Kauai Marriott
 

Planning to cash in all my points next year for two week stay with the family. Any comments about this hotel?

Have you searched this forum? IIRC this property has been discussed in many, many threads.

Have not stayed there, but reviews are really good. Check out tripadvisor.com as well.

You can also use your points for Marriott Vacation Clubs, of which there are two in Kauai. MVI may be a really good option if going with kids. The older one is adjacent to the hotel, and the timeshare units do not have kitchens. The newer one is not affiliated with a hotel, but gets really good reviews.

Was there about 5 weeks ago for the 3rd time. Although the standard rooms are only so so the resort is wonderful! Our stay was on points also which just gives you an island view room. Ours was a view of a service road. Given the way the hotel is situated even partial ocean views aren't that great. I paid for an upgrade once, I complained and they easily waived the fee since I couldn’t see the ocean. We like the hotel location since it's centrally located and convenient to get to both side of the island.

The front of the hotel was a mess as they are repairing/improving the road and entrance due to the rain earlier in the year. Parking was bad as a result but that was the only impact.

Feel free to ask any specific questons…

Same experience here with the ocean view. We had 2 "ocean view" rooms that were more accurately pool view with a sliver of the ocean if you crane your neck over the balcony and make a hard left. But, we could see the cruise ships coming in and out of Nawiliwili harbor, so technically I guess it was ocean view.

Resort is sprawling but the grounds are very beautiful. Large pool. We found the pool water to be quite cold but we were there in February. Beach was nice. Resort is within walking distance to some shops and restaurants, nothing too exotic. We did enjoy Dukes right on the property (we have kids, so this was a good choice for us). There was a large koi pond with many fish, birds, etc. and they had daily feeding times so if you have younger children they might enjoy that. There was a piano player in the open air lobby area by the pool during evening hours and that was a nice touch. Hotel has several laundry rooms on-site, which I assume you'll need for a 2 week stay.

Room decor was somewhat "dated Hawaiian" but rooms were clean and a good size.

My kids enjoyed Poipu Beach, which is a quick drive from the Kauai Marriott. It's good for toddlers and teens alike. Great place to snorkel. We were able to whale watch from there and it was a lot of fun. Also enjoyed Puka Dog, which is a hot dog place in Poipu featured on the Travel Channel, if that interests your kids. There's a Roy's in the same shopping center for a finer dining experience.

Parking at the Marriott was not a problem for us, even though there was major construction on the lot while we were there. Our room was situated on the far left of the resort and there was a side parking area convenient to our building.

Resort does some "shows" on the beach at sunset; fire twirlers and history of the islands type things. I don't recall too much water sports activities right there on the Marriott beach but there are many, many activities available all over the island. The resort concierge was very helpful with ideas for activities as well as restaurant suggestions.

Have a great time! We blew a ton of Marriott points here too (over half a million between this and the JW Ihilani on our last trip to Hawaii) but it was well worth it.

I was there 3 weeks ago, also on points and unfortunately only for 3 nights. This was our favorite island and our favorite hotel, on a 4 island trip. The front of the hotel (entrance and drive) was still heavily under construction, but once you got past that, it was a beautiful property, staffed with very accommodating employees. The pool compares with the Orlando World Center, with a much better view (beach, bay and mountains beyond). The food was excellent, even at the pool bar, the onsite Italian restaurant next to Dukes was incredible. The grounds and artwork throughout the facility was museum quality. We did pay the $50 a night upgrade charge for "poolview" which was also slightly oceanview (blocked some by foilage even though we were on the 7th floor). We are going back next year with family and already checked for availability for one of the vacation club suites, but unfortunately those are sold out for rewards for my time period.
Cindi

i've already booked a reward stay for next june - when next year are you planning on going

Thank you all for your response, really appreciated. I have booked 12 nights starting July 2 using one of the package awards + an additional 5 nights. I did try for the vacation club but no luck for the dates I was looking for. Was also able to get ff tickets on AA for family of 5 and only have to pay $50...not a bad deal for a vacation that would have otherwise cost about 8-10 grand.

A timely thread - I just book 5 nights there next August, front-ending a week in Maui. I'm trying to find a way to fly with miles, but USAir's joke of a FF program will cost me 70K miles/person. I think I'll spend the $750.

How do you book the VC's with points? They don't come up when doing an awards search. And if they are available, are they a better/worse option?

You would book the MVCI rooms the same as any other hotel. So if you are using Marriott's online reservation tool and not seeing any availability, that probably means there isn't any. Note that the Hawaiian MVCI rooms are some of the most sought after in the timeshare inventory. What that means is that the chances of finding a room using points will be very slim to none. In fact, you may even find it tough to find inventory for a paid stay.

I was lucky enough to be able to use points at both of the Kauai timeshare properties (though not in the same trip), and at the Ko Olina property as well. What I have found is that your best chance of using points at a "high" demand property (like any Marriott in Hawaii) will be to try when they first open. They will not have sold off all the inventory yet. So Marriott still owns a lot of that inventory and will be more likely to allow the use of points. We did this back when the Waiohai and the Ko Olina timeshares both opened and were able to use points on a week at both facilities to make a very nice two-week vacation.

7 nights in a 2BR villa is 150,000 points (award code 393), I thought it was a great deal, but unfortunately not available for my dates. To answer the other question we are flying in to HNL on June 15. (Taking extended family and got 7 award tickets on Delta), plan to spend 1 week on the Big Island and 1 week on Kauai. So probably 6/23-30 on Kauai. Would love to be back at the Kauai Marriott, but I don't have enough points for 2 rooms for a week, since the Vacation Club isn't available. I am going to check on different ways to book VC, Marriott Reservations wants $500+ a night for a 2BR. My boss has a Marriott timeshare and he has told me sometimes they are offered deals on additional weeks. Not sure how that works.
Cindi

One possibility, depending on whether Marriott has sold out their inventory or not, is that that any existing owner can "recommend" you as a potential buyer. Marriott normally offers a package deal something like 4 or 5 nights and possibly a car and Marriott Rewards points, etc for around $600-800 total. If Marriott is offering it for one of their properties and you can get an owner to recommend you, it is a good deal. Note that these packages may or may not require a timeshare tour. But even if it does, Marriott does not put on a "hard-sell" tour, so they are aren't too bad.

I don't know if the MVCI Kauai Beach Club location will have those tours or not. But the Waiohai Beach Club location is also on Kauai and much newer, so you may have better luck getting a package for that property. (And personally, I liked the Waiohai property better anyway as those rooms are not converted hotel rooms.)

BTW I'm not an owner, so I can't help you with one of those referrals. I would suggest if you do want to pursue that angle, you can find a lot of Marriott TS owners in the Marriott forum in Timeshare User's group.

I suppose they're like the Starwood timeshare properties - I booked 11 months 25 days in advance (window opens at 12 months) for my Maui stay and Saturday arrival was already sold out. I just tried 36 combinations of 1, 3, and 5 night stays over the next 12 months - not a single award availability at the MVCI property. So you're rights about "slim to none". ;)

I'll happily keep my reservation at the regular property - feedback here looks promising. ^

I'm heading to the Kauai Marriott Resort next month and was wondering about a couple of details....I understand there is no resort fee but they charge for self-parking. Is that what others recall? Thanks.

A contrasting view on Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club