable view. I can wait for what I reserved, no problem.

In fact, I find this time to be very productive as well since I can go out and grab my groceries, explore the property, make dinner reservations, plan my week's activities with the staff, book a massage, have drinks poolside or at the bar, etc.....

 

[SueDonJ]

Crjask, I've learned that at least at the SC resorts, Marriott's "oceanside" designation has much more to do with the building orientation (in relation to the registration area, usually) than it does with an actual view. In fact I think that if you pull up an "oceanside" reservation on your marriott.com account, the view designation will be "courtyard" - no chance of any misunderstanding there, and no further need to explain that "oceanside" could mean anything from a first-floor view of a footpath and bushes to a high-floor sweeping expanse of the ocean.

Unit view is one of the most important components of our vacations so I understand your disappointment, but wanted to mention this so that you'll be prepared if you visit any of the others in SC.

Jdunn, our SurfWatch units have always had screen doors in the slider units. It's wonderful when you're there off-season without humidity and can keep the sliders open to the cool night air and surf sounds.

 

[jdunn1]

Hi Sue I was in a garden room at the far back of the resort, and maybe those units do not have screens. I don't remember one, but I could be wrong.

Jdunn, our SurfWatch units have always had screen doors in the slider units. It's wonderful when you're there off-season without humidity and can keep the sliders open to the cool night air and surf sounds.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Crjask, I've learned that at least at the SC resorts, Marriott's "oceanside" designation has much more to do with the building orientation (in relation to the registration area, usually) than it does with an actual view. In fact I think that if you pull up an "oceanside" reservation on your marriott.com account, the view designation will be "courtyard" - no chance of any misunderstanding there, and no further need to explain that "oceanside" could mean anything from a first-floor view of a footpath and bushes to a high-floor sweeping expanse of the ocean.

Unit view is one of the most important components of our vacations so I understand your disappointment, but wanted to mention this so that you'll be prepared if you visit any of the others in SC.

Jdunn, our SurfWatch units have always had screen doors in the slider units. It's wonderful when you're there off-season without humidity and can keep the sliders open to the cool night air and surf sounds.

I would be disappointed to if we received no view but would accept because as an owner I would always want to get a good view so accept as an exchanger not to.

 

[jont]

Hi Sue I was in a garden room at the far back of the resort, and maybe those units do not have screens. I don't remember one, but I could be wrong.

sorry Jim
we are staying at Surfwatch right now in one of the back units and we have screen doors. we are also on the first floor and have 3-4 cats come and visit every nite around dinner time.

 

[crjask]

We too were in a SurfWatch garden unit: Building 5300 all the way in the back. This was a trade and I quickly learned it was garden view and that was okay. i knew what to expect. We were only on the 2nd floor which didn't thrill me but the location was fine. We had a nice view of the pond and no one could see in our unit. We had screen doors, used them, and spent a lot of time on the balcony enjoying the serenity of the view and the watching the ducks, crows, and cats.
We also rented bikes and went out each day on the beach or paths. We biked to Shelter Cove several times.
I too enjoy my vacations and enter into them with a positive attitude. But there were way too many managerial issues at OceanWatch to ignore.
Yes we will be one less family trying to get reservations there.

 

[dioxide45]

After our visit to Ocean Watch in April, we have opted to put it on par with Hilton Head. You can see our thoughts on that in this thread. Coastal South Carolina just isn't for us I guess, we love OBX to the north though.

I think through the boards you get a lot of hype of many resorts. I am not saying they are over rated, we just end up with high expectations and then after visiting find out that they are just like the other resorts just in other places. They never seem to live up the expectations for us. I don't know what it is. There is this vision we have in our head from reading here that the resort never lives up to. We had a similar experience with Ocean Pointe, except we now love Ocean Pointe.

