Originally Posted by
kamchatsky
For my other family members who has never been to USA before, it is not a bad thing. But I get your point of staying at North Shore. I was even thinking of staying at Starwood properties which should be available on 1 August such as Westin, Sheraton etc ....
If you wait to August 1, it is probably guaranteed that all Hawaiian hotels, both legacy Marriott and legacy SPG, will be more expensive than they are under the present award redemption chart.
If I look at a random 5 nights for the week before Easter in April 2019, which is when you said you will travel, paid rates at the Courtyard Waikiki are as low as $162 per night plus taxes and fees. For $216 per night, you can get a package with 5,000 bonus points. A 399-square-feet suite is $227 per night.
The full-service Laylow, Autograph Collection and Marriott Waikiki are $227 and $218, respectively. However, those properties charge resort fees per night ($37 at the Waikiki Marriott and $29 at the Laylow). Also, parking will be expensive. By contrast, the Courtyard Oahu North Shore, which like the Courtyard Waikiki doesn't have a resort fee, is $227 per night plus taxes. They also have a package at $284 per night that includes a $100 hotel credit, which could be valuable if it can be used for food and drinks.
Those paid rates are low enough that I would consider paying cash, as I suspect April will be busy with spring break/Easter break tourists. Absent a big sale, I doubt the paid rates will get any cheaper, though I've seen the Marriott Waikiki for around $180 per night. However, the Marriott Waikiki will be undergoing a renovation beginning this fall so you might want to avoid this property as I doubt they can finish a 1,000-room renovation by April 2019.
At legacy SPG properties, the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, which isn't on the beach but is in Waikiki, has paid rates in April 2019 as low as $195 per night plus taxes.
If I had family and planned on having a car, I would stay at the Courtyard on the North Shore.