Resort views that aren't guaranteed?

Hi, folks.

We've discovered an issue with the view designation at Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club.

We were always told they have two views categories: Oceanview or Oceanfront. But we learned over the weekend that this is not really the case. One of our renters checked in last week and was given a ground floor unit categorized as Oceanview. He contacted us to tell us he paid for an Oceanview but did not have a view of the ocean.

We called their front desk and they explained they do have two categories: Oceanview or Oceanfront. But that doesn't necessarily mean you have a view to the ocean (??!!).

We called again to find out how many rooms are affected, and were told that ground floor through the 3rd floor are affected. The building only has 6 floors. They said that in some cases, if the guest looks to the left, they can see the ocean, but if they look straight ahead from their balcony, they may not.

So, how do you think that should be handled?

We could prevent anyone from indicating their unit has an "Oceanview" on the RedWeek "add posting" page. But that seems kind of draconian.

On the other hand, for a renter coming to the site and not knowing that this issue exists, it seems horrible to let them think they're getting an ocean view when half the time they aren't.

Any suggestions? I tend to think the view designation on the posting pages should show the actual view. If the view isn't guaranteed, then that fact needs to be clearly stated. Agreed?

We just added a note about it to the resort description: "For units with the view category of Oceanview, the floor of the unit is not guaranteed. Lower floor units may have an obstructed view of the Ocean."

But we should probably add a note to each posting automatically?

Thoughts?

This is why in the units we have bought over the yrs. we bought deeded wk., and specific unit. When renting we have always included all possibilities to best of my knowledge. I have always thought that it was just a sales weasels trick to get people to buy in at a cheaper rate. To say it's "ocean view, but you could be any where in the building" you may have specific wk. but not the unit is just not right. That is why when contacted by a prospective renter I have always tied to explain the possibilities.