flyerwanabe1

I am staying 6 nights here on points plus cash and was put on the worse possible location until we moved due to noise issues. To be honest, I would not book here again points or cash. There are better locations to spend you points. Cash wise, I recommend Andas or Grand Wailea.

flayum

Were you put in a garden view or 'upgraded' to the partial-ocean in the tower? Were you able to negotiate a specific room at all during check-in? How did you manage asking to be moved and where did you get moved?

Sorry for the swarm of questions! Awful that you feel so mistreated though and hope the rest of your stay on the island goes well. Unfortunately it's a bit late for me to change at this point

flyerwanabe1

​​​​​​I did cash upgrade to partial ocean for 175 at the time of booking. Premium is $300. We would have been fine at the tower but was assigned to Hale 7 on the ground floor. No negotiation at check-in as we expect it to be decent and was surprised where we ended up. My upstair neighbor was moving furnitures upstairs very early in the morning quite a few times inside and out on the balcony. With floor being tiles, it's easy to hear all of it. There were also workers around where the room is. With vacation, we like to sleep in. It would be impossible to do so I talked to the front desk. We got moved to the tower with "premium" oceanview but it didn't feel anything premium about it seeing the parking / trucking loading area but it might have been because it is on higher floor. The woman at the desk when I talk to them about it prior night was trying to charged me for the premium upgrade when I pick up the keys. I got frustrated and had to argue.

I will do a more thorough review after I am back.

Kacee

IMO there is no way the Andaz or Grand Wailea are worth the current cash rates ($1000+ per night for base room).

flyerwanabe1

Then it is worse for this property as it is charging the same. I guess I went to both for meals and had a higher opinion of those places.

Kacee

So you haven't stayed at either? Might want to mention that when you're recommending a $1000+ per night hotel.

Many folks here report having nice stays at Wailea Beach Resort, though it is not a property where you should expect strong elite benefits.

flayum

Anyone have experience (or have seen) the casabellas / day beds near the infinity pool? I couldn't find any discussion here in nearly the last decade, so thought I'd ask if there are any recent opinions.

My partner is sun-sensitive, so we wanted some guaranteed shade for our pool day. It seems like the lounge chairs with umbrellas might be limited and the cabanas seem excessive (plus not very private). Based on the orientation, it also seems like there's a risk that the afternoon sun could shine directly into them which would defeat the purpose. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: There's a less than stellar review on TripAdvisor that pushes me against this, unfortunately. And I found a picture on FourSquare (here) that looks like randos will constantly be walking past. This still might be better than having no chair/shade at all though?

Cledaybuck

We stayed at both (WBR and GW) and my wife and I both agreed we like the WBR better, but really couldn't put our finger on why. Both are nice, but I would never pay the prices they want in cash for either.

Kacee

We paid cash (around $800) at Andaz last year, and were not particularly impressed. Just walking through the properties, we felt the WBR might have been a better choice. With these three properties, it seems the grass is always greener at the next resort down.

Jailer

I can only speak to award stays at the GW and Beach Resort: while the GW has better bones we just find the Marriott to be more aloha-esque...despite some service lapses there over the years. Any even if I can't describe exactly what aloha-esque is, in our experience it has extended to both staff and guests. I guess that the Marriott is more than the sum of its parts while the GW may be the opposite. And, since it is but a brief stroll over to enjoy Botero's and the handball court, our Bonvoy points will be the points of choice in November.

flayum

I thought that Whale's Tail still doesn't count because it's technically a "continental" breakfast instead of "in-restaurant" per the Marriott T&C? Would much prefer applying the credit to local breakfast/lunch places over the in-hotel offerings, but I understand if it's not possible anymore!

slpybear

If you want guaranteed shade you will need to find a cabana at the infinity pool or loungers with good umbrellas. The casabellas will be great until the afternoon and then you will get plenty of sun because of the setup. We skip them because they just aren't worth the $$. We've stayed numerous times and our typical plan is to get up early, go pick out lounge chairs with an umbrella and then walk to Whale Tail or Starbucks and grab our breakfast. We head back to the pool after and enjoy the morning. Also, depending on the crowds and types of crowd, check out the north pool, 'Ohi. It can be very empty during the day and may not have many kids.

Enjoy and Aloha!

flyerwanabe1

Just got back. Here's my straightforward review.

Room - a disappointment overall even after a change on 2nd day. We originally paid for the partial Ocean upgrade on a reward stay and was assigned a ground floor room. The room is located in a dingy location at the building entrance. Upon request after a noise issue the following morning at 6am, was reassigned to the main building on the 7th floor to a "premium" oceanview. There was an attempt to charge for the upgrade but was waived after some discussion. Presumably the “premium” designation is due to it being on a higher floor than the similar rooms on the lower floor since the pictures on the website indicates that these are all partial oceanview views. It appears that the "view" was overly emphasized at this properly rather than actual experience. The view was fine but our side of the building is facing the access road where the trucks starts beeping early in the morning. The rooms also used tiles as flooring so any movement from the neighbors especially upstairs are problematic. Air conditioning unit here is loud presumably to cover for the other noise. Overall room sound proofing is poor which results in lack of sleep while on property. Bathrooms are not what you expect at a luxury resort. For example, it’s very difficult to open the tub drain after soaking. Other details are also missing such as lack of robes or slippers.

