enjoyed our stay -- great view
 

We just returned from the Wailea Marriott. (I am platinum.) After booking on points, I called the hotel several times to ask about an upgrade. Told they will know when I got there. About two weeks before the stay, I received a concierge message asking about my needs. I politely asked for an upgrade (special occasion). She said she would do the best for me but no guarantee. Said as many as 100 platinums can be there any one evening. An ocean-front view showed up in my reservation. We had a wonderful room -- top floor overlooking the adult pool. Whale sightings were common.

Great location. No beach but easy walk to them. We enjoyed our morning walks on the path (especially to the south) to fancy hotels.

I suggest you ask the hotel receptionist to connect you with a concierge.

Have fun!

My wife and I were given a beautiful upgrade in Feb, 09. I sent a note to the concierge asking about an upgrade and when we arrived, they had what I think was the best room in the place! Very friendly staff and great pools too.

Stayed there for a week last month. As a gold they gave me a nice upgrade to Ocean View room. I thought the staff were very friendly and helpful.

The on-site restaurant MaLa, was wonderful. The Ahi entree was to die for!! One night at dinner, Alice Cooper and his family were at the table next to me. He said its his favorite place to eat when they are on the island.

Another great place to eat was "Joes Bar and Grill" which is at the Wailea tennis center just a couple of blocks from the hotel. It is a Bev Gannon restaurant - she has a great reputation on the island.

Enjoy your stay - wish I were back there now!!

I'm sure the fact that he's one of the owners of Mala had nothing to do with his opinion! :p

I'm thinking about staying at the Wailea Beach Resort & Spa next month for my honeymoon. We'll be using points from a silver member (former plat). I've heard of people getting honeymoon upgrades, what's the best way to go about "asking" for an upgrade? Should we book the basic "resort-view" room and hope for an upgrade or pay upfront for ocean front/view?

I was platinum when arrived to Wailea Marriott in December 2010.

I asked for an upgrade and they've told me the hotel was full, I had to go to marriott.com and show them all the suites they have available and the hotel was not full. after arguing for 5 minutes and ask for a supervisor, I was given an upgrade to a nice oceant front suite.

I don't think they will give up anything as Silver... but no harm to try.

Unfortunately, I have to say +1. I was also a Plat when I stayed there, and my experience was very similar to wpj's.

My experience has been very different. As a platinum and now a platinum premier, they've always upgraded me VERY generously, and in fact set the standard for what I now think I should be able to expect from other Marriott resorts.

But that's kind of beside the point. If the OP's silver elite buddy is cashing in the points, there's really no expected upgrade. Silver wouldn't get one, not should a buddy. So if an upgrade is important, I would both pay or use extra points to get one in advance, and/or contact the hotel to see if paid upgrades are available.

I've honestly never understood the mentality that says one should hope for an upgrade on a honeymoon. If ever there was a time in one's life to pay the full price for a nice room, that's it. I just can't imagine walking into a closet-sized parking lot room on a Hawaiian honeymoon and explaining to my spouse, "Well, I'm sorry they didn't treat us better but I honestly didn't think you were worth us paying for a better room."

Yeah I wasn't expecting anything from silver status, I was just wondering about the honeymoon status since I've read about others getting upgraded just for that.
People have different priorities. We aren't going to Hawaii to sit in the room the whole time. We'd rather be out on the beach than looking at the beach from our balcony. Dont get me wrong though, we still want some place nice, that's why I'm here trying to figure out the best course of action.

And it is possible your honeymoon may get you something, but realize that some hotels and locations (i.e. Hawaii) tend to get many more "honeymooners" than other locations. As such, you will be just one of who knows how many others there for their honeymoon.

But even so, it definitely doesn't hurt to let the hotel staff know and see what might happen. My best advice would be to send the GM an email about a month or so out from your stay. Let her/him know that you are coming and really looking forward to the trip and have heard very good things about the hotel (i.e. butter them up a bit). And ask that if possible (you understand that nothing is guaranteed) you would appreciate any upgrades or other considerations they might be able to show you.

Be positive, be nice and have a smile when you are there. Those types of things can go very far in helping you get something where otherwise you might not get anything. And finally, if you don't get any upgrades, don't drop the smile and don't worry it. This is your honeymoon. You should definitely have higher priorities to get excited over. ;)

ROFL!
Most of the nice Hawaii hotels during the Spring/Summer seasons have more honeymooners than anything else. :)

One thing that is on your side is the economy. When I was there last (2008), room rates at this hotel were $475/night, even trying every discount I could find, that was the cheapest rate they had, and I paid it for two nights. Fortunately, I did get an oceanfront suite after two requests.

Now, because of the economy, and a big slowdown in Hawaii tourism, I have seen rates there as low as $229 (the last time I checked, a couple of months back), and just now, $276, both without any discount codes, although $276 was for 4 weekdays in September. July or August, the lowest I could find with a quick search was $296 or $307 using either a Marriott elite code (M11), or nothing. I know that there has been a modest pick up in Hawaii tourism, but still, the hotels have been hungry for guests, which also means that upgrades should be a bit easier to get, for both honeymooners, and for elites.

Piggybacking on the above let me say it another way... I know I did not hang out in my hotel room on my honeymoon. Maybe more time than a normal vacation... but I digress. Anyway, it's not that you are hanging out in your hotel room on your honeymoon. It's that hopefully you only get married one time and thus go big because there is only one true honeymoon. My wife and I still have vivid memories of the view from our Hyatt Maui ocean front room. At the time it was a small stretch for our budget but it was worth every dollar spent! GO BIG! Spend more than you can afford! Do it right! Upgrade hotel, upgrade car, upgrade restaurants, upgrade crap you buy, everything.

We got married 4 weeks after college graduation. I had 50 dollars to my name and had been working at my first real job 2 weeks, I think he had 200. The cash we got at the wedding allowed us to drive up to Monterey and spend three nights in a cabin at a state park before we went back to work. I daresay our honeymoon was as special and memorable to us as any others, and the important thing is that 19 years later we're still married.