Lagoon Tower - Not Impressed!

blackfoot · Dec 9, 2013

Currently spending 19 days here @ Lagoon Towers. We are in a 1BR ungraded room facing the lagoon and Diamond Head.

We have had nothing but a noise problems- first w/ Movies being played on a large Projected Screen w/ 8' high speakers projecting sound right into the side of the Lagoon Towers at night in a volume that it is hard to have a conversation. Interesting, because there are only a couple of people watching the movie but they are managing to piss off half the building staying here. I called the Hotel Management and they don't care because the movies are published in the daily newspaper as guest entertainment and they will NOT stop them.I asked why can't they project the sound facing towards the ocean and was told they always do it this way.Poor decision making of the Management in my opinion!

It gets better- they failed to tell me that they have moved beginning last night, the nightly Hawaiian show from the Parking Garage roof to in front of the Lagoon Towers so we can have more high volume noise every night.I haven't called them because they don't give a damn about the suckers who bought HGVC staying in the Lagoon Tower

This location is very unprofessional in my opinion and feel I've been ripped off by Hilton.They just don't care- very interesting attitude!I wanted to pass this on because I would hate to see anyone else in the future be as disappointed as I have been w/ my stay here.

I am pissed to the point that I am going to sell my HGVC membership when I get home!

alwysonvac · Dec 9, 2013

blackfoot said:
Currently spending 19 days here @ Lagoon Towers. We are in a 1BR ungraded room facing the lagoon and Diamond Head.

We have had nothing but a noise problems- first w/ Movies being played on a large Projected Screen w/ 8' high speakers projecting sound right into the side of the Lagoon Towers at night in a volume that it is hard to have a conversation. Interesting, because there are only a couple of people watching the movie but they are managing to piss off half the building staying here. I called the Hotel Management and they don't care because the movies are published in the daily newspaper as guest entertainment and they will NOT stop them.I asked why can't they project the sound facing towards the ocean and was told they always do it this way.Poor decision making of the Management in my opinion!

It gets better- they failed to tell me that they have moved beginning last night, the nightly Hawaiian show from the Parking Garage roof to in front of the Lagoon Towers so we can have more high volume noise every night.I haven't called them because they don't give a damn about the suckers who bought HGVC staying in the Lagoon Tower

This location is very unprofessional in my opinion and feel I've been ripped off by Hilton.They just don't care- very interesting attitude!I wanted to pass this on because I would hate to see anyone else in the future be as disappointed as I have been w/ my stay here.

I am pissed to the point that I am going to sell my HGVC membership when I get home!

I'm sorry about your stay. I'm assuming you're in a standard one bedroom which means you're on the lower floors.

The HHV is normally noisy in the evenings especially the rooms facing the rainbow tower. The grassy area between the lagoon and rainbow towers are normally used to hold evening events that can run to midnight. HHV is not the place to stay if you want peace and quiet. It's only quiet in the early morning hours.

Don't wait until you get home. They can't change the situation with the HHV events but ask the front desk to give you a room on the other side of the building facing the marina away from the evening noise. However please note that the other side of the bulding will be noisy during the day due to the pool and you'll also want to avoid being assigned to room xx68. See this old post - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=698976&postcount=1

NOTE: The onsite HGVC managers sit across from the check-in area. You should speak with them as well about your displeasure with the speakers (Definitely reach out to them out if the front desk can't help you get another room).

presley · Dec 9, 2013

I agree that HHV is noisy and crowded. I pretty much only stay there because I can use my HGVC points there. I prefer other parts of island and I also prefer much more laid back resorts. Other HGVC properties are not like that. I'd hate for you to sell your ownership just because you don't like one location.

poorguy · Dec 9, 2013

We stayed in the Lagoon Tower this past spring break. We were higher up and the noise was a little inconvenient but didn't bother us or the kids to the point where we couldn't sleep or talk through it. I was a little put off by it until the night they had a movie premier out there. Jack Johnson was there and played a few songs. Pretty darn cool to be laying in bed in Hawaii listening to Jack Johnson live I must say.

Ron98GT · Dec 9, 2013

I'll trade you

I'd love to trade you. We're in the Kalia tower and I/we think this sucks, all 3 of us do. "IF" we ever stay at HHV again, it will never, ever, be the Kalia tower. This tower was so poorly designed. we are completely removed from the lagoon, Lagoon Tower, the Grand Waikikian, and the rest of the resort. And that tiny cold pool?

