davidsc111

Can anyone speak to how crazy this place is when it's full? I have a trip scheduled over July 4th and am wondering if I should reserve a cabana to make sure we have room poolside...thanks!

BlueZebra

The pool areas will be crowded even when the house isn't full. I would get a cabana.

dsorota

My family checked in this past weekend for our 7th visit to the Grand Wailea. We are staying for the second time in a row in the same room, a Napua Club Suite. While the Napua benefits are great, I was disappointed that their Grand Refresh renovation program didn't include the Napua Club Suites. It is the same tired furnishings as last time the only difference is a new bathroom mirror. When I asked the bellman why the room wasn't upgraded he said the Napua Club Suites were not upgraded and didn't know why they were excluded from the project.

BrlDsguise

Maybe it's me but I couldn't tell you what the furnishings were in our room at GW or whether or not they were "tired". I don't go to Maui to look at a room so as long as the bed isn't soft I am happy.

BlueZebra

Agree. Stayed in a Napua Club Suite in November literally the first 5 days the Napua Tower was open after the remodel. I saw absolutely nothing wrong with the furnishings. The room and view were great. That is why we just booked a week there for this coming November.

Eujeanie

I just booked on points for September - standard room, garden view, Molokini Tower. 70,000 pts per night, which is all we had. I thought that was a good deal since other times of the year the same standard rooms are over 100,000 pts per night, and nicer rooms astronomical.

Probably won't get any upgrade (just Gold), but wondering if anyone has stayed in such a lowly room and how it was.

Cardboard55

I probably already mentioned this earlier in the thread, but when we were there last year we were shown a renovated room and ended up staying in a non-renovated room. I actually greatly prefer the style and decor of the pre-renovation rooms, and found everything to be in good condition. I'm sure some are more worn than others, and obviously worn out furnishings aren't ok. But putting aside wear and tear, I'm completely unconvinced that the renovation is an improvement...

felicity5

We booked in October for 6 nights at 58,000 per night. If you stay at least five nights they give you the discount.
We stayed on points in the Molokini Tower last year and were very satisfied.
It was an upgraded room in a high floor so the noise from the road didn't bother us. We had a lovely view of the mountains.
Try and see if you can get the cheaper rate if you are staying five nights or more.

Eujeanie

Yes, I don't know why I never say the discounted points, but it was 70,000 for 4 nights with the 5th free, so an effective rate of 58,000. Glad to hear the room was ok.

laxrdu

Stayed here for a week in December, just before Christmas. Thought it was fantastic. A couple thoughts:

- There seemed to be more or less no benefit to having Diamond status, so the folks who are worrying about staying here as "only gold" or something shouldn't worry, IMO. We didn't use any of the coupons they gave us for being Diamond members. The $20 off at Bistro Molokini is good for dinner only, and it's really more of a lunch spot. The two free drinks at Botero are only good for well drinks, house wine, or domestic beers. 20% off a spa treatment is nice, but the proper spa wasn't open yet when we stayed. So you're not really missing out on much without status.

- We stayed on points,and had booked the cheapest room type (deluxe garden?), and were told no upgrades available when we asked, other than of course the $100/night Napua Tower upgrade. We took it, though it's hard to say whether or not it was "worth it", since we've never stayed at the GW before, and have no basis for comparison, but we really liked the room. We obviously wouldn't have had the nice ocean view from the room we originally booked, though, so it seemed worthwhile to us. The breakfast in the Napua lounge is no better than your average US lounge breakfast, so I wouldn't spend the money if the reason you're upgrading is lounge access. It was nice to wander down and have a cup of coffee and read the paper in the morning, but I was happy to go pay for real food elsewhere.

- We were on the fence about whether or not to rent a car at the airport, and in the end we decided to. We were very glad we did, regardless of how the math would have worked out. It seemed like it would have been a real hassle to deal with renting a car at the hotel each time we wanted to go somewhere.

- Renting a kayak at the beach was fun, but the area they limit you to is pretty tiny. I can't imagine what anyone who rents one for two hours actually does. Take a nice nap?

- You'll spend more money there than you think. It was not a cheap vacation, even with the free rooms, so plan for that.

We'll definitely be back. It was great.

XUEC

Wondering if anyone has insights on the following--

Booked 4 nights in May:

Night 1--paid stay--deluxe ocean view
Nights 2-4--points stay--70,000 per night for lowest level room (terrace view)

The agent requested that we be kept in the same room throughout the stay--thought doing it like this would make it more likely we'd get the deluxe ocean view the whole 4 nights. Would they actually make you move rooms after night 1?

Btw HHonors Gold if it matters.

sundevils

At $30 a day for mandatory valet service I have no intention of tipping.

flymax77

staying here in march, is there any current diamond status match available?

Or is hilton honors spending limit the only current way to get diamond without actually staying in the hotel?

MBS MillionMiler

Hey, you're free to do what you want. But those guys/gals running and getting your car really don't see any of that $30. Chances are they're making minimum wage. A few bucks for their hard work, IMHO

Diamond really doesn't get you a ton at this place, at least blowing a once-a-lifetime (probably) status match isn't really worth it. Even if HH isn't matching to Diamond, there are a lot of ways to get HH Gold*, and the Gold vs Diamond bennies are absolutely equal here.

*One way, if you are paying for a room would be to consider the GW's own "Elite" membership. While it does run $1500 up front, you get 30% off the "best available rate" for your stay, 20% off all food/beverage/spa, and among other benefits, HH Gold status every year, as long as you're a GW Elite member. (Full disclosure, I'm a member, but we go to the GW every year and it saves me a ton of money--I do get a credit for any referrals, so if you're interested, let me know!)

hailstorm

The hard work of parking my car? I do that all the time for nothing.

It's not my problem that they choose to work for an employer that pays them poorly.