Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Hawaii (all islands)
 

I am a platinum and very loyal to Marriott... It pains me to say how disappointed I am with the Marriott resorts in Hawaii.

There is absolutely no value to being a platinum at ANY Marriott resort in Hawaii. Obviously no lounges or continental breakfast but now it seems that they don't even consider upgrades to better rooms. (a little view? please!)

I am writing this from the Waikoloa Marriott on the Big Island. Not enough chairs at the pool. Platinum in a horrible, non-view room. They missed my Platinum gift on check-in. (They gave me a really, really late check out instead of the $100 at my request.)

The only saving grace of all the Marriott Resorts in Hawaii is the Kauai Marriott. The best pool in the world!

Now if they could only recognize that when their loyal customers are in Hawaii with their families they would appreciate a little appreciation.

(Mr. Ordflyboy, there are lots of Platinums in the hotel - we can't upgrade everybody....) That's the way to have less Platinums.....

Last trip to Oahu, stayed at the Kahala ... better than JW....
Last trip to Maui, stayed at the Grand Wailea .... better than Marriott

We'll see ... I can only imagine it getting worse with cost cutting...

I've had nothing but "great success" (borrow from Borat :D) at my stays as an elite in Hawaii with Marriott.

Marriott Waikiki - I paid for the cheapest room in the place, ended up with a very nice double-balcony partial ocean view room. This was as a gold. My only complain was that there should have been an elite check in/out desk as the lines can get quite long here.

Wailea Marriott Resort - On a points stay (lowest available), I was upgraded to a ground floor ocea-view room right by the pool. It was a great location.

Yes, you get hosed on the breakfasts due to no CL. Frankly you shouldn't be eating breakfast in a CL anyway if you're in Hawaii, there are enough "local flavor" places to eat anyway.....

ETA: Yes, the Grand Wailea is nicer than the Marriott. It's also $500 / night to stay in the cheapest room on the grounds. Marriott's less than half that price.

There should only be "negotiating" on the Plat guarantee if you want to do so. Otherwise, they have to give you the $100 cash. Now, if you preferred the really, really late checkout instead, that is fine and both sides should be happy.

Also, I have to say that my stays at the Hawaii Marriotts have all be very good. I have to admit though that I have only used award to stay at any of the Hawaii properties and I have not stayed at the Waikoloa Marriott. But I have received some very nice upgrades at Marriotts on Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. And using awards for 2-bedroom suites at the Waioahai and Ko Olina MVCI properties, we were given Ocean View suites at both. So I can't complain about those stays either (especially considering those 2 bedroom suites only cost 150K for 7 nights at each. ^)

I do agree that it would be nice if Marriott Resorts provided breakfast for Plats, but that is their rules and I new what the rules were before my stay. So while I might ding Marriott Rewards for their rules, I don't normally ding a specific hotel just because they are following those rules.

I have stayed at the Renaissance Ilikai(now gone),Ren Wailea(now gone) and the Kauai Marriott all as a Gold.

My absolute favorite was the Ren Wailea.Small,intimate,friendly and a great beach.

Kauai Marriott was ok-the beach was not attractive to us and the pool was so cold it was unusable.We spent most of our time on Kauai driving to different beaches,so our accommodations at the hotel did not matter too much,but the rooms were definitely in need of renovations.

We will be at Waikoloa this year on points-I am getting a bit nervous based on some FT comments,but since we are burning points after the recent MR changes,and it is Hawaii after all,I am hoping things will be fine.

I have only stayed at one Hawaii Marriott "hotel". I stayed at the Maui Marriott on the cheapest award stay for 7 nights that they had. They upgraded me for free to an ocean view room. All of my other stays have been at MVCI properties so they do not apply.

I stayed at the JW Ihilani on Oahu a year and a half ago and was upgraded from the basic mountain view room to a Ihilani Suite which had to be 1200 - 1500sqft, two balconies, one facing the mountains and one facing the lagoon, two bathrooms, the largest whirlpool tub I've ever seen, and the list goes on.

Of course I always call the hotel directly prior to any stay over a couple of days to try and line up an upgrade early and in this case they were able to accommodate me, and in fact went above and beyond my wildest expectations.

I also sent someone to stay at the same hotel about six months ago and this person has no status and was upgraded from a mountain view to an ocean view without even asking, so from my experience it pays to be a platinum at the JW Ihilani and even if you aren't you still have a good chance of being upgraded.

On one of our trips to Hawaii about 6 years ago, we spent one week at Renaissance Wailea and one week at Hilton Waikaloa. In both cases, we loved the properties and were a bit smug about how we picked some great hotels, not the big, gaudy Outrigger Hotels they were next door to.

Now both of those Outriggers are Category 7(!) Marriotts. :( I realize Marriott assigned those categories based on award demand, but still...in our minds we at least somwehat correlate category to quality, and that would leave me really disappointed in these two hotels unless the renovations have completely changed their entire atmosphere - not just the furniture and wallpaper.

Renaissance Wailea was, of course, fantastic: one of my favorite all-time Marriotts. It had few amenities for families and it was too small for big corporate boondoggles. That left a small, elegant, quiet property that reminded us of what Hawaii might have been like before megaresorts.

