# Hyatt Ka'anapali Beach (HKB) Float Week - Details and Experiences



## owl (Aug 26, 2022)

Hello everyone.

I'm starting a new topic to help track experiences for Floating week owners and those interested in Floating week units at HKB.

I'm a long time forum reader of TUG BBS and other online forums.  I've owned one annual 2BR at WKORVN unit since 2009 (resale purchase on Ebay) and have used the lock-off unit many times at the Maui and Kauai properties and have traded through II at least a few times over that time.  We've also rented out our unit (RedWeek) or donated for charity/auctions a number of times.

We first toured the HKB property in 2019 and decided to purchase an Access return package at that time.  We delayed our return until Spring 2022, because of the pandemic.  We really loved the property, especially the upper level rooms, so we made a request to stay in the high (9-12) band for our 5 night return stay, and we were granted a room on the 11th floor.  It (especially the lanai and view of the Pacific, as many who have visited will attest) was beautiful, and our stay was great overall.  It was actually really helpful to use the Access package to really understand what the experience would be like to actually stay and use the property.  (We checked into WKORV into a distant oceanview room for the tail end of our stay, and it felt like a "downgrade" compared to HKB.  We'll most likely flip our property choices in the future, if we don't stay a full week at HKB.)

In the end, even though we are usually the frugal, bargain hunter types (we paid $8,000 for our WKORV 2BR annual that included one free year of maintenance/stays), but with our hopes of specifically using HKB, we decided to purchase from the developer (*gulp*!).  I hesitated from posting here, because there seems to be so much distain from purchasing from the developer, and for most cases, it seems to be fair that purchasing resale is best but will ultimately depend on the needs of the individual/family.  We recognize that we (absolutely) will lose money over time on the original purchase cost, but for our phase in life and our intended use, it was the cost we were willing to take on.

_Factors we considered_:
- We still consider ourselves on the younger side in our careers/lives - we bought the WKORVN property in our 20s and are now in our early 40s
- My wife and I both have full-time, 8-5 types of jobs that don't allow working remotely away from our office locations in California
- We have elementary/middle school-aged children, and Spring/Summer/Winter break schedules change every year and are not published until June or July prior to the start of Fall
- Pre-pandemic times, we were blessed to have been able to travel approximately 2 one-week trips, 1 two-week trip, and several weekend trips every year, which included about one international trip per year
- We like to stay in Hawaii (Oahu, Maui, Kauai mostly) once per year
- We currently like traveling to Maui the most, and we most likely will stay in the Ka'anapali area most if not all of the time in Maui
- We really like the HKB property and rooms, and now with our experience, we know we liked our HKB stay better than our WKORV stay for a number of reasons
- If/when we stay at HKB, we want to be guaranteed (as much as possible) a room on floors 9-12
- We're used to floating week reservations, especially through the Vistana/Westin system - fixed week is an absolute no-go for us
- We were looking for a EOY unit, since we have the Westin annual unit, and in this stage in our lives, we can't even use our Hawaii units every year, so we bank, sell, or donate; we like the option of selling the HKB week if we don't/can't use it, and it seems like we'll get back quite a bit more than our maintenance fees, especially if we book a unit in the Summer months

_Research we did_:
- Looked for resale Float units at HKB, but they were scarce or non-existent, or they were for the lower or mid-band rooms - I may have seen one upper-band unit over the first several months of 2022, but it may have been an annual unit (I don't recall seeing a HKB EOY 2BR Upper-band unit on sale on any of the usual timeshare reseller websites during my research phase)
- I tried to find as much information about developer quotes for floating units, annual and EOY, at HKB
- I did a bit of comparison between Fixed unit resale price quotes and Developer Floating unit price quotes, even though the comparison is not an apples to apples comparison
- I looked into resale unit costs for 2200 points within the HRC network, but after reading quite a bit of forum posts about trading into HKB, I was not encouraged we could reliably get our desired Spring Break or Summer Break (early summer) weeks AND get a floor 9-12 unit
- (other research I can't remember)

_In the end, we purchased from the developer:_
- Our return presentation was done by a very respectful and kind person, and she was very direct and helpful.  She knew we were considering resale and also owned at the Westin
- Our price was around $39K (locked in from 2019, though we didn't know what current-day pricing was with any "COVID" or "Marriott owner" discounts) for a 2BR EOY odd Upper-band (floors 9-12)
- We received 300K WOH points after negotiating upwards a bit - probably worth about $3,000-4,000+ depending on where we use it, possibly Carmel Valley Ranch and other more valuable exchange destinations
- We applied our ~$2,900 return package towards the deposit
- We put the balance on our credit card (so we calculated the 1% credit card rewards as part of our overall "discount" on the purchase)
- We feel like we have established a strong relationship with our Hyatt representative, who has been selling timeshares in Hawaii for many years and also owns; she will also probably stay in the business for quite a bit longer
- We'll NEVER trade our unit for WOH points

_Things to find out over time:_
- Was our purchase "worth" the ~$15-20k difference (after incentives/discounts) from the EOY fixed-week HKB units (~$12-15K + closing costs/transfer fees) we saw on RedWeek and other websites???  ==> TBD over time, but we'll probably get better rental return if we book summer weeks at HKB floors 9-12 than any fixed-week resale unit we might have purchased
- We might still add a 2,200 point unit (diamond) from some other US property at some point in the future
- How does this floating week unit actually work in the HRC system, compared with everything I've learned about booking and deadlines for fixed-week units ==> still trying to figure this one out, actually

