FlyinHawaiian320

Stayed here last week for 5 nights. Terrific resort. Used SNAs and got upgraded to a 2 BR suite. Over 1200 sq ft so twice the size of our small city apt! The staff was very nice and the grounds were immaculate. Never saw anything dirty on the property. Weather was perfect as well. Bfast voucher of $15 to be credited at the Grill daily (was given 2 per day traveling with a +1).

My only two gripes are the resort fee (didn't really get any bang for your buck on it) and I thought the poolside service was a bit lacking. We like ordering drinks every hour and it seemed like there was only 1 attendant walking around the entire property so was a bit slow.

Hotel is a winner for sure and situated in an awesome area in Kauai. Would definitely stay there again.

bennos

Just completed three nights here, on in a paid 1BR Ocean View villa. I was also considering a studio ocean view on points at the Kaua'i Beach Club, but ultimately picked this property as I thought the larger villa would be nicer and I thought the location would be better. In summary, meh. I probably should have saved the money and gone with the points reservation.

We arrived at 10pm and the FDC was confused as our villa was showing as not ready for check-in. It turned out housekeeping hadn't reported the room as clean even though it was. It only took 5 or 10 minutes to straighten out, but that's not really the sort of thing I want to deal with at 10pm, 6 hours after scheduled check-in. We were assigned a second floor unit in building 11, which is the closest building to the water. The nice thing about that building is it's fairly quiet (except for the chickens) as it doesn't face the pools.

What we didn't realize because it was dark was that we were effectively (but not technically) downgraded. While the front desk specifically said the unit was "Ocean View", half of the view is blocked by the rental properties between the building and the water. (I suspect the higher floors don't have this problem.) The unit should be reclassified.

There are no more coupons for the elite breakfast benefit, which is still $15pp/pn, The breakfast items are quite good (way better than typical lounge food), but our average bill was closer to $30pp including tax and tip. After 3 days we would be bored with the menu. Interestingly, they just applied as much of the credit as they could each day, not a strict $30. So day #1 was free, day #2 was half price, and day #3 was full price. It's not clear if we still would have gotten the full credit had we not eaten there on day #3 .

The resort fee adds literally no value. They don't even pretend to justify it at check-in with "exclusive activities" that nobody ever uses.

Finally, the latest check-out I could get was 12noon. (Normal check-out is 11am, which they remind you of via text message the night before.) As a resort I wasn't even expecting that, but contrary to the upthread post I would not rely on getting 4pm if you have a late flight. They did offer to extend pool access to 4pm (and to store luggage).

I'm not really a resort person, and those who are would probably enjoy this property more. Sadly there are very few non-resort properties in HI, so next time I'd probably VRBO or AirBNB it instead.

hockeyinsider

Nothing like being told the night before departure that you aren't wanted after 11 a.m. Sending a text message is incredibly uncouth.

bennos

It also included a 20% discount at the Marketplace!

hockeyinsider

Here's 20% to get lost tomorrow.

Roger Lococco

Just spent a few weeks at the Marriott Wailea, which was quite nice.

Will spend a few weeks at the Koala this summer. For just a couple, is it better to get a studio or a villa? Our main preference is a high floor room with a full ocean view.

DELee

Well, if they do have koalas at that time, I'd love to see a picture or two...

Studio or villa: are you going to cook?

That's really the question of which to pick.

Also, are you a Platinum or a Titanium?

David

Roger Lococco

DELee

Well, if you're not necessarily going to cook, I'd book a studio. Studios appear to only have a kitchenette with "mini-refrigerator, stovetop, microwave and serving dishes". Here's what the hotel's website shows:



As a (then) Platinum Premier, I booked a studio but we were upgraded to a 1-bedroom "villa" during our stay in May 2018. So the villas do have both a kitchen as well as a dining table. Here's the images from the hotel's website for the 1-bedroom villa's kitchen and dining area:





So, unless you a) want to spend more, b) visit during a high demand period, c) plan to cook or d) plan to spend a whole bunch of time in the room, I'd book the studio with a decent chance that, as an Ambassador, you'll be upgraded to a villa anyway.

Also, since you've prioritized wanting an ocean view, I'd simply let your Ambassador and/or the hotel know (when they contact you).

FWIW, here's a link to my review of the villa we were upgraded to.

David

Cledaybuck

I liked this property quite a bit, but don't count on the ocean view. That seems to be one of the biggest gripes about this property if you look at the reviews across the internet. You may have a view of the ocean from your room, but it won't be ocean front and there may be other things in the way.

I would probably also go for the studio for two people to save some money and can attest that photo is pretty accurate. We did scramble a few eggs every morning and cook them on the stovetop for breakfast, but never cooked dinner or anything like that. I would also note, that you can book an ocean view studio (with the caveats above about ocean view) for the standard points redemption if you book far enough out.

small ring

Hello All -

DELee

What dates have you tried?

David

BenCali

I am platinum elite and the property emailed me asking for my flight and arrival time so that they could get my room ready for my upcoming reservation. I've booked a studio with points.

I am wondering if replying to the email will jeopardize my chances of getting an upgrade since they might make the originally booked room (studio) ready when I arrive. Or should I also ask for an upgrade through my email?

DELee

How many nights are you staying and what day do you arrive?

David

DJ_Iceman

I'm staying there with my family later this summer. We booked a 3BR oceanfront villa, and I asked my ambassador to reach out regarding the only possible upgrade, to the 4BR penthouse villa. They found out that this is basically a VRBO-like property; essentially, there are *never* any upgrades. Each unit is owned by an individual, and you're actually paying them (along with a fee to the operator) to rent their unit for the time you are there. If a unit goes empty, that owner gets no revenue for that night. So were they to do upgrade, the operating company would have to pay real cash money to various owners, which of course they're not going to do. It's not like a hotel where the operating cost is basically fixed whether you stay in your originally-booked room or in an upgraded room.

That's long way to say you're not going to jeopardize your upgrade chances, because they're nil already.