Dec 28, 2021, 7:38 am
Westin Maui, Ka'anapali, Hawaii [Master Thread]
Nov 7, 2013, 2:22 am
#481
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Belgrade, Serbia
Programs: Etihad Guest
Posts: 1,549
You need to spend the extra points for a specialty room redemption to GUARANTEE that you don't have a view of the parking lot from your room with no closet in a massive building with too few elevators.
Nov 7, 2013, 3:29 am
#482
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: United Plat, SPG/Marriott/Hyatt Gold
Posts: 17
I am in a garden view room right now (in all my prior stays I've received a minor upgrade but I was an SPG Plat then) and unfortunately nothing else is available as it is Thanksgiving week (hotel appears completely sold out). I guess I can try and purchase an upgrade at check-in or something like that. I dunno.
Nov 7, 2013, 10:40 am
#483
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 147
Not "request". It won't happen, especially when they once quoted me an average of 30 Platinums and 80 Golds per night.
You need to spend the extra points for a specialty room redemption to GUARANTEE that you don't have a view of the parking lot from your room with no closet in a massive building with too few elevators.
You need to spend the extra points for a specialty room redemption to GUARANTEE that you don't have a view of the parking lot from your room with no closet in a massive building with too few elevators.
Nov 7, 2013, 12:44 pm
#484
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: United Plat, SPG/Marriott/Hyatt Gold
Posts: 17
Called SPG and there is nothing else available right now. Guess I'll try to see if other things are available upon check-in.
The saving grace (if you can call it that) is that I reserved a golf/mountain view, which is hopefully slightly better than the garden view.
The saving grace (if you can call it that) is that I reserved a golf/mountain view, which is hopefully slightly better than the garden view.
Jan 6, 2014, 6:36 am
#487
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: AA Platinum, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 345
I just got back from a two night stay at the Westin Maui and besides the joke of an alternative amenity, we had a very nice stay. Booked a standard room award and was upgraded to an ocean view room in the beach tower. I did request a suite upgrade, but it never cleared (nor did I expect it to).
The room was a bit dated, but nice and I am thankful it did have a closet
We requested continental breakfast as our Platinum amenity, and I actually thought it was a good value. You are allowed to upgrade to a full breakfast for an additional $15, but we were happy with the cold breakfast offerings, which included lovely fresh papaya and pineapple. I thought it was funny that after you get your first round of food at the buffet the staff comes around to check what you got and then confirms that you did get the "cold breakfast." One server was very thorough and peered closely into my plate to make sure I was not hiding a sausage under my toast.
We were also appreciative that the front desk granted us 4:00 pm late checkout. I was very surprised by this as we were checking out on Christmas eve and the hotel seemed to be at extremely high occupancy. I did have to call them 3-4 times to confirm as it seemed they were busy checking guests in all morning.
I must say that the pool staff was wonderful here. Very friendly and we liked the fact that Relish had expanded their happy hour to 3-6 pm while we were there. The beers were only $4 and they had a good list of appetizers for 50% off.
Overall we had a great stay at the Westin. I did notice the extensive construction going on and was glad that we were in the beach tower during our stay.
The room was a bit dated, but nice and I am thankful it did have a closet
We requested continental breakfast as our Platinum amenity, and I actually thought it was a good value. You are allowed to upgrade to a full breakfast for an additional $15, but we were happy with the cold breakfast offerings, which included lovely fresh papaya and pineapple. I thought it was funny that after you get your first round of food at the buffet the staff comes around to check what you got and then confirms that you did get the "cold breakfast." One server was very thorough and peered closely into my plate to make sure I was not hiding a sausage under my toast.
We were also appreciative that the front desk granted us 4:00 pm late checkout. I was very surprised by this as we were checking out on Christmas eve and the hotel seemed to be at extremely high occupancy. I did have to call them 3-4 times to confirm as it seemed they were busy checking guests in all morning.
