Marriott's OceanWatch Villas at Grande Dunes Reviews & Ratings

We just recently stayed at the Marriott OceanWatch Villas and it is a totally beautiful resort. You never need to leave. The rooms are beautiful. Granite counter tops, the kitchen was very cute and had everything you needed. The bedrooms were beautiful. The place was spotless. The pool area was really nice . Unless you start saving pool chairs at 5 am forget about sitting at the pool. A lot of people put down towels and disappear for the day. Would be nice if there was some monitoring of this practice. The rental chairs at the beach were very reasonably priced. I highly recommend this resort. Its one of the best places I have ever stayed...and I have done extensive traveling. Absolutely beautiful!!!

Been an owner for many years and our family always looks forward to going back to Oceanwatch every year. The amenities are wonderful and the service offered by the Marriott employees is outstanding. They really make you feel welcomed. Myrtle Beach is a wonderful place to take family and friends for a wonderful vacation. There lots of things to do on the property as well as many nice shops, golf courses within 5 to 15 minutes away and great restaurants. Marriott offers wonderful concerige services to help you book what you may want to there on vacation. Many discounts are available for Marriott OceanWatch guests. All of the equipment, pools, hot tubs, grills, playgrounds, etc are maintained daily and cleaned. You will be impressed with how this resort is maintained. We are very proud of this resort and our friends loved to invited to come and stay with us. Once you have been one time, you will want to come back again and again. Sounds like a sales pitch but you will see what I mean after coming one time to enjoy Myrtle Beach and OceanWatch.

Absolutely wonderful vacation. Only complaint is check in on Saturdays. The past 3 times we've gone to the OceanWatch Villas, it is hours before you can check in. Last year we went in July and they didn't have a villa for us until 6:30pm. They need to be ready for guests at check in time. Hire more housekeepers!!

We've been owners at OceanWatch for over 5 years now and go back eagerly every year. There is always so much to do and always something new. We most recently stayed there earlier this month and they had added the final pool in the Woodsy area and a full-service spa on the top floor of the main building.

For those folks interested in amenities, OceanWatch has three front buildings (Conch, Starfish & Scallop) and two rear (garden-area) buildings (Pine & Maple). All offer OceanView villas at a certain height and all are beautifully appointed. In the main, front area, there are an upper and lower pool and hot tubs. The upper pool is right next to the Sand Bar pool bar (food and drinks) and the lower pool offers a powerful and huge waterfall shooting out of the wall. Nice massage action right there if you can stand it. It's a short walk from the lower pool to the awesome beach and you'll pass storage cubbies erected to store your sand toys, boogie boards, etc. If you can get a cubby, it's yours for the week.

The rear buildings are considered the "Woodsy" area. There is a complex of pools including a zero entry pool with water fun features and water slide for the kids. There is a huge playground with fort next door, along with hot tubs, a fish pond and more. This is also where the resort's fitness center, basketball court, bocce ball court and shuffleboard are located. Lots of trees and shade over there, so it's a nice respite for those in need of a break from the sun. There's also the Sand Dollar bar (food and drinks) located by the pool (closed during the off season).

The resort has an awesome staff, clean, updated rooms and everything you could ask for in a vacation resort. Every villa has a full kitchen with refrigerator, stove, over, dishwasher, disposal, coffer pot, microwave and blender. There's also an up/down washer and dryer. Marriott even provides an initial set of dish detergent, sponge, laundry detergent and soap. You'll find bath and pool/beach towels (8) in the rooms as well. Flat screen HD TVs are in the 2 bedrooms and living room, with HDMI inputs if you wish to hook up your laptop or other device. There is a DVD player in the living room.

I've got to mention the pull-out sofabed this year. They were recently updated and the new sofabeds are Awesome. I've never seen anything like them. This isn't your typical pull-out with a metal frame and thin mattress. This thing was like memory foam. Thick, stable, no lumps - awesome. Our 14-yr old never had it so good. It's probably more comfortable than his bed at home. Anyway, I just had to mention it.

Myrtle Beach is a fun place for families. There are attractions like Broadway at the Beach, The Boardwalk with Eye Ferris Wheel, Barefoot Landing, Tanger Outlets and as many restaurants as you can imagine. There are coupon books everywhere you look. OceanWatch is situated between North Myrtle and Myrtle proper, which means you're not in the crowded "hotel strip" or some other overdeveloped area. It's easy to get to, and an absolutely wonderful property. There are grocery stores near by as well as a Wal-Mart and Lowes a short distance away if you can think of anything you forgot. One thing you should Not forget is Sunscreen.

Sorry for the rambling review but I wanted to write something that would answer the questions I always have when visiting a new property. Enjoy!

