Question Re: checking in at WKORVN

We are getting excited for our trip to the Villas next friday. Our flight gets in at 11:50. I know the villa is likely not available until later in the afternoon. Is there any benefit to getting to the Villas and "checking in" and leaving our stuff with valet? Is it first come first served or do they already know who is getting what villa? I have already made a request for building 8 or 5 but I am fully aware that I am not entitled to any view at all. SPG and other online sites still show ocean view rooms available. Hopefully enough people are not traveling since school has started in most of the country. We are OF owners but booked outside of our window due to our son's health issues ( sadly we were supposed to go in Feb and booked that 12 months to the minute but had to cancel due to our son's heart surgery) We NEED this vacation.
If it doesn't matter a bit then we might go eat somewhere in Paia and hit Costco first. We could mosey over to Lahaina. Last time we went to the villas first, spoke to the front desk and left our stuff with the valet and went and grabbed lunch at Aloha Mixed Plate. I have always gotten room in building 5 with a great view even when we booked late. One year I rented out our unit to our friend and they got building 8. That was booked at 12 months out.

First of all, congratulations on the success of your son's heart surgery. I hope it is the beginning of good health and happiness for your whole family.

To answer your question, check-in is rarely a breeze with Starwood timeshares because of the fact that owners are still limited to just a few check-in days, and because most flights from the mainland arrive in the late afternoon. Housekeeping just cannot keep up with it. The good news for you is that Friday will be less crowded than Saturday.

An 11:50 flight will get you to Ka'anapali around 2pm, assuming you have to retrieve luggage and get your rental car. (You can save a half hour or so if you have the driver make a beeline to the rental car shuttle while the rest of your party retrieves the luggage. He/she drives the car directly to the Departure area, where you can load up the car...and off you go!)

I don't think that there's a wrong answer for what you do next. You can either head to WKORV straight away in order to avoid the Lahaina rush hour, or just go at your leisure, stoping in Paia for lunch, and/or going grocery shopping. Just accept that you're probably not going to get into your room until at LEAST 4pm, possibly not for a few hours after that, so try not to stress about it.

If you want to head to the hotel first, if your room isn't ready, they will cheerfully "hold" your bags for you, which is nothing more than putting all your belongings on a luggage cart and wheeling it to a back room. (They can also refrigerate groceries, if need be.) When you do finally get your room assignment, just remind them that they're holding your luggage, and the bellman will meet you at your villa if they haven't already dropped them off.

We've learned to plan ahead and put a change of clothing for everyone in a separate grocery bag for easy retrieval, just in case we can't get into our villa right away. Then we head to the bathrooms to change. Then you can either visit one of the on-site restaurants for lunch, or plop in a lounge chair and enjoy the beauty of Hawaii for a few hours while your room is getting ready. Some of my best naps have happened on check-in day.

P.S. Whenever I arrive early, they've always promised to call me when my room was ready, and in my 7 years of ownership, that call has never happened. So don't hold your breath. Just pop back in and check on your room status every hour or so.

Regarding one of your other questions, I was told rooms are assigned the day before check-in, so it is not first come first served. You will get a predetermined room regardless of when you check in. (if that is really what they do)

Early ck-in

Sea Six said:

Regarding one of your other questions, I was told rooms are assigned the day before check-in, so it is not first come first served. You will get a predetermined room regardless of when you check in. (if that is really what they do)

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Yes, the rooms are predetermined, but the front desk can also tell you what room you will be getting when you pre-register. If you'd prefer a different floor, the reception associate can tell you what else might be available, if anything. For example, we switched from a first floor villa with an ocean view, to a higher floor with a view from further back (but still with a "slight" view of the ocean). Enjoy your stay!

The advice in posts ##2, 3, and 4 is good advice.

We do exactly as LisaRex suggests in the last three paragraphs of her post; we get our car, stop at Costco, drive to the resort, and let the bellhops take care of our stuff.

For me, a vacation begins when I am done driving and am at the resort; this approach gets me to that point of bliss several hours earlier (many flights from the west coast arrive in Hawaii by 10:00am; I don't want to feel "in transit" for another half dozen hours).

Also when you arrive, ask the bell staff or valet guys if they have any toys available. When people check out they give these guys all the water toys, body boards, beach chairs, etc that are stored in the pay-it-forward bins.

Slightly tangential to the conversation, but at WKORV this past week, we received a letter from the manager slipped under our door after arrival saying that they guaranteed a 2PM check-in and noon check-out for 5-Star Elites.

Being told about the early check-in after we arrived was kinda useless, but the late check-out by 2hrs helped for the evening flights. Unfortunately, they don't seem to communicate with housekeeping very well, as we had them knocking on our door at exactly 10am and then again around 10:45am, and I swear they were at the door again at 11:30am when we actually left.

As well, they provided a voucher you can trade for anything in the little gifts room near the entrance inside the market at WKORV/N. Lots of bottles of wines, etc, as well as WKORV and WKORV/N branded mugs, bags, etc.

Oops! Wrong thread!

YYJMSP said:

Slightly tangential to the conversation, but at WKORV this past week, we received a letter from the manager slipped under our door after arrival saying that they guaranteed a 2PM check-in and noon check-out for 5-Star Elites.

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Heard there is some construction going on at WKORV and that the water slide is closed. What was going on when you where there?

Do you mean the new resort (Nanea) being built 3 lots down, or actual construction at WKORV?

labonnevie said:

Heard there is some construction going on at WKORV and that the water slide is closed. What was going on when you where there?

