HIFlya

Haha...sorry...even more confusion. So there was a $70 for $350 spend amex offer from December sometime. I called the GW, and they were willing to attach a $350 advance billing to my reservation so I could take advantage of the $70 credit, which also triggered by $250 Aspire resort credit. So now I have $350 to spend at GW (I guess in theory I don't have to spend all of it because the CSR was nice enough to say that any balance would be refunded) but I am planning on spending the $350. I don't have the Aspire resort credit anymore. If I go over $350 in spend at GW, I may shoot for ANOTHER $350 to make use of the current $60 credit. Haha...I am not a big resort type of guy, so $700 seems like a lot in non-room rate expenses, but one trip to the spa for my wife...it isn't going to be that hard.

panpan

Also the daily resort fee and parking?

kthpence

I'm not sure if this is an occurrence of WA properties or Hilton's website in general, but does anyone else notice that oftentimes properties show up as sold-out one day, and then the next, there are dozens of rooms available in every category?

That's what's happening right now for our upcoming stay on Feb 20 - 25th at the GW. Just yesterday, there was a room available in every single category + more leftover (I did a dummy booking for 9 rooms) and this AM, it says the hotel is sold out? A similar thing happened to me when booking the WA in Rome, but the hotel wasn't even close to capacity when we arrived.

Any idea as to why that may happen? We booked on points and are diamond so I was hoping to get an upgrade to at least a garden view room if possible (which is why I was checking availability frequently).

HIFlya

Waived resort fee due to award stay or diamond status...one or the other forgot which, and no parking because just taking Lyft (with the new benefits from CSR) from and to the airport. We are planning on pretty much staying at the resort the whole time, we have two young kids, so that is pretty much all they will want to do.

BlueZebra

Award stay waives the resort fee. Not Diamond status.

Megan Murray

Hi all. We will be visiting Maui for the first time this August and are staying at the Grand Wailea. We are looking at doing a snorkelling excursion at Molokini Crater, and as this may start at 6am, it looks like we would miss the complimentary gold members breakfast. Are they happy to credit the value of breakfast on another meal, or apply that value to breakfast another day? I’ve read reports of this on Tripadvisor but not sure if they still allow this.

Also, does anyone know what time the pools/ slides close every evening? I’ve heard some mention it’s too early - just trying to plan our days!

drewdawg199

If you snorkel Molokini in the morning you will miss the free breakfast, but most boats have some type of food included so it’s really not worth worrying about.

Slides definitely close by 5 maybe earlier but the adult pool and maybe one of the others is open until I think midnight.

LovePrunes

heck i'd pay EXTRA to see that lol

LovePrunes

snorkel trip to molokini + whatever snacks they give you or that you bring yourself is WAY worth missing a single day of a gold members breakfast. You're on vacation, just relax and enjoy the whole experience even if you don't get to maximize every single freebie you might have missed. My 2 cents. We loved molokini AND the buffet.

UsernameChuck

Out of curiosity, they're not picking you up, are they? I'm tempted to try this but we won't have a car and I'm not sure if it would be worth the hassle. (Also, older kid was pretty freaked out the one and only time we went snorkeling.)

HIFlya

Maybe someone can weigh in, I knew the GW had a kids play area where they have games and activities, kind of like the Aunty's Beach House at Aulani and I was definitely going to dump the kids off there for half, or even a full day. However, I was looking on the GW website and saw there is a fee for the kids. Does anyone know if the fee is just for the kids to get access or for specific special activities? If it is just for access, then that will definitely poke a hole in my $350 advance.

gaobest

I did the 6a Molokini snorkeling activity in 2017, and it included transport from the west entrance (not the pretty main one with valets). Ask for guidance from GW about the pickup location when you’re there. No need for a car.

I also rented their go pro. They gave me a SD card and I still love my videos.

great great activity but I barely ate and thus didn’t get sick while feeling some nausea on the ride back.
I don’t suggest eating :-). I rested in cabana for most of the day.

I’m glad to have done something that I’ve never before done (deep sea snorkel involving a boat) - my standard is renting a snorkel for the beaches!

gaobest

I think that fee is for access without an adult. They waive fee if adult is there. My child wanted to play with their video game platforms (Xbox or similar) as we have Switch and not the others. so I did work stuff and would have just read a book there - it’s indoors and Ac so I actually enjoyed a change from the sunny pool.

HIFlya

Ahh so it is like a babysitting fee. It makes sense, I will have to decide whether I want to chill there with the kids or chill with the wife. I guess the money I stay by staying there with the kids, the wife can go to the spa. I am a little bummed it isn't free to leave the kids too, it was free at Aulani.

drewdawg199

Is anyone else on this board a GW Elite Member? Just wondering if you are considering dropping your membership with the upcoming increase in annual fees to $350 from $225. Seems very aggressive to me, we are 99% going to cancel.