RCI Trade for Kaanapali (Pool Closing)

[taholden]

Hi,

We are using our incentive points to trade for a week stay at the Kaanapali Beach Club on Maui. We made the reservation a month ago and then a few weeks later we got a letter from the hotel telling us that there pool would be closed during our vacation. I called to ask if they have a deal with a neighboring hotel to allow us use of there pool and they said no. We called DVC to try to work something out and there are no other properties available during this time and we can't get the incentive points back from RCI. I escalated to a manager and she looked into it and came back with information from RCI that there will be a neighboring property pool that we wil be allowed to use while we are there.

Is anyone dealing with this issue also? Any help is appreciated. I just would like some confirmation.

Thanks for your help!

 

[littlestar]

Sorry to hear the pool will be closed, but it truly won't matter much on Maui. We used to stay at the Mahana which is a couple of hotels over from there. We actually never used the hotel swimming pools when we stayed in that area. What we would do is walk to the left (it's a long walk by the way, but worth it) towards Black Rock and when we got close to the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, we would snorkle there - we saw turtles and lots of tropical fish. Morning to early afternoon is best before the trade winds pick up. We also found good snorkeling at the halfway mark on that deserted stretch of beach between KBC and the Westin timeshare. So you wouldn't have to walk all the way down to the Westin to find some good snorkeling. If you are not a good swimmer and don't want to snorkle, pick up a boogie board at one of the local dive shops with the viewing hole in it. I floated on one of those boards and viewed tropical fish through the viewing hole without having to put my face in the water.

I also saw people swimming in the ocean out in front of the Kaanapali Shores (which is right next to KBC).

If you don't already have a copy, pick up the book called "Maui Revealed." Using that book, we found out where some of the top spots for snorkeling were and where the free parking was at - don't miss Napili Bay - it was stunning.

I wouldn't worry too much about a swimming pool on Maui - the views and ocean are the attraction on Maui. A swimming pool doesn't mean much on Maui like it does in central Florida. Our girls didn't even want to sit at the pool - they wanted to be on the beach looking at the distant islands of Lanai and Molokai and frequent rainbows. The natural beauty on Hawaii is stunning and a swimming pool is no big deal compared to the views and an ocean full of coral reef and tropical fish.

I'm going to link some beach area pictures of KBC and the surrounding hotels for you from the Maui Revealed site. These are the resorts that are close to KBC - Maui Kai and Kaanapali Shores sit on either side of KBC:

http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/mrkaanapalibchclub.html

http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/mrkaanapalishores.html

http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/mrmauikai.html

http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/mrmahana.html

http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/mrpapakea.html

 

[mblsj]

That's not good news...We have a reservation for July 4-11 at the same resort also using incentive points. We haven't received any info from them about the pool, however.

OP - Would you mind telling me when you are going?

 

[ldo]

This is a great location. I went early July with 4 kids--ages 3-15 and no one really even bothered with the pool (and we are BIG pool people--at Hilton Head, my kids only wanted to go to the beach 2X the whole week and stayed at pool the other days).
In Maui, we went to the beach every morning for a few hours towards the Black Rocks--there were tidal pools for the kids to try to catch little fish, and it's a nice sandy beach. The older ones snorkeled and dove off the black rocks.
We would shower off, eat lunch and then explore the island for the rest of the day--and maybe take a beach walk in the evening.
I agree with others, given the prime location and great beach, I would take this exchange even with no pool--as this is about the only place ever that we really didn't even use the pool.

 

[Starr W.]

Here's the stated dates from RCI on the KBC in extra vacations:

THE RESORT WILL BE DOING POOL RENOVATIONS TO POOL AND SLIDE FROM DATES OF APRIL 2009 THROUGH JUNE 2009, POOL CLOSED.

 

[taholden]

thanks for all of the advice. We are travelling with our son who will be about 19 months by then so we probably won't be doing much snorkeling. We are big fans of snorkelying though so we do appreciate the tip. The pool will be closed from April 20 through June 20. That is what they told me when I called the hotel directly.

 

[taholden]

quick update. I spoke to the people at Kaanapali again, told them I was coming through RCI and they still told me that we wouldn't be allowed to use another property pool while down there.

 

[littlestar]

thanks for all of the advice. We are travelling with our son who will be about 19 months by then so we probably won't be doing much snorkeling. We are big fans of snorkelying though so we do appreciate the tip. The pool will be closed from April 20 through June 20. That is what they told me when I called the hotel directly.

You are braver than me - traveling that far with a 19 month old. I always have to work my nerve up to travel to Hawaii from the midwest. The last time we went, we had almost a 13 hour delay because of flight cancellations. I didn't think we'd ever get there. We have a standing joke in our family that we only arrive in Maui by dead of night - laughter.

 

[Starr W.]

You are braver than me - traveling that far with a 19 month old. I always have to work my nerve up to travel to Hawaii from the midwest. The last time we went, we had almost a 13 hour delay because of flight cancellations. I didn't think we'd ever get there. We have a standing joke in our family that we only arrive in Maui by dead of night - laughter.

I'm a wimp like you travelling with a toddler, we're going to HI next summer and mine will be almost 14 and 9. I'll be armed to the gills with PSP and Nintendo DS games.

Luckily out of Detroit, we've got some pretty good connections and I should be able to get there minus delays in under 12hrs. My luck with the economy the dang airlines will cut back flights .

HI is easier than the Far East, trust me!

 

[littlestar]

I'm a wimp like you travelling with a toddler, we're going to HI next summer and mine will be almost 14 and 9. I'll be armed to the gills with PSP and Nintendo DS games.

