Jasper2009

The way the ovation certs work is that you call in to make the reservation, and if the Fairmont room category is available, you proceed and make the booking.

Whether a Fairmont room booked under the best available rate (or any other flexible rate) can be changed to an ovation certs booking, I don´t know. Based on my overall experience, I´d say probably yes, but I have no personal experience doing so.

lkar

Thanks Jasper.

I notice at the Kea Lani that they actually have a room category below the "Fairmont" room, called the "Moderate" room. It looks as though availability is not quite as good for various dates as the Fairmont room. I wonder if the ovation cert only applies to the Moderate and not the Fairmont.

Jasper2009

The Kea Lani is somewhat unique as it´s an all-suite hotel. Therefore the room hierarchy isn´t as simple as at other hotels.

AFAIK the ovation certs are valid for a Fairmont Garden view suite and possibly a Fairmont Partial Ocean View Suite. I´m pretty sure you´d not be limited to booking a Moderate Suite (basically the same suite, but a view of the parking lot)

There is no ovation cert that books into the "moderate room" category (a room category that only exists at a few hotels and typically has a similar layout as a Fairmont room, but has no/worse views), so I´m pretty confident the same rules would apply at the Kea Lani.

However, it´s one of the few things I have limited experience with, so please contact FPC before spending $1700 if booking a particular room on a set date is important to you.

lkar

Thanks Jasper. I have contacted them and will indicate their reply. It may be academic, since they are only offering a few of the certs and they likely will be very tough to buy.

RewardTraveler

I stayed on Ovation certificates last year and can confirm they book into the Fairmont room.

lkar

Yes, Fairmont has confirmed these certs can book into the Fairmont King or double at this property. Thanks. Good luck to everyone trying to purchase them -- but not too much luck.

kokinos

Thanks for the kind words! I've got about 5 other Fairmont hotel reports in the works.

Bonk

I'm off to Hong Kong in a couple of hours and will be going through FT withdrawal for the next fews days but wanted to post a belated thank you to all who have posted information on the Fairmont Kea Lani! I first stayed at the Kea Lani last December after learning about the renovation rate on this board and fell in love with the hotel. Booked a partial ocean view and received a ground floor room with patio to the grass and pool. It was amazing!

On May 8th I was able to purchase a set of Ovation certificates for the Fairmont Kea Lani via daily getaways and they just arrived this morning. Needless to say, I would not have known about this without all of you and Flyertalk. So thank you, thank you, again!

Have a great week and happy flying!

makemoretospendmore

Just finished a 5 night stay and definitely enjoyed our time. As FPC Plat, we used our suite upgrade and ended up in 216 with a view of the ocean and pool, right above the Polo Grille. Actually, we ended up not needing the suite upgrade cert as the lady checking us in told us she just would let us save it for another visit. I did ask about the villas and was told it would be another $1K per night. Our suite was actually quite a good spot for us as we had a 10 month old. No complaints about the suite, FHR amenity was some packages of macadamian nuts and FPC amenity we chose was a fruit plate.

We arrived in the evening the first night and bought some food at the cafe. Decent stuff and while overpriced, I was expecting more outrageous pricing ($13 for a huge sandwich, $3 for a beer).

With FHR, we had the breakfast package included. Ate there every morning but one, as we were very full and nice to see that tax and gratuity were included. Brunch had a great variety. Only problem was the constant shooing away of birds that would come to the table to eat what was around.

Dinner the next night was a Nick's. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and one main fish dish. Really enjoyed the mixed seafood soup and the kanpachi sashimi. A nice atmosphere with attentive service but casual enough. Great place to watch the sunset.

We did hop out to Feraro's over at the FS for dinner the next night. Definitely more pricey but really good food. Also less snooty than expected. Some people were dressed up and others were just wearing shorts. We drove over because of the baby, even though there is a comp shuttle at KL, and had no problems with the free valet.

My wife was looking forward to Ko but it turned out to be a disaster. Things started off well with the hot rock ahi appetizer and the fried ahi roll. It was also pretty cool to select wine off of the iPAD. The entrees were awful. Bland, lacking taste, and in my case of the ribeye, overcooked. The oxtail, was flavourless, and the waiter even told us afterwards it would probably be the one thing on the menu he would not recommend. I know there was a post earlier about how good this ribeye was, but even when it came out the next time, it was awful. The waiter apologized and took both entrees off, and we made sure he was tipped well, because the food prep was not his fault.

Of note, we did love the tip of parking under the garage or overtop to find bigger spots. Having rented a minivan, it was definitely much easier to navigate in and out of spots there!

Overall, a really nice atmosphere, friendly staff who would always say "Aloha" when walking down the halls, great housekeeping who would work around our schedule of a sleeping baby, and overall relaxed atmosphere. It didn't feel like anyone here was posing, but rather just around to relax. The staff didn't make it feel like we had to tip for everything (even though we were happy to for great service).

copilot5

I'm about to book my 2 free nights at the Kea Lani using my certs from the Chase Fairmount sign up. Since this is an all-suite hotel, am I supposed to use my room upgrade or suite upgrade cert to upgrade my booking? Does it matter?

Also, we have a $50 dining credit, I believe. Which restaurant at the Kea Lani do you recommend we spend it at?

Jasper2009

You can use a suite upgrade cert to upgrade from a Fairmont suite to a Partial Oceanview Suite, pretty sure room upgrade certs can´t be used there.

Ancien Maestro

We've visited the property now 6 times, and never ate at Ko before. The restaurant location was recently constructed and looks pretty nice.. just outside of Ciao cafe.

Funny, I spoke with a mortgage company president over lunch, and he said he loves Nick's Fish Market that's onsite at Kea Lani.. They rent a condo in Wailea, and make the special trip in to Nicks it seems each year. We've ate at Nick's 6 or 7 times, and nevery had a bad experience. Another good restaurant is Spago's at the Four Seasons.. Prefixe menu before 6 pm and 8:30 pm for $49.99 per person, gets you a 3 course meal..

Room upgrade certs on FPC T&C does not apply to Kea Lani.. the suite upgrade and complimentary nights are accepted at Kea Lani.

philemer

I just got off the phone with a FPC rez. agent and was told that I could only upgrade (using Premier Suite u/g) from a Fairmont King Suite to a Garden View King Suite. She said I could not u/g to a Partial Ocean View Suite. She said there was a "policy change". I will call back but has anyone heard of this change? Sucks, if true.

Update: I called back a minute ago and spoke to Wanda and she said she could do the u/g to the Partial OV Suite. We went ahead and made the rez. for next Feb. Sounds like some corporate training is needed for the rez. agents.

makemoretospendmore

As I mentioned we were really looking forward to it but it was just awful. Huge disconnect between the environment/decor and the food. Should have just ordered a pizza or sandwich at the cafe for much less...

love2ft

Does anyone have any recent experience or advice about staying here with young children? I have a toddler and a nine-year-old.