Using upgrade coupons
 

I booked a 5 night reward stay in the Maui Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort for this June. Since it is going to be my honeymoon I wanted to confirm an upgrade to an ocean view room rather than hope to get one based on availability at the time of check-in.
When I go the Hotel Rewards page I see that they have certificate 711 for 5,000 point which is suppose to allow me to upgrade for one night to an ocean view room. However, when I called the hotel they told me that
I need 2 certificates per night to upgrade to an ocean view room.

Has anyone used this upgrade coupon before?

I am also using upgrade coupons for my honeymoon to Aruba. I was quoted 5,000 points by both. However, there is also the option to pay for the upgrade in cash, which I am doing to save on the points. In ,in my research, I noticed that in the small print, some of the island hotels have higher requirements.

I booked the Marriott in Kaua'i via points. For 7 nites I need the 125,000 reward. It was not available for the garden level rooms, but for 5000 points or $60.oo a nite we could be upgraded to Oceanfront. So we will be using the points and paying the additional 60 bucks. Seems like a better deal than spending an additional 35,000 points. On a related note, last year we stayed at the Renaissance in St Thomas on a five day reward. The hotel has pool/beach front rooms and others up the hill, with a view of St John. Our reward was for the hill rooms, but i asked for an upgrade, and they too wanted $60 bucks a nite. We decided to go for it, and were not disappointed. In fact we were pleasantly suprised to find no additional charges upon check-out.