Eujeanie

I see the dilemma. The kids would all prefer the GW pools, but there must have been a reason the other parents chose the FS. And your kids telling them how fun the pools are is not going to help. Seems to me, and I'm only half joking, either you don't see them at all or they switch to the GW.

UsernameChuck

I think they couldn’t find free night availability... I think the Fairmont also has a nice pool (tbc it’s Fairmont, not FS). Maybe we’ll meet at the beach, but will they even let us share beach chairs?

Eujeanie

You're right, I misread, thought you said FS. I've stayed at the Kea Lani, too, and much less of an issue - their pools are great. I think one had a volleyball net across it and a basketball hoop (not sure the ages of all the kids) but I was picturing (the boring) to kids FS pool (some kids, don't want to get flamed But I really doubt either hotel would want non-guests.

vtgambler

Expounding on what others have said, the GW uses bracelets at the pools so a family without will certainly stick out. I've only stayed at the Fairmont once but I remember the vibe being a lot more chill. Of course I would never recommend anyone breaking the rules, but you might be able to spend some time over there.

As for the beach, you can only get any as many chairs as there are registered guests. However the beaches are public, so if people are happy with rotating or using towels on the beach, there is no reason you can't all get together at either beach.

jbandy10

Does anyone know why this place plays games with award ability and what the rhyme or reason is? I see standard room bookable with money next spring but not on the points rate. Do they get released eventually?​​​​

ChurnieEls

Terrace Garden View is the only room bookable with HH at the standard rate, might be a different 'standard' room you're looking at?

Edit: conflated both room types, but sentiment was in the right place - it is only terrace view rooms that show up as 95k standard rooms per the folks below.

Eujeanie

I see a reasonable amount of 95K rooms available in February, March and half of April next year. Might not be your specific dates, but if you search by "Flexible Dates" they are there.

jbandy10

No. I'm seeing it right. Garden view is available for cash for my dates but they're charging the 300K "premium" award price. Seems like that's the case for a lot of dates.

UsernameChuck

it’s terrace view that’s 95k, not garden

Eujeanie

Correct. And they are only maybe 1/4 of the rooms (if that), they are the ones that face the road, everything else faces the garden or the ocean. So they go fast.

jbandy10

And.....yes. Thanks. I'm mistaken.

Well, there goes my Spring break. GW was the only property in the Hilton portfolio that I was looking to book in HI. Now it's probably going to come down to deciding which Bonvoy resort I have to "settle" for and figuring out how to get enough points.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Any reason not to consider the Hilton Waikoloa village on Hawaii- It is not the most modern hotel but loved the size of it , the art work in the walkways, the pools and the lanscaping on top of the black lava rocks by the sea.?

Regards

TBS

jbandy10

It's the size of it we are trying to avoid, actually. We've stayed at big massive resorts before and never enjoyed it. We usually just end up finding one spot to lounge around and stick to that. We rarely, if ever do any "resort activities." Our "activity" is sitting by the pool, eating, drinking, and swimming. This is why we much prefer places like the Hyatt Ziva style resorts that are a bit on the smaller side.

UsernameChuck

Have you been checking often? I have the theory that availability will get bumps when the state allows greater occupancy percentage. Also, I've been looking at close-in bookings, it seems like they may release rooms close to the date - if your other booking is flexible until 24 hours before, maybe you could switch last minute (obviously this works best if you'd be staying on Maui, or if you have SW points).

One more thought - if we're talking about a points reservation, I thought Bonvoy options seemed very overpriced. I'd go with other Hilton options first - but that's just me. (Since we were using FNCs, GW made the most sense for us, but if we were on a points reservation I'd have been thinking about other options as well). Hyatt options seemed better deals to me than Marriott.

Eujeanie

The GW is a massive resort, too! And I do agree with the banking scot about the Waikoloa, we're discussing it right now on it's own thread. If you ignore the Ocean Tower which is all condos, it cuts the size of it in half practically. We only took the boat down to the Ocean Tower once just to see it.

Sounds like you have kids, since you mentioned Spring Break? (or not). The Marriott Wailea is great for adults and families, they have the main pool but also the adults only infinity pool.

And tons of Bonvoy properties up in Kaanapali area.