I must say that the pool staff was wonderful here. Very friendly and we liked the fact that Relish had expanded their happy hour to 3-6 pm while we were there. The beers were only $4 and they had a good list of appetizers for 50% off.
Overall we had a great stay at the Westin. I did notice the extensive construction going on and was glad that we were in the beach tower during our stay.
Jan 6, 2014, 9:44 am
#488
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA Platinum, UA Exec Premier, SPG Platinum, AmEx Platinum
Posts: 183
Especially unless you're platinum where you have a good chance of getting upgraded to an ocean front room in the beach tower, I wouldn't stay here if I were you. Go to the Sheraton.
Jan 6, 2014, 11:14 am
#489
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,787
Stayed for one night on points at the tail end of a Maui trip last week. I really have mixed feelings about this resort. I've stayed several times, and the difference between the beach and ocean towers is so significant that any stay where you might end up in the beach tower really needs to be considered. On a one-night stay, we got a great upgrade (even though my SNA did not clear), but you have to be mentally prepared for the beach tower.
We checked in early in the day to use the pools. The front desk told me they would likely have a suite for me, but they couldn't offer me early check in or late check out if I wanted it. I said ok, mostly to see what we'd get. We ended up with room 1119, which is the top, north room of the ocean tower. It's a bizarre room. It's basically tunnel style, or like a row house. The door leads to a long hallway, off of which is a tiny bedroom barely big enough for a bed, and behind that a large, very nice bathroom. In front is a living room, also very narrow. It's essentially like three rooms cut in half -- there are three connected balconies on the north side looking over the rooftops of whaler's village with a panoramic view down to black rock. The front room faces the ocean directly. There is a screen door to a french balcony, but no balcony proper. The views are fantastic, though no ability to have a chair out on the part of the room directly facing the ocean. It is pretty clear this room's highest and best use is as a connecting second bedroom and suite to the room to the south, which is also a suite. My guess is that it's usually sold that way, but wasn't being used that way the night we were there so we snagged it. If I paid for a 1 BR in the ocean tower and got this, I'd be a bit disappointed at the narrowness and bizarre set up, but certainly not in the views.
We used the facilities on check in day, but the Westin apparently has no means -- unlike virtually every other resort hotel in the world -- to let you make room charges after check in while waiting for your room. Using a credit card was no problem, but of course then you get no points, and who wants to carry a credit card all day around a pool environment? Also, the new pool towel regime was a bit more cumbersome than I remembered, but it was fine.
It had been a while since we stayed there, and I think they overdid things by making the entire upper pool area adults only. I fully support adults only areas, but this is the best real estate on the property and used to be one of the funnest areas for kids. Maybe there's just no great way to segregate another area for adults only and so the upper pool is the only choice. One of the big problems is that there is now no hot tub/hot pool for children to use. There is a bubbly pool under one of the caves, but the water is the same temperature as the pool. This is a bit of a bummer in the winter season, where a hot tub to warm up when the sun goes down is great. I have some excellent memories of Maui hot tub time with the kids warming up, and that's not possible anymore at the Westin. An adults only hot tub is fine, but I wish there had been one for kids too.
Platinum alternative amenity for the $31 resort charge, as others have noted, it a bit silly -- you get to choose the faster internet. Although, they did credit me 500 points even though we took the breakfast. (I think that may have been because they neglected to call us when the room was ready and so it was fairly late when we finally got our keys.) Breakfast was very nice -- the cold selection is good as mentioned by others. The policy on upcharges is a bit silly for kids -- they will not let you use one of the two continental breakfasts for kids if, for example, an adult wants to order something from the menu. At least, they wouldn't for us -- more details on that in the breakfast thread.
The construction on the beach tower continued to appear significant and active.
We saw some of the activities for the kids in the kids club, though did not use it, and it looked like they were having a great time.