I think for us, we just aren't fans of the SC coast. Also, the long drives for us to get there doesn't help and flying is usually cost prohibitive. We absolutely love Florida and and beach locations there as well. We of course love Orlando. The great thing about the MVCI system of resorts is that there is something for everyone. We probably won't make any efforts to get back to Ocean Watch or HHI anytime real soon, we just enjoy other places better. There are others that love Ocean Watch and HHI and wouldn't clamor over going to the resorts we love. To each their own.

 

[jimf41]

Ocean Pointe and Frenchman's Cove do not have screens either. I believe that the reason the HHI resorts have screens is more to do with topography of the location than anything else. HHI is located in a wetland area. That leads to lots of little fellow aviators zooming around.

 

[BocaBoy]

We stayed a week in Ocean Watch last year and liked it. It is a very good resort. However, we did not think it was up to the physical standards of the purpose-built Hawaii resorts or the original section of Manor Club or even Grand Chateau. We have never been to Hilton Head.

 

[ilene13]

Hi Sue I was in a garden room at the far back of the resort, and maybe those units do not have screens. I don't remember one, but I could be wrong.

We own a 3 bedroom garden view at Surfwatch. The patio doors in all the buildings have screens on them!

 

[jdunn1]

Okay!!! I was wrong. Guess there is first time for everything Just kidding. I didn't remember screen doors but that is nice to know. What I do remember was liking the 2 bedroom garden view unit we had very much. We were on the thrid floor, I think (but my memory is not so good, apparently) but I do remember being able to watch the kids play shuffle board and just play around the grounds from the balcony. We were also pretty close to the basket ball court, which was a big hit.

I didn't mind being in the back of the resort at all. Sometimes we called for a golf cart ride to the beach and they were always there in seconds, it seemed. The back of the resort is also more private, which was nice. It's just a very nice resort and I like that part of the island a lot.

I'm sure I would like Grande Ocean a lot, too, but I am a little hesitant to try that end of the island since I know the SurfWatch end so well. I was a DVC Hilton Head owner and that was really my first timeshare experience so that part of the island is special to me.

 

[jme]

I know that a lot of Tuggers LOVE OceanWatch and consider it a top resort. Since we had a week in Hilton Head (SurfWatch), we decided to spend some Destination points to see what OceanWatch was all about. I really wanted to like the place, as it is a drivable destination for us. But….

•We arrived at 5:15 and were told our room was not ready. Lots of guests seemed to be in the same boat.

•We used Destination points to book an oceanside room, assuming that meant we would have an ocean view. Not so. We were given a first floor room (north side Scallop building) that overlooked a walkway that allowed people to look into our bedrooms. If I stood on my toes on the balcony I could see glimpses of ocean horizon between the shrubs. IMHO the first floor of those two front buildings should never have been labeled anything but garden/pool view.

•Cell phone reception. When the front desk asked for a number to call us when a room was ready, my husband saw he had no service. The receptionist told us the building is “hurricane proof” resulting in poor reception. My husband could get no service in the buildings with his AT&T phone and I had spotty, 1 bar service with Verizon.

•Pool chairs. As with many Marriotts, the chairs were all claimed by 9am. They had some signs posted that said “do not save before 9 am” seeming to condone it after that time.

•Bathroom lighting was very low wattage even after waiting for the compact fluorescent bulbs to brighten.

•No screens on patio doors. (Hilton Head had them)

•There did not seem to be anything of note within a walkable distance.

In its favor was that the rooms were very nice. Also there seemed to be a lot of activities for children/families.

What am I missing? Why do so many people think this place is great? Has anyone else found that using Legacy Destination points got you a poor room location?

Wouldn't have written except for that next-to-last line, "Why do so many people think this place is great?", meaning I guess that you don't feel that way, citing your list of "shortfalls".

With all due respect, probably the most frivolous set of points I've ever read, especially for a fine resort with which I am well familiar.
And I might add, a resort which is one of the most highly rated by a majority of diverse and discriminating guests over a long period of time. MOW certainly is not worthy of such silliness.

