Westin Ka'anapali Ocean resort villas [Master Thread]
Jul 7, 2013, 3:24 am
#286
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: JAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold MM, Marriott LTT, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,770
Very well summarized. I just spent 5 nights at this property on the $798 marketing package. The room they assign for this is a studio unit, which is also like a hotel room with tiny kitchen and stack washer/dryer. I viewed this as a cheap hotel stay so I had no complaints regarding views, lack of Plat benefits, etc.
I would never pay $500 to stay in a timeshare property, especially it's probably the studio unit, not even the 1-bedroom. SPG Plat at least has a fighting chance for an upgrade at a hotel. I second the recommendation for St. Regis Princeville for honeymoon. We're here for 2 nights now on award stay, after 3 nights at Sheraton Kona, the 5 nights in WKORV and 1 week in Marriott Kauai Beach Club. We did not get a suite on this stay at the St. Regis, all sold out, but we did get an ocean view room (with view of Hanalei Bay and Bali Hai) that beats anything Mauai has to offer.
I would never pay $500 to stay in a timeshare property, especially it's probably the studio unit, not even the 1-bedroom. SPG Plat at least has a fighting chance for an upgrade at a hotel. I second the recommendation for St. Regis Princeville for honeymoon. We're here for 2 nights now on award stay, after 3 nights at Sheraton Kona, the 5 nights in WKORV and 1 week in Marriott Kauai Beach Club. We did not get a suite on this stay at the St. Regis, all sold out, but we did get an ocean view room (with view of Hanalei Bay and Bali Hai) that beats anything Mauai has to offer.
NJDesi27,
I think you were badly advised in selecting this property.
I own Ocean Front there, but by September this year will have had three extra paid stays, and the "bad" treatment you got in terms of the view and the check-in/check-out time is their standard, published practice.
It is an SVO property with partial SPG participation.
1) No upgrades.
2) No early check-in.
3) No late check-out.
4) Limited on-site dining options.
5) No ocean-front rooms for sale, ever. Only Ocean Front owners get an Ocean Front room (for timeshare stays), and if we book extra stays, if we book Island View we get Island View and if we book Ocean View that means a sliver of ocean visible behind the parking lot or pool.
6) Rooms in any view category are allocated from the top of the building downwards according to a "time-stamp" of when you booked.
How the rooms are allocated
Owners book the best views within each category 12 months in advance. Top-floor Ocean Front is gone within 10 minutes of lines opening 365 days prior to arrival. The middle floors last until early afternoon of 365 days in advance. All Ocean Front rooms are usually accounted for by the time bookings are opened up to non-owners (e.g. exchangers) 8 months before arrival.
Exchangers get the next best views which remain 8 months out.
Hotel-style guests get what's left, and very few rooms are even for sale hotel-style until after the 8 month out window opens. You're actually lucky you weren't on an even lower floor, because in theory almost all the Ocean View let alone Ocean Front rooms could have been allocated to time-stamped owners before your room was even made available for sale.
Why this works
But you know what? I'm happy with this set-up: it's there to protect the owners.
I'm SPG-Plat 50 myself, but as an owner who paid > $70K for my WKORV ownership I don't want people who got status elsewhere to be prioritised over me, for early/late check-in/out or upgrades. Especially as I pay over $2500 per year on taxes and maintenance fees.
WKORV is for a specific demographic. Families who don't fit into a single hotel room, who are staying for a full 7 day period.
Before I bought WKORV I used to stay at Westin Maui and it is a better honeymoon property (although St Regis Princeville or the Royal Hawaiian fit that bill best in Hawaii).
But for my family, WKORV is a fantastic fit.
In summary, you chose a timeshare property which is aimed at families and does not offer upgrades, early check-in or late check-out and has limited on-site dining options because it is a self-catering property.
And you are upset that it was full of families and did not offer an upgrade, early check-in, late check-out or wider restaurant options.
You titled your piece "awful service, rooms, attitude". Why? It sounds like you thought you were staying in a hotel, rather than a self-catering apartment complex. There's not meant to be late night room service. The rooms are lovely, but you got exactly what "Ocean View" at WKORV has a view of. There's no claim that they provide bottled water, or omelette stations in a self-catering property where 99% of guests buy breakfast at Safeway and eat it in their room. You seem upset that they only deliver what they are meant to deliver.
