i was looking at Sands of Kahana. For me I liked smaller locations that are very well maintained. I don’t need lots of on-site amenities.
We own timeshares on Maui (
Maui Banyan, Kihei [Soliel Management] ), the Big Island (
Paniolo Greens, Waikoloa Village [Shell Vacation Club] and
Kona Hawaiian Village by the Sea, Kona [Wyndham] ), and Kauai (
Lawai Beach Resort, Banyan Building, and
Point at Poipu [recently acquired by Hilton Vacation Club] ). Favorite resort that should meet what you are looking for is Maui Banyan, with Lawaii Beach resort second, but we are happy enough with each of the other resorts.
Maui Banyan is in South Kihei and we own one annual, one biennial odd, and one biennial even unit (so, two weeks on Maui each year; or up to four weeks if we wanted to use the lock-off option). The resort is right across South Kihei Road from a good beach, within walking distance of two other excellent beaches, within easy walking distance of numerous places to eat, within walking distance of a natural food market, within longer walking distance of the Kihei Small Boats Harbor (snorkeling trips), etc. The resort has approximately 176 units (managed by Aston), but only 18 of the units are timeshare units. Some of the timeshare units are much more desirable than others and I have stayed there seven times and, as an owner, have always been assigned one of the more desirable units. Soliel Management owns the timeshare units, but because the board of directors is controlled by the privately owned units, the annual fees are lower than for any of the other Soliel Management resorts on Maui (much lower than for
Sands of Kahana). The timeshare units are two bedrooms, two bathrooms (one bedroom and a lock-off studio), with full kitchen and washer/dryer in the one bedroom and kitchenette in the studio, etc. Interiors of the Soliel timeshare units are reasonably well maintained. The Aston maintained pools, BBQs, and commons grounds, are very well maintained. The Aston maintained building exteriors (including lanais) and hallways vary in how well they are maintained. Went to an open house during our stay last week for a privately owned unit that had the same floor plan as the Soliel timeshare units, but much nicer amenities and better views of the ocean, that had an asking price of $1,595,000. Interval Interntional "get away" prices for the Aston managed units during desirable months go from the high $3,000s to mid $4,000s and those units vary considerably in amenities and how well they are maintained. Resort amenities are not extensive -- two pools with BBQ areas, one tennis court, and parking (limited covered spaces).
Paniolo Greens is a Shell Vacation Club Resort (which is owned by Wyndham). We own a deeded biennial even year unit. The biggest advantage of owning a deeded unit is that you are a member of the Waikoloa Village Homeowners Association and, if you are a golfer, you get homeowner's green fees, which saves a lot of money. An advantage of being an owner, as opposed to trading in, is that some of the two bedroom units actually are two bedroom, one den, three bathroom units, where the den has been converted into a third bedroom. As an owner you can request one of those units in advance and it doesn't cost extra (we have always got one of the three bedroom, three bathroom units). We much prefer the units overlooking the championship golf course as opposed to the limited number of units looking down the volcano that get considerably more road noise. Last time I checked, Paniolo Greens had the lowest annual fees of any gold crown resort in Hawaii. Part of the reason for that is that it is almost 1,000 feet up the volcano so has lower maintenance costs than resorts near the ocean. Another reason is that the privately owned units control the board of directors and keep the maintenance fees as low as possible while maintaining the resort's amenities. Paniolo Greens serves fine as a base from which to explore the Big Island. It is within reasonable driving distance of the best beaches on the Big Island and there is an acceptable grocery store and a couple of decent restaurants nearby. Amenities are okay -- large pool and jacuzzi, numerous well-maintained BBQs scattered around the property, a small (nominal) workout room, tennis court, beach equipment available for cheap rental. Maintenance is acceptable. Just acquired
Kona Hawaiian Village by the Sea (visited in 2022) and have yet to stay there, so can't really offer any useful information. We acquired a biennial even years deeded unit through TUG that dates back to before the resort was acquired by Wyndham (so two weeks on the Big Island every even year). Only disadvantage to having a pre-Wyndham ownership that we experienced was that we had to telephone (put on hold) to make a reservation and could not go through the Wyndham website.
Have stayed twice at
Lawaii Beach Resort. The Banyan and Alii Buildings are the more desirable of the resorts' four buildings, in my opinion. We own a biennial odd years unit in the Banyan building. Very well maintained and the resort has an excellent staff. Both the Banyan and Alii buildings have great 180 degree views of the ocean from the living room and lanai on the floors above the ground floor. Don't know about the Alii building, but the Banyan building does not have air conditioning. We have not found this to be much of an issue in our two visits (October and December). The "beach" across the non-busy road is minimal, even at low tide, but has some of the best snorkeling on Kauai (snorkeling tours go there). The Beach House restaurant is across the street and has excellent food and views. Amenities are pretty good -- nice pools with BBQs, roof-top mini-golf, indoor rec area, plenty of parking. Have only stayed once at the
Point at Poipu (was an Embassy, then Sunterra, then Diamond, now Hilton Vacation Club). We own an oceanfront, two bedroom, two bathroom biennial odd unit (so two weeks each odd year on Kauai). When we stayed there last October, Hilton was is the process of upgrading the first of the resort's buildings to "Hilton standards" with the reconstruction equipment going by our unit every few minutes (lots of noise and traffic). Our corner unit was just fine, but you could see plenty of examples of deferred maintenance on the exteriors of buildings going back to its days as a Diamond resort. Has one odd-shaped central pool that is rather shallow, but there are jacuzzi's and BBQs separate from the main pool that we regularly used, that were well maintained. We did like the small restaurant/bar (with TVs showing football games) adjacent to the main pool. The resort also has a decent work out room and plenty of parking.
