Questions about the Resort

[Julia M]

My dh and I have a reservation for April. I obviously don't know for sure if we'll get to go......let's say I'm cautiously optimistic.
I do have a couple of questions, if anyone knows the answer to any of them.

1. We are booking a hotel room (not DVC). I read somewhere there are Keurig's in the room.....is that correct? The website just says coffeemaker.
2. Is there access to a microwave? (if staying in a hotel room)
3. What are the benefits of taking a DVC tour? How long does it take?
4. I read there are laundry facilities on each floor. Is that true? Does anyone know how much they cost? Does it take bills or coins?
5. Also, a deluxe studio and hotel room are the same price. Is there a reason to choose one over another? (I know the studio has the microwave and queen bed, I'm wondering about location, etc)
6. We are only staying of we can book the DIsney VISA discount, which is 30% off stays of 5 days plus a $75 per day resort credit per day. Does anyone know how the $75 credit works? Is the discount cumulative (ie, takes off $375 at end) or is it truly daily, so if you spend less one day and more the next, it on;y takes off a maximum of $75 worth of charges per day?
7. Is there a difference in the refrigerator in a room versus a studio?

We have stayed in varied WDW and DL resorts over the years, but this is our first trip to Aulani. Any other info you would want to share for a couple without kids at Aulani, please do!

 

[lovetotravel]

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[Lilsia]

1)standard rooms have the keurigs, the rest have normal coffee makers.
2)There are no public access microwaves but you could probably ask for one for your standard room.
3)DVC tours will usually have some kind of perk like a gift card or sometimes tickets to the luau. It takes about an hour, depending on how many questions you have.
4)The laundry room is only on the first floor of each tower, not on every floor. It does cost money if you are not staying on DVC points. Not sure how much since we are DVC, I am sure if you google it, someone will have that info out there.
5)Both standard rooms and studios are throughout the towers. If you want a room with one bed and a couch instead of 2 beds, then the studio would work great, especially with the microwave.
6) Not sure how the credit works, it's usually just a general credit off of your bill and not a daily thing.
7) pretty sure the mini fridges are the same. Makes it easier to change them out when they go down. They are like the ones at WDW.

Aulani is a really nice resort and you can't really beat being in Hawaii. I would absolutely tell you to get a car and go out and explore. You don't need to go out every day, but just having the car to go out to dinner after a day at the resort is a bonus. Have fun.

 

[heaven2dc]

Microwaves are not available to request for Standard rooms. Standard rooms are in the tower closest to the lobby to the right near the parking structure in Waianae Tower. There are no standard rooms in the other towers. Your resort credit will be on your room key when you check in to be used for shopping, dining, parking fee and incidentals charged to the room. Tokens for laundry are purchased from the front desk (or used to). Mini fridges are same in studio and standard rooms. Standard rooms will have either 2 queen beds or king bed w/sofa sleeper, deluxe studios have queen bed and sofa sleeper.

 

[nkereina]

2. Is there access to a microwave? (if staying in a hotel room)

When we were there, there were microwaves for anyone to use at Ulu Café. But given the current environment, I'm not sure whether those are still available.

4. I read there are laundry facilities on each floor. Is that true? Does anyone know how much they cost? Does it take bills or coins?

As PP mentions, there is one laundry room in each tower. Both are on the ground floor. I believe they take coins - we received tokens because we were staying on DVC points.

5. Also, a deluxe studio and hotel room are the same price. Is there a reason to choose one over another? (I know the studio has the microwave and queen bed, I'm wondering about location, etc)

A studio will be slightly smaller than a hotel room. A hotel room will have two queen beds, studio will have one queen bed and one pull out sofa. When the pull out sofa is out, there is virtually no room to walk in a studio. The studio also has a kitchenette which includes a wet bar, microwave, toaster, plates, etc. We stayed in a standard studio and our room overlooked the courtyard of the convention space.

 

[dreamit]

You may find this thread helpful.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/at-aulani-now-comparison-of-dvc-hotel-room-and-studio.3564491/