SkiAdcock

"The Courtyard by Marriott Waikiki Beach has completed a $20 million renovation of its 403 rooms and suites. “The guest rooms have been completely redesigned, the bathrooms and hallways have been updated considerably, and we are enthusiastic about the design concepts we have planned for the hotel’s lobby and lobby bar. We project that renovations to the lobby and lobby bar will be completed by March.”

The article has a picture of the new room. Looks like the desk is a ledge?

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/n...veals-20m.html

edgewood49

Don't think it's a ledge like some of the newer designs Marriott is using, like the new Marriott in Bellevue WA. In looking at the pic it's looks a lot like the rooms I stayed in there, it sounds like the rooms are still the same size ( very small)

But at the end of the day ANYTHING is an improvement over what they were selling before.

JVPhoto

Is the Marriott Beach as drab as the photos on the site? The Courtyard update looks pretty fresh.

I'm trying to find the best option (may end up booking away from Marriott properties, don't need points that bad) for a stay with a room with two beds.
I'm taking my friend for his birthday and I don't want to get one of the suites with a sofa bed because even if I offered to take it he would end up insisting to take it since I took him on the trip. Would rather not have to deal with that.

We are going to be doing some stuff around the island (visiting Xfit gyms) including the North Shore so being ON the beach isn't really a make it or break it.

edgewood49

For what it's worth and I have stayed at both, I would avoid the CY. While I have not seen the renovated property I really don't need to. The basic structure has not changed, small cramped, small pool, small public area's,. bar after thought in the corner. The Marriott has been there for years, was converted about 20 years ago.

If however you don't care about space, and public area's then CY works. Be a little careful about walking around at night, your on the fringe. Best breakfast is across the street at IHOP !

CDF

I apologize in advance if this has already been asked/answered. Can anyone say if there is a significant difference between an Ocean View and the Deluxe Ocean View at the Marriott Resort & Spa? If so, can you share the particulars? I'm trying to decide on which to book for a 10 day trip in September. Normally I stay at the Courtyard but this is a special trip for my significant other so we decided we'd like to stay on the beach.

Reading other reviews of this property I can say that I'm not entirely sure what to expect and even if it would be worth it for me to book here or look at alternative non-Marriott properties. The amount of Cash and points that I'd have to use seems a little high for what some folks have said are outdated/tired rooms. Don't even get me started on "resort fees" for "extras" that I normally get as a Lifetime Platinum. On that note, are there upgrade possibilities for Platinum members? I've seen some posts where it doesn't seem to be consistent one way or another.

If anyone has any recent feedback on this property or can let me know what the main differences in room types are it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Safe Travels!

allset2travel

I would not recommend the CY. Have not stayed at the Marriott though.

I stayed at the CY for 1 night late last year. I was UG'd to a renovated room. Basically it looked like it had a new coat of paint (paint job was pretty sloppy at that). Everything else was in pretty bad shape.

Eujeanie

I stayed only one night at the Marriott, and did not have an OV room.

However, it is ACROSS the street from the beach, so if you want to be "on the beach", know that if you look down from your balcony at the Marriott you will see traffic below.

If being "on the beach" is important to you, and you say you are open to non-Marriott properties, there are several that meet that criteria. The group of Starwoods center Waikiki, a couple of Outriggers, the Halekulani and also the Hilton Hawaiian Village. There you have either the Rainbow Tower or the more exclusive Ali'i Tower with a private pool, all with no busy street between you and the ocean.

edgewood49

I think they want to stay at a Marriott property so having said that front tower at Marriott, if special and depending on status call Marriott and request. Well worth the price of admission. Problem with HHV is tired, too many people and if you want to go anywhere it's a ways. Marriott has good location to walk to. HHV if you walk out at night the park next door is or can be dangerous

Eujeanie

hmmm..."look at alternative non-Marriott properties" sounds to me like he was open to suggestions.

Yes, those doves in Ft. Derussy park can be killer. We always stay in the Ali'i Tower overlooking the Park and have never seen anything even remotely dangerous day or night. I wouldn't think of walking across a dark park anywhere, but that's just me. And the rooms were just renovated a few years ago so they do not look tired. But I do realize some don't like that hotel and its location, and that's ok. It did fit his criteria for "on the beach".