We have been to OceanWatch three times, once in October and twice in August. The resort is fantastic, popular with families and golfers and being Marriott it is a cut above many other so called 5* timeshare resorts. The activities staff are very enthusiastic and have a great schedule with free exercise classes, such as a golfers early morning stretch, water aerobics (in the pool by the ocean) zumba, kettle bell and anything else current. There is also a small Basketball court on the edge of the resort, with organised activites. The beach, I believe, has no public access for a mile, so the resort is well placed and pretty much only used in the immediate area by the resort guests and hotel guests and a few walkers/joggers. The Marriott hotel is on one side and you can dine in their restaurant, or in one of the many restaurants outside. There are two main pool areas, one by the ocean and the other in a great little area called the "Woodsy" area, with a slide, dive-in movies, water play area for kiddies, tree house and shuffleboard. Over by the jacuzzi, the pond area is soon to be changed into a salt water pool. If that isn't enough there is an indoor pool, fitness room, sauna, steam room, table tennis table and pool table. The only problem I had was trying to keep track of where the rest of the family were and not enough hours in the day to fit it all into!

This is a premier luxury resort! The villas are well maintained and clean. The location is close to all of the events, theaters, restaurant row. Nice area of Myrtle Beach. The activities and customer service is top of the line. This resort is wonderful for families, safe (staff are patrolling the property late into the night). Don't forget your passkey after 10:00 pm if you plan on walking the beach or taking a dip in the pool. The doors are locked for security and safety of the home owners and guests. The spa next door at the Marriott Hotel is a full service salon in case you need some pampering. If you want to total relax and go no where other than the villa, beach and pool, you can definately do that. If you need some action, restaurant row, theaters, etc.. are within a five minute or less drive. Will definately return yearly to this resort. The rentals are reasonable for what you are getting.

Our favorite of the Marriott Vacation Clubs that we have visited! The location is beautiful, the resort layout is gorgeous - especially the room that overlook the pool by the beach. A really beautiful destination with lots to do for kids, teens and adults. Wonderful all around!

We rented a week here and couldn't have enjoyed it more! My family didn't want to leave after 8 days and once you experience what Marriott has to offer, you know why! From the pool bar where my kids could grab lunch to the planned activities, this place has it all. The great service just adds to your relaxation and we truly felt renewed when we left. This is a large resort so there is lots of walking, but it's also very self-contained and you really don't have to leave in order to relax, eat well, and have fun. My kids are teens and they love it here, but if you have little ones, this place seems like paradise! From the water slides to the putt putt golf, to all of the planned activities, I wish we had discovered this place while my kids were younger. I can't say enough obout how much my family loves Oceanwatch and I'm sure we'll be back next year!

We just returned from a week at OceanWatch where we were fortunate to be assigned an oceanfront villa on the second floor of the Scallop building. For those who don't know the resort, this is one of the villas with the huge balcony. At Ocean Watch the villas are arranged with the living room in the center and the two bedrooms on either side, so that all three rooms look out onto whatever view your assigned villa allows. In the villas with large balconies, the balcony runs the entire width (or length) of the villa. So wherever we were in the villa, we had a supurb view of the beach and the water. We were so close that sitting on the balcony almost felt like sitting on the beach!

Our only complaint is the huge balcony is partially wasted since it's equipped with only a small round glass topped table and four chairs, the same as all the balconies at Ocean Watch. This balcony cries out for loungers or rocking chairs, and is actually roomy enough to support the table and chairs, two loungers and a couple of rockers. Since the villas are designed to sleep 8, it's a shame to have all this wasted space on the balcony, and only seating to accomodate four people!

Otherwise OceanWatch is a wonderful spot for a relaxing vacation. It's situated in the Grand Dunes area of Myrtle Beach, north of the strip, but short of being in North Myrtle Beach. It's close to Restaurant Row, the Myrtle Beach Mall, and the Tanger Outlets on Business 17. The resort has activities every day for all ages, including some with a fee, but many free. Since we're adults I can't comment on the children's activities, but in the 'Woodsey' area (where there are two villa buildings behind the three buildings fronting on the beach) they have a theme pool with all sorts of water features for kids and a curving slide into the pool, a treehouse, and many other things that would be fun for kids.

For adults OceanWatch offered everything from Martini nights, to a wine tasting, a 'buckets' night when crab legs, boiled shrimp and beers were available on site, and a night of Texas Holdem. They had a make your own sundae party a couple of times, and a make your own root beer float another day, and many craft and other classes every day for those interested. They offered tours to local landmarks, and even to Charleston and Savannah. They also offered many exercise classes - zumba, water aerobics, kettle balls, and a yogo/stretching class, all free.

We were there from April 1-8th, 2011 and had gorgeous weather all week with the exception of one day. It had rained overnight, but by morning the rain was gone, although it was very windy, so outside activities in the morning were moved inside. By lunch time the sun was peeking through the clouds, there were people on the beach, in the outdoor hot tubs (two right beneath our balcony) and in the swimming pool. The outdoor pools are all heated at this time of the year, and they were in constant use all week. And the beach was usually in use too. The weather ranged from lows in the 40s or 50s overnight to highs in the 80s a couple of days, with the temperature in the 70s most of the other days. It wasa great time to be in Myrtle Beach, as it was before the season begins, so there were many options for better prices at restaurants, and nothing was crowded. If you haven't been to OceanWatch, you should try it out!