We're in a 1-BDRM in the Kalia tower and my wife's son is in a studio in the Lagoon tower. This corporate monster refused to at least put us all in the same building. There is no connection between the Kalia tower and the Grand Waikikian, you have to plan a day long field trip to hike over and/or back between the Lagoon tower, the pools, the lagoon, and the ocean. Don't even mention the dock. Makes having meals together ruff.

The movie and the Luau are early in the evening, so it would't bother us. We hear all the noise while we're eating dinner.

We'll be at the Luau Wednesday nite, after getting 2 free tickets at the owner update tomorrow morning. :wave:

We sure miss our nice quiet week at WKORV on Maui last week. Westin definitely treats there guests better than HHV, although we never had any problems at any of the other HGVC TS's or Hilton hotels we've stayed at. Like I said HHV is a corporate monster. Maybe have to stick with Ko'olina when we come to Oahu.

heathpack · Dec 9, 2013

Hmm, I read an article recently in a travel mag about Honolulu and put in a request via SFX for a 2BR unit at HHV. I'm not sure how likely it is that request would go through, but are y'all saying HHV should be struck from my list? We've stayed at Marriotts KoOlina and Aulani & liked them both quite a bit. But we were thinking it might be a nice change to try Honolulu next time. Generally speaking, though, we prefer peace and quiet. And warm swimming pools.

So it sounds like HHV should be off our list?

H

Ron98GT · Dec 9, 2013

heathpack said:
Hmm, I read an article recently in a travel mag about Honolulu and put in a request via SFX for a 2BR unit at HHV. I'm not sure how likely it is that request would go through, but are y'all saying HHV should be struck from my list? We've stayed at Marriotts KoOlina and Aulani & liked them both quite a bit. But we were thinking it might be a nice change to try Honolulu next time. Generally speaking, though, we prefer peace and quiet. And warm swimming pools.

So it sounds like HHV should be off our list?

H

We've stayed in Ko'Olina, which was relaxing. We just stayed at the Westin WKORV on Maui last week and that was heaven: extremely relaxing.

It feels like someone dropped us in the middle of Time Square. Interesting place to experience, but NOT relaxing. Just like any big city it's also tip, tip, tip and me, me, me. a big city feel rather than a relaxing resort feel. :wall:

It's 5:55 PM here, the sun is setting, my windows are open like usual (86 degrees), and I can here the Luau all the way across the resort, which the OP was complaining about. :cheer:

SmithOp · Dec 9, 2013

I'm chuckling over here because I own at HHV Lagoon and like it for all the reasons it irritates you guys

.

I've never been to Maui, so this year I picked up a trader and will be going to WKORV in May. I've been thinking I'll be bored there laying around in all that peace and quiet lol.

Sent from my iPad Gen 4 using Tapatalk HD

gnorth16 · Dec 9, 2013

Ron98GT said:
I'd love to trade you. We're in the Kalia tower and I/we think this sucks, all 3 of us do. "IF" we ever stay at HHV again, it will never, ever, be the Kalia tower. This tower was so poorly designed. we are completely removed from the lagoon, Lagoon Tower, the Grand Waikikian, and the rest of the resort. And that tiny cold pool?

That scares me a bit!!! I heard that there are no in-suite washer/dryer, but besides that, the reno's were newer and it was set back from the lagoon a bit. Maybe I need to look at the property layout, but why would it matter if you are removed from the GW? Just curious.

GregT · Dec 9, 2013

Blackfoot and Ron,

HHV is definitely different from other Hawaiian vacations -- Waikiki is much busier than the other islands, and it takes some adjustment to hearing traffic noise (sirens too) more than infrequently. If not expecting that, HHV can be problematic.

Blackfoot, I hope that you take Phyllis advice to heart, and request a Marina-side room. The views are still spectacular and you're far enough away from Ala Moana that the road noise shouldn't be problematic. You will have pool noise, but it is what it is.

Ron, I'm sorry Kalia is not meeting expectations. Like Smith indicated, some of us love HHV for some of the reasons mentioned above. It's a great property with many special features -- just truly a different Hawaiian experience.

Heathpack, I hope you keep the request -- and if you get your trade, I think it's a great trade. Just expect a different experience from any other non-Waikiki timeshare....

I hope things work out okay!

Best,

Greg

Ron98GT · Dec 10, 2013

gnorth16 said:
That scares me a bit!!! I heard that there are no in-suite washer/dryer, but besides that, the reno's were newer and it was set back from the lagoon a bit. Maybe I need to look at the property layout, but why would it matter if you are removed from the GW? Just curious.

