Thinking about a trade to Marriott's Ocean Pointe - a couple questions

[mouseclick1]

We are trying to plan a spring break 2008 trip for my son and his friends' senior trip. While WDW and HH are still options, we are considering doing a trade to another Florida Beach location. I came across Marriott's Ocean Pointe on the DVC website and it looks pretty nice. I have a few questions that hopefully someone can answer!

1) Do we even stand a chance to trade into this resort during Easter Break? If so, when should we put in our request?

2) How appealing would this resort be (and the surrounding area) for 17-18 year olds?

3) Is trading into a 3 BR an option? I know the DVC book only provides the points up to a 2 BR, but this Marriott does have 3 BR villas.

Of course, if I had it my way, we would spend the entire week at BWV! Any other info about the Marriott that might be useful in making our decision?

Thanks!

I realized that I didn't mention that DH and I would be accompanying the boys. So we would want this place to be appealing to a couple of mid 40 year olds too!

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

I would think Easter break would be tough to get, and I'm fairly sure a 3drm is out of the question. Good luck trying though. One other thing to remember is Marriott owners can't start trading their weeks internally until one year out, so I wouldn't expect to hear anything for quite awhile.

We are trying to trade into Marriott's property in Mytrle Beach right now. We put the request in to Member Services in Feb, 06 for a June, 07 stay. As of today we still haven't heard anything.

 

[dvcbrad]

I have tried the last two years to exchange into that property, other Marriott properties, amd other Florida exchanges - without success. Spring break is an extremely difficult time to exchange into another developer's time share program, as their first priority is to their owners, their other property owners who exchange, and then us in DVC somewehre down the line - all of it justifiable! It is for this reason that we are looking at buying into Marriott as a supplement to our DVC ownership. Not to say you shouldn't try, but don't plan your spring break around that possibility! You might want to consider our own Vero Beach, as it's a great resort, there'll be baseball spring training, golf is nearby, etc.

 

[Dean]

Xmas, president's week and Easter are the highest demand weeks for Mid FL beach and south including the Caribbean and Cancun. Given that Marriott weeks are first offered to other Marriott members for the first 24 days once deposited, I don't think there's much chance of success unless it's very short notice such as the last week or two prior to the trip. A private trade is likely the best option. But I'd say there's still a chance. You need to have the request in place at least 13 months prior to the first day of the first week you will accept.

I doubt a 3 BR is a possibility through II since they are easy to rent out and are lockoff's so even if deposited, will likely likely be deposited as 2 units. In some cases one can get components of a lockoff and combine them back together, in this case the chances of success along those lines would be almost none EVEN if you got a 2 BR and a studio separately but it never hurts to ask. I'd think you should really look for a private trade. BTW, there is a points grid for 3 BR and studios, they just don't publicize it formally. The points for a 3 BR range from 276 to 349.

There is not a lot for teens unless they like the pool and beach. It's in a residential area with little going on. There are a handful of restaurants within a good walk or bike ride, a Marina if it's still open and a typical FL type touristy strip Mall. There are some activities at the resort but I think they'll draw the line between the 17 & 18 y/o for these activities with little for the 18 y/o.

We have stayed there twice and enjoyed it but it's not somewhere we will likely return. Given the situation you've stated, I'd suggest you reconsider VB. The youngsters would likely be happier with Daytona, Miami, or Panama City Beach.

 

[mouseclick1]

Thanks for the honest input. We have never traded through II so I wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe this will be a great way to end up at BWV afterall!

 

[natt]

Well, this is slightly OT, but I'm on a search for Virginia Beach for August '07. They said the earliest available was Nov. '07! and they advised me that I could search up to two years in advance. Well, I might think about that say for Hawaii, but not VA Beach!!!! I'm doubting the likelyhood of anyone giving up their week at that time of the year... but I'll give it a few more months before I stop the search.

 

[Dean]

Well, this is slightly OT, but I'm on a search for Virginia Beach for August '07. They said the earliest available was Nov. '07! and they advised me that I could search up to two years in advance. Well, I might think about that say for Hawaii, but not VA Beach!!!! I'm doubting the likelyhood of anyone giving up their week at that time of the year... but I'll give it a few more months before I stop the search.

VB might be tough but not dramatically so. While you may search up to 2 years out that doesn't mean the owners in that area can deposit that far out. With II most can deposit a max of a year though some systems are at 10-11 months. There are some that are 18 months and a few that are 2 years. It sounds like you may have started a little late but you should not give up hope at this time. I would say that for any serious search for a prime season, one should be searching at least a full year out. Online I currently see a lot of availability through March and starting back Mid Sept. Most are studios and 1 BR units though.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

Where did you search in Virginia Beach? I've seen the Boardwalk listed.

 

[welovewdw]

We spent a week at Ocean Pointe this past August w/ our 15 yo son and our 9 yo daughter - it is in the middle of a residential area as a previous poster pointed out. But it's close to Palm Beach and some really great restaurants are a short drive away. We didn't go out to dinner often (like 3x I think in a week), but had a great time just hanging out - it's very laid back and relaxing with a nice pool and beach. Our 15 yo son was worried about what he'd do, but he ended up having fun hanging out w/ other teenagers playing pool, at the beach and in the pool all day. They went to each others rooms at night - or the pool if it wasn't raining. (August in FL = lots of rain LOL) The resort also has play stations or some video game system for rent I think - although we didn't get one. They had GREAT activities for our 9 yo - pottery painting, tie dying, lots of arts & crafts and pool games. (and our 15 yo even joined in on the pottery painting - shocked the heck out of me! )

The marina was open - we didn't go, but drove past it. There are a few parks nearby that I would check out next time (but I love my time in the sun so it was hard to pry me away this trip LOL)

The rooms were nice, clean - we had a fantastic ocean view 2 bedroom lockout unit. The lockout we got was odd because it had one door to hall, then a mini-hallway with a door to the studio part, and a door to the one bedroom part - so the 2 units weren't really directly connected except through a mini (4x4 approx) hallway - it was no big deal, but different.

We would definitely go back - although this summer we're looking at Vero Beach now that we finally bought DVC (on the same august trip!) I would also do it in reverse order I think next time - do Disney for week first, then beach -

Kim

 

[Dean]

Where did you search in Virginia Beach? I've seen the Boardwalk listed.

There was something for all 5 resorts. There was a lot of availability for the time I quoted for 4 of the 5 when I looked.

The marina was open - we didn't go, but drove past it. There are a few parks nearby that I would check out next time (but I love my time in the sun so it was hard to pry me away this trip LOL)

When we were there last, summer 05, the Marina had been sold and there was speculation by the senior Marriott staff that the Marina would close and a Condo be put up. Apparently there had already been some public type meetings along those lines.