Planning our first visit to the Big Island this fall (been to Maui & Kauai 3 times each, Oahu 4 times for pleasure, 2 for business).
In any event, I initially booked points for the Sheraton because it looked like a tremendous value (I'm cheap with my points) and it had a lounge. That being said, I called and spoke to one of the managers at the Sheraton and asked her to give me an honest, objective assessment of the Sheraton vs the Westin. She convinced me to trade up to the Westin. Basically, she said that while the Sheraton is a very nice property, it's quite dated (especially the bedrooms) and there's no beach there (I had missed that from my research). She said she's visited the Westin several times now during the renovation and assured me it's going to be spectacular.
I think her most convincing argument to me was something like this, "if I lived on the mainland and only came over to the Big Island one week a year for vacation, I'd splurge on the Westin"). Well, the Westin isn't actually a splurge (although it's a few more thousand points/night), but based on her evaluation of the two properties, I switched. I am a lifetime plat at Marriott (still not exactly sure what that's going to transfer to in the new program after Aug 1), but maybe we'll get comp resort breakfast and maybe even 5 guaranteed SNA's if I kind of understand some of the new benefits going into effect with the merged program? Regardless of whether or not they'll have a club (I understand the latest is they won't), or whether we get a garden view or ocean room or a free brekkie, we're at the Westin Hapuna and looking forward to our week on the Big Island.