John C

I just booked my round the world honeymoon tickets and now I am looking to book my hotels for each stop. I have plenty of Marriott points to spend, so I'd love to use them when possible. If anyone has any experience with the following cities, I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments on my choices. Thanks!

Hawaii (Maui)

Maui Marriott Resort & Ocean Club
Kapalua Bay - A Renaissance Resort
Wailea Marriott Resort
Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort

Tokyo, Japan

Renaissance Tokyo Hotel Ginza Tobu
Tokyo Marriott Hotel Kinshicho Tobu

Seoul, S Korea

JW Marriott Hotel Seoul
Renaissance Seoul Hotel

Beijing, China

New World Courtyard Beijing
Renaissance Beijing Hotel
Beijing Marriott Hotel West

Mumbai (Bombay), India

Renaissance Mumbai Hotel & Convention Centre
JW Marriott Hotel Mumbai

Cairo, Egypt

Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino
JW Marriott Hotel, Cairo

Paris, France

Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees
Renaissance Paris Hotel La Defense

freeflyin

We enjoyed the Renaissance Wailea very much 2 years ago-but as of April 05,it is no longer a Marriott property

Enjoy everywhere your travels take you!

Hawkeye

Here would be my votes:

Renaissance Wailea
Renaissance Beijing
Try to get the New Otani in Tokyo
Paris Champs

Don't know about the others.

John C

Thanks for the recommendations Hawkeye. Let me throw in one more choice in Maui - The Ritz Carlton. I can get in there for only marginally more points than one of the others. It certainly wins in brand name cache. How does the resort itself compare to the Renaissance proterties?

AZ_MISMAN

The Ren Wailea may no longer be part of the Marriott family when you travel, but the Wailea part of the island is great. You'll find a much more subdued, non-touristy atmosphere. I will try the Marriott Wailea on my next Maui trip.

Bob

zakami

I would do the JW Marriott in Mumbai. Much better location. The Renaissance is not central at all.

ExtrAAordinaire

Just FYI, La Defense is not centrally located. Unless you specifically have business in that area of Paris, I would suggest lodging elsewhere.

hyunja

JohnC,

I would like to congratulate you on your wedding and hope you have fun on your RTW honeymoon trip.
I've stayed at the Seoul Marriott three times since its opening in 2000. I think it's the best Marriott Rewards Award Category Four hotel. The rooms are great and the surrounding area is great. It has two subway train (Route 3 and 7) stations underneath so travel around town is easy. There is also KE and OZ check-in desk in the bus terminal where you can check your bags before you get on the non-stop bus trip to the ICN. You can also take this bus to the hotel from the airport. Just ask where the bus to the Marriott is.
How long will you be staying in Seoul and what are your plans for that time? You don't indicate what time of the year. I hope you avoid the summer and winter time visit to Korea. Not the most pleasant times due to the typhoons and lack of snow clearing vehicles. Fall season around mid-October is the best.
No matter what, I hope you have fun in Seoul, Korea.

HJ

jjj

For Maui, I would check to see if you can get a Suite at the Marriott Kaanapali. This cost less then ocean view rooms in Wailea. We got one 2 years ago 1 Bed 2 Bath with a great Ocean View. I think it was about 100,000 for 5 nights.
The Ritz is a good choice in the Summer as Kapalua can be rainy in the winter. Also note that it is a 5 minute walk to the beach. The original plan was to have it on the beach but there is a sacred burial gound there.
Wailea Marriott is great as well. You cant lose with the choices on Maui.

droliaa

The JW Marriott Hotel Mumbai is a must -

John C

Thanks for all the great replies and please keep them coming. The trip will be in October, which will hopefully give decent weather across the range of destinations.

So far, the JW Marriott in Seoul and Mumbai seem to be the preferred choices in those locations.

I was already leaning towards the Champs hotel in Paris so the comments here just reinforced and cemented that one as the right answer there.

The Rene in Beijing seems like the winner there.

Maui seems to be the most difficult choice. I suppose the good news is that it is likely difficult to make a truly bad choice. I had no idea that the Ritz was not on the beach. I'd love to get more info on that. Could they just not build on the beach and so there is a garden there or literally do you walk up a street somewhere and go to a public beach? That would be.... ummm... surprising.

The consensus here seems to be leaning towards Wailea, but that goes against advice I got elsewhere that suggested Kapalua was a more intimate location for a honeymoon and that the Ren was great for making you feel like you had gotten away from the crowds. At this point, I'm actually confused so please keep the recommendations coming and thought on strengths and weaknesses of each are especially appreciated.

Thanks again to everyone! It is great to have so much information available from people who have been to these locations.

jjj

John C,
To See location and layout this is a good web page. It shows arial views of the hotels.
http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/mauaerials.html

Based on your last comments, I would go with the Wailea Marriott. All Hotels in Wailea are spread out with great landscaping. Kaanapali the hotels are closer and it has whalers village in the middle. The thing I like about Kaanapali is that there are many restaurants in walking distance (Hula Grill is great).
Not to comfuse things more. Marriott Wailea does not have a beach in front of it but one on each side of the property. If you get an ocean front room, the surf is great as it hits the black rocks. I stayed there for my Honeymoon 13 years ago when it was an Intercontinental.
Another good web I would recommend:
http://www.mauihawaii.org/

However, if you golf, Kapalua wins hands down.

As I said in my last post, you cant lose.

Life_Platinum

I've been at a number of the Marriotts listed.
For Tokyo, the Ren has a great location right in the middle of Ginza, and would be my property of choice.

The last time I was to Mumbai, I again stayed at the Ren, as I had business near the airport. There is a Marriott on the grounds that features long stays. I do not know the new Marriott at Mumbai, and found the Ren satisfactory.

The JW in Cairo is a fine property, and in Paris, I would favor the Marriott because of its location. However, this is a very difficult property to stay on an award.

I have not stayed in the Marriotts in Seoul or Beijing.

Two others come to mind for an around the world tour: The Hong Kong Marriott and the Rome Flora Marriott.

dvcmommy

My husband and I honeymooned at the Ritz Kapalua. It is situated on a hill above the beach and there is a walking path down to the beach. It's a beautiful luxury resort (obviously, it's a Ritz )

So, for not many more points, it receives my vote. Although, the Wailea area is beautiful and I might want to try out the Four Seasons, Fairmont Kea Lani or Grand Wailea some day.

Kim

John C

jjj - Thanks! Those Arial view photos are great! They really let you see the resorts. That's one of the best tools I've seen.