Taking last minutes rates as a barometer of savings is not really a fair measure IMO.

FWIW, planning ahead at this property has yielded good rates for me. My last 3 stays: $229/nt (Dec 2012), $199/nt (July 2011), and $292/nt (May 2008 - Ocean View special is the reason this one was higher). I generally don't use points in Hawaii as rates are cheap compared with other cities I frequent: Hong Kong, Rome, London, and Paris. I would much rather get 2-3¢/pt return than 0.5¢/pt. Now for those that don't venture to places with better returns, then Hawaii probably works for them.

Also for those that earn their points from work travel, they have the luxury of being able to use points for most of their personal stays. For those of us like myself, who personally pay for all of their stays, we have to be a bit more picky and choose the ones with that give the best return for our points. So my requirements are a bit more rigid for obvious reasons. Pay $200-300/nt for Hawaii or $500-900/nt for the other cities; for me the math is simple.