Arrived at Kauai Lagoons

We arrived yesterday and it was hot and muggy. There were no trade winds at all and everyone told us that this is unusual and most likely because of El Niño.

We are in Building C right in front of the pool with a good view over the ocean and mountains. We are in condo #1418.

We do see a vacant lot in front of us that is not as green as the golf course is in front of it. We also see the start of a new construction that was halted.

We love the palm trees in our view and I am happy to see them swaying in the wind right now so we are going to take a walk to the lagoon. I already walked it this morning.

We went to Duke's last night for dinner at the KBC and it was busy but we had made reservations. The earliest reservation we can make for a sunset dinner at The Beach House in Poipu is for Saturday so we didn't make it. We will just go there and wait for our turn and see the sunset from the beach. That is OK too.

I know that several people do not recommend to take a helicopter ride but we booked it anyway as it will be OK and, if not, we die happy. We heard that most accidents were caused by pilot error and I am sure that they have corrected that.

I was lucky to win a free trip for a horseback ride at the Princeville Ranch but we didn't want to do this so I gave the prize to another guest and they won a prize that they didn't want to do so gave it to another guest also. This was a presentation of what to do on the island and the guy gave a lot of good information so I am glad that I went.

I talked my husband in taking a presentation for 15,000 points in the morning or 17,000 points in the afternoon but we decided to take the gift of $100.00 so I will let you know what new information I will find out as it is an update supposedly. I found out that the KL and KBC share the same sales center.

We are going to Waimea Canyon tomorrow as the weather will be OK.

I will post some pictures later of our view and the lanai is lovely and so deep. I took a picture of that too but not inside the condo because someone else had posted that already. A 3 BR condo is nice but I still like our view from the Lahaina tower in Maui better and the beach right in front of us but a change of scenery is also good.

Thanks for the report Emmy. Hope the trade winds keep up for you to keep it
Cool. We'll be on Kauai in 18 days. Hope it cools off. Sounds like you have a
Great place to relax and enjoy.

slip said:

Thanks for the report Emmy. Hope the trade winds keep up for you to keep it
Cool. We'll be on Kauai in 18 days. Hope it cools off. Sounds like you have a
Great place to relax and enjoy.

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Thanks but having a panoramic view is what it is all about when you come to Hawaii! The scenery is so beautiful but you need the trade winds to make it comfortable when it is so warm.

Emmy,

Enjoy your time at Kauai Lagoons, it is a special property. I still prefer MOC, with its close proximity to the ocean and the view of Lanai in the distance, but Kauai Lagoons is wonderful. That lanai is second-to-none and the view in the distance of the waves crashing against the distant shoreline is beautiful.

It certainly beats looking at a keyboard in SoCal.

Enjoy your trip and please post pictures!

Best,

Greg

I've heard it's been hot for a while now and so much so that people can't enjoy
The lanai because they have to retreat back into the a/c.

Enjoy the helicopter ride DW and DD did that a few years ago and loved it. We're
Thinking of trying the plane tour in a few weeks. We'll have friends with us our
First week that have never been to Hawaii before so we will see some of the
Sights we haven't seen in a few years.

We lost the trade winds about three weeks ago and it's been brutal. The weather guy promised they'd be back tomorrow, but I swear he says that every day.

GregT said:

Emmy,

Enjoy your time at Kauai Lagoons, it is a special property. I still prefer MOC, with its close proximity to the ocean and the view of Lanai in the distance, but Kauai Lagoons is wonderful. That lanai is second-to-none and the view in the distance of the waves crashing against the distant shoreline is beautiful.

It certainly beats looking at a keyboard in SoCal.

Enjoy your trip and please post pictures!

Best,

Greg

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I agree. You can see the waves crashing against the distant shoreline very clearly. You can also hear the waves when you are standing close to the oceanfront condos and that's where we saw the spout of the whale late in the afternoon.



A few more pictures here.

Thanks for the great morning read Emmy.

