escapefromphl

Yes I was charged a parking fee, there is no resort fee.

We were given choice of daily breakfast for 2 or 1000 pts. Obviously chose breakfast, it’s a full buffet, pretty good. $39 menu price.

We also ate at Manta, which being a somewhat fine dining restaurant is actually not anymore expensive than other similar Island restaurants.

They also put out coffee in the lobby at 5:30 am, beats the in room stuff.

Pocatello

Parking is expensive. I saved $5 per day by self parking, but in hindsight I wish I did the valet parking.

The breakfast is awesome. Free breakfast for 2 people is nice, and the quality is quite good. The bread pudding in a dutch oven is heavenly!

The omelette station cooks your eggs to order, and there is a long line at times. No worries!

Plenty of choices for breakfast. I like the smoked salmon.

The beach is amazing! If you have never been... the beach is the best in the world, IMHO!

Epnawd

Hello,

I have 7 nights booked at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel mid April 2020.

I am a Platinum Marriott member, unfortunately; there’s no option to use my 5 SNAS for a room upgrade.

from what I understand based off reading these thread, I’m better off upgrading to a beach front room or a Ocean front.

I also understand I can call ahead and upgrade a room on top of my points, which are 50,000 per night; which the upgrade rate seems to be around $150-$200 a night. I personally can’t afford that, but could make an exception if it’s a “requirement” staying at this hotel. Especially with Canadian currency, add 25% on top of that.

Am I better off chancing it on check in with my platinum status? Is April considered a high season? There doesn’t appear to be any ground floor beach front rooms left, but I suppose I could chance it on check in and hope for a Deluxe Ocean front?

looking for some insights or ideas if possible.

BeantownFlyer

On my stay last year we did get upgraded to a spectacular oceanfront room on the top floor. The view was to die for. However the room itself was not any different than a golf view room.

Some tips:

1). You need to be careful with accepting a beachfront room. Many are the “classic” rooms which have not been renovated. My brother stayed a few weeks before us and as a titanium had one of these “dumpy” rooms (to use his words). During my stay I learned that they had supposedly intentionally not refurbished these rooms because some guests want the “original” experience. I would stay away from these rooms which have original bathrooms.

2). The upgrade that is worth it is to a “deluxe” room (even golf view). These rooms were constructed by combining a standard room with 1/2 of another standard room and have spectacular bathrooms that run the length of the room. Unfortunately I could
not get a suite or one of these rooms despite my titanium status.

3). Our oceanfront room had a magical view. At the same time I would not pay much or use a lot of points for an upgrade. How much are you really going to enjoy the view from your room? Save the money/points and spend it elsewhere on something special.

4). If an upgrade is important to you try reaching out to a manager a week or two in advance of your stay. If there is something special about your trip (anniversary, honeymoon etc) and given your status they will likely try to upgrade you a few days before arrival depending on occupancy. That is what they did for me.

Good luck!

jja34-1

All of the rooms I have seen in the beach front wing have been renovated and have very nice (albeit smaller) bathrooms. The "classic" rooms in the main building were also renovated several years ago but the bathrooms are small and do not have an external view like the Deluxe rooms.

I guess opinions vary but I've never seen a room at the Mauna Kea that I would call "dumpy" and I've stayed in multiple categories.

wanderlust99

I'm not sure if April is high season or not (I imagine not), but we stayed there mid-June last year for 2 nights and tried to apply SNAs. We didn't get an upgrade, either with the SNAs or upon check in and we are LTT. I wouldn't count on getting any upgrades other than what you pay for. (Although, we did get a wonderful breakfast in the restaurant daily as LTT.)

That being said, we had 2 nice rooms in the tower near the visitor parking lot. The view wasn't the best, but overlooked some nice trees and was not bad. The rooms are small but nice but we didn't spend much time in them so it didn't bother us too much. Even without a glamorous beachfront room, we would love to go back.

Enjoy your stay!

jch636

How likely are Gold elites to get upgraded? We booked the base Golf Vista room on points.

Also, does anyone know how large and what depth the pool is? I'm bringing two young kids with me - while I know the main attraction at the Mauna Kea is the beach, they love swimming in the pool as well. We've visited the Mauna Kea many years ago for the luau, so I've always wanted to actually stay there. However, I wonder if the Westin Hapuna's newly renovated rooms and larger pools might be a better choice for the kids.

Thanks!

escapefromphl

Normally not so likely, but travel is down a bit. You have a decent shot at an upgrade to a deluxe golf vista. With the kids this may not be a bad option.

Not big, oval, perhaps 25 meters on the longest side, maybe a bit more or less. It's deeper than most pools these days, you can't stand on one side, so not really a kids pool but if they can swim they will be fine. The beach is particularly kid friendly though, small waves, clear water, soft sand.

davidsc111

I doubt you'll see any upgrades as a gold regardless of when you visit... I've stayed at both MK & HB and I would say if your kids like a pool the Hapuna will be way better received. Half the pools in my neighborhood are better than the pool at Mauna Kea. It is a beach resort...however, if the kids are little any pool will probably satisfy and you can't beat the MK beach so stay there and your kids will soon ignore the pool.

davidsc111

I love an upgrade as much as the next guy (or gal) and we've stayed in several styles at MK but two years ago we got "stuck" in the basic golf view room (which is what we booked) and frankly it was fine. We spend very little daylight time in our room and depending on where you are on that side of the property it can be a quite peaceful serene view. I can think of a ton of things I would rather spend $1k on than a guaranteed room upgrade.

patmcpsu

I second everyone's room opinions. I'll add this bit from the hotel's website:
The original part of the hotel has the unique architecture and feels "just so", with rooms ranging from a perfectly-acceptable Golf View, the expanded Golf View Deluxe, the picture-perfect Ocean View rooms, and the larger Ocean View Deluxe rooms. Meanwhile the "new wing" (with the Beachfront Rooms) feels like the tacked-on addition that it is; the hallways in this wing feel like a typical 60s-era beach hotel and have a distinctly different vibe from the main part of the hotel. I know hallways aren't high on everyone's priority-list, but in this hotel, the hallways are a big deal.

Echoing what has already been said:

• Standard golf view rooms - Perfectly fine
• Deluxe rooms - Well worth the extra cost
• Ocean view - Great view, but probably not worth the price it commands
• Beachfront rooms - Black sheep

jch636

Thanks for the feedback! Instead of leaving it up to chance on upgrades at check-in, I booked the Golf View Deluxe on points + $100 cash - it's not the greatest value relative to cash rates, but better to have the guaranteed room type with kids in tow.

BeantownFlyer

That was not an option when I stayed. I think that’s a very good decision.

jch636

I just checked and the new Category 7 pricing is now in effect. 60k points/night for standard periods, but could go as high as 70k during peak periods....glad I booked it at 50k/night.

HNLbasedFlyer

In the pre Corona world - early March thru Mid-April can be very busy due to Spring Break. Hawaii always sees an uptick in visitors during school holidays with the busiest months generally being June, July, August. In winter months often at the high end resorts you always compete with corporate sales clubs and things like that.

Now - I would expect many of the bookings you are seeing in April will be cancelled, so check daily for rooms opening or prices dropping.