pitflyer

I'm trying to decide where to book my 7 day stay with Marriott in Hawaii and so far I'm leaning towards the JW Marriott. It would seem that they might have the best service and somewhat-secluded location of all the Marriotts. The Kauai Marriott is second on my list but I am concerned about the airport nearby -- yes, some people say it didn't bother them but my wife is very sensitive to these things

Anyone have any comments on this hotel not already posted on the forum? My wife and I also have short attention spans so I was wondering if staying at this hotel will make daytripping to other islands or other areas convenient or not.

Thanks for any feedback...

Marriottmillionaire

I can't say enough good things about the JW. Our family spent 7 days there in June of 2000. It was first class all the way. It is very quiet and peaceful. At first I was concerned about the property not being on a "real" beach, but on a cove. It turned out to be the best of both worlds, unless you want to surf right there in front of the hotel. The cove is calm, clear water and the beach is perfectly clean, white sand. I like the sound of waves crashing, and right around the corner from the cove I could set up my beach chair on the lawn and hear the waves crashing on the rocks. I spent hours out there and I don't necessarily like to sunbathe!

The common areas and just beautiful. Very classy. It was designed by the Japanese and they really know how to do it right. Understated elegance, I would say. The rooms are beautiful and all are oversized. We are Marriott Gold and they upgraded us to an ocean view room, though it wasn't ocean FRONT.

They gave us breakfast coupons for two for every day we were there. These were good for the Continental, not the "hot" breakfast. But that was more than enough! Fresh papaya, pineapple, mangos and the best hot musseli I have ever tried! As well as rolls, cereal juice, coffee, etc. One day we didn't use the coupons and they said we could use the $18.00 (each) credit toward room service or in any of the restaurants. We tried the sushi restaurant and it was great. Prices were high, but not out of line with the rest of Hawaii.
There were a few kids there, but everyone seemed very calm and relaxed. Hardly noticed the kiddies. (Including our own!)
The spa is wonderful. And they have a great exercise room and aerobics room which includes FREE aerobics classes everyday.

You are 30-40 minutes from Waikiki but it's an easy drive along the freeway.
There is a shopping center and several restaurants within a 10 minute drive.

We are going back in Oct. for our 20th! If you would like more info, let me know.

Phil

Thanks for the great description, Mariottmillionaire. We are going to the Ilehani for ten days in June-July. We will be on an award....I am platinum, does that mean we get the breakfast coupons ? $18 each for three of us sounds a little high for continental.

Marriottmillionaire

Phil,
Yes, that was $18.00 each. But we only got them for the two adults in the room. The fact that this is a "resort" and in Hawaii accouts for the high price!
BTW, we only asked for two per room. We didn' think it was possible to get more than that so we didn't bother to ask.

starrunner

My husband and I stayed at the JW for 2 nights last Nov. It was elegant and the staff couldn't do enough for us. I have family on Hawaii and Lanai so don't normally ever go to Oahu. This time my husband wanted to play tourist so I picked the JW to avoid the downtown beach and party crowd. The view from the balcony, of the ocean and small inlet was wonderful. We left the sliding door open and went to sleep to the sound of the ocean. You will want to rent a car if you stay there. I felt the atmosphere was more than worth it.

GG

pitflyer, the Ihilani is no further from the airport than you'd be if you stayed in Waikiki. However, you should be aware that there can be really heavy traffic on weekday mornings (6:30-8am)going towards the airport. It backs up west on H1 from the H1-H2 junction and lasts nearly to the airport exit (at some point more lanes are added and things get better). There is a carpool lane, but it's restricted to 3 or more people/car. We lucked out last summer taking our friend to the airport; she'd never have made her 9am plane if we hadn't been able to use the carpool lanes. We then rescheduled our flight the next day from the 9am to the 12:15. There were no traffic problems by 10am.

There is also heavy traffic in the opposite direction, ie, at least to the H1-H2 split coming from the airport/downtown/Waikiki in the usual afternoon rush hours, 4-6pm or so.

Once you're out in Ko'Olina, it's very peaceful and quiet. I heartily recommend the Ihilani, but if you're planning some island hopper flights, I do suggest you plan around the traffic, ie go and come back a little later than you might have. And I'm sure the Ihilani staff will be happy to advise you.

