edgewood49

Something is wrong here, not that I doubt you especially when it comes to hotels in the "islands" !I agree with the Mai Tai it's all sugar, but there are a lot of people left that have never been to the islands. Would write a letter to Marriott, but then remember within the coming year the "merger" !!

SkiAdcock

Wasn't sure where to put this. Ritz Carlton Residences opening in July '16. 2-night stay minimum & does not participate in the Ritz Carlton Rewards program, so doubt many FTers will be staying there (or the ones that do are probably the type that stay at hotels found in the Luxury hotel forum).

Cheers.

edgewood49

That's odd, makes me want to believe it's independent as well as management.

Not keen on the location either. If your going to pay that much for Hawaii why not be on or direct across from the beach.

Kagehitokiri

some of the RC units look amazing, also kitchens etc

'99%' of chain hotels are franchises, and do rewards
(even accor partner hotels, which are not franchise, do rewards)

re RC/bvlgari (marriott) >

RC waikiki is residences only, just like RC aspen (club/fractionals) - no rewards
RC reserve - no rewards
RC singapore - no rewards (this is the exception)
bvlgari - no rewards, JV with bvlgari, managed by RC

RC montreal and chicago are the only RC franchise (because of age of hotels)
RC montreal now does rewards, as does RC chicago
bvlgari london is the only bvlgari franchise (because of ritz london? like ritz paris)

re RC residences >

curious how reward earning works when booking condohotel units that are owned
unit owner gets a cut of the revenue from RC (or other chains with rewards)
does RC simply treat the rewards as part of their costs (which are subtracted)
might make sense for residences-only properties to not have rewards
or, perhaps if RC waikiki turns over to 'HOA' - owners might decide to add rewards

DenverBrian

A data point about the Courtyard Waikiki: Rooms have been updated, but it's hard to update small. My "upgraded" room again has the world's smallest shower, with a shower head set at about five feet, ten inches. Great if you're tiny; not so much if you're 6-4.

Less than $200/night though, and so it's a good value play vs. the Marriott Waikiki.

edgewood49

I suppose if your on a budget this would be durable as long as you know what to expect. If your going on points ok, but paying I might seriously look at alternative such as a condo. Sorry I have stayed here and disliked it all three times. For business when everything else was booked and or in for one night did not make sense going through all the checkin at a resort for business two days one night, boy was I wrong.

Majuki

The Courtyard is a bad rebrand, and it sounds like the 'upgrades' didn't do much, if anything, to improve the experience. I would say it is a more value conscious choice than the Marriott due to lack of resort fee. The one time I stayed there the parking charge was also included in the room rate, which wasn't bad. Since the Marriott doesn't give elites a breakfast due to its 'resort' status, it's a wash on that benefit between the Courtyard and full service Marriott.

I will be staying at the full service Marriott in two weeks on points, but even then the resort fee is still levied on award stays. I heard it used to be waived.

I imagine this thread will become more of a moot point as time goes on with the SPG merger since I personally think that the Moana Surfrider, the Sheraton Waikiki, or even the Royal Hawaiian (if you want to splurge) have a better offer for Waikiki.

edgewood49

Agreed someone should be shot for allowing that conversion from a rundown apartment to a CY.

Also I agree with you on the merger that's exciting about the hotels "across the street"

milesmutt

I couldn't agree more! We just got back from Waikiki and this property was a HUGE disappointment. I can't stress that enough.

Rooms, as many have said, are tiny, and the stand up shower is ridiculously tight.

What irked me the most is that they went through the trouble of updating the inside, but left the easily 50 year-old sliding doors unchanged.
Noise in our 14th floor room was horrible (we faced Kuhio Avenue) because the doors were poorly insulated/weatherstripped.

I finally used points to book our last two nights at the new Hyatt Centric in Waikiki, and I'm glad I did. This property is fantastic. It was nice to finish our vacation on a high note!

edgewood49

Sorry to hear but glad to hear about the new Centric I have been wondering. That's a reflag as well

SkiAdcock

New option (Autograph Collection) in March 2017. Has exec lounge.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...u-waikiki.html

Cheers.

ikwia

Quick update based on my stay at the Waikiki Marriott last week.

My corporate rate used to be at the government rate with the resort fee waived. Now, the rate is the same, but the resort fee is charged. The rate also includes breakfast now, which I do not believe is included in the normal resort fee, but this is still an unwelcome change. I am not sure if other corporate agreements are similarly affected.

I was also annoyed to learn that paper newspapers (e.g., USA Today and WSJ) are no longer provided by the property, despite "newspapers" being one of the alleged benefits of the resort fee. Instead, there is a cell phone app that lets you access newspapers. I did not learn anything more about this, b/c I wasn't interested in the hassle. I do miss the paper newspapers, which is still my preferred way to consume (most) news.

edgewood49

sadly this is becoming consistent with all the major hotels in the Islands squeezing every penny out of us. I would strongly complain to Marriott Corporate

txrus

Interesting...Hilton(s), especially the HGIs, went thru this a couple of years ago, though the real papers were still available, albeit in much more limited quantities. I, too, never bothered w/using the app as I prefer a real paper.

This has now been discontinued @ the Hilton properties & apparently has migrated to Marriott(?) though I did not see any evidence of it in my Fairfield Inn stay 2 weeks ago.

As always, make your feelings known about this & perhaps it will, eventually, go away.

itsaboutthejourney

The Japanese owners of the Starwood Waikiki Properties (Moana Surfrider, Sheraton Waikiki and The Royal Hawaiian) don't seem to take that approach; while they have older buildings, they maintain them and continue to innovate with services and quality food & beverage outlets. Marriott International would do very well to learn from them. Then again they are sitting on some of the most amazing real estate in Waikiki and possibly cater to a bit more sophisticated/affluent customer base than the Courtyard and Marriott Waikiki.