Luckily out of Detroit, we've got some pretty good connections and I should be able to get there minus delays in under 12hrs. My luck with the economy the dang airlines will cut back flights .

HI is easier than the Far East, trust me!

(Laughter). The last time we went to Maui we were supposed to leave Indy and fly into Dallas/Fort Worth and then straight into Maui. Instead, our flight from Indy got cancelled and we missed the direct flight into Maui from Dallas so we ended up flying to Texas, LA (long lay over), Honolulu, then Maui. It makes me tired just thinking about it. I cannot imagine traveling to the far east . . . That's very wise packing plenty to do for kids on those long flights, probably even a good idea for us adults!

 

[podsnel]

Can I ask you, OP, how the process went booking this resort through RCI? Did you give them alot of dates or were you very specific? Was this the only property you put in for, or were you open to anything in HI? I'd love to hear about it- we honeymooned there (Maui & Big Island). Our 25th anniversary is in 2011 and although we got on the plane at the end of the trip SWEARING we'd be back for our 10th anniversary....well, you know how it goes! Would love to FINALLY go back!

Thanks!

 

[Chereya]

Sorry to butt in here... but does anyone have a reccommendation for a reputable and reasonably priced website for non-disney timeshar rentals? I am going to Honolulu next month and am thinking about coordinating a trip to Maui with my aunt (they already have their plans made) if I can get something that is budget friendly. Had been looking into hotel rates around $140-150 but then my mom said she wanted to come along too. I was thinking a 2 bedroom would save some money and allow her to be "right there" to help us with the kids. We're taking a 3 and 5 year old boys and I'm praying that this time the plane trip will be bearable.

 

[Starr W.]

Sorry to butt in here... but does anyone have a reccommendation for a reputable and reasonably priced website for non-disney timeshar rentals? I am going to Honolulu next month and am thinking about coordinating a trip to Maui with my aunt (they already have their plans made) if I can get something that is budget friendly. Had been looking into hotel rates around $140-150 but then my mom said she wanted to come along too. I was thinking a 2 bedroom would save some money and allow her to be "right there" to help us with the kids. We're taking a 3 and 5 year old boys and I'm praying that this time the plane trip will be bearable.

sent you a PM

 

[fasttrakphil]

sent you a PM

can i get that pm about renting in maui....... it would be much appreciated

 

[littlestar]

Sorry to butt in here... but does anyone have a reccommendation for a reputable and reasonably priced website for non-disney timeshar rentals? I am going to Honolulu next month and am thinking about coordinating a trip to Maui with my aunt (they already have their plans made) if I can get something that is budget friendly. Had been looking into hotel rates around $140-150 but then my mom said she wanted to come along too. I was thinking a 2 bedroom would save some money and allow her to be "right there" to help us with the kids. We're taking a 3 and 5 year old boys and I'm praying that this time the plane trip will be bearable.

We've had good luck staying at Aston Hotels in Hawaii. If you have the Entertainment card, sometimes you can get 50 percent off your room rates with Aston. For a while their name had been Resortquest, but it looks like it's back to Aston now. Whenever I used to book the Entertainment rate, I always called the 800 reservation number to find out if the Entertainment rate was available.

http://www.astonhotels.com/aston/index.do

We've always liked the Aston Mahana on Maui - it's two doors down from KBC and you can't get any closer to the ocean - every room is looking straight at the water.

 

[Starr W.]

can i get that pm about renting in maui....... it would be much appreciated

See Littlestar's post, she has the link

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We've had good luck staying at Aston Hotels in Hawaii. If you have the Entertainment card, sometimes you can get 50 percent off your room rates with Aston. For a while their name had been Resortquest, but it looks like it's back to Aston now. Whenever I used to book the Entertainment rate, I always called the 800 reservation number to find out if the Entertainment rate was available.

http://www.astonhotels.com/aston/index.do

. . .

We owna condo on Maui that is managed by Aston and have been very happy with the customer service they provide to guests. By the way, the name change back to Aston came after the company was purchased by the group that also owns II. -- Suzanne

 

[Dean]

This is why I harp so much that one needs to do an independent investigation of properties that you will consider. Simply looking on the RCI webpage for this resort would have provided the info on the pool closure. It's dramatically unlikely one can get anything else acceptable or that you will get any consideration from DVC or RCI on this issue. Truthfully you could show up and find the pool closed without warning and RCI would not care. The would try to find you a different resort if you did call in that situation but there isn't really anything in Maui that would be comparable.

 

[taholden]

This is why I harp so much that one needs to do an independent investigation of properties that you will consider. Simply looking on the RCI webpage for this resort would have provided the info on the pool closure. It's dramatically unlikely one can get anything else acceptable or that you will get any consideration from DVC or RCI on this issue. Truthfully you could show up and find the pool closed without warning and RCI would not care. The would try to find you a different resort if you did call in that situation but there isn't really anything in Maui that would be comparable.

Dean,

Before I made the reservation I reviewed the RCI webpage, tripadvisor, hotel webpage, and several other websites before committing to this resort. It was weeks after I made the reservation that the pool closure information was released. I am an avid researcher prior to commitment.

 

[phyllisnnj]

For future reference.... also search the threads on TUG and TS4MS as part of you research. This is where the timeshare owners hang out and share information.
There was a thread on TS4MS about the pool closure posted in Sept 2008 - Kaanapali Beach Club-pool outage 2009Apr20 - 2009Junxx

Have a fabulous time in Maui