Aulani Villas & Views -- REVISED 07/22/2017

[EWL]

Just back from our first trip to Aulani-- and a special thanks to @jliehr and this thread for the AWESOME advice on requesting a unit ending in -73 or -79-- it turned our island/garden view studio into a partial ocean view (but without the extra points!!) that was just spectacular, plus we overlooked the lawn where the Starlit Hui and movie nights took place! We were in 1573 in the 'Ewa tower-- photos of the view are below. One thing that was a surprise was how close the resort area is to an industrial park, including our unexpected views below of Chevron Hawaii, but it isn't visible from within the resort and so really didn't detract. Other surprises (to us) included how close the neighboring Four Seasons (undergoing construction) was, how small the lagoon was (compared say to beaches on Castaway Cay), and how compact the pool area was (i.e., very crowded over MLK weekend and hard to find chairs). It is however a spectacular resort and with the blizzard about to bury the mid-Atlantic, we are wishing we were still there!


Ocean view-- awesome, with the Halawai lawn easily seen below.


Far left from the balcony.


Straight out from the balcony-- odd to see a tanker and industrial site.


Beautiful.... take us back!

 

[DenLo]

We leave for Hawaii in five days and will arrive at Aulani on February 1st. Hopefully we'll get a new room to post here then.

Denise (denlo) & Wil (wdrl)

 

[wdrl]

Thanks to you, too, EWL, for sharing your photos on this thread.

Much of the extreme southwest corner of Oahu is industrialized with a large refinery that can be easily seen from the upper floors of Aulani. The Naval Air Station at Barbers Point is now closed, but I think the U.S. Coast Guard still has an air station in the area.

 

[carissa1970]

Before I make this request, can someone who knows take a look at it and provide feedback? We will be in a 1 bdrm island view. It looks like I should request Ewa building, short wing, ending in 62 or 68. I think this should be relatively low, and facing the lawn with the Starlit Hui. Is that correct?

 

[wdrl]

Before I make this request, can someone who knows take a look at it and provide feedback? We will be in a 1 bdrm island view. It looks like I should request Ewa building, short wing, ending in 62 or 68. I think this should be relatively low, and facing the lawn with the Starlit Hui. Is that correct?

I assume the reason you want a low floor is because you hope to see the Starlit Hui from your balcony? If so, keep in mind that the foliage may block your view if you are too low. You will definitely be able to hear the performance from the villas you are requesting, but there is no guarantee that you'll be able to see the entire stage due to the trees. Nevertheless, I hope it works out the way you want!

 

[Mamapapa]

My Q is do they sell air mattresses at the target or somewhere close to aulani? My boys are 16 and 21 and we usually take an air mattress with us but with suitcase limitations we are considering just buying one there.

Google "Coleman® EasyStay Lite Air Bed". We own two of these. They don't take up much space in luggage (quarter of the size of a sleeping bag rolled up) and don't take up much floor space either. They are about the length and width of a standard adult sleeping bag. We've used ours at Disney multiple times. Might work perfect for what you need!

 

[Regan117]

I'm not a DVC member, but we have an ocean view 3-bedroom grand villa in Waianae (room 501), a pool view 2-bedroom (room 502) and an island view 2-bedroom villa (room 503) blocked off for our vow renewal in April! I'd be happy to share photos of the views from these when I return. The photos here were really helpful when trying to decide where to block our group rooms! Thank you.

 

[wdrl]

Yesterday, we flew to Hawaii and, as luck would have it, I was able to take this photo as our plane flew over Aulani.

The Aulani Resort is in the center and the white Four Seasons Resort is to the left of Aulani. The Marriott Ko Olina Resort is at the bottom of the photo. The vacant parcel of land between Aulani and the Marriott Resort is where the Atlantis Resort is suppose to be built.

It looks like the Atlantis parcel of land could have access to two lagoons.

This photo also shows how much of Lagoon #1 is dedicated for Aulani's use. Lounge chairs are set up on the beach right in front of the Aulani resort. Since the Four Seasons Resort is being renovated, there are no beach chairs in front of it.

We are in Kona on the Big Island right now and will be checking into Aulani on February 1. I promise my next photos of Aulani will be more down to earth.

 

[dismedvc]

@wdrl you are the best.
Never had any desire to use our DVC points for Aulani (we always go to Maui) However, your fantastic aerial picture
(which I downloaded and saved, I assume it is not copyrighted) might change our mind.
What is the name of the golf course in your picture?

 

[wdrl]

@wdrl you are the best.
Never had any desire to use our DVC points for Aulani (we always go to Maui) However, your fantastic aerial picture
(which I downloaded and saved, I assume it is not copyrighted) might change our mind.
What is the name of the golf course in your picture?

I'm glad you liked the photo.

