Disney or Marriott?

[Dean]

Werner, no question the Marriott's are above but we had a Garden view unit so our feelings were not tainted by getting that one perfect unit. By contrast, we were at the Embassy on Maui and didn't care for it that much. I'd definitely put the Embassy above Lawaii Beach resort and Hanelei Bay. The Embassy did have some quirks partly because it was built to be wholly owned condo's. They were even in escrow on a few units when they converted to a timeshare format.

 

[Lisa P.]

Do you know anything about Fairfield's new program with Outrigger resorts?

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Any of these resorts may be reserved by any FF owner, using points:

Fairfield-managed resorts:
Fairfield Hawaii at Kona Hawaiian Village (2BR, Big Island)
Fairfield Hawaii at Royal Sea Cliff (1BR, 2BR, 2BR+, Big Island)
Points costs are similar to or slightly higher than prime/high seasons at the newest mainland FF properties.

Affiliate resort:
Moana Loa Village (1BR, 2BR, Big Island, affiliate)

Associate hotels & resorts:
Outrigger Reef on the Beach (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Islander Waikiki (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Waikiki Tower (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Waikiki Village (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Waikiki Surf (hotel studio, Oahu)
OHANA East (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Reef Lanai (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Waikiki Malia (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Keauhou Beach Resort (hotel room, Big Island)
WorldMark at Kihei (2BR, Maui)

(...and 7 more Outrigger hotels in Queensland, Australia)

Availability is likely to be somewhat limited at affiliate & associate properties. I've known of people being able to secure reservations at some of these properties, with early planning. Points costs are somewhat higher to much higher than typical, newer, mainland FF properties, IMHO. As is common when using points for non-timeshare vacationing, it's an option, but not an incredible value. I might consider a few days over a weekend, before or after a full week timeshare exchange, since the nightly points are the same for each night of the week.
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FF owners who have paid additionally to join the Outrigger Resort Club by Fairfield may also use their points to reserve vacations at these Associate hotels & resorts:

Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach (hotel room, Oahu)
OHANA Maui Islander (hotel room, 1BR, Maui)
Outrigger Maui Eldorado (1BR, Maui)
Wailea Marriott, An Outrigger Resort (hotel room, Maui)
Outrigger Royal Kahana (1BR, Maui)
Waikoloa Beach Marriott, An Outrigger Resort (hotel room, Big Island)
Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation (1BR, Kauai)
Outrigger Beach Club & Spa - Palm Cove (1BR, 2BR, Queensland, Australia)
Outrigger Reef Fiji (hotel room, Sigatoka, Fiji)

Don't know about availability. This is a new program. Points costs are similar to the highest of the points needed at the first grouping of Outriggers (for regular FF owners), perhaps due to the desirability and nightly costs of these particular, selected hotels.

HTH!