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

[lablady]

Lovely view! Hope that you enjoyed your vaca!

Guess that with cash reservations, Aulani wants to either provide incentives to earn a repeat stay or entice you with a purchase to DVC!

Well, it worked! My DDs and I had been there before, in a standard room. My DH hates to travel and told me not to expect him to do another trip, before going on this one. We enjoyed the room and resort so much that we rented points and are all going back in October.

 

[funhouse8]

We are just back from a wonderful week at the most amazing resort ever! That being said when I called to make our reservations I requested a 5th floor either tower. we had a 2 bedroom. Upon check-in we were given room 174. Here is the views from this room.

[/URL][/IMG] I had asked even before I looked at this room if they had anything else available higher up. We were told the hotel was ull but we could move the next day. Boy am I glad we decided to do the move. Out 2 bedroom pool view room 574 the next day.

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[jerseygal]

Hope that you enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL view!

 

[KathyK]

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[wdrl]

We are just back from a wonderful week at the most amazing resort ever!

Thanks for your photos, funhouse8! There is quite a difference between the views on the first floor versus the fifth floor.

1 BR standard view villa 377

Thanks, KathyK! Could you see the Starlit Hui show from your balcony?

Question: The information I have from Aulani shows villa #377 as being classified as "Island View." Are you sure that it was "Standard View?" Any possibility that you booked a Standard View cash room and Aulani upgraded you to an Island View?

 

[jerseygal]

Guess some folks like 1st floor for EASY ACCESS!

Higher floors for us are MORE DESIRABLE!

 

[funhouse8]

Guess some folks like 1st floor for EASY ACCESS!

Higher floors for us are MORE DESIRABLE!

We tried the gate. It was locked. Lol

 

[luv2boys]

I was envious for first floor pool view when I couldnt find a chair anywhere! At least I would have had somewhere to put my stuff.

 

[Figee17]

Just checked out less than a week ago. We are still traveling the other islands, and if I can figure it out, I will post pics of our dedicated 2 bedroom pool view. We requested high floor and a long balcony as opposed to the two shorter ones but neither of out requests were met. We had room 208 and it turned out to be very convenient. Here is my two cents, if anyone cares, lol.
-it is an amazing resort! I couldn't figure out how t could live up to the hype, but it did!
-I wish they opened at least one pool earlier, there were a lot of us wandering around waiting for the pools to open (us east coasters were up, had been to the gym, and were ready to go by 6, lol)
-never had trouble finding at least a few chairs, especially if you went in the AM. Cast members helped us other times
-especially after moving on to other resorts, I realize how spoiled Disney resorts have made me! What, no lifeguards? Refillable mugs? Cast members everywhere? Water stations? Multiple pool options?

Hopefully they will also eventually get magic bands, I always forgot to take my room key with me when I went places since I was always in a bathing suit!

Also, it surprised us that it turned out to be the most reasonable price-wise of our "tour"... We went to the Hilton Waikaloa on the big island after Aulanj and it made Oahu look like a bargain. We are on Maui now and it's similar to our experience on the big island. Who would've guessed after hearing so many "it's so expensive" complaints?

 

[jerseygal]

Glad you enjoyed Aulani...We loved it as well!

Maui sounds beautiful too! Next trip we are planning on including that in our trip..

Hope that you don't have any trouble "adjusting" on way home to east coast..
We had NO time adjustment in Hawaii, but when we returned, we were "dragging" a few days... ENJOY!

 

[wdrl]

Just checked out less than a week ago. We are still traveling the other islands, and if I can figure it out, I will post pics of our dedicated 2 bedroom pool view.

If you want, I can post your photos for you. Just click on my avatar and send me a PM. I'll give you my email address so you can send me the photos. I'll then post them to the thread.

Glad to read that you had an enjoyable stay at Aulani. It really is a great resort.

 

[goracingpr]

We're planning a one week, family vacation at Aulani next fall and trying to determine room size/location. Wondering if anyone has booked the 3 BR standard view (SV) or a 2 BR and 1 BR Island View (IV) for a larger group and why each was selected. The points are identical for the combo shown. The 3 BR ocean view is an additional 200+ points which at over 700 points for the week is too steep for us.

Sounds like the 3 BR SV is of the backside/roof of the Ama Ama restaurant. We stayed there last December and had a 1 BR IV above the Hālāwai Lawn so we could see the Starlit Hui and movie nights from our balcony, which at the time with a 1 year old was nice.

Any experience with the 3 BR SV or getting multiple rooms? There's only 2 3 BR SV on property, so will be sure to book that at beginning of our booking window if that's what works best for us.

Guests for this trip will be, and we'd like each group to have the privacy of own bedroom/retreat:
+Family of 4 (including 1 & 3 year olds)
+Parents of husband/grandparents (married couple)
+Mother of wife (me)/grandparent (one single woman)

 

[Anal Annie]

We're planning a one week, family vacation at Aulani next fall and trying to determine room size/location. Wondering if anyone has booked the 3 BR standard view (SV) or a 2 BR and 1 BR Island View (IV) for a larger group and why each was selected. The points are identical for the combo shown. The 3 BR ocean view is an additional 200+ points which at over 700 points for the week is too steep for us.

Sounds like the 3 BR SV is of the backside/roof of the Ama Ama restaurant. We stayed there last December and had a 1 BR IV above the Hālāwai Lawn so we could see the Starlit Hui and movie nights from our balcony, which at the time with a 1 year old was nice.