The champagne and strawberries orders were badly handled. But apart from that they delivered exactly what they always deliver.
(Lastly, I visit Hawaii anything from 2-4 times each year from Australia, and always depart on an 11pm plane to Auckland. All the SPG properties are resorts, none of them are required to offer late check-outs. The Royal Hawaiian offers a $150 6pm checkout, but basically there is a simple rule of thumb. If you want a room after midday, you buy an extra night. I choose to always fly out of HNL, and book a Cash+Points room at the Sheraton. Remember, Hawaii's tourist industry is not in recession because Australia has not had a recession. You can't expect a late check-out, and if you need a room after midday, pay for one.)
I think you were badly advised in selecting this property.
I own Ocean Front there, but by September this year will have had three extra paid stays, and the "bad" treatment you got in terms of the view and the check-in/check-out time is their standard, published practice.
It is an SVO property with partial SPG participation.
1) No upgrades.
2) No early check-in.
3) No late check-out.
4) Limited on-site dining options.
5) No ocean-front rooms for sale, ever. Only Ocean Front owners get an Ocean Front room (for timeshare stays), and if we book extra stays, if we book Island View we get Island View and if we book Ocean View that means a sliver of ocean visible behind the parking lot or pool.
6) Rooms in any view category are allocated from the top of the building downwards according to a "time-stamp" of when you booked.
How the rooms are allocated
Owners book the best views within each category 12 months in advance. Top-floor Ocean Front is gone within 10 minutes of lines opening 365 days prior to arrival. The middle floors last until early afternoon of 365 days in advance. All Ocean Front rooms are usually accounted for by the time bookings are opened up to non-owners (e.g. exchangers) 8 months before arrival.
Exchangers get the next best views which remain 8 months out.
Hotel-style guests get what's left, and very few rooms are even for sale hotel-style until after the 8 month out window opens. You're actually lucky you weren't on an even lower floor, because in theory almost all the Ocean View let alone Ocean Front rooms could have been allocated to time-stamped owners before your room was even made available for sale.
Why this works
But you know what? I'm happy with this set-up: it's there to protect the owners.
I'm SPG-Plat 50 myself, but as an owner who paid > $70K for my WKORV ownership I don't want people who got status elsewhere to be prioritised over me, for early/late check-in/out or upgrades. Especially as I pay over $2500 per year on taxes and maintenance fees.
WKORV is for a specific demographic. Families who don't fit into a single hotel room, who are staying for a full 7 day period.
Before I bought WKORV I used to stay at Westin Maui and it is a better honeymoon property (although St Regis Princeville or the Royal Hawaiian fit that bill best in Hawaii).
But for my family, WKORV is a fantastic fit.
In summary, you chose a timeshare property which is aimed at families and does not offer upgrades, early check-in or late check-out and has limited on-site dining options because it is a self-catering property.
And you are upset that it was full of families and did not offer an upgrade, early check-in, late check-out or wider restaurant options.
You titled your piece "awful service, rooms, attitude". Why? It sounds like you thought you were staying in a hotel, rather than a self-catering apartment complex. There's not meant to be late night room service. The rooms are lovely, but you got exactly what "Ocean View" at WKORV has a view of. There's no claim that they provide bottled water, or omelette stations in a self-catering property where 99% of guests buy breakfast at Safeway and eat it in their room. You seem upset that they only deliver what they are meant to deliver.
The champagne and strawberries orders were badly handled. But apart from that they delivered exactly what they always deliver.
(Lastly, I visit Hawaii anything from 2-4 times each year from Australia, and always depart on an 11pm plane to Auckland. All the SPG properties are resorts, none of them are required to offer late check-outs. The Royal Hawaiian offers a $150 6pm checkout, but basically there is a simple rule of thumb. If you want a room after midday, you buy an extra night. I choose to always fly out of HNL, and book a Cash+Points room at the Sheraton. Remember, Hawaii's tourist industry is not in recession because Australia has not had a recession. You can't expect a late check-out, and if you need a room after midday, pay for one.)