Just returned from a beautiful week at this resort. Everything was perfect! Room was very clean. Staff was helpful. Ocean was warm and waves were perfect for boogie boarding. I would not recommend this resort for couples who are looking for peace and quite. I would consider this the perfect family resort with lots of activities for the kids. Also, please keep in mind if you are booking a garden view room those two buildings are behind the oceanview and oceanfront buildings. It is a decent walk to the beach especially if you are carrying chairs, toys and kids. I highly recommend oceanview or oceanfront. The views are amazing! Enjoy!

We have stayed at resorts all over the world. It is hard to beat this Marriott resort. It is very reasonably priced and the resort and service are first-class. You can have a fantastic time and never leave the premises. This is a gem.

We bought a timeshare week off of someone and had an amazing two bedroom unit. The price was right and with Marriott you are pretty much guaranteed a first class experience. We really loved this resort because it was not spread out over too many acres and was a smaller, cozier, venue. The small grocery store on site had reasonable prices and a great selection. You could go in for your Starbucks coffee or a salad, sandwich, muffin, fresh fruit cup, etc...if you didn't feel like going outside the resort. One night we picked up a Pizza hut pizza which was great! We loved the bar by the pool which served drinks or food and which made it easy to stay by the pool and not have to venture too far. The ocean is pretty rough so although I like to swim I didn't go in the water. The Grand Strand (miles of beach) as it is called...was wonderful and was good for getting some exercise. People were up and about walking on the beach pretty early in the morning. There are a few restaurants nearby that are great...Waterscapes had excellent food but is more of a gourmet food experience. They had the best crab cakes we have ever tasted!!! Ruth Chris steakhouse is super for those who loved their red meat...Tanger mall is great for shopping but other than it and Dillards there isn't much high end shopping so they really need to get a Macy's or a Nordstroms...Please do not miss the aquarium...There is a tank in the shape of a tunnel and it has 750,000 gallons of water with all kinds of amazing sea life. Numerous sharks, etc...The sea life is so close you really get to appreciate it... Nothing is perfect but I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this resort!

we did a complementary tour of the resort while in the area during july 09. The sales staff was very friendly and not overbearing while showing us the resort and the prices.. I have to say the place is very nice and let them know I was interested in getting a week here just not at retail..

I always buy timeshare on the resale market.. places like Tug2.net and other online sales outlets.. be careful where you buy from.. you can go to timeshare users group website and ask question on the forums to see if the company is reputable.

Being a Marriott tell the whole story in quality and attention to detail.. the place is very nice and I look forward to returning as a new "used" owner for at least 1/3 of the developers price..

You can also learn the truth about timeshare on TUG2.net and how to make the most of the timeshare experience and avoid the pitfalls that are built in to owning and exchanging.

Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our family of six loves this resort. Our family enjoys the beach and all the night life of the area. A trip worth it for all ages.

Marriott OceanWatch is absolutely 5-Star, First Class and very enjoyable for two couples and/or a family since all units are 2BR.

We cannot recommend it enough.

If Myrtle Beach is really your idea of a vacation, Marriott's OceanWatch Villas at Grande Dunes is the timeshare to live while visiting the Grand Stand.

There seems to be a clientele for every Atlantic Ocean town.

We are really Palm Beach and Newport Beach people.

Stayed during Easter Week 2009. This was by far one of the nicest facilities I have ever stayed in in Myrtle Beach. Room was spotless at arrival and all services utilized were perfect. All of the pools were heated and were great even with the cooler than expected weather. The new "Woodsy Pool" area is great - especially for kids. The on site fitness center was top notch and an indoor pool was also available for poor weather days. We could not have asked for a better facility to spend a week in Myrtle Beach.

The only issue encountered was with the pool chairs at the main pool area. Most people try and reserve chairs very early in the morning with towels and there is not adequate personnel on site to make sure this does not happen (even though there are signs posted that towels will be removed from unoccupied chairs after 30 minutes). Also, the on site market really only had necessities but there are plenty of grocery stores close by if needed.

If I were in the market for a time share, I would not hesitate to purchase this property. It would be a very strong trader.

This is an exceptional resort. The staff, villas, beach and location at Myrtle Beach are all First Class. We stayed in an OceanView unit in the Scallop Bldg and found everything to be "Marriott" quality. The units seem slightly smaller than 2 BR, 2 BA units in some other Marriott resorts but they have the same attention to detail as always. The facilities are top notch and maintained to as higha standard as you could ask for. Staff are extremely friendly and there appeared to be lots of activities if that was your interest. They are currently putting up the final building which is in the rear section near to the Magnolia Building and woodsy pool area.

The location makes it very convenient for visiting the attractions at Myrtle Beach. If there was a negative it would be the fact that there are only three buildings up by the beach and the number of OceanView or Ocean Front units are limited. It is a great place for a family vacation.