Nope. Coupons given (2). The booklet calls them "welcome drinks". Other items included in the resort fee use the word "daily", drinks do not. It is per STAY.

p.s. no half price kid's meals either. Only parking, internet/calls and daily 1/2 day snorkel equipment rental. $20 a day.

OK, so to be clear here, in 2007 when I went to the Marriott Waikoloa, there was an optional $15/day resort fee that included:

*2 alcoholic drinks daily
*free 1/2 day snorkeling daily
*free parking
*free HSIA
*half price kids meals in restaurant
*possibly free tennis or some other amenity I did not use


NOW in 2008 the resort fee is $20/day, does NOT appear to be optional and includes:

*2 welcome Mai Tais
*parking
*inernet
*snorkeling

And the Marriott website only mentions the fee once you are actually choosing a room.

Serious downgrade.

$11 - 16 now....


By the way, you mention try to enjoy the rest of your stay.

On this exceptional island nothing could ruin my stay (my sleep maybe, but not my stay). :D

Hope you get a chance to check out the 2 fabulous beaches right up the road. The one at the Prince and the other one (names elude me at the moment) I think they are both rated in the Top 10 in the world. Seems like it was just 5 or 6 miles from Waikoloa.
Cindi

Hapuna Beach?

I hear you. Last September, I was on a combined paid/award stay at this property. I was attending a convention at the Hilton, but I thought I would get better treatment at the Marriott since I was MR Gold. I think I was wrong. (In any case, I'm HH Diamond now, and have "only" 41 nights credit with Marriott this year as I've started to use Marriott only in exceptional circumstances when I have no alternative.)

Update:

8) Also screwed on base points and night credits at this property. (Now I have to fax it in and prove it).

Since my 4 night stay ($254 a night) is marked as 5/22 - 5/22 no night credits were given, points are inexplicably low too. Although I would be delighted to have paid only $358.40 for 4 nights and meals.



05/22/08 05/22/08 Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa 5,159 pts
Base Earnings 3,584 pts
Platinum Arrival Gift Bonus 500 pts
30% Elite Bonus 1,075 pts

I am just wrapping up a stay at the Hilton next door. I've stayed at the Marriott Waikoloa before (around 1.5 yrs ago when it was still being remodeled) and prefer it to the Hilton Waikoloa Village. While the Hilton is fine, it is dated in parts and they redefine 'nickel and diming' here.

My favorite beach in the whole world. Would love to stay at the Hapuna again, but gonna use up some points at the Marriott this time.

$10 for a Pina Colada at the Waikiki Marriott on Oahu.

Your post reminded me of our vacation to the Maui Marriott in Aug 2001...the entire week we were there, the poolside bar was running two specials...MaiTais for $6 and Sam Adams for $2. Lucky for us, my favorite drink is a MaiTai and hubby drinks Sam.

Each round, with tip, was $10. Sounds like an amazing bargain now, eh?

:)

Hi pjoalfa,

I'm very sorry to hear that you did not have an enjoyable stay at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott. I would be happy to forward your concerns on to Customer Care if you haven't contacted them already. Please let me know.

Best regards,

Drew

Thanks Drew, already done.

I too have to undertake the fax it/prove it routine next week:

1. I stayed at a HI MVCI destination 5 weeks ago (with points), and our week-long tally of qualified room charges have not yet posted to my account. The 15K points for sitting through the timeshare pitch haven't posted either.

2. The Marriott I stayed at a few weeks ago had plumbing/water issues (the city unexpectedly (so I was told and don't have reason to believe otherwise) turned off the water, and when it came back on, dark brown water came out of the faucet/tub for 10 minutes. I received a note in my room from the front desk when I returned from the office, with a written apology that said Marriott was adding 1K Rewards to my account. Although I called the front desk to politely request prompt resolution of the issue that morning, I had not complained, so I thought it was a nice gesture to offer the (mere) 1K points. However, the 1K didn't post along with my regular Rewards points from the stay. I guess I'll have to fax the written apology to obtain what was offered???? Although I hadn't originally planned to contact Marriott to complain about the dark brown water issue, I've decided to now that I didn't receive the 1K points. And, I have pictures of the sink and tub, since I happened to bring my camera on this particular business trip.

The fax it/prove it routine is such a pain...

[QUOTE= Serious downgrade.[/QUOTE]

This is a substantial change. I noticed this downgrade in recent (last 6 months?) Trip Advisor reviews. I stayed at the Marriott Waikoloa in Spring 2007 on a MR stay, and the resort fee included two mai tais, daily. Also, my 2007 reservation info said that the resort fee was optional for MR stays. At check-in, I opted out of the resort fee, primarily on principle since the only benefit to me would have been the daily mai tais, and I wasn't sure that we'd drink them, daily. FWIW, I tried to recreate the same reservation to respond to a message on Trip Advisor, and I did not receive the info that said the resort fee was optional when redeeming MR for the stay...

I also had a fantastic time at this Marriott. However, I stayed before the cabanas were installed. There were many umbrellas available when I was there. Additionally, there were not more than 30 people at the pool each day, so service was prompt.