margarita girl

I wrote to the Leahi Lounge manager after finding some non-disclosed bacon in the savory mushroom/spinach bread pudding. Turns out there is actually a vegetarian menu offered in the lounge. I've probably spent close to 100 nights at this hotel, and that's the first I've heard of it.


I also asked about when the Leahi renovations would take place. Reply is: "The Leahi renovation is tentatively schedule on the 2nd week of Aug till end of Oct."

edgewood49

MG, so are they working top down or bottom up on the tower rooms ? I t think I am going to try to hold off in the chance of getting a refreshed room.

margarita girl

Appears to be top down from the exterior, but I did see some floor that were partially blocked off when the elevator stopped there. The 30th floor where the lounge is, was also partially blocked.

yosithezet

itsaboutthejourney

Who knew? Some of the evening items can be a bit sketchy and these look like solid alternatives. MG: once again, you are a font of knowledge about this property!

edgewood49

Thanks that's usually the way exterior rehab is done ( one of my companies specialties) if their doing the balcony surfaces usually you do the rooms at the same time. This is the first real restoration of the tower that I have seen in all the years of going to the islands for work and pleasure. Should put this place back near the top again.

Keep us posted.

kamchatsky

Finally I have stayed at Sheraton Waikiki for 7 nights from 21-28 April. I was using 7-night NC6 certificate to stay there (booked before this became a Cat 7).

They upgraded me to Diamond Head ocean view room from City view room, even I am a lowly Gold member. The room is small and definitely in need for renovation, but the 2 double bed is enough for 2 adults and 2 small kids. View from the room is fantastic though.

Needless to say, I didn't get free breakfast but then I never expected one. Lawson convenience store downstairs has some good snacks and breads for sale, and is very convenient. Some days we went to Royal Hawaiian bakery to eat, and charge back to our room. Some days we ate at some of the local restaurants etc.

The resort fee was unavoidable and we paid it, even though I don't think they should charge for people staying for awards. It seems to be applicable to USA.

Not sure if it was because of Golden Week or just the fact it is Honolulu, there were tons of Japanese visitors everywhere when we stayed there.

We stayed at level 17, and renovation is ongoing on level 18. some of the levels can only be accessed by 1 side of the lifts. During day time there was some noise but we go out a lot of time so does not affect us. We washed our clothes in the laundry every few days, $5 for washing and $5 for drying. Great for family of 4 like us.

The kids pool with slide is great, even though the one at Marriott Wailea we stayed earlier has far better facility. Then again it is right next to Waikiki beach, and I have to say it is in a super convenient location, next to Royal Hawaiian Shopping Centre and all the major shops and restaurants on the main street.

Overall we had a great time at the hotel and Honolulu in general.

Finally on our last day there was Spam Jam Festival on the main street, which was closed to cars. Luckily it didn't affect us in terms of getting to the car park (we hired a car for 7 days). Tons of stalls selling Spam dishes. I am still amazed that there is a festival on SPAM though, especially people a lining up to pay $20 on a SPAM T-Shirt.

We had a great time at Sheraton and once they have upgraded all their facilities I may stay there again. But I am still surprised that this is now a Cat 7 hotel, I just cannot see it. I think it should be Cat 6 at Maximum.

bocastephen

The category settings are a combination of desirability and quality - a hotel which is very desirable and often booked out might have a higher category number even if the quality is lacking somewhat. For now I don't pay so much attention to the category numbers but look at the points required per night and divide by 3 to look at what I would have paid under the SPG program which is my barometer for value. 36K/night is 12k/night under the SPG system which is somewhat over-baked for this hotel, it should be 30k/night or 10k SPG pts. When the requirement is out of line with the value, and the nightly cash rate is high, I just look at AirBNB since with LTP, I have nothing to lose anymore.

margarita girl

Kacee

Marriott's stated criterion is award demand - more popular properties are priced higher.

bocastephen

Oh well - absent a good Kama'aina deal, I will keep my 25 years of fond memories of this hotel and move on to greener pastures elsewhere.

edgewood49

I think there are many of us that are "looking" around or weighing options. Cash and points might work. And then there is the time of year, which in recent memory does not make much of a difference anymore.

kamchatsky

Actually, it is now a Cat 7 hotel, so 60K points per night.

margarita girl

kamchatsky

I find it is better to use points at Maui than HNL as the hotel room at Maui is much more expensive. I used certs at Marriott Wailea Resort and it is all worth it, and amazingly it is still only Cat 6 even though rooms can be more than $600 USD++ per night.