Any experience with the 3 BR SV or getting multiple rooms? There's only 2 3 BR SV on property, so will be sure to book that at beginning of our booking window if that's what works best for us.

Guests for this trip will be, and we'd like each group to have the privacy of own bedroom/retreat:
+Family of 4 (including 1 & 3 year olds)
+Parents of husband/grandparents (married couple)
+Mother of wife (me)/grandparent (one single woman)

Because there are so few Std. view villas in ALL sizes most people report they are gone before the 7 mo. booking window opens. A couple of people have posted that they got one but I think you'd probably have to be booking a pretty "off" time to get one. Aulani owners snatch those up pretty quickly due to their lower point values. You should plan on at least IV as far as budgeting points. Have you considered just booking 3 studios? Then everybody would have their own space and you'd save some points and could possibly book a higher view category.

 

[Figee17]

If you want, I can post your photos for you. Just click on my avatar and send me a PM. I'll give you my email address so you can send me the photos. I'll then post them to the thread. Glad to read that you had an enjoyable stay at Aulani. It really is a great resort.

Thanks! I will do that when I get home in a few days! Enjoying our last few days on Kauai right now, ahhhhh.

 

[goracingpr]

Because there are so few Std. view villas in ALL sizes most people report they are gone before the 7 mo. booking window opens. A couple of people have posted that they got one but I think you'd probably have to be booking a pretty "off" time to get one. Aulani owners snatch those up pretty quickly due to their lower point values. You should plan on at least IV as far as budgeting points. Have you considered just booking 3 studios? Then everybody would have their own space and you'd save some points and could possibly book a higher view category.

Luckily we are owners designated at Aulani, so I can book at the 11 month window (book Jan 2015 for stay in Dec 2015). So we might luck out and get the 3 BR. However I like the idea of a 2 and studio and maybe a better view as we'd have to borrow approx. 80 points from 2016 (after using left over 2014 and all 2015 points).

Appreciate the insight.

 

[wdrl]

I have updated the charts in Post #1 to show Aulani's revised mix of Vacation Homes and Hotel Rooms. To make room for the Ulu Cafe, Disney Vacation Development removed a Residential Unit containing a Standard View Grand Villa from the Aulani Condominium Association. It then added a Residential Unit containing 8 Standard View Hotel Rooms that are located in Aulani's Hotel Wing.

About the same as the Ulu Cafe transformation on the Waianae side of Aulani, Disney Vacation Development made a renovation on the Ewa side of the resort. It modified a two-bedroom lock-off villa, removing the one-bedroom portion and keeping the studio portion as a stand-alone dedicated villa.

Due to these changes, here is Aulani's updated villa configuration:

20 Grand Villas -- 2 GVs are Standard View; 18 GVs are Ocean View.

193 Dedicated Two-Bedrooms -- 9 Standard; 74 Island; 25 Pool; 85 Ocean.

245 Lock/off Two-Bedrooms -- 17 Standard; 93 Island; 31 Pool; 104 Ocean.

1 Dedicated Studio -- Standard View

8 Hotel Rooms -- Standard View


These changes also resulted in a change in Aulani's total DVC points from 11,518,422 to 11,519,025 points, a net increase of 603 points. The changes were as follows:

Remove Unit 01A containing one Grand Villa = -46,343 points
Reestablish Unit 01A containing 8 Hotel Rooms = +62,960 points
Remove one-bedroom from Unit 02C = -16,014 points

Net difference = +603 points

The total number of Residential Units has remained constant at 199.

 

[wdrl]

Courtesy of DisWitt, here are photos of the views from villa #313, a one-bedroom Island View located on the Waianae side of Aulani. The villa is on the third floor and overlooks the Laniwai Spa's shower garden. It gets some sun in the late afternoon.

The first photo shows the view from the bedroom balcony, the second from the living room balcony.

Thanks for sharing, DisWitt!

 

[carissa1970]

I have a question...we always stick with a lower level pool view because I LOVE listening to the morning chant at 7am while drinking my coffee. I'm afraid to book an island view, which would allow us to extend our vacation a bit, because I don't know if you can hear the chant on the outside of the resort. Does anyone know?

DisWitt...beautiful view!

 

[wdrl]

Figee17 just returned from a stay at Aulani in Villa 208, a Pool View Dedicated Two-Bedroom. Here are some photos of the views from her balcony.

Looking right toward the ocean:

Looking straight out: Through the trees is the Menehune Bridge kids area:

Looking left towards the main lobby area. You can see a part of the lazy river:

Looking out and up at the other side of the hotel:

Figee17 said "At first I was a bit bummed because I had asked for a continuous balcony and high floor (though I know pool view is only up to floor 5) and we didn’t get either, but it turned out to be a great location!!! Very convenient! We can NOT wait to go back, we loved it so much!!!!"

Thanks so much for sharing, Figee17!

 

[Cinderpamela]

I have a question...we always stick with a lower level pool view because I LOVE listening to the morning chant at 7am while drinking my coffee. I'm afraid to book an island view, which would allow us to extend our vacation a bit, because I don't know if you can hear the chant on the outside of the resort. Does anyone know?

DisWitt...beautiful view!

I could not hear the chant from our Island view that overlooked the Starlit Hui lawn.

You could always walk down and get your coffee and sit in the comfy chairs off the lobby looking out over the pool area.