Aulani vs RCI

[htmlkid]

Here my 2 cents....

I stayed at Aulani last summer and because it was such an amazing stay I purchased more points so I never have to worry about having enough points to stay there. The resort is amazing, the area is like being on Palm Beach Island and there is no traffic or congestion to deal with.

You get what you pay for...

[Dean]

Originally Posted by CandyMandy

I would say challenging, but not difficult to impossible. I know a DVC member (my aunt) who was able to get into the Hilton Grand Vacations Suites at Hilton Hawaiian Village. She probably succeeded because she included it as part of large, broad search going out a full two years with a wide range of possible check in dates (she got one in late March).

But back to the issue of difficult to impossible, that would presently seem to better describe getting anything at Aulani at 7 months.

One might have a chance for lower seasons but I think difficult is being generous for availability during higher seasons like Feb, March, Xmas or summer. A studio might be easier but I don't think the units a the Waikiki Hilton's have studios.

Confused. Every time we have searched for weekly exchanges through RCI on the DVC website a specific check in date or dates is given for every property listed (as example, Fridays, or Fridays and Saturdays). So in the three exchanges we have done via RCI, we knew before even requesting the exchange what the specific check in date or options were at the desired property. Once we called DVC and requested the exchange, when it came through we were always offered the day or days that had been listed online and confirmed those. So I don't know what is meant by "you can't control the start day of a given exchange with certainty." For that is exactly what we did.

But if you do an ongoing search it default's to the week with any start day. It's possible to narrow this but you have to pay attention. Also, most timeshare that are exchanging on the weeks side only start on certain days and it may not be the ones you chose. The weeks might ONLY start on Fri or Sat or Sun or some might start on any of the 3. Wed, Thu and Mon are less common. So if you only list Fri and the resort only has Sat starts, may as well not have a search because it will not match.

[my3princes]

We will stay at Aulani again. It is beautiful and day trips were easy from there to anywhere on Oahu. Definitely the best resort that we stayed at and well worth the points.

[dvc_john]

Originally Posted by Dean

A studio might be easier but I don't think the units a the Waikiki Hilton's have studios.

The Lagoon Tower and Kalia Tower do have studios.
The Grand Waikikian Tower does not.
However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the Lagoon Tower studios since they do not have a balcony, and work better as a 2nd bedroom than a stand-alone studio. The 1br and 2br units with balconies there are great.
(Just got back from a trip at both Hilton Lagoon Tower and Aulani.)

[Dean]

Originally Posted by dvc_john

The Lagoon Tower and Kalia Tower do have studios.
The Grand Waikikian Tower does not.
However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the Lagoon Tower studios since they do not have a balcony, and work better as a 2nd bedroom than a stand-alone studio. The 1br and 2br units with balconies there are great.
(Just got back from a trip at both Hilton Lagoon Tower and Aulani.)

Maybe I missed them but I didn't see them listed on RCI under unit descriptions as studios as an exchange option.

[dvc_john]

Originally Posted by Dean

Maybe I missed them but I didn't see them listed on RCI under unit descriptions as studios as an exchange option.

Hmmm. Maybe they don't make them available to RCI, but they do exist and have HGVC point values assigned in the HGVC directory.

Actually, Kalia tower only has studios and 1br's, no 2 or 3 br units. I think (pretty sure, but not 100% positive) that the studios in the Kalia tower are all 'island view', none are 'ocean view').
I've stayed in all 3 towers, including a 2br lock-off in the Lagoon tower, and 1br units in Lagoon, Kalia, and Grand Waikikian towers..

[Dean]

Originally Posted by dvc_john

Hmmm. Maybe they don't make them available to RCI, but they do exist and have HGVC point values assigned in the HGVC directory.

Actually, Kalia tower only has studios and 1br's, no 2 or 3 br units. I think (pretty sure, but not 100% positive) that the studios in the Kalia tower are all 'island view', none are 'ocean view').
I've stayed in all 3 towers, including a 2br lock-off in the Lagoon tower, and 1br units in Lagoon, Kalia, and Grand Waikikian towers..

What's listed in RCI is GRAND WAIKIKIAN 1 & 2 BR, #7499 with 1 BR only and #5996 with 1 & 2 BR. It's not uncommon for timeshares to not deposit certain unit sizes and though even less common, some don't list all sizes they have. I've seen this a number of times. Many are restrictive both on the unit type and week they exchange. For example, BG will only allow certain units to be deposited at certain resorts. They also make any deposit done as a week to match the underlying timeshare calendar. The former appears to be to preserve their ratings within II and RCI and the latter I'm not totally sure but's likely an antiquated accounting issue which doesn't make sense otherwise. The other thing many systems to is to require a deposit to start on a certain day or group of days, say Fri-Sun.

When DVC was with RCI before and the first year or 2 with II, they only listed 1 & 2 BR for OKW and BWV (didn't check VB/HH) and not the studio or 3 BR. Then later they listed 2 different types of studios and 2 BR for OKW and 2 studios for BWV. Still no 3 BR While there are differences from our standpoint, there really aren't from RCI's standpoint as listed. The 2 different type of studios were 2/2 & 2/4 and for 2 BR was 6/6 & 6/8 for OKW AND 6/8 FOR BWV. For those not familiar, the first number is the "private" sleeping capacity and the second number the total sleeping capacity. Private is defined as 2 people to a room with direct access to a Bath. While OKW does have the units with no connection through the Laundry, those would have been 4/6 or 4/8. OKW does not have different types of studios. while BWV has l/o and non l/o, the sleeping capacity and other setup is the same and all should be 2/4.

It's not uncommon for a system to deposit a unit they have but is not listed, I've seen this several times as well.