I may be looking to stay there in June , but I am totally pissed off because I should not have to PAY to upgrade. I guess my 126 nights last year with Marriott does not mean much. Why should I have to use close to 150,000 points for 4 nights......looking for FREE upgrade - How can i get it????????

As a platinum member (126 nights last year) , why should I have to PAY to upgrade???? or use close to 150,000 points?? Does Marriott value my business??? Does platinum mean anything......I WANT MY FREE OCEAN VIEW ROOM

Relax, I was upgraded last time I went there and I'm *only* a gold. I would expect a Plat would be upgraded easily.

I also was on an Entertainment rate of only $140/night as well.

jb

How could you travel all the way to Maui and not treat yourself to the Grand Wailea or Four Seasons?

From what I'm hearing/reading, the Grand Wailea doesn't sound like a very good option. I'm reading very mixed reviews about it. My first instinct was to look for a room at this hotel, and I spent a lot of time trying to find ANY sort of reasonable value at Grand Wailea (I started a thread on the Hawaii board). The best I could find was about $400/night for the worst room in the hotel, and when I called the hotel directly, they were very clear about their policy of no free upgrades and no complimentary breakfasts unless you purchase a specific rate that includes them. In general, I got a chilly feeling about the hotel.

I like the Renaissance because I've heard overall good reviews about it, and we will be in the best room in the hotel. I thought about just booking a cheap room (or basic award room) and hoping that Gold status got me a beachfront room. But for this particular trip, we wanted a guaranteed no-question-about-it oceanfront room, so we're paying the extra cash.

We will still visit the Grand Wailea, and maybe even pay to spend a day in the spa there. But we definitely aren't going to spend $2000-3000 for the worst room in the house there.

The hotel told me that they now include full buffet breakfasts to Mokapu guests. No more continental breakfasts...

Just got back from the Renaissance Wailea. I was in the kehei wing on the 3rd floor with an ocean view, I would recommend the top floor on any of the wings. I was overlooking the Luau pit. The room was ok, nothing special, nothing to complain about. Nice hotel but then again aren't they all. Its $5 per day to park there. The beach is nice but small, although next door is a nicer beach. I tried to get upgraded as a plat to the Mokapu rooms but was unsuccessful.

If you have any specific questions please ask..

Was there this weekend, I didn't even notice the construction next door and I was on the wing that (kihei) was next to the construction. No noise at all although when you look over the fence you can see it. It shouldn't affect your stay at all

I'm going to the Renaissance for my honeymoon in July. I didn't want to take my chances with an upgrade, so I am paying for the upgrade to Mokapu. The question is, while I am using reward points for the base room, will I earn points based on what I pay fo rthe upgrade? If so, I should come pretty close to netting out on the points spent vs. the points earned.

Just got back from the Rennaissance Wailea this am! Stayed in the Makapu wing. Loved it. had room #287. 2nd floor. High open beam cathedral ceiling. The nice sound of ocean waves crashing all day and night. It was wonderful. Felt like we rented our own beachhouse. We had the FULL COOKED TO ORDER BUFFET BREAKFAST AT PALM COURT EACH DAY ($36 VALUE FOR BOTH OF US). They had an omelette chef that did a great job. The bakery items and fruit were great. I highly recommend the Makapu. The hotel is very nice. I toured the Grand Wailea (major crowd scene there) and the Kea Lani Suites (formal feeling..not our style). We were very pleased with what we got for the money. We paid $275 Entertainment rate from 2001 (when we reserved) for our Makapu Beach room. I recommend 2nd floor cuz you can see better from your room. 1st floor has walk out access to grassy area for lounging but our view over the shrubs and onto ocean was better. Our kids 12 & 13 played shuffleboard and ping pong and did some boogie boarding and snorkeling.
The Outrigger Wailea has no beach at all. The Ren. Wailea had so much going for it. It's relaxing and elegant without being stuffy and formal. The Palm Court Buffet was fabulous. It is a full buffet, not a continental like they used to have w/the Makapu rooms. The Makapu also has it's own concierge, and cabanas and lounges set up along with ice water in the grassy area for those who want to read and lounge.

We had a great time. And we heard they were oversold on Sat night (2/23/02). That's great news for the travel industry! Feel free to email me for any more questions!

[This message has been edited by T Q (edited 03-02-2002).]

exAA: call Marriott to make sure, but I think you should get points for the money you spend at the hotel - including upgrades, incidentals, etc. (You wouldn't get this at, say, a Courtyard, but you should at a Renaissance.)

TQ: Did you earn points on the Entertainment rate? I was originally going to do this stay with points, but changed my mind when I thought about how much I would be paying for upgrades when the $299 M11 Makapu rate was available. I switched to the $299 rate (I confirmed with the hotel - this rate DOES earn points). This will allow me to use my MR points in 2003 for a more-value-per-point package award.

All rooms except Wholesaler (priceline, Japan Travel Bureau etc) and MR redemption's earn MR points/stay credit

Many travel agent bookings do not accrue MR points, according to this hotel. I asked when I first made my award booking because I was still shopping around for rates (not with Wholesalers - just normal travel agents). I'm not sure if they were pulling my chain or not.

Anyway, I couldn't find an agent who would beat $1495 for a 5-night Mokapu stay. Plus, I found the concept of prepaying the whole thing ahead of time to be somewhat annoying. As usual, I found that most travel agents are effective with smoke-and-mirrors. (5th night free, booze credit, honeymoon upgrades, and other specials mysteriously did NOT apply for me when I asked about them.)

I was told I would get the points for my stay at the Ren Wailea even though I booked the Ent rate. (they didn't post yet but I just checked out 2/23/02 afternoon)..i'll update this post when they do. I also am counting on double points promo (2nd stay w/ 1st in SJC Courtyard for the park & fly). I also used the $1000 vacation card (obtained a 10% discount for that) and paid for my bill with a combo of vacation card $1000 and my Marriott Visa for the double points promo. The statement i got at checkout listed the vacation card as a visa item also. So, I'm hoping my $1300 in charges give me double points since it's all against a visa. I hope that makes sense. i'll let you know.. T Q

update (3/2/02)..got my initial 14000 points from stay (that's 10x the $1200 cost plus 2000 for 20% elite bonus. Now I got an email from marriott telling me they'll give me the double points for the visa promo. They said in the email that the hotel didn't show that I used a visa for the partial payment (although my folio shows it). So, our 4 night stay at the Ren will give us a cool 26000 points.

[This message has been edited by T Q (edited 03-02-2002).]

Are you sure that the Vaca card will qualify you for the 2X points, I had read somewhere that it would not qualify. The question becomes since you paid the 300 bucks with a Visa does that qualify you, I would love to know the outcome of this?