We checked in early in the day to use the pools. The front desk told me they would likely have a suite for me, but they couldn't offer me early check in or late check out if I wanted it. I said ok, mostly to see what we'd get. We ended up with room 1119, which is the top, north room of the ocean tower. It's a bizarre room. It's basically tunnel style, or like a row house. The door leads to a long hallway, off of which is a tiny bedroom barely big enough for a bed, and behind that a large, very nice bathroom. In front is a living room, also very narrow. It's essentially like three rooms cut in half -- there are three connected balconies on the north side looking over the rooftops of whaler's village with a panoramic view down to black rock. The front room faces the ocean directly. There is a screen door to a french balcony, but no balcony proper. The views are fantastic, though no ability to have a chair out on the part of the room directly facing the ocean. It is pretty clear this room's highest and best use is as a connecting second bedroom and suite to the room to the south, which is also a suite. My guess is that it's usually sold that way, but wasn't being used that way the night we were there so we snagged it. If I paid for a 1 BR in the ocean tower and got this, I'd be a bit disappointed at the narrowness and bizarre set up, but certainly not in the views.
We used the facilities on check in day, but the Westin apparently has no means -- unlike virtually every other resort hotel in the world -- to let you make room charges after check in while waiting for your room. Using a credit card was no problem, but of course then you get no points, and who wants to carry a credit card all day around a pool environment? Also, the new pool towel regime was a bit more cumbersome than I remembered, but it was fine.
It had been a while since we stayed there, and I think they overdid things by making the entire upper pool area adults only. I fully support adults only areas, but this is the best real estate on the property and used to be one of the funnest areas for kids. Maybe there's just no great way to segregate another area for adults only and so the upper pool is the only choice. One of the big problems is that there is now no hot tub/hot pool for children to use. There is a bubbly pool under one of the caves, but the water is the same temperature as the pool. This is a bit of a bummer in the winter season, where a hot tub to warm up when the sun goes down is great. I have some excellent memories of Maui hot tub time with the kids warming up, and that's not possible anymore at the Westin. An adults only hot tub is fine, but I wish there had been one for kids too.
Platinum alternative amenity for the $31 resort charge, as others have noted, it a bit silly -- you get to choose the faster internet. Although, they did credit me 500 points even though we took the breakfast. (I think that may have been because they neglected to call us when the room was ready and so it was fairly late when we finally got our keys.) Breakfast was very nice -- the cold selection is good as mentioned by others. The policy on upcharges is a bit silly for kids -- they will not let you use one of the two continental breakfasts for kids if, for example, an adult wants to order something from the menu. At least, they wouldn't for us -- more details on that in the breakfast thread.
The construction on the beach tower continued to appear significant and active.
We saw some of the activities for the kids in the kids club, though did not use it, and it looked like they were having a great time.
Jan 6, 2014, 11:29 am
#490
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: BUF
Programs: SPG Plt, HHonors Gold, UA Gold, PC Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 880
Jan 6, 2014, 11:34 am
#491
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,787
You know, I thought that was the case but wasn't sure and didn't want to make an issue out of it since the guy was talking about trying to get us a suite. The way he described the "faster" internet as my alternative amenity justifying the $31 charge was like a used car salesman, so it sounded like he'd done that spiel before. As noted, though, I also ended up with a mystery 500 point gift, even though I took breakfast, so perhaps it worked out as it should anyway.
Jan 6, 2014, 2:09 pm
#493
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,787
2) It's all island time anyway. When they're done they're done. Until the trucks are packed up, there's no answer you can get that you can rely on.
Jan 6, 2014, 2:19 pm
#494
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: Delta diamond, SPG platinum, Hyatt diamond
Posts: 351
Just stayed one night (12/29) and the upgraded us to a very large suite great view of the ocean from two of balaconies which were on three sides of the room. The only negative would be that the hotel was very dated. Breakfast was reasonably good.
Jan 6, 2014, 6:44 pm
#495
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA Platinum, UA Exec Premier, SPG Platinum, AmEx Platinum
Posts: 183