More germane, these are not points that should be used to rate a resort or hotel, in my book.

(1) A "villa not ready" could happen anywhere, and for many reasons, sometimes not the fault of the resort. A late-leaving guest? a faulty appliance needing replacement? a broken A/C unit? a plumbing problem necessitating repair? With the dozens of check-ins daily, it's going to happen on any given day. Get over it, stuff happens. Inconvenient, yes, but understandable. And hopefully the villa was more than presentable when delivered a bit late, no? And if the employees who clean didn't show up en masse (a worst-case scenario), it's again something not always controllable. We had a similar situation at Kaua'i Beach Club, but it never once caused us to seethe, or to suppress our enjoyment at the resort for one minute.

(2) OceanSIDE (whether DC or not) was 100% selected and 100% received.
News flash: resorts have first floors. The term "oceanSIDE" is descriptive of a horizontal relationship, not a vertical, and it literally means "near the ocean" or "next to the ocean", never "viewing the ocean". Height of floor was not ever mentioned or requested apparently, and definitely not guaranteed anyway. DC "oceanfront" would have been what the OP really wanted, but she didn't request that or check on that beforehand.

(3) Cell phone reception: have you been to Caribbean resorts? to Atlantis? to Phuket Thailand? even to Hilton Head??? Marriott doesn't erect cell towers either. The city of Myrtle Beach does, and there are codes.

(4) Pool chairs: welcome to a resort which has gorgeous pristine pools, 5 very tall buildings with hundreds of guests, and ONE pool near you (the one people use most). Get up early. The day is long, and chairs become available. Where else could they add more chairs? The Pool Police concept doesn't work. And if no one returns to the chairs for several hours, move the towels yourself and use the chairs. That's not bad etiquette, compared to what they did. Only fair, in my opinion.

(5) Bulb wattage: Really? bulb wattage? call front desk or buy some. imho, though, it's plenty adequate.

(6) Screens? tall high-rises don't need them when bugs, if any, are low-flyers and seldom reach upper floors. All 5 bldgs are quite tall. Opening glass doors and using screens in summer is not normal behavior when temps reach upper 90's or 100+. The resulting exorbitant electric bills would necessitate much higher maintenance fees to cover that, something maybe not considered.

(7) Nothing of note in walkable distance: Wow. Count that a blessing!!!...More QUIET, more PRIVATE. Maybe Marriott should have built a mall next door? FYI, within minutes, maybe two, Myrtle Beach has the highest density of activities, venues, theme parks, shops, miniature golf courses, golf courses, restaurants, etc., etc. perhaps anywhere in the world. Did you like Broadway at the Beach?

In short, the OP's list is frivolous and irrelevant, imho, to the point of being embarrassing, especially when OP counts these as a basis for rating a resort. If indeed MOW was ever deemed "not great" by a host of experts, you'd never find #'s 1,2,3,4,5,6,& 7 as reasons.

I love the OP's home resorts of Ocean Point and Grande Vista---we've visited both more than once-----great destinations in Marriott's portfolio----- but if my criteria were as silly as these, I would have a list for those two that would dwarf her list. YET, any minor problems or shortfalls encountered at OP and GV were simply ignored by us when we were there, since they were deemed trivial, and we had a blast at both. And we'll happily return.

Ditto for all Marriotts.... all have certain unimportant deficiencies which will improve. OP, stop taking notes and lighten up! Allow yourself to have a good time. Marriott resorts are top notch, and you'll also find, never perfect. Fortunately they're about as good as they can get, tho.

 

[jme]

Checkin is 4pm.. I expect my room to be ready somewhere in that vicinity (cause the room is PART of my vacaton), not saying 4:01 is bad, but 5:15 is pretty bad. If you were at the resort side and your room wasnt ready (@5:15), you'd be getting some comps (better room, free breakfast, something..)