The golf course next to Aulani is the Ko Olina Golf Club. DVC members qualify for some discounts at the Ko Olina Golf Club, including $25 off standard rates before 1:00 PM and kids can play free after 3:00 PM.

 

[dismedvc]

I'm not a DVC member, but we have an ocean view 3-bedroom grand villa in Waianae (room 501), a pool view 2-bedroom (room 502) and an island view 2-bedroom villa (room 503) blocked off for our vow renewal in April! I'd be happy to share photos of the views from these when I return. The photos here were really helpful when trying to decide where to block our group rooms! Thank you.

There is a saying in golf: When you think you are good, you tell everyone else how good you are, but when you really are good, everyone else will tell you how good you are.

 

[Regan117]

There is a saying in golf: When you think you are good, you tell everyone else how good you are, but when you really are good, everyone else will tell you how good you are.

Thanks for the indirect insult, but since I didn't see any room views for 502 or 503, I felt my offer was genuine. Is it really so unusual to have three large rooms blocked off for a wedding or vow renewal?

 

[dismedvc]

Thanks for the indirect insult, but since I didn't see any room views for 502 or 503, I felt my offer was genuine. Is it really so unusual to have three large rooms blocked off for a wedding or vow renewal?

Sorry. It was late, and my reply was rather snarky. I misunderstood your intent. I thought you were bragging, when you were just tying to help.
Just curious, how do you already know your room numbers?
Typically with DVC you book a room category, but are not guaranteed a specific room.
At least that is the way it works with points reservations. However, if you are booking a cash reservation, maybe the rules are different.

 

[Regan117]

Sorry. It was late, and my reply was rather snarky. I misunderstood your intent. I thought you were bragging, when you were just tying to help.
Just curious, how do you already know your room numbers?
Typically with DVC you book a room category, but are not guaranteed a specific room.
At least that is the way it works with points reservations. However, if you are booking a cash reservation, maybe the rules are different.

They are cash reservations, but because I have a group block I was able to block specific rooms with my wedding coordinator.

 

[WDW_Diane]

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[WDW_Diane]

Great photo! All of the beaches in Hawaii are public, so everyone has access to all of the lagoons, including day visitors.

On our last trip to Ko Olina, we stayed in the resort at the bottom of the picture on the other side of Aulani across from the brown grass field. Our ocean view lanai faced the field and Aulani, we could hear the Starlit Hui sitting out there. It is actually called Ko Olina Beach Villas, not the Marriott. The Ko Olina Marriott is next door to the Ko Olina Beach Villas but not in the photo. If you are ever unable to swing the cost of Aulani, I would HIGHLY recommend renting at Ko Olina Beach Villas on VRBO. We got a huge glamorous 2 bedroom villa for much, much, much less than Aulani. But of course, we didn't have Aulani, only visited and ate there a couple of times.

Anyway, we had far fewer people in "our" lagoon than were at the lagoon closest to the Disney and JW Marriott resort, which was open at that time. When we stay at Aulani for our next trip in June, if we feel that the lagoon there in front is too crowded, we will take the short walk over to the next lagoon.

 

[WDW_Diane]

Awesome photo!!!

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[wdrl]

We ended up with a studio for 4 of us - tried for a 1bdrm at the 7 month mark with no luck but figure we will be happy we are even going. My Q is do they sell air mattresses at the target or somewhere close to aulani? My boys are 16 and 21 and we usually take an air mattress with us but with suitcase limitations we are considering just buying one there.

Yes, the Target in Kapolei, which is less than 10 minutes from Aulani, has a wide selection of air mattresses. The twin air mattresses range in price from $17.50 to about $75. There are also queen size air mattresses available, but I doubt there is enough room in the villas for a queen.

We just arrived here at Aulani around noon today and we just watched our first sunset from our balcony.

 

[wdrl]

Oh, another thing to mention about Target. All of Hawaii is doing away with plastic bags. We did some grocery shopping at Target today and found it doesn't use plastic bags any more. You have to bring your own bags or buy Target's reusable bags. They are nice bags, but cost $0.99 a bag.

At Waikoloa on the Big Island all the stores were using paper bags, but I didn't think anything of it.

So, if you are coming to Hawaii and plan on doing some grocery shopping, bring some reusable bags with you.

 

[automaticsoap]

Oh, another thing to mention about Target. All of Hawaii is doing away with plastic bags. We did some grocery shopping at Target today and found it doesn't use plastic bags any more. You have to bring your own bags or buy Target's reusable bags. They are nice bags, but cost $0.99 a bag.

At Waikoloa on the Big Island all the stores were using paper bags, but I didn't think anything of it.

So, if you are coming to Hawaii and plan on doing some grocery shopping, bring some reusable bags with you.

Thanks for the tip!