Jul 8, 2013, 12:08 am
#287
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,010
I'd have the opposite opinion - I stayed in the Kauai and Maui villas over the last week and the $130 price difference over the Sheraton (and $300 savings of a 1 BR over the STR standard room) is easily made up by the meal savings, extra space, etc. As noted, it's aimed at families, and my family of 4 used all of the 750 sq ft. I was upgraded on our one night Maui Sheraton stay - I can't imagine us staying in the 350 sq ft hotel room. On top of at least $60/meal.
If you're alone/couple/honeymoon, and will eat our no matter what then, as noted, the villa is not a good match for you.
If you're alone/couple/honeymoon, and will eat our no matter what then, as noted, the villa is not a good match for you.
Jul 11, 2013, 2:21 pm
#288
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: TUL
Programs: AA EXP 2MM; Marriott Titanium; Hilton Diamond; Hyatt Explorist; Vistana 5* Elite; Nat'l Exec Elite
Posts: 6,177
Referral UPDATE
I'm more than happy to make a SVN referral, but PLEASE NOTE: Invitations from SVN do not go out until approximately three months after I make the referral. Therefore, a referral is not good for a vacation which you intend to take within the next 3-4 months.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Aug 12, 2013, 2:27 pm
#290
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: YQR
Programs: Nexus/GE, UA/MPG, Bonvoy Tit, LTP
Posts: 1,294
I have received mixed messages on this. We had an 8 night stay at a SVO property earlier this year, 4 nights through an SVO promotion for owners ( similar in many ways to the referral program), plus another 4 paid.Although we made seperate reservations the hotel rolled them into one and didn't give us credit for any of the stays. We had specifically asked at check in whether they would do this ,because if they were going to do so we were going to move to another *Wood property nearby for the second half of our stay.
They messed up our points generally and we didn't receive credit for meals, Green Choice, Gold amenity etc etc. I contacted SPG through the link on spg.com and they contacted the hotel on our behalf, saying they felt that we should have received credit for the paid nights, meals etc. The next day we were credited both nights and stays for all, including the promotion nights.
In conclusion we were told "no" but actually received them in the end. We didn't "complain" but merely filed a missing points request.
In hindsight this doesn't help you I know but that was our experience nonetheless.
They messed up our points generally and we didn't receive credit for meals, Green Choice, Gold amenity etc etc. I contacted SPG through the link on spg.com and they contacted the hotel on our behalf, saying they felt that we should have received credit for the paid nights, meals etc. The next day we were credited both nights and stays for all, including the promotion nights.
In conclusion we were told "no" but actually received them in the end. We didn't "complain" but merely filed a missing points request.
In hindsight this doesn't help you I know but that was our experience nonetheless.
Aug 12, 2013, 6:33 pm
#293
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: TUL
Programs: AA EXP 2MM; Marriott Titanium; Hilton Diamond; Hyatt Explorist; Vistana 5* Elite; Nat'l Exec Elite
Posts: 6,177
Aug 12, 2013, 6:35 pm
#294
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: TUL
Programs: AA EXP 2MM; Marriott Titanium; Hilton Diamond; Hyatt Explorist; Vistana 5* Elite; Nat'l Exec Elite
Posts: 6,177
Aug 13, 2013, 10:33 pm
#297
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan, SPG, Marriott, Hilton, Alaska
Posts: 95
I am not sure why I hear so many complaints about this property. I recently completed a trip here (http://www.canadiantravelhacking.com...i-trip-report/) and my family and I loved it.
We had an incredible time and would love to return to this amazing resort (I could not find any issues with the resort except one major thing my wife noticed). Starwood is really eco-conscious and provides recycling containers in each room but we noticed the maid simply throwing everything into the garbage.
One of the benefits of staying at any of the Starwood properties in Ka’anapali is the use of the free shuttle.
Disclosure: I did the $798 / 5 night package and it was well worth it. We were treated well and we did the tour for an extra 7,000 SPG points and received a bonus of 5,000 SPG points for the checkin.