WRT, the points.. if Marriott wants to charge 75 extra DC points for a view at MOW (GV vs OV), in my opinion your guaranteed the view.. for an oceanview, I wanna see the ocean, not the top of the break of a wave from my tippy toes.

disagree on both points:
1. she basically had a 75 minute wait, and that's not so horrible.
2. she said oceanside was requested with DC, not oceanview, so she got what was requested.

 

[crjask]

Wow. Guess I hit a nerve. Are you the GM of OceanWatch?

I sure hope you feel better now for having gotten that tirade off your chest.

 

[Gophesjo]

... and I like that part of the island a lot.
... that part of the island is special to me.

Hilton Head is not my favorite destination (see another post) but I agree with you on two counts - the 'north end' rocks, and SW, 'the resort on fifth' is stellar!

 

[jont]

CR

Sorry you had such a disappointing stay at OW.sounds like you got off to a bad start with check in and your room assignment and then the rest of your stay was ruined by this experience. It seems like you were just looking for faults. If you had problems with items the resort has control of you probably should have brought to the attention of the resort manager.
No resort is perfect and OW is no exception. It's main problem IMHO is that it's a victim of it's own success. It's been so popular had highly touted that expectations are sometimes unrealistic.it is also a very large resort on a relatively small site, much like most hotels and resorts in Myrtle Beach. It tends to be very crowded in the summer.
Like you I am currently at SW and will be stopping at OW for a few days using points. I am a platinum owner there however, and am curious to see how my experience of checkin and room assignment compares to yours.if I experience similar problems, I will be sure to have a talk with the manager.
I hopevyou give the resortbanother chance, maybe during a shoulder season when things areva little less hectic.

 

[jme]

Wow. Guess I hit a nerve. Are you the GM of OceanWatch?

I sure hope you feel better now for having gotten that tirade off your chest.

No, not a GM. Wouldn't have that job, as they have to address guests daily with silly complaints and outlandish requests, and i'd end up in jail.

my remarks blunt, tough, maybe, but sorry, not a tirade, as i addressed each point accurately and fully, and perhaps nauseatingly so..... but each deserved a clear response, sorry.... anyone can bash my remarks too, and i'll take another look. that's fair too. But, yes, I always feel better when I address inaccuracies. I'm not a lawyer, but in law they call them frivolous lawsuits.

bottom line, none of those things you listed would (or should) make any resort less desirable, as they have NOTHING to do with it's quality or rating. was that part not clear? your points were simply irrelevant, other than, "what happened to me this summer". Things like that might make some people not pursue a trip there (if they were that silly), and that would be their loss. And that's not right.

i thought your comments to be an unfair assessment of a top shelf resort, based on irrelevant incidents and/or things beyond their control. None was peculiar to OW on a consistent basis except the location "next to nothing".

As you surely know, Marriott bought whatever oceanfront property they could......it's a small resort as to oceanfront footage, but they did great things with what they had....they had to go UP and BACK. And what's on the sides, or what's not, is not their problem.

Didn't mean to be harsh at all, just accurate. Generally speaking, I don't know what else they could do to make OW better overall. It's near the top already. Also don't know how they could have made your week better, except put you in a top floor along with another strange family, hand you a 120 foot antenna upon check-in, or provide flood lights in the bathroom.

You say late one hour, got first floor in section requested, cell phone reception "bad", light bulbs????, nothing next door, screens lacking???, pool chair situation which is prevalent at all resorts in summer (that's other people's behavior!!!).

Nothing to do with OceanWatch per se. It's close to saying you had a bad time because it rained. or because someone wore red and you hate red. I can't believe you listed those things and then asked, does anyone else think it's not so great?

I could understand if the resort were smelly, unkempt, staff consistently rude, elevators always broken, carpet gross, windows broken, people loitering all night outside, food awful, etc. I try to be fair, so I addressed what i felt to be unfair.

:deadhorse: If I've been unfair, or my points invalid, let me know.

