Aulani Question -- Studio or 1BR

[JulieWent]

We are long-time DVC owners (BWV), and are thinking about a trip to Hawaii in the spring. We are looking at whether to go to Maui or Oahu, and, if we choose Oahu, we'll probably stay on points at Aulani. It will just be the two of us (DH and I). Sometimes when we stay at BWV without my DS, we stay in a studio and are comfortable. We love the 1BRs because of the laundry availability, of course. So, the studios at Aulani -- how are they? Is there a complimentary DVC laundry available? Thoughts on staying in Oahu / Aulani versus Maui / somewhere else? I have no clue.

 

[lgpav1]

My wife and I just got back from an Aulani stay (our first use of DVC points). We had an Ocean View Studio and it was great! If I were staying there again - I would do a studio again, without question. A 1BR is a little bigger with a kitchen - but the mini-kitchen worked well and met our basic needs and cost a bunch less in points.

 

[southerngirl528]

Aloha JulieWent,

I think you have a great recommendation from Lgpav1. I've been a DVC member so long that DH & I rarely stay in less than a 1 bdrm, so I'm spoiled. DH and I have been to Aulani twice, last time a couple of months ago, and we have stayed in an Ocean View 1 bdrm. If you're wanting to save the points, go for a Studio. There should definitely be free laundry available, no money needed for the machines but you will need detergent and fabric softener. I always travel with Bounce sheets in a ziploc in my suitcase, just in case.

Though Maui is our favorite island, we absolutely LOVE Aulani! You will have a blast!

 

[deedisneydream97]

To save points, we have done a "split stay" there. First few nights in a standard view studio, balance of the trip in a one bedroom island view. Moving is pretty painless. We packed up everything except our needs for the day and put it in the car. Well worth it to save on points. We, too, are spoiled and always spend the bulk of our trips to WDW in one-bedrooms for the two of us.

Things may have changed, but there is a laundry facility, and if you are a DVC member, you were allotted a certain number of vouchers to use at the laundry.

The first time we went, we also bought some one-time use vacation points because we didn't have enough.

Have only been to Aulani and no other islands, so no help from me there. But we've been TWICE. Still have lots of places to visit there on my wish list. The standard view was not so bad. And you can get a view of the ocean all around the resort.

 

[PlutoFan10]

At WDW we strongly prefer a 1BR to a studio even for just my DH and me. Currently staying in an ocean view studio at Aulani and loving it! Miss having washer/dryer, but picked up free tokens from Concierge (free to DVC members). Guest Laundry in Ewa Tower is on first floor right near elevators and exit to pool area.

 

[izzy]

Does anyone know how many laundry tokens we can get? We're going to be there for 14 days and we're trying to pack light, so I anticipate probably having to do laundry 3 times with two loads each time.

 

[minnie10]

We just got back last month. I went down on the days that I wanted to wash and asked for tokens. They were always very nice. I always said I wanted to do a couple of loads and they would give me enough to wash and dry and then extras. At the end of my trip, I took the extras and put them in the machines as an act of kindness to someone else coming in to wash. Have fun! Our family of 4 made it fine in a studio with ocean view. We used an air mattress for my 16 year old son and were just thankful to be there.

 

[Anal Annie]

We are long-time DVC owners (BWV), and are thinking about a trip to Hawaii in the spring. We are looking at whether to go to Maui or Oahu, and, if we choose Oahu, we'll probably stay on points at Aulani. It will just be the two of us (DH and I). Sometimes when we stay at BWV without my DS, we stay in a studio and are comfortable. We love the 1BRs because of the laundry availability, of course. So, the studios at Aulani -- how are they? Is there a complimentary DVC laundry available? Thoughts on staying in Oahu / Aulani versus Maui / somewhere else? I have no clue.

I personally feel that Hawaii is too far and too expensive to get to to not visit at least 2 islands while you're spending all the money on airfare just to get over there. Inter-island air is fairly reasonable to visit multiple islands and they're only 35-55 minute flights depending on which island you go to. Each island is beautiful and they each have their own personalities. Maui has always been our favorite island and we always finish there so that's what we did this last time too - but then Aulani was so wonderful we wished we'd flipped it around this time around and finished at Aulani!! We just can't afford to stay in a resort that's as nice as Aulani on Maui - we still love Maui - but the accommodations at the Sheraton just weren't as nice as we'd remembered them being. Anyway, I would strongly recommend that you try to island hop for even just a few nights to Maui (3-4 nights) and that way you can experience both islands. We had an IV studio at Aulani and were fine with the space (family of 3 tho). But we normally only ever book studios so I didn't anticipate a problem… We never go to Hawaii for less than 10 nights. It's just too far and too expensive to get there so we can't go very often so it's worth it to stay as long as possible. Think about that…..