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Enjoy Kauai Lagoons, Emmy. It would be my favorite resort in the MVCI system if it had MOC's location. As it is, it is a close second in our hearts to MOC. (Manor Club original section is third.)

kauai lagoons

hello emmy,

thank you so much for the beautiful photos. we will be going there this winter and after seeing your photos, I can't wait!!
we will be at the KBC for a couple of nights and then up the hill to KL. I know they have shuttle service from the airport to KBC. do they offer anything to KL? or do we have to get a cab from KBC to KL??
thank you and enjoy your stay. hope the tradewinds come back and stay for a while. what a shame to not be able to use that beautiful lanai!!
jean

kmij said:

hello emmy,

thank you so much for the beautiful photos. we will be going there this winter and after seeing your photos, I can't wait!!
we will be at the KBC for a couple of nights and then up the hill to KL. I know they have shuttle service from the airport to KBC. do they offer anything to KL? or do we have to get a cab from KBC to KL??
thank you and enjoy your stay. hope the tradewinds come back and stay for a while. what a shame to not be able to use that beautiful lanai!!
jean

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Yes, there is a shuttle from the KBC to the KL and back every 15 minutes at a 1/4 before and a 1/4 after. They pick you up by request from 6 AM to 10 AM and after that they come every half hour. The last pick up is at 5:45 PM. I called them up because I remembered that the last pick-up was rather early but didn't remember what time it was. It is a very short drive but too far to walk in this heat.

We are waiting for a shower to pass us by as right now we are socked in and do not even see the ocean but it will be a nice day.

Emmy, my DW and I took a helicopter ride about 4 years ago, after years of saying "no", and both of us loved it. Have a great time.

Mike

We took the long Safari helicopter tour a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it - can't understand why anyone would warn against them. Their safety record, when I last researched, was impeccable. Not so much for some of their competitors.

We are back from the helicopter ride and it was AWESOME! The doors were off so could see everything so well.

We are at Duke's right now for a Mai Tai and something to eat. We love this place and our vacation goes too fast.

We also went for an update this morning and it was very informative but about that later.

We just moved from Lagoons to KBC

We declined the 17500 Pnts.offer but at KBC that upped it to 20k or $150 so we are going. Need a break from the humidity anyway. Did the air plane instead of helicopter and I t was amazing. Waterfalls everywhere from all the fresh rain. Did the napali coast sunset cruise and it was amazing too. Great value for both.Air Ventures $125 ea, Sea kauai $120 for 4.5 hours on a smooth cat with buffet too.

raybrun said:

We declined the 17500 Pnts.offer but at KBC that upped it to 20k or $150 so we are going. Need a break from the humidity anyway. Did the air plane instead of helicopter and I t was amazing. Waterfalls everywhere from all the fresh rain. Did the napali coast sunset cruise and it was amazing too. Great value for both.Air Ventures $125 ea, Sea kauai $120 for 4.5 hours on a smooth cat with buffet too.

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You did better than we did as we received $100.00. It helped paying for our dinner at the Beach House in Poipu where we saw a beautiful sunset and even met a TUGger, totally by accident.

iconnections said:

You did better than we did as we received $100.00. It helped paying for our dinner at the Beach House in Poipu where we saw a beautiful sunset and even met a TUGger, totally by accident.

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That was ME!!

Emmy is such a charmer. Loved meeting her!

Dave

Our update

was very informative and low key. He knew that we were not buying points as we told the lady who made the appointment. We wanted to get an update and be paid for it after two years getting nothing for an "informal update" but it was a sales pitch in disguise and asking us why we wasted their time, at the end.

He knew the system well and had been there many years and is a number man.

I wrote things down as I am forgetful. He said that 750,000 deeds were in the system that were sold between 1984 and June 20, 2010.

I wrote down "35% into trust point inventory already".

We talked about the breakage and he said it was 7% average. He tried to explain it to me but too difficult to repeat all.

Our fixed week/units had different prices for each week and view so that made it complicated. They took averages of sales prices of what they were last selling, I believe, for the other resorts. This wasn't all clear to me so don't take my word for it.

He also mentioned new locations at Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Coronado in San Diego, the Big Island in Hawaii, New York, Bali and Key West.

The company has no debt and is sitting on a pile of cash but want to stay asset light so will not build from the ground up unless they find a willing partner. These locations may be with something else that is already there. I saw this mentioned in another thread also from someone who took an update too recently.

They are exercising the ROFR clause quite a bit and monitor PayPal and other sources too.

I sent him an email later to double check all my facts but he never replied to it. I found him very pleasant and professional but was disappointed that he didn't follow up and hope that all my facts are straight. This is why I waited doing the update here.

This is my email to him of October 1 as I wanted to find out too why our trust points go down so rapidly in value while the Disney points keep their value. I may follow up with the sales manager later or higher up as I would like to know these answers and many more.

BMWguynw said:

That was ME!!

Emmy is such a charmer. Loved meeting her!

Dave

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Thanks, I did too.