P.S. We've owned 7 high-end Marriott weeks for a long time because we love them and not because I'm trying to win any contests, and I've had "first floors" many, many times. And everything in between. I've never said anything about assignments, or tried to make myself seem important, because I'm not. I'm an owner just like anyone else, and I understand the policies and adhere to them and honor them. I applaud the efforts of the staff. They try to treat everyone equally. Unfortunately, some people don't want to be treated equally. I've never once requested a move, or even said a word. Instead i've thanked the front desk, all of them, and told them what a great job they do, given the contact with the public daily. They appreciate hearing that because the job they face is daunting. When we get those first floors with less-than-stellar views, we simply enjoy the heck out of a new location and adventure, and to be honest, I've had no less a great time as on the top floors. Matter of fact, it's made our experiences all the better. The villas never vary---they're all beautiful inside, and we basically only sleep there anyway. We do also get the top floors. Great. But we're at the pool or beach and really cannot see that top floor very well from the ocean. oh well.

 

[Steve]

Some of the posts in this thread are not very gracious. A person should be able to comment on their vacation at a resort without the kind of response that has taken place here. Debate is great, but repeatedly calling someone else's concerns silly and frivilous does not exactly fall under the guideline of being courteous.

Steve
TUG Moderator

 

[SueDonJ]

... :deadhorse: If I've been unfair, or my points invalid, let me know. ...

Honestly, Marty? I think you were unfair. But that's not saying that your opinions about the resort are any less "valid" than the OP's. That's why I think you were unfair, actually, because you had no problem invalidating the OP's points as you perceived them.

She (I think?) had the same mistaken idea about unit views that a whole lot of Marriott owners share, that "oceanside" appears to imply an ocean view. We all learn that lesson eventually and for some of us, me included, it's a rude awakening if view is important to our vacations. Granted, with OW having all four view designations - gardenview, oceanside, oceanview and oceanfront - there may be less room for the misconception but it's still something that's not crystal clear when booking the resort for the first time. In your edit you clarify that view isn't all that important to you and that's fine, but to say that it shouldn't be important to someone else is not fine.

She mentions that there appeared to be several parties still awaiting check-in at 5:15. IMO at that point, more than an hour beyond the 4:00 published check-in time, one or two parties waiting is acceptable. Any more and the front desk staff need to be prepared to give folks a reasonable half-hour window for when their units will be ready - we should be able to ask for that nicely and get a similarly nice clear response. If parties are waiting and the front desk doesn't appear to have a hold on the situation, to me that signifies a deficiency in housekeeping or front desk staff or both. In her situation that problem was compounded by the limited cell reception - what good does it do for the front desk staff to ask for a cell number to contact you if you and they have no service?

The bathroom lighting? I don't know, maybe this makes more of a difference to women than men what with all our hair and make-up shenanigans, but I hate to characterize this as a sexist issue. Again, if I don't think the lighting is sufficient for any reason, then I think it's okay to voice my displeasure with it. In this case the OP says that she's aware of the slow-to-burn-brightly green bulbs that are in place at most resorts now and that OW's lightbulbs were worse than those. It's a legitimate complaint, and it's something that can make the resort look like it's cheapening supplies - maybe cost-savings with lower wattage bulbs? I don't know, but the OP shouldn't be mocked for noticing it or saying that it lowered her enjoyment of the resort.

I could keep going in an effort to dismantle your every counter-point to the OP's thoughts, but there's no sense in it. Her experience was not enjoyable, period. She was made to question the fine reputation OW has on TUG because of her experience. We could debate the finer details for days but it wouldn't do anything to change her experience. Invalidating her thoughts about it, though, might lead someone else to NOT post their opinions to TUG - and that would be a shame.

 

[ilene13]

It is ok that you did not like Oceanwatch. I know that I will never go there or to Branson, Missouri. I do not like either destination but it has absolutely nothing to do with the Marriott resorts there. Give me Aruba, Mexico, Hilton Head and other such destinations. Everyone has there own opinion!