Help please in choosing between Westin Princeville and Westin St John

Will be traveling with our two 20 something sons and a girlfriend. Both sons love golf, the rest would like other things to see and do. Will either do a 2 BR with additional lock off at Princeville, or 3 BR at St John. For those who have been to both, what are your thoughts?

eoh57 said:

Will be traveling with our two 20 something sons and a girlfriend. Both sons love golf, the rest would like other things to see and do. Will either do a 2 BR with additional lock off at Princeville, or 3 BR at St Johns. For those who have been to both, what are your thoughts?

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If they like snorkeling, go to St John. Do not go to St Johns.

@bobpark56, thank you for the correction. Is there any options for golf on St.John?

@bobpark56, I'm correcting myself before you can; are there any options for golf?

eoh57 said:

@bobpark56, I'm correcting myself before you can; are there any options for golf?

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For golf, Princeville is far superior. No golf on St. John...you would have to go to St. Thomas. Westin Princeville sits next to the Prince Course, a Golf Magazine Top 100 course. The other course nearby just went through a major renovation. And there are other excellent courses around the island as well.

Thanks much TDS

If you're into nature, both islands offer a ton to do. For golf and hiking, I'd choose Kauai. For boating, fishing, diving, and snorkeling I'd opt for St. John.

If you're traveling in the summer, be aware that St. John is usually hot and humid in the summer, and fall is hurricane/rainy season.

Hawaii can suffer bouts of heat and humidity, but it's not the norm. Normally it's moderate year round. However, Princeville does get its share of rain, esp in the winter. It can also get hit with an occasional tropical depression or hurricane, but not as often as the Caribbean.

LisaRex said:

Hawaii.....can also get hit with an occasional tropical depression or hurricane, but not as often as the Caribbean.

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Yeah, like once every 20 years. I think "rare" would be more accurate than "occasional."

BocaBoy said:

Yeah, like once every 20 years. I think "rare" would be more accurate than "occasional."

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I included tropical depressions as well, because week long rains will ruin a vacation, too.

"However, since 1950, on average there have been about seven tropical systems per decade that either caused trouble or delivered beneficial rain."

Clearly Hawaii is a much safer bet than the Caribbean in terms of rainfall, which was the overall message I was trying to convey, but nothing is foolproof. I just got back from Phoenix, where it rained 3 inches in one day. (They usually get 8 inches per year.)

Have you looked at the travel distance, time, and airfare for the two locations? Depending on where you are located in the US, one is probably much farther than the other.

@LisaRex and @DeniseM thanks for your insight!

St John and Northern Kauai (summer, or summer shoulders) are must see places.
Forget golfing in USVI.

We love both - St John is unique and definitely not for everyone. Some people get it - others don't.

There is much more 'to do' in Kauai - St John is only 7-9 miles long (and no traffic lights - 20mph speed limit - driving on left with driver on left)
The beaches and bays of St John cannot be beat.

eoh57, I wanted to ask when you are planning on traveling? Also, are you an owner at St. John. I know that the three bedroom units at St. John are a bit difficult to come by.

We have traveled to both locations on several occasions. I am partial to Princeville! It is spectacular! The golf is amazing, the scenery is fabulous, the use of the St. Regis is great. There is great hiking, zip lining, sushi, etc. I can go on and on! I just love Hawaii. We live in Pennsylvania and visit Maui and Kauai every other year (we own in Maui). We just returned in August, and I can't wait to go back.

As LisaRex mentioned, it can be rainy in Princeville during the winter months. It is very green and lush, and even when you are there in the summer you will get short periods of rain. It was not enough to bother us. Unfortunately, we were there in August when rare back to back hurricanes were threatening the islands. Fortunately, it was a non-event.

Also, if you are traveling from the east coast to Hawaii, just make sure you allow enough time for travel and visiting the island. Hope this helps.