Activities – the breath of activities offered are great. Cultural related and water related activities offered are all great. However, the problem here is the reservation system or the lack of ability to even have a chance to reserving anything after arriving on the property. For those who already familiar with the resort or plan properly, you can book it via https://waileabeachresort.247activities.com/, otherwise, good luck trying to get any of the activities that you want. We had a little bit of help with the activities that were booked but frustrating seeing everything is booked almost for the entirely of the stay.

Facilities – We dined at the Kapa, Mo’ Bettah and Humble Market Kitchin. All of them excellent options. We were originally looking forward to the poke bowl options on the islands but it appears the bowls in the States have more varieties and choices. I would also recommend trying to other options. We were able to get reservation via the phone at Morimoto for example even though there wasn’t availability on Open Table. The available pools are also great especially with the adventure pool as the kids have a lot of fun here. This is one of the key reasons we choose here along with the option to redeem points. The infinity pool is adults only. It also appears that they are working on another pool in front of the main building finishing at the end of the year. To me that would only mean even less rooms with quietness that families like us enjoy. We had no issues securing chairs as there appears to be abundance of them. Valet is only $10 more than general parking so I recommend using the valet. It usually only takes 5 minutes to get the car ready. Also be aware that the beach chairs / umbrella at the beach towards the Grand Wailea (south side) are limited in terms of time. They took down the umbrellas “due to wind” early at 2 pm for the one day we were at the beach. This is different than the Grand Wailea or the other resort between WBR and GW which kept their umbrellas up until 4 to 5 when we left. Game room was a great recent addition. The kids enjoyed it and almost want to come here every night when we are done with activities. We also love that the market on site has almost everything so you don't need to go anywhere else.

Service – Love the bracelet that they give out that’s not cheap plastic and feels comfortable that acts as a key and access to resort facilities. Concierge was great to talk to and help with booking activities and making recommendations. Room was serviced / cleaned daily which is great unlike some of the hotels that moved to optional housekeeping. I think it is absolutely needed for beach vacation with all the water activities. Front desk checked us in efficiently and there really wasn’t much waiting on a few occasions we need to ask some questions. The only hiccup here was the push to upsell or charge for upgrade at every opportunity. It really do feel like a place where they try to nickel and dime you to death.

Status recognition – don’t expect to be recognized at least if you are Platinum or lower. You do get 1 card for 2 redemptions per night at Whale’s Tale and Starbucks if you are Platinum or above. We used them at Starbucks and was happy that we can pay an upcharge for hot food along with bigger drink options. As previously mentioned, the upgrades even if granted are likely to be not desirable.

Overall, we would hesitate to book here again mainly due to lack of sleep and the lack of ability to even secure a room that may have less noise unless you know the management. I know the kids definitely had fun but I’m basically knocked out after a week here due to inability to secure sleep after 6 or 7am in the morning. A lot premium rooms are on the ground floors due to the setup which I presume would have the same problem in terms of noise. If you could somehow secure it and are conscious of noise, try to stay on the top floor for the buildings. We stayed at the Grand Wailea for a week previously and felt that we got better sleep there though obviously don’t know how it is recently since it’s been awhile. The reason for my previous comments on Andaz was more on feel than anything but they all seems to have their own complaints. Wailea or even Hawaii in general felt less focused on the quality of stay than the Caribbean counterparts (Cayman Seafire, Cayman Ritz, Aruba Ritz) so come for the activities and experience and less so for the hotels then you’ll be happy.

For activities, I recommend doing the drive to the mountain peak which has a magnificent view, the road to Hana and the snorkeling.

Happy to answer any questions.

DJ_Iceman

Sorry about the room confusion and issues. I always advise folks *not* to stay in the tower if they can avoid it--it feels much more like a hotel anywhere, whereas the rooms in the hales feel more special and Hawaiian.

The game room has been there for a decade or so, so isn't really a new amenity, but I agree it's a good one for the kiddos. And if you didn't get at least one breakfast at Whale's Tale, you missed out IMO.

I know this property gets a lot of abuse here on FT, mostly from people who think that their silver status should grant them a deluxe oceanfront suite with free breakfast, free parking, a free luau, and waived resort fees when booking the cheapest garden view room. (I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean.) If you took Bonvoy out of the equation, this place provides a really good hard and soft product for the price; in fact, I think it's the best value in Wailea. Add some Bonvoy benefits and it gets even better. Ask Hilton folks what they get in terms of elite treatment at the GW, or Hyatt folks what they get at the Andaz. And don't forget to include the overall experience that ALL guests get, and the price paid...

Kacee

At Andaz Globalists get upgrade to best available room at check-in (and they will try really hard to give you the best room they can), full breakfast (which is outstanding), waived resort fee, a welcome gift, and free parking on award stays.

I didn't much care for the room or the property layout at Andaz, and probably would not return, but elite benefits are truly meaningful at Andaz compared to, um, a $10 pp Starbucks credit at WBR. Doesn't mean WBR is not a nice place to stay, or that everyone should choose the Andaz, but it's simply no comparison on the benefits front.