We had an incredible time and would love to return to this amazing resort (I could not find any issues with the resort except one major thing my wife noticed). Starwood is really eco-conscious and provides recycling containers in each room but we noticed the maid simply throwing everything into the garbage.
One of the benefits of staying at any of the Starwood properties in Ka’anapali is the use of the free shuttle.
Disclosure: I did the $798 / 5 night package and it was well worth it. We were treated well and we did the tour for an extra 7,000 SPG points and received a bonus of 5,000 SPG points for the checkin.
Aug 14, 2013, 9:57 am
#298
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South Florida
Programs: SPG,Marriott,Hilton,Delta,US airways,Hyatt,Fairmont,American A,Priority Cub,Discovery,etc
Posts: 255
Changed reservation
After reading the recent feedback and calling the hotel directly, we decided the construction until possibly the time of our stay,we switched to the Sheraton.
Aug 14, 2013, 2:35 pm
#299
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: TUL
Programs: AA EXP 2MM; Marriott Titanium; Hilton Diamond; Hyatt Explorist; Vistana 5* Elite; Nat'l Exec Elite
Posts: 6,177
This thread is for the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas. I was there for two weeks in April and saw no construction. Is there some construction ongoing?
Aug 18, 2013, 5:54 pm
#300
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: SAN
Posts: 1,396
I think the key to this property is knowing what to expect. We love it here - it is absolutely beautiful, amazing pool, convenient location, nice rooms and great to have the kitchen, outdoor grills, and other added amenities. If having kids around bothers you, there might be better places to stay as this is a very family friendly resort. Lots of grandparent owners with their grandchildren, or parents that come here with the kids every year. If you're looking for a honeymoon spot there may be better options. Also, if you demand daily housekeeping service don't be shocked that there is only a once-weekly "refresh". However, I actually like not having to deal with housekeeping every day, and I love having the kitchen as we have saved a ton of money buying enough food at safeway to last the week. This is also a MASSIVE resort, in my view, and navigating it can be confusing - but with that comes more amenities and more options than you could possibly imagine.
This also is not a particularly "contemporary" or "swanky" resort - and what you are paying for is really the outdoor space and the added convenience of the kitchen. If you want trendy looking furnishings like you would see at a W you will be disappointed - but that is not the point here (and not really the point in most hawaiian properties). Here it is all about creating a home-away-from-home feeling, and situating you right on the beach.
We were able to go snorkeling directly in front of the resort on our first day, and saw sea turtles and tons of other marine life. How great! The resort is a little bit further down the beach from some of the other resorts, too, so it isn't quite as over crowded as other places. Also, with as huge as this place is not once has it felt too crowded - there have always been plenty of lounge chairs, plenty of space to spread out, etc.
Also, our room was booked by a family member owner who gifted us the week. Since they didn't book far in advance (only about 5 months rather than 12 months out like many owners do) the view category was not guaranteed. A friendly chat with the check-in clerk and a $10 tip got us "upgraded" to an ocean front unit. Awesome to be able to sit in the Jacuzzi from the bathroom and see a bit of the water out front!
The only "gripe" that I might have is that there is a sewage processing plant a bit down the road and across the street. Apparently they are having some issues with the other, central processing plant and have been pumping sewage up to this plant. The increased usage combined with the STRONG winds has lead to an occasional foul smell wafting in the area. I was only able to smell it once on property, but when we went for a stroll north down the beach (toward the plant) there was an incredibly foul smell. A local we ran into told us about the plant and confirmed our belief that this was likely the smell of sewage. Not a huge issue, and likely temporary given the strong winds and issues at the other plant, but an inconvenience nonetheless.
So, to anyone considering this property I would highly recommend it. We've had a fabulous time thus far, the staff have all been fabulous, and generally we have no complaints. The only thing left for me to do is to seek out a presentation from the sales staff for the points
- I was shocked nobody has pressured me to sit through one yet! Oh, and to answer the question about parking - it is $12 per night for valet and $10 for self-park. Self park is widely available and fairly convenient. They also comp the first night's valet parking (which makes check-in much smoother), and self-park is free for owners or guests of owners.