Best resort in Hawaii?

[Debs Hill]

I'd love to hear from anyone who has used their points for a stay in Hawaii. Where did you stay and how many points did it cost you? Did the hotel arrange transfers for you from the airport? What were the rooms like!?

 

[marges]

We used DVC points to stay at the Kapalua Bay Hotel on Maui for 10 days this past June. The resort is very lovely and the beach and grounds are absolutely great. I would go back in a minute. The room was 53 points a night for Ocean View, but I think you can also get Partial OV and GV rooms for less points. Member services notified us after we had made our reservations, that they had gotten us a package which gave us a room upgrade to Ocean Front and the 6th night free, so they rebated one night's points.

We rented a car, which I would definately do again. We drove on day trips to Haleakala Volcano, the Road to Hana, Paia, Lahaina, not to mention lots of trips to Lahaina, which is really pretty close, for dinners, groceries, etc. You can book day tours for some of these trips, but with four of us, the expense was prohibitive.

I have to say that the rooms were not exactly luxurious. They were very spacious and nice, but understated, which is probably the tropical theme everywhere. The bathroom was great! It made 4 of us in a room bearable. Bathtub...never used...Spacious shower unit, two sinks, large closet. We had two double beds and a sitting area with a couch, chair, coffee table, two end tables. The rooms have mini-bars. Each room has a spacious lanai.

The beach is absolutely great (rated #1 in America by the Travel Channel). It is rather small, but very safe for the kids. Great snorkeling and very picturesque.

 

[Dean]

The 2 CC options for HI are quality places but very expensive in terms of points costs. As for II resorts, you can look at the points costs for OKW for Dream as a pretty good guide. Best resorts for Maui are the Marriott, Sands of Kahana, and One Napili Way. For Kauia, it's the Marriott and Hanalei Bay and possibly Intrawest. Both Marriott's have studios, 1 and 2 BR units but not a lot of kitchen. SOK has no AC but is nice otherwise. One Napili are 3 BR units that were built and sold as individual homes so many people live there among the timeshare units so I assume not much activities. I assume you only give up points for a 2 BR for these. I'd be reluctant to try LWB, Cliff's club, and the Sunterra resorts but might be a good option for many. Kona Coast on the Big Island is also a great resort and likely easier to get than the others.

The Marriott's will be impossible except for a direct exchange. Resorts I'd consider not on the DVC list (many are RCI) include Pahio Shearwater, Pahio Bali Hai, Both Embassy's, The Whaler, Maui Lei and the Bay Club come to mind, there might be others. LWB and Cliff's Club are actually pretty decent resorts just very variable for the exchanger. I'd also consider others for an uneven exchange. Say you could trade 5 days (S-F) at DVC for a 2 BR Schooner or Sunterra,etc.

 

[lampy]

I was just going to put a request in for the Marriott's of Kauai or Maui. I would exchange a 2BR at BWV. What do you think my odds are of getting in summer of 2003? Has anyone been to either resort? The website for Kauai shows hotel rooms not suites, do they have suites?

 

[Joeblack]

Lampy:

I am pretty sure you will get it. Exchange power of DVC is very high. I would say that there is a lower supply of DVC resorts than for Marriot's in II. Just deposit your week and I you will see that you will get your week in Hawaii.

 

[Dean]

I would think your chances are slim. Marriott deposits are helf for Marriott members and Horizon's members for a total of 24 days and the only unit you have a chance of getting is ones that make it out of that gauntlet alive. You should also look into a direct exchange with owners at the Marriott's there. They have studios, one and 2 BR units at both but not that many 2 BR available. If you want Sept or Oct you might have a chance but summer 2003 might not work out. Look at the direct exchange info on Timeshare Users Group to see if you can work out something.

 

[lampy]

I took your advice. I posted my BWV for an exchange at TUG and I am waiting to hear? I also called MS, they told me *nothing* was available in Hawaii for June/July 2003 but would put me on the list to be called. I talked to Beverly at MS and she did not seem to know if I am looking too far in advance or if they are not available. Any insight?

