C17PSGR

The resort fee really is a significant difference. There later this week on government business. CY doesn't have the resort fee, but doesn't have much of a pool area and is pretty substandard for a CY. Marriott has a nicer pool area, but no CL. Frankly, the pool area isn't worth the $25 considering there is a much larger pool really close ....

And the resort fee didn't show up when I chose the rate; only on the page with the totals for the stay.

Anyone have a recent (i.e., this year) reports on upgrades at the Marriott?

SkiAdcock

Sorry - I thought VickiSoCal posted a link to what the resort fee included & it mentioned parking, but that might have been in a different thread.

Cheers.

VickiSoCal

That was for Waikoloa

SkiAdcock

Waikoloa, Waikiki - potato, potahto

Thanks for the clarification. I knew it was a Hawaii hotel that started w/ a W.

Cheers.

carole_d

Husband and I stayed there in early June. I emailed ahead of time stating that we were there on an award stay and that I am Platinum. I asked for a complimentary room upgrade if possible for our stay. I got a return email saying they had added the request to my reservation and when we checked in we were upgraded to a room on the 32nd floor with a view of Diamond Head and the ocean (rather than a city-view room.)

Jonas36

Was there last week. Had booked an Ocean View room. Was told at check-in that I was upgraded to a Diamond Head/Ocean View room on the 32nd floor. The room turned out to only be a partial ocean view (in my opinion). I went back to the front desk and told them I had a worse view then I had reserved. They showed me the chart of rooms and what they are called. Apparently Ocean View doesn't really mean ocean view... In order to have a "true" ocean view, you will need to be in an Ocean Deluxe room or better. They ended up moving us into an Ocean Deluxe when I argued that I had paid for an ocean view but did not really have one...

You can see how they break their rooms by category here: 2012 Room Categories

I wish I had known this before booking. Also, the rooms in the front/shorter tower are MUCH nicer than the back/taller tower as it is much more recently updated.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the info - it will be very helpful to your fellow FTers.

Cheers.

Jonas36

As a follow up, here are the views from my "Diamond Head / Ocean View Room." This shows why I felt like I had been given a worse view than my reserved "Ocean View" reservation. However the standard Ocean View turned out to be simply lower floors with the same view:

Diamond Head / Ocean - Photo 1
and
Diamond Head / Ocean - Photo 2


This is the view from my Ocean Deluxe room that we were then upgraded into:

Photo 1 - Ocean Deluxe
and
Photo 2 - Ocean Deluxe

Hope this helps!!

ikwia

And if you're staying on a govt rate (or a corp rate tied to per diem) then the resort fee puts you over...

C17PSGR

+1. Before Marriott cracked down on "per diem" rates that were higher than per diem, I used to have a lot of discussion with hotels to get them to use the right rates.

Incidentally, the W-Marriott often has "government" rates that are considerably higher than per diem rates. If you read the rules, they don't expressly say they are discounts for government employees and not per diem rates.

VickiSoCal

The Courtyard seesm to be using the new resort fee as a marketing tool for themselves. Searching for a room for my husband for a biz trip I get the two hotels (CY at 207 and Marriott at 249 + resort fee) the Courtyard brief description in the list that displays all avaialble hotels starts with:

"NO RESORT FEE & COMPLIMENTARY HIGH SPEED INTERNET."

edgewood49

most likely because there in nothing to be able to charge for !! I mean look around you at the hotel, a small substandard pool, in the drive way, poor independently operated restaurant, bar that was added on in the conversion, and internet is or at least the last time I was there slow.

Yes to anyone that reads this I am extremely disappointed in this CY, like the Kona one a poor conversion and certainly not within the CY business travelers are use to expect.

I am a lifetime PLT currently PLT Elite and have been for four straight years, sarcastic yeppers !

MaineFlyer16

I thought the King kamehameha courtyard was great (for the price). It definitely had the feel of a FS conference hotel. Huge lobby, small but decent pool, small beach, on site restaurant, convenience store, shops, etc.

edgewood49

you know I was one of the first guest there when they transitioned over, remember it was closed down for a long time, then I came back in a month and
still "working on it" ! I do agree it was a nice area, quiet yes, big lobby true big and vacant too

ljknecht570

I have reservations for both right now. $124 rate for the CY and $199 for the FS. We are only there for 2 nights. I have stayed at the FS before and thought it was nice. But for the short time, is it really worth the difference and the resort fee