moneeman

The Tampa Renaissance International Plaza is indeed a fine hotel. However, the room we had this past weekend had the NOISIEST SHEETS I have ever had. My wife and son were with me, and we woke up every time anyone rolled over in bed. Also, the beds had only a heavy comforter over the sheet. Your choice was to either be a bit cool with only a sheet or super hot under the comforter.

Other than that, the hotel was great. A very convenient location for my wife to shop while my son and I went to the Cardinals-Devil Rays game.

Dudleydog73

Oops.. Your right.. What I meant to say was the ORLANDO RENAISSANCE AIRPORT. Had a case of typing the last one I stayed at, not the one I meant.

The Tampa Renaissance is very nice as stated. Sorry for the confusion.

--DD

CPRich

I'm not sure how mountains that don't exist look greener than they ever do...


The first and second are the same photo, with crop, contrast/brightness, and USM applied in Photoshop. I do it to my photos, professional photographers do it to photos, and I guarentee that 90% of magazine photos, on-line advertising, and most other professional photos you see get the same treatment.

The third shot is with a wider angle lens. The narrower telephoto lens in the first flattens the image, making the background appear closer. It is also taken late or early in the day, with the long shadows and golden light of that time of day - optimum time for a good, dramatic looking shot.

I took some photo north of Phoenix this spring and people said the same thing - the desert is never that green, what did you do to the pictures? Well, it turns out that they had more rain this spring than in the past 30 years. Perhaps this pix were taken just after a particularly rainy spell - are you sure the land has never been that green since the hotel was built?

I'm sure a polarizer was used to punch up the colors, maybe a grad ND to get better saturation, and some post-processing in Photoshop.

The objective of photography is to create beautiful looking pictures, and the objective of advertising is to present yourself in the best possible light. There is a fine line between photography and computer art these days, and I'll be better able to judge where this falls after my visit in a few months. But with the available information, I'd say this was nothing wrong or misleading/out of the norm in this case.

AADC10

When I went to the JW Marriott Ihilani I thought it was up against the mountain too, but it is actually some distance away. Yes, the area is not quite as green as the photograph as it is on the dry side of the island. It is still a nice hotel with its own uncrowded artifical beach (actually there are three identical artificial beach coves) with the MVC on the far one.

Even the dumpiest hotels try to put their best face forward in photos. It is still a very nice resort but it is on the less popular side of the island.

aaupgrade

Actually, there are four man-made lagoons. Oh BTW, the hotel, grounds, pool, golf course, Spa, and restaurants are also man made and all are very nice. This is one of my favorite hotels. The sand that makes up the beach, however, is 100% natural - made by parrot fish.

SJCPremier

I am going with my future wife for our honeymoon in a few weeks to Ihilani and I am considering upgrading to a deluxe spa room. Does anyone have experience in staying in one of these?

JIMCHI

Yes, we stayed in one once and never again. They are in the beachfront building, on the first floor. It is a standard sized (but good sized) room on the first floor with an in-ground hot tub and patio in the back. Problem is-- there is a hedge around it so you have no view whatsoever. Second problem- the hedge attracts small animals (rodents) which occasionally appear. Third problem- you have no privacy from the rooms on floors 2,3 and 4 above you. Fourth problem- group events are held on the lawn right on the other side of the hedge, day and night.

We have stayed at the Ihilani once or twice a year for about 12 years now. I don't recommend those rooms.

Jim

SJCPremier

Thanks Jim! I know now to save the points and stick with just a Deluxe Ocean View.

Thanks again,
Tim

OahuDan

Not at the moment, but given the recent decision to keep filling the Waimanalo Gulch landfill just across from the resort (even though it's full), perhaps they were showing the likely mountain that will result in a few more years.

Shame on all of you for suggesting they were making it look prettier than it is....in fact...that extra mountain is the landfill! Most resorts wouldn't go that far in making sure you know about a big pile of trash next to the resort. Good job Marriott for being so honest!!

OahuDan

I live on the wetter side of that mountain....and it's not anywhere as green as that picture. I can assure you....I've never the resort/ trash dump side of the mountain look ANYTHING like that picture....of course, including the fact that the mountain is much further away than shown. Any photographers know how they can move a mountain closer to the resort?

CPRich

Long lenses can compress a view quite tightly, and Photoshop can do just about anything.


And I'm still confused about the "mountain" that is closer/further. Are you talking about the black, folded, rugged mountain across the water to the left of the hotel or the little green hill that starts mid-point on the hotel and up to the right? If it's the latter, I'm pretty sure it's just a very long lens from far away compressing the image depth.

See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...thoffield.mspx
for an example.

jayer

Mrs. Jayer tells me points stays are on sale this spring because of "construction." Has anybody been here recently and how much construction is going on? Enough to be really disruptive or just a minor inconvenience?

Three or four years ago the Hyatt Maui was way on sale because of kiddie pool construction, and two years ago Kauai Hyatt was on sale because of reroofing (big honking cranes blocking the view but that was all).

Is this an opportunity to visit Oahu or a warning to stay away from Ko Olina?

bonzaiflyer

When I was there in Sept, the construction was over at the time share, not the main hotel. Don't know if that's still the case tho.

flyerwife

I just did a cursory check for award availability for this Spring at the Marriott Ko Olina and found no point savers offered.

(And ps- the Ko Olina is fantastic!)

CyclingFan

We returned from the timeshare on Dec. 17th and the only construction that had any visibility was workers moving furniture into the next phase of the timeshares that open early 2006. We visited the JW hotel facilities several times during the week and didn't see any obvious signs of construction there. During 2006 the Ko-Olina developer (not Marriott) is scheduled to start construction of new single owner villas between the JW and the timeshare property.