I'm not thrilled with redeeming Cat. 5 points for this hotel, but the room rates on Maui are now so high ($400+, worse than Europe!) it looks like almost a deal. One annoyance, however, is that they seem to have almost no availability (even six months in advance) for "standard" rooms. So they charge an extra 1500 points per night for upgraded rooms. Mind you, these aren't oceanfront rooms, just ordinary-sounding "golf" or "mountain view."

Seems a little dubious -- especially since as a gold, I think I'd likely wind up in one of those slightly better rooms anyway. I assume the property is allowed to play this game?

FWIW, the Westin Maui seems to have a similar strategy.