I am almost sorry that I went to the update and will not go again as I am more confused now than before so will follow up with higher up to get it all explained.

Our salesman gave us a price sheet on our way out and 1 point is still $12.24. He wrote -15% if you buy 2,500 points and -20% if you buy 3,500 points. Where the price per point is printed, it reads that prices are rounded up. Whatever that means?

We don't regret at all that we deposited our weeks for points so may do it again if we decide to visit somewhere else as it worked out very well for us but we like going to Maui too and that would be the most simple thing to do of all.

We really enjoyed both resorts on Kauai very much. The KL were very nice condos and I loved the idea of indoor/outdoor living all in one space so to speak but the A/C units wouldn't shut off automatically and they will have to change that or the electrical bill will be astronomical for the owners at this resort. I saw doors wide open one evening and the curtains flying all over the place.

We only tried it once but it was way too hot and humid to sit outside that week. Maintenance told us that the original year-round owners didn't want to pay for this feature but it may be cheaper to have it changed over eventually than paying the high electricity bills.

I didn't expect much from the Kauai Beach Club because I mainly read complaints about the condos but we didn't mind the condo at all with just two people. We got the oceanfront assignment so were very happy about that. There was more breeze that week so we used the tiny lanai any chance we had.

Here are a few pictures of a 1BR condo that someone asked about in a different thread. They all seem to be the same no matter what building they are in.

The resort itself is beautiful. We had been here before but only to look at it and that is not the same. The pool is the nicest we have ever seen and the grounds are beautiful too plus there is a choice of restaurants but we mostly went to Duke's as it was only steps away but there are plenty restaurants in walking distance too and breakfast is a lot cheaper away from the hotel.

I also enjoyed the little beach for an early walk and even swimming but it is a sandy beach so no visibility for snorkeling but people were using surf and boogie boards. We saw cruise ships coming and going too. They are really big!

We had one incident with someone using a drone as I met some very irate guests in the elevator who were going to meet them on the beach but security was going to take care of it right away. It will be a long time before I will close my drapes even if they are flying all over the place because we want to see the view!

iconnections said:

Here are a few pictures of a 1BR condo

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Is that a 1-BR or a studio? There's no stove.

When we stayed at the Westin WKORV on Maui last year in a 2-BDRM, the studio looked like the 1BR that you have linked above, which is why I'm asking. The studio even had a W/D, but no stove and a small refrigerator.

Ron98GT said:

Is that a 1-BR or a studio? There's no stove.

When we stayed at the Westin WKORV on Maui last year in a 2-BDRM, the studio looked like the 1BR that you have linked above, which is why I'm asking. The studio even had a W/D, but no stove and a small refrigerator.

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There are no stoves in the KBC 1-BR units -- or w/d. There is a small refrigerator.

WKORV studios have all of the above.

Ron98GT said:

Is that a 1-BR or a studio? There's no stove.

When we stayed at the Westin WKORV on Maui last year in a 2-BDRM, the studio looked like the 1BR that you have linked above, which is why I'm asking. The studio even had a W/D, but no stove and a small refrigerator.

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Here is a thread where questions were asked what is in the studio and parlor unit and where the balconies are. They call them lanais in Hawaii. My reply is
#7.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217358

vacationtime1 said:

There are no stoves in the KBC 1-BR units -- or w/d. There is a small refrigerator.

WKORV studios have all of the above.

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I'm spoiled, which is why I got into time-sharing, specifically at Marriott's, Hilton's, and Weston's.

We'll be at the Marriott Waiohai on Kauai the 3rd week of December after a week at the Marriott Ko'Olina. Glad I didn't book a week at Kauai Lagoons, the DW and I would have greatly missed the full kitchen and the W/D. But, it does have a dishwasher, which you probably need with the small sink. I think I read somewhere that they don't have barbeques either.

Ron98GT said:

I'm spoiled, which is why I got into time-sharing, specifically at Marriott's, Hilton's, and Weston's.

We'll be at the Marriott Waiohai on Kauai the 3rd week of December after a week at the Marriott Ko'Olina. Glad I didn't book a week at Kauai Lagoons, the DW and I would have greatly missed the full kitchen and the W/D. But, it does have a dishwasher, which you probably need with the small sink. I think I read somewhere that they don't have barbeques either.

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It's no stove and no w/d at the Kauai Beach Club, not at Kauai Lagoons. I know the former well, but not the latter; I suspect KL has all of the luxuries of modern time sharing, plus some.