CDF

Thanks for the feedback but maybe I didn't phrase my question correctly. I am open to other properties but was focusing on the Marriott since I have status with them and can use a bunch of points I have banked up. To be right on the beach would be nice but, given the vast difference in cost for those properties (Moan Surfrider, Outrigger, etc), being across the street is fine. The main thing I was looking at was having a nice ocean view to enjoy rather than a city view.

I have a couple of options with the Marriott and both use 280,000 points for the stay. The big difference is that an ocean view room is almost $500 less than a deluxe ocean view for cash out-of-pocket. The first thing I was wondering about is whether it was worth it to pay the extra $500 for the "deluxe ocean view". Is there that much of a difference in the rooms?

The second question I have is, being a Platinum member, is there a chance of an upgrade to the deluxe ocean view room if I book just the standard ocean view room? It seems like this has been hit or miss for some folks.

The one thing that does concern me is that I've seem some people say they've booked an ocean view room and the room wasn't really what was advertised. Also, the comments that the rooms are tired and run down makes me hesitate a little bit since it is going to cost a fair number of points and cash. Oh, one additional question - what exactly do we get for the resort fees? I'm not sure I saw where this was explicitly stated before.

I do have some options for non-Marriott properties but none are ideal. For example, I could work it so that I could use points and cash for the Surfrider or one of the other Starwood properties but in each of those cases, the only rooms available for cash/points are city view rooms. So, I'm primarily looking at Marriott at this point.

Thanks

Eujeanie

Honestly, I would call the hotel and ask, because "ocean view" in Waikiki can mean many things - looking south along the coast towards the main part of Waikiki, looking straight out at the ocean (to me a boring view because it can be anywhere), looking towards Diamondhead and that coastline (would be my pick since DH is the iconic view, but it is more expensive), or even an ocean view from the back tower (get my Ps and Ks mixed up), which would be not great although technically still an OV.

I notice none of the Marriott categories is "Ocean Front", so maybe no rooms look straight out?

Which direction do you want to face? I would have the reservationist book the correct room that you want, rather than leaving it to chance. Once you know the true definitions, you can decide if you want to pay the upcharge in price.

(Just looked at the street view and seems there is no OF - the ones that look straight out seem not to be rooms, probably a stairwell or something. So all the OV's would be as I described above, and I bet anything the least expensive ones would be from the back tower)

Kacee

I had that experience. The "Ocean View" is from the side, not direct, and I was given a room that looked mostly at the HVAC units on the adjacent building (see photo, below, and note this is standing at sliding door - from inside the room what you mostly could see was the adjacent rooftop). I had a huge fight getting my $100/night upgrade fee back.

As of my last stay (over a year ago), one of the towers had been renovated, and one had not. The one closer to the water the rooms are standard modern Marriott. The other tower, they were more motel 6-ish.

As a Plat, they are probably less likely to screw you. I had no status when they dumped me in the garbage room.

I much prefer HHV to this property. You can get true ocean front in Ali'i or Rainbow tower. The one advantage Marriott has is a more central Waikiki location.

VickiSoCal

Have we discussed the new Autograph in Waikiki?

http://www.dlrgroup.com/work/aqua-wa...el-renovation/

Eujeanie

Kacee, I would have been very disappointed in that "ocean view" also...but not everyone wants to pay the Ali'i Tower prices (though I usually manage to get them for the low $200's which is fine with me). We also don't really know what the relative prices are for the OP - just what costs "more". But if the view is important, I think you just have to decide how important, and pay accordingly.

When we stayed at the Marriott it was for one night before switching to our beloved Ali'i HHV OV room...we decided, since we always stay at the HHV, to try something different to see what was out there. We didn't even care about a view, we only paid something like $179 and we had a view looking down at one of the pools and the HVAC units of all the surrounding buildings. And the Marriott pools are ugly...just cement holes in the ground (even though the Ali'i pool is also just a cement hole in the ground it somehow seems much nicer). It was interesting to be down that end of Waikiki for a change, we walked over to the zoo, and had lunch at Teddy's Burgers and dinner at Lulu's. But oh were we glad to get back to the HHV for the remaining nights of our trip.

Kacee

Two of my favorite Waikiki stops, along with Marukame and Leonard's!

Just for comparison, here's the Ocean Front view from Rainbow Tower at HHV: