Using Points for Hawaii

[krissyc]

We have decided to use points to go to Hawaii in May of this year. We put in a request that matches our stay of 1 week each at Maui and Kaui. We requested the Marriott hotels for both islands. We have heard nothing back and are getting concerned. How difficult is it to go other places as a DVC member other than Disney? Has anyone been able to use their points to go to Hawaii? Are there any tricks of the trade?

 

[Dean]

Marriott deposits are held for Marriott and Horizon members for the first 24 days. That means that non Marriott members only get the left overs. Put another way, the most lowly Marriott deposit will be in line ahead of you. You will almost certainly not get the Maui location and probably won't get Kauai unless you want a studio. 2 BR units are almost non existent at either resort even for Marriott exchangers. I'd recommend you broaden the search. Also look at The Timeshare Users Group for a direct exchange. I'd also talk to San Francisco Exchange Company to see if they have anything, especially at the Embassy.

I'd recommend you consider the Westin (if it's open yet), Marriott, One Napili, Embassy, Whaler, Sands of Kahana and possibly the Maui Lei and Schooner. Some of these are certainly not DVC standards but it may be worth it to get when you want. For Kauai, I'd suggest the Marriott, Embassy, Hanalei Bay, Pahio at Shearwater and likely the Intrawest (only check in on Sunday). I'd consider the Lawaii Beach and Cliff's club and possibly a couple of other Puhio's. Again, some of these are not to DVC standards but if you want the location, it might be worth it. Also look for a rental which may be your cheapest long term option.

 

[njzieglers]

don't know of any particular tricks, but we did 10 nights in maui on points. we stayed at the kapalua bay resort and the westin maui. both resorts were outstanding, however, the kapalua bay was beyond outstanding. btw, we had made dive and snorkel reservations in advance only to find out the snorkel boats came right to our resort, literally right outside our room!! needless to say, i cancelled those reservations.


good luck!

 

[tinkOKW]

We stayed at the Kapalua Bay Resort on points......AHHHH...OOOO...Wonderful..the open air lobby...cuteand beautiful Hawaiians greeting you with Aloha at every turn....the fabulous breakfast buffet....the open air restaurant......sitting in the hot tub looking out at molakai and lanai.....snorkeling right off the beach.....I could go on and on and on.

We are also Marriott owners....stayed at the Marriott on Kauai with reward points....the Maui resort was just being renovated.
On the whole I dont think Marriott owners who own on Maui and Kauai exchange often.....but good luck, they are beautiful resorts.

There are soooo many beautiful resorts on the islands!

We also stayed at the White Swan inn in San Franc. on the way over....great great lovely Inn. By the way, there were 4 of us..kids were 12 and 13.

 

[badeacon]

We used points last summer and stayed 4 nights at Kapalua which is a nice hotel room and 4 nights at Mauni lani where we had 2 adjoining rooms. Although expensive with points we thougt it was well worth it

 

[mittelst]

Can I impose to ask how many points it took to stay at Kapalaua?

Thanks!

 

[Werner Weiss]

There are two ways to use DVC points to stay in Hawaii:

• Through the Concierge Collection. Stay at full-service, deluxe resorts such as the Kapalua Bay Resort. The points are high, but you can stay any number of nights, and, if you book well in advance, availability should be good. The point requirements are published.
• Through an Interval International exchange arranged by DVC Member Services. Earlier in this thread, Dean gave excellent advice about such exchanges, which are for 7-night stays. This can be an good use of DVC points if you're lucky enough to get an exchange into a top timeshare resort, such as one of the Marriotts or the new Westin that's under construction on Maui. For example, if you could trade a 1BR DVC week to get a 1BR at Marriott's Kauai Beach Club or Marriott's Maui Ocean Club, I think you'd be very satisfied (even though these two Marriotts only have kitchenettes, not real kitchens). The problem, as Dean pointed out, is that these two resorts are in such high demand from owners at other Marriott Vacation Club (MVCI) resorts, that it's difficult to exchage a DVC week successfully for one of these Marriotts. Even many owners at other MVCI resorts are often unsuccessful.

 

[mittelst]

Werner said:

Through the Concierge Collection. Stay at full-service, deluxe resorts such as the Kapalua Bay Resort. The points are high, but you can stay any number of nights, and, if you book well in advance, availability should be good. The point requirements are published.

Where can I access this list of point requirements? I'm not currently a DVC owner, but the availabilty/flexibility of "trade-out" is a big factor in my decision.

Thanks!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We did an exchange through DVD and did just a very open search for any island any time the first half of the year. We had an exchange to Kona Coast II resort in just 5 days! We leave April 18, so we haven't stayed there yet, but the exchange process was very easy. It only cost us 160 points for a 1 bedroom unit with 2 baths.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by mittelst
Werner said:

Through the Concierge Collection. Stay at full-service, deluxe resorts such as the Kapalua Bay Resort. The points are high, but you can stay any number of nights, and, if you book well in advance, availability should be good. The point requirements are published.

Where can I access this list of point requirements? I'm not currently a DVC owner, but the availabilty/flexibility of "trade-out" is a big factor in my decision.

Thanks!

I can send you a pdf of the points costs if it would help you. Email me directly if needed.