It seems the best hope to get a Hawaii exchange is to do it yourself. Does anybody have any success stories in getting a Hawaii exchange?

 

[stlrod]

For a Marriott owner(I am), there is a slim chance of getting in to Maui or Kauai in the summer. For all others (including DVC), the chances are virtually non-existent. I do know one Marriott owner who wait-listed for 18 months w/o getting Maui. Having said that, I have a week in Kauai (7/16-23/02) I might consider trading (I also have a week at the new Marriott Newport Coast I can sell to get the dates in Hawaii I need.) If interested, e-mail me.

 

[lampy]

I tried to email but your profile won't allow it. Yes I am interested. Please try to email me.

 

[stlrod]

RSharp219@cs.com

 

[lampy]

Thanks I will take it up through email so this does not become a rent/trade thread.

There has certainly been a lot of discussion lately about the flexibility issue for using DVC. It sounds like getting a Hawaiin exchange is next to impossible to arrainge for peak times through DVC.

 

[Dean]

Requesting now is not too early for HI. That doesn't mean you'll get it in the next couple of months. There aren't that many resorts that allow II deposits 2 years out (KCR is one that does). What you want to do is get in line so you'll have first crack at what comes in. While II (and RCI) continually reshuffle the line for certain units based on trade power and internal trading priorities; you want to be as close to the head of the line as possible. I'd request now and expect confirmation between 6 and 12 months before travel. Don't list anything you don't want but you can add resorts later if you need to. In the mean time you can look for direct exchange possibilities.

We have two 1 BR units at the Embassy on Kaanapali Beach, Maui for next July and a 2 BR at the Embassy on Kauai for the following week. The two Maui Units were gotten with an independent exchange company 12 and 11 months out and the 2 BR with a TUG member who has also posted on this board giving up a 1 BR week at OKW or the equivilent in points. It seemed to be a win/win situation for all concerned. With 2 teen children of different gender, a 1 BR is a tight squeeze. That makes the two 1 BR units a great choice and even though I had two exchange fees for the two Maui units, I was very please. Particularly since the Aruba weeks I gave up are much less expensive than DVC. I did pay a fee to join the ex. company for 3 years but they tend to give you usable bonus certs, will allow you to search first and allow you to search for a 2 BR using a 1 BR without an upgrade fee. They will also accept all of my weeks that I own in exchange.

 

[lampy]

I did call MS and get on the list today. I requested Marriott for June or July. She could not enter a request for August, Sept, Oct for 2003 because she said it was to far out. Can you tell me what exchange company you used? I read your other post and looked at SFX and trading places but was not impressed.

My biggest problem is that I also am trying to coordinate FF tix with the Hawaii stay which has to be done at exactly 50 weeks out.

 

[Dean]

Why did you only request the Marriott's, do you not really want to go. Consider One Napili and SOK at least for Maui. Truthfully if you're looking for FF miles usage and feel you must do so at the 330 day window, your only chance is either a direct exchange or make the reservations and hope for a week to come through. You can always make a condo or timeshare rental that you can cancel just in case.

The ones I'd consider are:

1. Dial an Exchange which has an Aussie and several European offices.
2. San Francisco Exchange which can be good but you really need to join to get the best choices.
3. Donita's - nice people but aren't much on specific resort exchanges, they want you to give them an area and take anything in that area.
4. Trading Places and Trading Places HI which I think are related but not exactly the same company.
5. Platinum Interchange
   [/list=1]
   
   I purposefully left off Owners Trades, Utrade, Timex, Timelinx, Tri West, Exchange Systems Plus, and a couple of others. Platinum Interchange is likely the most flexible doing mostly request first. DAE also gets good reviews but I have no experience with them. I've talked to Donita and emailed with her and find her very nice and wish I could work out something to do business with her. SFX is the premier site if you have something nice and want something nice. Trading places is also very good for HI, espcially if you want things like Maui Lei, the Schooner and Lawaii Beach Club. Not sure about DAE but the only places that will do request first are Platinum Int. and SFX. With SFX, you now have to join (fee) to do that and you get lower priority than deposit first. SFX also will not take Orlando studios including DVC or at least they wouldn't when I asked a couple of years ago.
   