Paul19

My wife and I went to Hawaii last May, and wanted to stay at the Kauai Marriott. We ended up using the 200k award for Ihilani instead, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made! We couldn't get enough of the place. It was originally built as a Hotel Nikko, and those are a very high-end hotel, from the ones I've seen. They built four of the coves, with the intention of building one hotel in front of each. But after Ihilani, I'm told, the Japanese economy went south, so you have all four lagoons to yourself! (They are public beaches, too, but there was just a smattering of people on the other three.)

Because of trouble with getting our return flight to the mainland, we had 2 extra days after our week at Ihilani, so we went over to Kauai and rented a little apartment. We walked all around the Kauai Marriott, to see if we'd want to stay there in the future. I didn't think it was anywhere as nice. The beach is on a huge inlet or cove or whatever (50x the size of Ihilani's), but there is some industrial looking stuff across this little "bay." Turned me off. Grounds there were nice, but not incredible.

The food at Ihilani is EXPENSIVE, IMHO, but it was to die for!


Oh, yes, another thing -- the mountains around Ihilani are kind of barren and brownish, like something from Baja California...not the lush green you'd expect. However, several times we went into Honolulu and it was dreary and raining, and then we'd get 75% of the way back to Ihilani, and the clouds would part ... makes sense, the brown areas get more sunshine!

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pitflyer

You guys have sold me! This vacation is really a vacation from vacations -- normally when I plan a vacation I jam pack it with activities and sightseeing. My wife hates that. So when we go to Hawaii I'm looking for some place to sit back, relax and NOT do anything ... so service would be king.

Sounds like a perfect match for this hotel! I was going to book it yesterday but got a little turned off by the $50 deposit required for an award reservation. However, will probably follow through with it today.

Thanks to all for the great feedback! I'm sure we'll enjoy our stay there.

GG

FWIW, all beaches in Hawaii are public beaches. They're pretty serious about protecting beach access, too. At Kaanapali, for instance, the hotels, which march rank on rank right next to each other, are required by law to have walkways for beach access (and a teeny amount of free public parking). They don't go out of their way to advertise this, as you might expect, but it's true. The parking may be a local ordinance, but I'm pretty sure the public beach rule is state-wide.

Someone who lives in Hawaii might be able to provide more details.

[edited for spelling ]


[This message has been edited by GG (edited 04-04-2001).]

SPort

How much of a problem is airplane noise at the Ihilani? Last time I took an interisland flight, we flew right over this hotel (I recognized it from pictures I'd seen.) I'm really sensitive to this type of annoyance on a vacation and that's the only thing that I didn't like about staying at the Kauai Marriott.

honu

I've never stayed at the Ihilani, but I went to Ko 'Olina several times (the little lagoons nearby, and a great beach to take a toddler to). You can definitely see and hear the planes, as this area is on the landing path of most flights to HNL. However, I don't know much of a nuisance it is if you're in your room. Something to keep in mind is that HNL, unlike LIH, gets A LOT of traffic...

As for public access to beaches, some beaches are nit very easy to access at all(e.g., the far end of Kailua beach...)

GG

From our balcony in the day, and from various points around the hotel, we watched a lot of transpacific Big Guys coming in - that was a blast! - but I don't remember hearing any noise from them. The airport's still 20 miles away, and the planes were pretty far off.

I wouldn't be surprised if smaller, lower flying planes don't make noise now and then. Or that the traffic pattern could change, but like starrruner, we went to sleep to the sound of the wind and the sea, and were never awakened by anything but our internal clocks.

Besides, who leaves home without their earplugs?

honu, I believe you - but compared to California's token law, I think Hawaii has done ok.

pitflyer

Since a lot more people seem to be perturbed by the Kauai's Marriotts close proximity to a smaller airport rather than Ihilani's farther distance from the much larger one, I've decided to stick with it. Just booked myself an ocean view room over Thanksgiving week.

Figure it might be a bit crowded, but I'm looking forward to the trip! Thanks everyone.

SAPMAN

I have been to the Ko Olina beach areas (4 coves) often, but not stayed at the hotel as my brother lives on Oahu. This is a great place for a peaceful day outing. I did not notice much plane noise. Great public facilities (showers, restrooms, grassy areas, etc.) maintained by the hotel. And hotel is on end of the first cove, so coves further out are not crowded. I did eat lunch a few times by the pool and it was good. The pool at the hotel is not real big, so if you are looking for a "super" pool, this is not it. But an ideal place to kick back with beach and golf.

I am heading back to HI in July, so may stay a night or two here - just to avoid the drive and have a room close by.

JIMCHI

There is some noise from 747's coming from Asia from about 7-10AM. You can't hear them in your room. After about 10AM there is seldom any aircarft noise.