@winstonchisholm and @davidnRobin thanks for the helpful info. Still trying to decide. Sent info off to both my 25 and 28 year old boys on both resorts. We were thinking of traveling next year after Oct15, but before Thanksgiving. We are owners at Westin Maui and Princeville. We have only been to Maui once, and never to Princeville. We have enough banked star options for a 3 BR at St John, but it sounds as though if that's not our home resort, it might not be possible to book. This whole star option thing is new to me, because although we've owned since 05', we chose to convert to spg points and travel to nice hotels every year but one. Now for various reasons, we are rethinking our vacation strategy and would like to try some of the ownership resorts with star options. In reading different online sites, I had some concern as to the condition of Westin St. John Villas. I know that you certainly don't spend all your time on vacation in your unit, but we plan on eating in quite a bit. I've really appreciated all the advice thus far, and any more info about the different resorts is very much appreciated. Thanks

I'll echo the sentiments above. Hawaii is better for golf, if that is important.

I was at all three resorts you are talking about this year. I loved all three locations. I own on Maui and WSJ-Bay Vista, exchanged into Princeville.

It will be very difficult for a third party to tell you which is best. They are all great locations, and which one to go to is a very much dependent on personal preference. I would probably try to go to all of them over time, and take whichever one is easiest to reserve first.

The facilities at WSJ are very nice. I ended up purchasing a Bay Vista unit because I liked them better than the ones on the hill that are older. However, those units have their own advantages and are appealing to many. The Bay Vista, and now also Coral Vista are new, and you should not have any qualms about staying there. The only concern for me would be that October is still well within hurricane season. Also, many establishments close mid August for the season, and I'm not sure if they would be open again in mid-October. Perhaps others can comment.

I like Kauai for hiking and outdoor activities. The resort in Princeville is nice, but doesn't have a beach. You really need to drive, take a shuttle or walk a while to get to the ocean. The golf course looks nice, though.

Maui is my favorite, with a good mix of civilization and tropical paradise, but the choice of favorite Hawaiian island is also a very personal matter. They are all beautiful and different from each other, and each appeals to different people. I try to go to all of them as often as I can, usually going to Maui and one of the other islands every summer.

I will tell you that for us, going to the resorts is MUCH better than staying at a hotel. I travel a lot and stay at nice hotels, but when vacationing, I really prefer a place that has a kitchen and a washer and dryer. I was just in Madrid, Spain, and canceled a points stay at the Westin Palace in favor of a paid stay in an apartment that offered more room, and said kitchen and laundry facility. It was our third week in Europe, and we wanted a change from staying in hotels the prior two weeks. I rely on VRBO.com for stays at places where Starwood doesn't have a timeshare.

@emuyshondt thanks for more insight. Unfortunately, the time period is fairly set because of schedules of my working sons. We might be able to swing a week in the summer, but it sounds as though it may be tough to get a reservation at WSJ for a 3 BR since we are not owners there. I did entertain the idea of going back to Maui, but it's the only place we've been to, other than Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands. Went with 5 couples and loved it because there was much to see and there was a beach. My kids have never been to Hawaii, so maybe I need to revisit the idea of Maui. I, also, have had great luck with VRBO!

we eat most of our meals in our WSJ villa - the designs of BV and CV are more modern, but VGV has been refurbished inside and out. We prefer VGV over the others - but that is because of vacation style. I have 100s of photos of WSJ and StJ - in photobucket - same with WPORV. I can repost links.

WPORV is also great - but completely opposite in so many ways. Golf and adventure = WPORV.

They are too many differences between the 2 locations. And comparing the 2 is fraught counterpoints.

Hawaii is easy for us - we go to StJ for 2 weeks straight - lots of acclimation and decompressing is needed to get into the StJ vibe.

If you really want to go somewhere new, go to Princeville. It should not be that hard to trade in in October. Kauai is a nice island.

Get The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook, and go explore all the beaches and secret places discussed in the book.

Rest assured that whichever island you go to, it will be paradise and you will have a great time.