posted 04-30-2005 16:48               

1. Ocean Pointe 3 bedroom, ocean front, silver season - $26,900
2. 150,000 Marriott points
3. 80,000 self-referral points (double the usual amount)
4. If we pay off $15,000 of the total with Marriott Visa we get another 45,000 points

posted 05-01-2005 05:24               

OP is now at build-out and prices and incentives relfect this situation. I don't think that they are offering much in the way of incentives for Platinum inventory aside from self referral points. So if you can squeeze more MR points out of a Silver purchase, it's a plus.

As you say, the resort is a nice place so I'd expect that you would occupy regularly. If 3BR Silver MFs are in the $800 range and you can receive 100K MR points for a points trade, this too could be a good thing if you are also using a MR points strategy to obtain MR travel packages.

Likewise, if you are inclined to trade and travel, I think that splitting your 3BR on occassion also gives you additional possibilities, even with a Silver week. As you know, not all resorts have 3BR inventory, but if needed you could pull a 3BR trade for a Silver Marbella week etc.

I really don't think that there is a "bad season" at OP -- aside from hurricane issues, OP is truly a year-round resort destination.

Enjoy making mulling things over and making a decision.

posted 05-01-2005 06:30               

Last year that extra bedroom came in handy as our daughter and her SO went on a Caribbean cruise with us. We spent the week at OP. On the second to lasy day, they flew in and we picked them up at the airport. They then spent the night with us and we all drove to the pier together the next day for the cruise. It worked out well. When no one is with us, that second bedroom works out great for storage.

One other thing to consider is the price difference between a two bedroom and a three bedroom. At the time we purchased, there was only a two thousand dollar difference in price. If you purchase the two you'll never be able to expand into a three. However, we figured if we purchased the three we could always use the two and exchange the studio, and that's what we've done. We're much more comfortable with that idea.

As far as Silver season goes, it just happened to fall during the time we like to go to Florida and that's why we purchased Silver. We prefer to be there in the months of November and December. May is also included in Silver Season and I would imagine it would be an almost perfect time as far as weather to go as well. Nice weather and less crowds does it for us. Essentially, we purchased the unit to use the unit and November/December Silver time is when we want to travel to FL.

The only thing we've ever done as far as exchange would be to exchange the studio unit once. It does not seem to be a real strong trader but, we don't really look all that hard or expect all that much out of our studio units. What we did get was a one bedroom unit at Horizon's by Marriott in Branson, MO for a December week. This is NOT a strong time in Branson, MO but, it's within driving distance and we love all the lights at Silver Dollar City and around town. For us it's a great vacation but I'd venture to say that we'd be in the minority on that one.

Originally, we had planned on using the two bedroom side one year and depositing the studio portion with I.I. The next year we would exchange the unit for points and exchange the studio unit back into OP for that year. We had been led to believe that we could easily get an OF unit since that's what we owned. WRONG! When exchanging back into OP for the next year, we were had no more pull over unit location than any other Marriott owner. Since owners staying during their time that year were in line ahead of us, there were no OF units available and we were placed in a 5th floor studio unit. That's the last time we try that trick. The studio units are smaller than we prefer to stay in for a week and we could hear everything our neighbors said or did when they were in their unit. Especially all of the kitchen noises.

Our usage is going to change based on our past experience. From now on, well use the two bedroom side for our stays at OP and LO the studio unit. We'll then either use the studio to exchange into Branson, MO or rent it out (if we can) through Marriott to help defray the MF's. Even if we only pocket $200 from a rental, that would be $200 less paid in MF's. Every other year we'll exchange for points and accumulate them until we have enough for a nice European vacation or a cruise.

posted 05-01-2005 08:07               

I originally was strongly considering buying an Ocean Pointe unit, after attending a sales presentation on site. What tipped me against that option was that the trading power of the site was not so good, compared to Hawaii or Aruba, esp during Platinum or Platinum Plus weeks.

I then found out that the Aruba Surf Club unit can be purchased for a similar price at the Ocean Pointe unit, but offers a much better trading power (so that you could conceivably come to Ocean Pointe, through a Marriott to Marriott trade, at any time).