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Anniversary Trip to Hawaii which resort on Oahu

toontoy

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Hi

I am planning an anniversary trip to Oahu and keep trying to decide on which resort. I have stayed in the Kalia tower before and that was nice but only garden view rooms are open during our dates and the road was kinda noisy (we stayed there 10 years ago though). I keep trying to decide if we should move from the Lagoon tower to the Grand waikikian or the new Islander one. Are they really that much nicer, the points are almost double.

Thanks for any input.
 

alwysonvac

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It depends on what's more important to you (better room amenities or better view/location).

For example, for the Lagoon Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village
PROS: The Lagoon tower is the closest to the ocean (compared to the other timeshare towers at HHV), providing great views and offering the largest rooms.
CONS: The Lagoon tower is a converted apartment building. There are no ceiling fans in the living room or bedrooms. All bathrooms have the old standard hotel style bathroom with one sink and a combined tub/shower. There are NO bathroom ventilation fans. There are no washer dryer in the room but there are washers & dryers in the building. The elevators are shared by everyone (guests, housekeeping, bell services, etc) which means longer elevator wait times during peak times of the day.


Personally for a milestone anniversary trip, I would choose one of the following
- Kalia Tower - one bedroom plus rooms only (for ocean view)
- Lagoon Tower - two bedroom premier oceanfront rooms. Second choice one bedroom plus rooms (for ocean view)
- Grand Waikikian - one bedroom premier rooms (for best ocean views from this tower)
- Hokulani - It's is a boutique hotel (not a resort) but right off the main shopping/dining drag - one bedroom premier rooms (higher floor than the plus rooms)
- Grand Islander - one bedroom Ocean View Premier or Ocean Luxury View Premier (absolute last choice due to the ridiculous point requirements)

Additional threads
HHV Views One Bedroom views - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/hhv-1br-views-4-800-pts-plat.132545/
View from Lagoon Tower One Bedroom Plus? - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/view-from-lagoon-tower-one-bedroom-plus.239294/
Oahu HGVCs : Help me decide which one to stay - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/oahu-hgvcs-help-me-decide-which-one-to-stay.194183/
At the Grand Waikikian & not overly impressed - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/at-the-grand-waikikian-not-overly-impressed.162442/
Grand Islander Reviews - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/grand-islander-reviews.252657/
Hokulani videos - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?...premiere-good-deal.252385/page-2#post-1981410

or-hiltonhawaiianvillage.jpg
 
Last edited:

vacationhopeful

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alwysonvac,

Dang ... you have Oahu down! Great post. I almost am ready to book except the flight from the East Coast is the killer. I went to Oahu during the pause of the First Gulf War when no one was flying ... and I think it has changed a bit since then.
 

WalnutBaron

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Great post, alwys, as always! I've saved this thread for future reference.
 

toontoy

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Thanks for the Info and the Map. Its been a while since we Honeymooned in Hawaii. we are kinda lucky, we have nonstop flights from SLC and they are about 6 hours so not that much longer than flying to Florida or NYC. that helped me make my mind up.
 

alwysonvac

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Resort maps that include HGVC Grand Islander

HHV-Map.jpg


34845821411_aa10ae6fe5_c.jpg
 

ljmiii

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There are no washer dryer in the room but there are washers & dryers in the building.
While alwysonvac's posts are superlative I offer one clarification. The washer/dryers in the Lagoon tower are on every floor (at least on every floor on which we've stayed) not in some pit in the basement. For us this makes the cut - we try to avoid HGVC/MCVI/DVC villas where laundry is far away. Obviously, YMMV.

Personally, I think that the Lagoon tower is the nicest place to stay at HHV unless you are paying cash (Rainbow tower) or have a bazillion HGVC points to spend on a 3BR penthouse in the Grand Waikikian or an Ocean View penthouse at the Grand Islander. And lastly, as a couple celebrating an anniversary I would be very tempted to try a 1-BR premier at the Hokulani Waikiki.
 

letsgobobby

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Old thread bump.

For a family of four which 1BR at HHV would you choose? Kids are old enough to walk from any tower to the Lagoon pool on their own. We've stayed in 2br Lagoon and GW before, but never a 1 BR. I think Lagoon 1BR looks smallest of the options and no laundry in room.
 

alwysonvac

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Old thread bump.

For a family of four which 1BR at HHV would you choose? Kids are old enough to walk from any tower to the Lagoon pool on their own. We've stayed in 2br Lagoon and GW before, but never a 1 BR. I think Lagoon 1BR looks smallest of the options and no laundry in room.

If you’re simply looking for a place to sleep with a washer/dryer in your room, then you’ll want to stay at GW or GI.

Each tower has their PROs and CONs. The choice really depends on what’s more important to you in terms of view and amenities and the number of points you want to use.

Hilton.com provides detailed room descriptions , photos and 3D floor plans for each unit type.
I’ve had rooms in all of the HHV towers. GI and GW offer upgrade amenities (such as in room washer/dryer, ceiling fans and bathrooms with a separate tub and shower, etc) compared to the two older timeshare tower conversions (Lagoon & Kalia). The GI kitchen layout offers more space than the other HHV towers. However GI doesn’t offer a separate dining room table. The Lagoon Tower has the largest living room/dining room space and balcony unless you‘re assigned to a Lagoon Tower room that ends in xx68 (link).

Grand Islander Tower

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Grand Waikikian Tower
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Lagoon Tower

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Kalia Tower
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For those who aren't familiar, there’s HHV room photos on the following TUG Members Photo Albums
TUG Member Maverick1963 - https://55hawaii-timeshare-resale.blogspot.com/p/hgvc.html
TUG Member Dougp26364 - https://dougp26364.smugmug.com/Travel/TImeshare
TUG Member Alwysonvac - https://www.flickr.com/photos/40089311@N05/albums/
 
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