My wife's son is in the Lagoon tower, which is next to (connected) to the GW. If the GW and the Kalia tower were connected, we could get back and forth easily. Plus tomorrow we have to figure out how to get back there for our owner update at 8:30 AM.

Plus if there was an easy way to get to the GW/Lagoon towers we would be at the beach.

buzglyd · Dec 10, 2013

Honolulu is NYC on the beach.

Stay on the North Shore if you want quiet.

It's like people who stay in the Gaslamp District in San Diego and then complain about the noise from the clubs or those darn bright lights in Las Vegas.

blackfoot · Dec 10, 2013

No ,we are staying in an upgraded room and it is terrible. The show is going on right now as I write this and it is a joke. Anyone who has plans to stay here , think twice about using your valuable points because it is worse than Times Square.

Very Classy! I am going to bitch in the morning again w/ the HGVC people. Anyone who is thinking about buying in the Lagoon towers would be out of their minds! This is NOT a first rate experience!

PassionForTravel · Dec 10, 2013

Reading this thread, I'm with Dave, booking Waikiki and expecting quiet is setting yourself up for disappointment, just like booking Manhattan or Vegas and expecting quiet would be, its not what Waikiki is about, that's what the neighbor islands are about. Waikiki is a city on the beach that's what makes it unique and fun in our view.

Last week we were at the Wyndham Waikiki beachwalk, our room was next to the pool and all night long we could here bad Hawaiian music, being pipped in. It was so bad at a few times that we just had to laugh at it, close our window and turn the A/C on. We walked down to the HHV right past the movie and thought wouldn't that be fun when we are here in April.

The previous week we were at lawaii beach resort on Kauai and had just enough peace and quiet. The sidewalks were all rolled up at 9pm in Poipu, we loved that to, since we could make fun of it, leave our windows open and hear the waves crashing outside, not a human sound to be heard.

I'm sorry that the OP is disappointed and I'm really surprised that they booked 19 days for what sounds like their first trip without mixing it up with waikoloa. Two weeks at waikoloa mixed in with 5 days at HHV might have been a better fit.

Ian

alwysonvac · Dec 10, 2013

Vacations should be enjoyable

blackfoot said:
No ,we are staying in an upgraded room and it is terrible. The show is going on right now as I write this and it is a joke. Anyone who has plans to stay here , think twice about using your valuable points because it is worse than Times Square.

Very Classy! I am going to bitch in the morning again w/ the HGVC people. Anyone who is thinking about buying in the Lagoon towers would be out of their minds! This is NOT a first rate experience!

If your overall experience is that awful perhaps you should see if staying on the Big Island is an option (depending on availability, how many days you have left and last minute airfare it might be a better option for you)

I'm another Lagoon Tower owner. We fell in love with HHV after our first hotel stay in 2000 (before the first timeshare tower was completed). It's the primary reason we bought two HGVC weeks via resale in 2003. We finally made a HGVC Lagoon Tower purchase in 2009 after several Lagoon Tower stays. But I have to agree that it can be extremely loud in the evenings especially if there's an evening corporate event on the grassy area between lagoon and rainbow towers.

I hope things get better for you. Vacations should be relaxing (not stressful).

heathpack · Dec 10, 2013

So for us, the appeal of a Honolulu stay was to be in the middle of a number of historical sites, the ability to walk to restaurants/bars/nightlife/shopping, and to visit Oahu in a different way than we have previously.

If we can close our windows/patio door and have a quiet room, we'd be happy enough with that. Are some of you saying that the place is noisy with windows & doors closed? How crowded is the pool area? If we can find a spot in the hot tub or on the beach or a lounger that's not on top of our neighbor's lounger, we'll be happy enough.

Thanks for the answers I've already received!

H

bastroum · Dec 10, 2013

SmithOp said:
I'm chuckling over here because I own at HHV Lagoon and like it for all the reasons it irritates you guys .

I've never been to Maui, so this year I picked up a trader and will be going to WKORV in May. I've been thinking I'll be bored there laying around in all that peace and quiet lol.

Sent from my iPad Gen 4 using Tapatalk HD

We also like all the city-like activity at HHV and have always thought of Honolulu as "Las Vegas with a beach". We go to Maui for a peaceful experience. If you think it's noisy now, you should hear it on New Year's Eve! BTW...the Kalia Tower was not built as a timeshare. It was originally built as a hotel tower. Before it opened they discovered mold in the building and had to demolish the interior and rebuild. That's when they decided to turn some of the floors into timeshares because the Lagoon Tower was selling out.. It's always been a strange building.