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This is usually disclosed on the website. It's also listed on "Special conditions" or something like that, on your reservation.

labonnevie said:

Heard there is some construction going on at WKORV and that the water slide is closed. What was going on when you where there?

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It was closed for two days but they had a huge inflatable slip and slide up which incidentally destroyed the grass area it was on.



The pirate pool was closed for one day and they had some other things going for the kids while it was out.

When we were there in July, they had the landscape tore up in front of building 3. Definitely wouldn't have wanted to be in first floor room OF. It's probably better now though.

Anyone know why the WKORV webcam is down?

We always check in early and we have always received a phone call when our room is ready.

Rooms are assigned the Wednesday before.

They won't tell you your villa # until it is ready (due to problems with pushy guests in the past bothering housekeeping), but if you are nice, they will probably tell you the building number.

YYJMSP said:

Slightly tangential to the conversation, but at WKORV this past week, we received a letter from the manager slipped under our door after arrival saying that they guaranteed a 2PM check-in and noon check-out for 5-Star Elites.

Being told about the early check-in after we arrived was kinda useless, but the late check-out by 2hrs helped for the evening flights. Unfortunately, they don't seem to communicate with housekeeping very well, as we had them knocking on our door at exactly 10am and then again around 10:45am, and I swear they were at the door again at 11:30am when we actually left.

As well, they provided a voucher you can trade for anything in the little gifts room near the entrance inside the market at WKORV/N. Lots of bottles of wines, etc, as well as WKORV and WKORV/N branded mugs, bags, etc.

Upcoming: Vancouver, Toronto, Scottsdale, Maui?, Palm Desert?, San Francisco, Madrid, Tenerife, Valencia, Lisbon, Nice, Malta, Istanbul

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You need to take some time off and travel

ValleyGirl said:

You need to take some time off and travel

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We get around...

We scored!!!

I just wanted to post an update on our arrival day. We left LAX on the 26th and I have never been on plane over here with so few people. Many rows had one person and they were able to lie down. We had an Avis rental car, full size, and our friend walked over and was able to walk to the car. They offered a free quick upgrade to a Jeep Cherokee. He is at the curb when we walked out with the luggage.
We hit Costo and then we were off to WKORVN. We got over here about 1. Like the plane it was very quiet here. Our room was ready. Woohoo!!! I was thrilled when the lovely lady told me we were in 8510. Remember,I booked this in June. I had told her we had had a rough year and had to cancel our Feb. trip. She gave me my keys and a big hug. Such warm Aloha spirit.
The villa's view are stunning. It is nice not looking at the pool. We do hear some construction noise but my husband is in the business and it doesn't really bother us. We are usually out and about. We sleep with the slider open and fall asleep to the sound of the waves. The pool is somewhat of a ghost town. I have never been here in late Aug. but it is so nice ( except for the hurricane warnings) We usually come in Oct and always assumed that it would be quiet because kids are back in school. Now I am wondering if people don't travel this week because they are getting their kids all settled and then they travel in Oct. for a little parent time.
It has been a great trip. We have found you can't beat the snorkeling right out front. We saw 3 turtles yesterday. Also, just wanted to mention how special and beautiful our anniversary dinner was at Merman's. The food and service were incredible and the sunset was one of those that just kept on giving for about an hour. We have one more day here and then are off to Kihei for our first time. Aloha

Thank you for updating your post and Happy Anniversary! Sounds like your vacation has worked out perfectly! So glad that you enjoyed your anniversary dinner. We had brunch there this past May, and it was just as you said, "food and service were incredible". Thanks, again, and enjoy the remainder of your trip! Be sure to tell us what you enjoy in Kihei! CJ

So glad you got upgraded. Hope your vacation is great.

I suspect the reason for the empty plane, empty pool, and upgrades have more to do with the two hurricanes than anything else. Normally, the first week of September is low season, but not so low that it would be deserted. In the event of hurricane warnings, most airlines will waive cancellation/change fees. Ditto for hotels.

From Delta's website:
Rescheduling Flights

"If you wish to cancel your trip as a result of a flight cancellation or significant delay (90 minutes or more), you are entitled a refund for the unused portion of your ticket. Even if your flight is not canceled, you may make a one-time change to your ticket without fee if you are scheduled to travel to, from, or through the following destination(s) on Delta, Delta Connection®, or Delta-coded flights during the specified time periods listed below.

You may contact Reservations Sales to make changes to your itinerary. Additional collection in fares may apply. See Conditions & Restrictions below.

Affected Cities (To, From or Through) / Impacted Travel Date(s)

Ticket must be Reissued On or Before/ Rebooked Travel must begin no later than

Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL)
Kahului, Maui, Hawaii (OGG)
Kona, Hawaii (KOA)
Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii (LIH)

September 3 - 4, 2016 / September 7, 2016 / September 7, 2016

When rescheduled travel occurs beyond September 7, 2016, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity, one year from date of original issue. If travel is not able to be rescheduled within these guidelines, customers may cancel their reservation and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for a period of one year from the original ticket issuance. Applicable change fee and fare difference will apply for new travel dates. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity.

****

In any event, hope both hurricanes miss you! I know you've had a rough year and wish you well.

September is one of the lowest seasons of the year because school is back in session - add bad weather to that, and you are going to have low occupancy:

(Sept. includes weeks 35-39)

FWIW, I also got OF in building 5 this week. Nice view, but right by the pool.


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