Have over 15 year span of stays. This past year alone, on five occasions for a total of about 2 months. We like Ocean Pointe.
Ocean Pointe has a loyal following of timeshare owners who pay their ever increasing annual fees, and many don't take well to any criticism of their OP.
OP has been historically well managed, and well maintained. It's now taking its toll on staff to maintain that pedigree after all these years of heavy usage. They are doing a great job.
This really is an excellent resort. I've been to most all Marriott Vacation Club resorts and rank this as number 6. This is a high ranking.
For many years, I ranked it in the top 3.
Also, I stayed Oct 2017 after the Hurricane storm winds, and once again, Marriott has done a wonderful job bouncing back. The resort grounds are grand. The pool and hot tub near Cobia are completed.
There's a little bit of work on the greens that is still closed off as of this writing. Should be done in a few weeks.
Lots of improvements have been made over the years. I think the salt water pool system, putt putt greens, and the gardens are all tops. So is the nice board walk to the beach.
Would like to see more spice to the activities list. The water aerobics for the seniors is a favorite. And the new crew of activities people are on the path to creating fun activities. The nighttime fire pit and live music are excellent. It's fun to dance to the Latin music.
OP is not in my top 3. Why? Each of my top 3 have a nice breakfast restaurant. The thing is that the owners don't seem to really want a nice breakfast place, and that's OK. Most owners are very satisfied with just having something inside their unit for breakfast - the kitchen is so nice. why bother with a fancy breakfast by Marriott? And that's wonderful, because that's the way it should be, - the owners decide their wish. There is actually a nice take out breakfast spot near the main pool at Dolphin. Can certainly smell the bacon and sausage in the morning!
So how about an example of another Marriott Vacation Club with first class activities so that OP maybe learn from some of the others? Sure, easy. One is Marbella. Maybe OP can learn from the new leaders. Come to think of it, Marbella has two nice places on location that you can get breakfast! Imagine that. I bet some OP owners are getting upset already, that I would write something not so nice about their wonderful OP. --- Ha ha. Chill out, OP owners. Lighten up.
And the not so nice....
During the Winter (Jan- March), the chair hogs wake up early to secure their chairs by the pool, and bring their books to cleverly place on chairs to make it look like they are on a short break from the pool chair, but instead won't be seen until late morning or earlu afternoon. That's the type of crowd you often get in the Winter. Every morning. Hilarious.
There will be at least 15-20 first row poolside chairs secured by 7:30 am by the hogs. And the cabanas too. How's that for community?
During my last two stays in 2017, both 2 bedroom suites had wear and tear issues. Examples: kitchen cabinet drawers that were broken. When I called maintenance, they promised to repair it, but never did. So everytime we wanted some silverware, we had to deal with that darn drawer that was broken. Shabby.
Water pressure in the toilet - took a long time to fill up. We find of course that the lower floors overall have better plumbing. The shower water pressure was also rather low on the higher floors. And of course, all the lime stuck in the shower head - hey people, with maintenance fees constantly going up, owners should start waking up to the fact that this is a high maintenance property with a management team charging a princely sum to try and keep up.
What else?
My prediction? OP will become the first 2 bedroom property to see $2000 weekly maintenance fees. Would not be surprised to see $2500 by 2023.
After a big storm hits, you can expect a special assessment too.
It will be interesting to see how OP evolves these next 5-7 years. Owners are looking very senior. Marriott knows their original OP owners are dying at a fairly quick pace now.
So changes eventually on its way.