Wait List-Kauai Marriott Beach Club

[ArthurAmish]

Yesterday, I called member services inquiring about using my points for a reservation in Hawaii. I was put on the wait list for any week in June or July of 2007, at the Kauai Marriott Beach Club. I read Dean's post regarding choosing Marriott, Westin, or Embassy Suites as trading destinations. After looking at those, we chose the Kauai Marriott Beach Club.

Three questions -

1) Does anyone have experience with this property? We thought it looked the most appealing to us. We have stayed on Maui, at Aston Kannapali, about 10 years ago, and were looking for something a bit less commercialized. After I selected this property, now I have a bit of cold feet. I read some reviews on other websites which were less than glowing about this property.

2) What are my chances of getting a reservation? Yes, I know I am limiting myself with only one property, but I'm also giving some latitude on dates. Our attitude is that we would rather get exactly what we want, or not get a reservation and cancel off of the waitlist.

3) My understanding is that the $75 is refundable if I cancel off the waitlist before they locate a match, or if they are never able to find a match. Is this correct?

Thanks!

 

[dvc_john]

I stayed there once, but it was in the hotel portion, not the timeshare portion.
A little history of the property:
It was built as a hotel (Westin I think). Hurricane Iniki damaged the property (and the whole island!). The property closed. Marriott took it over, and converted part of it to timeshare and kept part as hotel. So it's a conversion property, not built from scratch as timeshare.
It sits on a quiet bay, close to Lihue (the city with the airport). The whole island is pretty laid back. The pool is really nice. All in all, a very nice property.
There is another Marriott (Waiohai) on the island that is a 'built from scratch' timeshare near Poipu.

 

[browniemtb]

We stayed there 5 years ago. Its beautiful but there really isn't much to do around the resort. There is a golf course down the street that runs parrallel with the airport runway everything else is on the other side of the island, the rainy side. The helicopter rides through the mini grand canyon where Jurassic Park was filmed was awesome. During this stay we also spent a week on Maui and found that to be much more enjoyable for us. We enjoy the outdoors like biking, hiking and stuff...Maui seemed to offer more. But if you do stay in Kauai beware of the killer chickens...there everywhere.
Brownie

 

[Tinkaroo]

I stayed there on the hotel side back in 2003, and my parents own at the Waiohai mentioned above.

Personally, I found the hotel breathtaking - the public areas are beautiful, the pool is massive, and they have a nice beach (though small). I have one of the most beautiful photos taken from the balcony of our room - it looks like something out of South Pacific!

You're right in that Kauai is going to be a pretty different vacation spot than Maui - not even close to as commercialized, which is why we love it. If you want to enjoy some beautiful scenery, good food, and just RELAX, then Kauai is perfect for you. If you're looking for more of a "tourist" destination, then Oahu and Maui are there for the taking.

Having stayed at both, though, I would prefer the Waiohai. It's newer, the accomodations are very nice, and there is more directly available to you on the south side (Poipu Beach) of the island.

 

[tomandrobin]

Just my two cents. Any high demand resort during the summer months, when the kids are out of school are difficult to book. All three of the resorts are nice. I would take Westin or Marriot first, Embassy second. Marriott has a one month window for other Marriot member trades over external trades. Westin (which I am a member) will probably wait list you also, too far out for them to commit. Westin "home" resort owners have an 8-12 month out preference to book. Then it opens up to external trades, but like Marriott Westin owners get presidence.

If you get anything by September, book at Disney and do a direct trade with someone at the other three resorts.

I actually think you will get your week, Just be patient.

 

[Ridiclious Mary]

Just curious-what is the most desired property in all the Hawaiian islands that DVCers can exchange to?