AlohaAmbassador · Dec 10, 2013

I'm curious as to how long the OP has been with HGVC. I can't imagine spending the entire 19 day trip to Hawaii all in one place (particularly in Waikiki). It helps to do some research before planning such a trip.

We're going in April for our third trip to the islands in 6 years, but only spending 6 nights at HHV (the remainder at Kings Land on the Big Island). HHV is great for shopping and entertainment, but I can't imagine doing just Waikiki/Honolulu on a visit to the islands.

HatTrick · Dec 10, 2013

blackfoot said:
It gets better- they failed to tell me that they have moved beginning last night, the nightly Hawaiian show from the Parking Garage roof to in front of the Lagoon Towers so we can have more high volume noise every night.

The HHV web site doesn't mention such a change. Perhaps what you saw was one of the corporate events that are often held on the lagoon green. They can be noisy, but they don't typically run too late into the evening. (And if you think a luau is noisy, you won't want to be around on Friday night when they shoot off fireworks following the show at the Super Pool.)

HatTrick · Dec 10, 2013

Ron98GT said:
Plus if there was an easy way to get to the GW/Lagoon towers we would be at the beach.

blackfoot · Dec 10, 2013

Last Post- I have actually lived in Honolulu ,have visited Hawaii( various islands) at least 30 times in the last 15 years and have stayed at this location (HHV) every December for the last 11 years. It's not my 1st rodeo and I do not reside in rural Kansas!

If you haven't been here in the last 2 weeks, just maybe things have changed since your last visit!

Ron98GT · Dec 10, 2013

HatTrick said:

Where can I get one. :hysterical:

Ron98GT · Dec 10, 2013

HatTrick said:
The HHV web site doesn't mention such a change. Perhaps what you saw was one of the corporate events that are often held on the lagoon green. They can be noisy, but they don't typically run too late into the evening. (And if you think a luau is noisy, you won't want to be around on Friday night when they shoot off fireworks following the show at the Super Pool.)

We're at HHV now. We'll be heading to the owner update in 1 hr, so we can get our two free tickets to the HHV Luau. And yes the Luau was/is temporarily moved to the grassy area North (?) of the Lagoon (right below the OP's window). We checked it out yesterday and saw the seating and the stage. They have seats all around the stage (360 degrees), like a theater in the round. We have reservations for tomorrow (Wednesday) nite.

I think we'll need that rickshaw though, to get us to the luau from from the Kalia Tower.

presley · Dec 10, 2013

heathpack said:
So for us, the appeal of a Honolulu stay was to be in the middle of a number of historical sites, the ability to walk to restaurants/bars/nightlife/shopping, and to visit Oahu in a different way than we have previously.

If we can close our windows/patio door and have a quiet room, we'd be happy enough with that. Are some of you saying that the place is noisy with windows & doors closed? How crowded is the pool area? If we can find a spot in the hot tub or on the beach or a lounger that's not on top of our neighbor's lounger, we'll be happy enough.

Thanks for the answers I've already received!

H

The location is great for the reasons you listed here. It is a noisy resort, but I've never spent that much time in my room or even on property. I have very busy vacations and from you past posts, I think you do, too. I do not believe the noise will bother you at all. If you want to lounge all day and watch TV with the patio door open, you may have a problem.

I've never used the pools there. They are busy and loud and I'm an ocean junky. The pools may irritate you because they have some pool towel system now where they give you a small piece of paper and you trade it for towels every day at a pool shack. If you lose that little piece of paper, they charge you. I always buy towels when I in Hawaii because I am out and about so much.

I think this is the best location for what you want, Heathpack. I don't love it like most do because I'm out busy all day and when I get back and want to eat, I don't like walking through Disneyland crowds on my resort property. I'm interested in checking out their new location, also in Waikiki, but nothing really on property. With HHV, you not only get all the people staying on property, you also get everyone in Waikiki coming over for shopping, dining and fireworks, etc. I don't go to Hawaii for the crowds.

MichaelColey · Dec 10, 2013

Walk down to Lappert's and get some Kauai Pie, then all will be better.

I guess we were fortunate last year to get a high floor (22? It was a 2BR Ocean View right under the penthouse level) and there were no noise issues at that height.

I would definitely pursue things while you are there, until you are happy (or give up). It's much easier to get things resolved on site, and if you're like me you would much rather have a good vacation than compensation after the fact.

Lagoon Tower - Not Impressed!

blackfoot

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