The Real Difference Between Ocean-view and Oceanfront Hotel Rooms

Undoubtedly, you put a great deal of time into crafting the perfect vacation. From the right destination to picking your preferred seat on the plane, and finding the ideal hotel room, you like to take care of it all. But, even with all your diligence, there may be one thing you can’t control, and that is getting the ocean-view you asked your hotel for all due to a technicality.

According to Business Insider, “ocean-view” can mean totally different things to different hotels. While one hotel may consider an ocean view room as one that comes with sweeping panoramic views of the sea, another may dupe you into paying more for just a tiny piece of blue off in the distance

“[An] ‘ocean-view’ simply means you get at least a sliver of a view from somewhere in the room,” Jeff Russell, an entertainment travel consultant at Aspen Travel, explained to Business Insider. He added, this means you may need to really stretch your idea of “seeing the ocean” from your room.

However, there are a few things you can do to ensure the view of your dreams.

“An oceanfront room actually faces the ocean,” Russell said. “If a hotel lists both an oceanfront room and an ocean-view room, know for a fact that the ocean-view will not be looking right out on the ocean.”

Next time you’re booking a hotel room, just stay cautious of language like “partial” ocean view. Also, Russell said, make sure to pay close attention to the price. Ocean view rooms tend to be at least $50-$100 more than other rooms. So, if the deal seems too good to be true it probably is.

The other thing you can do to ensure an ocean view is to simply call the front desk and ask. A hotel concierge should be able to point you in the right direction of which room to book, and may even be able to help you score a good deal in the process.

Nobody will be more honest about a hotel’s views than previous guests. Check out the hotel’s hashtag on social media, or click over to the “tagged” section on Instagram to see what other guests have posted about the hotel and its views. Then, head to sites like Yelp or TripAdvisor to read actual customer reviews to ensure you’re getting exactly what you’re after out of your next hotel stay.