   Be aware that many of these resorts have an in to certain resort destinations. Donita's has a lot of Northwest and Canada options. TP has mostly west, MX and HI. SFX only deals with Gold Crown and 5* resorts on a routine basis.
   
   Direct exchanges on DIS and TUG remain the best option for occaional trades if the only timeshare ones owns is DVC. Truthfully, had it not been a special circumstance, I would not have traded DVC at all so Greg got lucky that he caught me at a weak moment in need, LOL.

 

[Lisa P.]

We still have a 2-BR available for trade on Kauai for next summer as well. Feel free to write with any questions if this would interest you.

Rent/Trade Board thread

Thanks! ...Lisa P. potter@a-o.com

 

[Diznut84]

Earlier posts suggesting that it might be difficult to trade into Marriotts in this area are right on the mark. You have to know the rules of Marriott to fully appreciate why this is the case. As Dean indicated, Marriott holds all of its deposits for the first 24 days for other Marriott and Horizons owners. As a result, an individual who owns a "greenie" (i.e. an offseason Marriott week such as a "mud week" at Vail or a winter Hilton Head week) will have preference over your DVC week for the first 24 days. Those "greenie" owners are shrewd folks. They purchase those weeks for around $1000 and "clean up" the Marriott deposits that slip past the rest of the Marriott owners. As a result, getting highly desireable Marriott trades in their top resorts is almost impossible without owning a Marriott week.

There is currently only limited availability for Hawaii resorts for June through August 2003. Here are the resorts that I can pull in RCI:

Resort: Location:
2605 Imperial Hawaii Vacation Club Honolulu, Oahu, HI USA
0245 Ramada Vacation Suites at Honolu Honolulu, Oahu, HI USA
0082 Royal Aloha Vacation Club/Waikik Honolulu, Oahu, HI USA
0029 Kona Billfisher Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, HI USA
0279 Lea Casa Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, HI USA
1677 Royal Aloha Keauhou-Kona/RAVC Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, HI USA
0755 Maui Lea at Maui Hill Kihei, Maui, HI USA
0192 Maui Sunset Kihei, Maui, HI USA
2788 Kahana Falls Lahaina, Maui, HI USA
0030 The Kuleana Club Lahaina, Maui, HI USA
0266 Banyan Harbor Lihue, Kauai, HI USA
3977 Paniolo Greens Waikoloa, Hawaii, HI USA

Of these resorts, I would only consider Maui Lea or Kahana Falls. There are many 1BR units available for this period. I only found a single 2BR unit available:

2788 Kahana Falls
Lahaina, Maui,HI USA
Unit Type Max/Priv Kitchen Check-In Date
Two Bedroom 06/06 Full 08/14/2003 Thursday

Although the resort is nice, it is not oceanfront. A street separates the resort from the beach. Some units do not have ocean views. Better resorts will be available in the meantime. Here is the URL for the Kahana Falls website. Nevertheless, if you are interested, you can contact me or another TUGger with strong trading power (read Lisa P. ).

If you have further questions, feel free to email me!

P.S. I would strongly recommend that any DVC members who are interested in exchanging for fewer points with TUG members join TUG to read the resort reviews. Most have extensive reviews and lots of pictures

 

[Diznut84]

Originally posted by Dean
Truthfully, had it not been a special circumstance, I would not have traded DVC at all so Greg got lucky that he caught me at a weak moment in need, LOL.

By the way, I caught that!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by gthorson


By the way, I caught that!

I figured you would catch it Greg. It's certainly true but I was mostly pulling your chain. BTW, just got my FF tickets for 4 so it's off to HI for the 2 weeks and FF tickets with minimal direct cost. Now I'm psysched.