Wyndham Ocean Boulevard.

No wonder working people like business trips. This was the view from my room on my "business trip" to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I've never been to Myrtle Beach. Had no idea what to expect. I chose it because it was a few hours drive from where my daughter goes to college and because I had yet to visit this area where we have several Wyndhams available. It was a win win all the way around.

We arrived late on Wednesday evening. We had no trouble finding the Wyndham Ocean Blvd. on the main road running the length of the beach. Ocean Blvd. has four towers. It was confusing coming in late at night and trying to find the registration. We entered the tower four parking level and found that the lobby there was closed for the night. Signs told us to register across the street and when we entered that parking garage we found it full. We ended up parking back at tower four and hauling our luggage across the street to tower two where we registered and where we stayed.

My suggestion would be to add more signage. I found out the next day that tower two has a nice area for parking, unloading, and registering, but I never saw any signs to point us in that direction. Instead after I checked in I had to walk back across the street, find my car, and drop off the parking pass so that my car wouldn't be towed. It wasn't that big of a deal, but I was exhausted from a day of traveling and would have appreciated a better way of unloading.

I love coming into Wyndham after hours because you bypass the desk where the staff berates you into attending a sales meeting. The front desk staff was fabulous. Jasmine, a Steelers fan by way of her boyfriend, couldn't have been kinder. She could see my exhaustion. She got me into my room, recommended places in the area to eat and shop, offered to help me with my luggage, and even offered to walk back across the street to put in my parking pass. I would have let her, but it was a rental car and I had no idea how to tell her what it looked like or where the damn thing was parked! She gave me her number and I did look her up twice and both times she answered my questions and helped me out. She was such a vast difference from my experience in Edisto Beach. It made me excited just to be there right off the bat.

We had the two bedroom unit. I had upgraded from a one bedroom even though we only had two of us. I wasn't sure at the time who was coming or how things would work out. I like the two bedroom for size anyway too. It was very spacious. My unit was exactly like my brother's unit in layout and furniture. We were on the third floor and he was on the fourteenth. I much prefer the lower level as there was less wind and a better view of the pool area. He had a lovely view of the ocean, but I thought my view was good too.

The units are located in an enclosed outdoor area meaning there wasn't a roof in the corridor area. You entered the elevators from the lobby and you exited on your floor outside within an enclosed area. We were close to the elevator and we had an ice machine on our floor which was an added bonus as all of the units never have the ice machines turned on when we arrive. Our kitchen was a nice size with everything we needed. The unit was clean and everything worked. My washer and dryer were new. I used the broom once to sweep up sand in my bathroom. We only used the master bedroom. I did use the second bathroom once to wash off the terrible sunscreen my brother bought us, and I continued using that shower after I discovered it was easier to shave in. The second bedroom was never touched although we did talk about sleeping in a different bed each night.

I spent a lot of time in the green chairs every morning drinking coffee and looking at the view. When it warmed up I went on the balcony that overlooked the pool. All of the pools in the place were heated. I never got to use them, but they all were very clean and well maintained. They had two lazy rivers, two indoor pools, and several outdoor pools including an infinity pool.

Three of the towers are on the beach. The fourth is across the street. There are also cottages, but I never did find them. I explored all of the towers and decided that tower two is certainly the nicest of the four. It has more amenities including the cafe, the bar, a huge lobby with movie rentals, an activity center, and fire pit. The fire pit was lit each night from seven o'clock until eleven o'clock and guests could roast marshmallows and make s'mores. There were cushioned concrete benches around the pit and we had some nice conversations with other guests as people came and went. All of the three towers are together separated by the different outdoor pools. They were easily accessible.

We were given plastic bracelets upon our arrival to wear when on the beach and in the pool area. The bracelets were smart. They are like all of the bracelets kids wear to support their favorite causes. Much better than the paper bands that you can't take off and on. Because they were plastic we could shower in them and really never have to take them off. While we never had anyone question us in regards to the bracelets I was told that security usually stood at each entrance leading to the beach checking bracelets. I never saw security there, but I did see many of them roaming around the resort.

All in all this was one of, if not, the best Wyndham resort I've stayed in. I loved the unit. I loved the location. I loved the resort itself. I loved the staff. Each time I review one of the Wyndham resorts I discuss three topics: One, problems in my unit. I had none in this resort. Two, things Wyndham did right. I thought they did a top notch job and most of the things I talked about above. Three, Things Wyndham can do to improve. I have only a few recommendations that would have made it better (don't I always?).

Things Wyndham can do to improve Ocean Boulevard

• Screens on the balcony doors - I'm sure this falls under some safety category, but I would have loved to have been able to keep my door open all night for the ocean noise and sea air. I opened it every time I was in the unit, but there was no screen so we got the usual night time bugs. Screen doors are probably broken more than anything else in a unit, but I would only put them on during the fall months.
• Phone Calls - When owners check in during normal business hours they are directed to the desk where the membership staff (not sure of the correct title) work on you, at first nicely, and then not so nicely to attend an owners session. They call it different things at each resort; workshop, breakfast, update. They offer you money to attend and then when all of that fails they take your number and inundate you with phone calls to change your mind. When owners check in after hours they get the phone calls. Our phone calls, since I checked in after hours, began before nine. Really? I checked in late at night after a full day of traveling. That should be noted by the front desk somewhere so that the membership staff can chose to call at a better time. I was awakened by the call and not happy. I ignored it because the phone was out in the other room (something Wyndham does right! No phones in the bedrooms) and I was snugged under my covers. Ten minutes later the phone rang again and continued to ring every ten minutes for the first hour and then every fifteen to twenty minutes for the next three hours. I made a point of going with my brother to the desk where the nice young man got to work on both of us at the same time. Didn't matter. The phone calls kept coming. I finally answered and spoke with "my representative" who was not happy that I had spoken with my brother's rep. I cut her off and refused the owner's pitch. This didn't stop them. They called again and eventually sent a sales person to my front door under the guise of "bringing me my free welcome gifts". Which he refused to give me unless I invited him in and talked to him. His answer to my annoyance of the phone calls? "Unplug the phone."
• Sales pitches - Carrying on in this vein...when owners say no thank you to attending an owners session, let them be. I can't attend every sales pitch for every Wyndham I visit. I have attended more than my fair share. I am a high ranking owner and can not use the amount of points that I have. I'm not buying any more. I'm not. It isn't going to happen. My brother and I inherited this timeshare and have to sell points to friends and family to try to make the monthly payments as it is now. We aren't going to buy anything more, and telling me you can show me how to lower my monthly payments is a crock. Also, telling me there are new updates isn't doing it for me either. For the most part, now that Wyndham offers webinars online there isn't anything new that the sales team can inform me of that I don't already get online. I'm tired of the lies that are told to get me there. I'm tired of the amount of time I'm told it will take only to have that time doubled. I'm tired of the nasty breakfast that is served. Some resorts do a great job of this owners session, but most of them do not. When owners say no thank you, let it go. The guy that came to our door was a nice enough man, but when he realized we weren't biting he got annoyed and that just makes me annoyed. Owners are using this as a time away. If I want to deal with more points I'll come to you.
• Parking and Signage - I talked about this above. The parking was excellent really. I've had to pay at some beach resorts due to the small amount of spaces to park. There was plenty of parking for us, but the directions to unload and check in were not clear. Add some of this so that owners don't have to lug their belongings across the street and so they know where to check in.