Marriott Kauai was very good to us: they provided a top-floor ocean view corner room, which we enjoyed. They also provided a fruit plate and half-bottle of wine (a typical Plat amenity) even though we were only Gold at the time. It just showed up with a welcome note from the manager...I thought that was pretty nice. The property itself is a typical large Marriott - nice place, maybe a bit dated, but certainly not worn out. Like freeflyin, we spent our time all over the island so exact location of the hotel wasn't critical to us. The small beach there was nice. The attached golf course was a little too gimmicky for my tastes...too many strange little par 4's where you have to tee off with an 8-iron. I also remember that massive pool being a bit on the chilly side... We hung out in the hot tub on a few evenings.

Believe it or not, it can and does happen that there are more PLT's than there are un-paid-for upgraded rooms. Hawaii is a popular vacation spot in the winter, and people do pay for better views.:eek:

If you need an upgraded room, book an upgraded room ( I assume you got what you booked - tell us if you were downgraded). I always assume I get what I booked and am pleasantly surprised when I get upgraded.

Shame on them for missing the PLT amenity, but it sounds like you were compensated with a benefit not provided for in the program, at your request.

I think your "they don't even consider upgrades to better rooms. " has been proven false so I won't bother adding my experiences.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....I've been treated better by Hilton in Hawaii with no status than I've been treated by Marriott in Hawaii as a longtime Platinum.

And that is true for my last 4 trips to Hawaii.

Both of the big mainline Hawaiian Hiltons took good care of us as Golds. Excellent upgrades, a great lounge at HWV, and free breakfast certs at HHV.

My only complaint...and it's not really a complaint, more of an observation...none of the mainline properties in either chain feel all that unique or elegant. Yes, I know you can use HH points at Grand Wailea (which still felt like a megaresort to me from walking around the place) or MR points at the Ritz on Maui. But without a Ritz Travel Package it's very hard to justify the huge amount of points required unless it's truly one of the unique hotels in the world.

I've never stayed at a Hawaiian Starwood, but from what I gather they have a more interesting selection of properties.

Thank You
 

I appreciate all your replies. Believe it or not, I am happy to hear that I am the exception rather than the rule. Perhaps if we continue to try Marriott for our twice a year trips to Hawaii we will have a different experience.

In the meantime, we will go back to the Kahala on Oahu, Grand Waliea on Maui, etc etc. They can have some great rates and packages if you shop around and my expectations there have always been exceeded! I will forego the points...

I am happy with Marriott at most other locations - including some great service offered because of Platinum - so they will continue to get my business elsewhere. But I would be soo much happier if they would just be a little nicer in Hawaii!

Best Hawaiian Marriott?
 

Finally, I've accumulated enough points for a one week stay at any Marriott in Hawaii. Based on your past experiences, which Hawaiian Marriott hotel would offer the most value, relaxation, and overall ambiance for the points? I want to be sure there are no regrets after committing a barrel full of points. Just basing my decision on the company write-ups, it looks like the Illhani on Oahu or the Wailea on Maui shows the most appeal. I've also looked pretty carefully at TripAdvisor, but I think the best advice would come from the folks on this thread. Thanks in advance!!!:D

I would agree with those two choices, based on my stays, though if you have kids the pool at Kauai is a favorite.

If you're planning on just staying at the property, I'd put those two on par. If you're looking to get out and about, I'm much more partial to Maui.

Personally, I figure out the location based on the attractions, activities, etc., and then pick a place to stay. We tend to use the hotel for sleep and mornign/evening pooltime at most, and get out during the day. I'd rather stay in the less-fancy Kauai or Waikaloa properties over the JW because I much prefer Kauai and the Big Island to Oahu.

Unfortunately, the 7 day Hawaii hopper is now a memory (I'm using one of the last ones this summer), so splitting islands is much more expensive (thanks MR for that one).

Vacation Club Properties?
 

I noticed a property on Oahu called "Ko Olina Beach Club" which looks extra appealing. A one bedroom villa there goes for 125K points for a week. The resort appears to be a cut above the other Marriott properties, although I gather there is no daily maid service, etc. that you would expect from full-service properties. I really like the idea of having the multi-room unit as compared to the one room unit. There is also a two bedroom villa for 150K points that would allow us to invite our son, his wife and baby. Are you or anyone else familiar with this property? It appears reservations may be very tight there. We stayed at the Kauai property many years ago when it was a Westin. Yes, it does have a great pool, but overall we didn't care for the location. Lots of airport noise, as I recall it being near the Lihue Airport.

Ko Olina Hands Down
 

I've stayed on all the Marriott Hawaii properties. Th Ko Olina has everything. It is away from the noise of Waikiki, and makes getting to the noise a bit of a trek, but as for service, quality of rooms, beaches, etc. it is by far the best. This property still ranks on top of all the Marriott properties I've stayed in. The economy has cut back on services a bit, but it is not entirely noticeable if you haven't stayed in these properties over the past few years. Enjoy your visit regardless of where you stay. Aloha.