_Experiences so far..._
- *Every week* I've been interested in so far has been available for me (and I assume it's only listing available units in the high-band, 2BR units, since that's the only availability I am supposed to be seeing with my direct trade options, not using points) ==> Spring Break in March 2023 was available for me in July 2022, Summer (late July 2023 and August 2023) weeks are available for me as of today (August 25, 2022) - this is encouraging, for now, since I may not need to book exactly 365 days out on the dot like I do with popular Westin weeks
- Just did a comparison search; my direct ownership unit search gives me booking availability for the end of July and all of August 2023 (saturday check-in) - using Hyatt points, I show zero availability for HKB in July/August 2023
- I'm still trying to figure out whether/if I truly have a club/limited/extended use point period.  So far, everything that I can see in my portal indicates I just need to book (or deposit into II) by my annual (EOY) deadline of June 23, 2023; interestingly, I initially had an assumption, and I don't think any of the Hyatt sales people actually knew, that I would get the opportunity to _book_ my odd-year 2023 float week by December 31, 2023, similar to my Vistana yearly booking period deadline - I think this means that I get to start using my _EOY odd 2025_ use year starting in June 2024???
- My portal notification says: "You have 2200 Float Home Resort Preference Period (HRPP) Points that will expire 06/23/23."  (I paid off my balance on May 6, 2022 and closing seems to have wrapped up around June 23, 2022.  I received access to my HRC account in early July 2022.)

Happy to try to answer questions for those who are considering or who own a floating week at HKB.

Regards,
Orlando


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## MOXJO7282 (Aug 26, 2022)

The bad news is you paid a big premium for a top tier product. The good news is you bought a top tier product in MAUI, as the Hyatt Kaanapali is likely the best timeshare resort on the island!! I don't know the Hyatt resale market, but do know the top tier Maui resale market, as I own 15 Marriott Maui Ocean Club weeks ( only 2 bought direct in 2002) and I think eventually, likely sooner than later, you'll see a resale that would have saved you  possibly a significant amount of money even with all the discounts you received from HRC.  In today's market the price between developer and resale definitely has shrunk but I believe still substantial. More good news is, what you have purchased does have real value, unlike most TSs, that will be a family asset for years to come.


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## owl (Aug 26, 2022)

MOXJO7282 said:


> The bad news is you paid a big premium for a top tier product. The good news is you bought a top tier product in MAUI, as the Hyatt Kaanapali is likely the best timeshare resort on the island!! I don't know the Hyatt resale market, but do know the top tier Maui resale market, as I own 15 Marriott Maui Ocean Club weeks ( only 2 bought direct in 2002) and I think eventually, likely sooner than later, you'll see a resale that would have saved you  possibly a significant amount of money even with all the discounts you received from HRC.  In today's market the price between developer and resale definitely has shrunk but I believe still substantial. More good news is, what you have purchased does have real value, unlike most TSs, that will be a family asset for years to come.



I agree, I did pay a premium.  And yes, sooner or later, the resale market will have more and more Float week units, which will bring the price down to a certain point.  Economics of supply and demand will play out every time, and my main goal for our family was to try to balance the opportunity costs (ie buy now, buy later, wait how long, how will we vacation until then, value of our time/efforts, etc). 

15 weeks - that's quite impressive!


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## Tucsonadventurer (Aug 26, 2022)

C


owl said:


> Hello everyone.
> 
> I'm starting a new topic to help track experiences for Floating week owners and those interested in Floating week units at HKB.
> 
> ...


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## Tucsonadventurer (Aug 26, 2022)

Congratulations! HKB is a gorgeous resort, our all time favorite.  Enjoy!


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## owl (Aug 26, 2022)

Tucsonadventurer said:


> Congratulations! HKB is a gorgeous resort, our all time favorite.  Enjoy!



Thank you very much.


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## Kal (Aug 27, 2022)

Your floating week purchase is absolutely a perfect decision.  Those floaters are extremely hard to find.  I fully appreciate everything you went thru to finally purchase from the developer.  I went down this same decision tree logic and got lucky.  I purchased a EOY High-band float week resale and enjoyed a considerable savings over developer pricing.  I had the developer pricing in hand with 250K WOH points but didn't pull the trigger. Now I am searching for another EOY float week that I will likely rent.

I have learned that Hyatt will soon price the Mid-band unit at a higher price than High-band units.  Reason is owners are buying Mid-band because the cost of the High-band is too high.  That's typical "time share huckster logic" which doesn't make much sense.

Great going!!


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## owl (Aug 28, 2022)

Thank you for the note and the additional information.  Congratulations on your find, as well!



Kal said:


> Your floating week purchase is absolutely a perfect decision.  Those floaters are extremely hard to find.  I fully appreciate everything you went thru to finally purchase from the developer.  I went down this same decision tree logic and got lucky.  I purchased a EOY High-band float week resale and enjoyed a considerable savings over developer pricing.  I had the developer pricing in hand with 250K WOH points but didn't pull the trigger. Now I am searching for another EOY float week that I will likely rent.
> 
> I have learned that Hyatt will soon price the Mid-band unit at a higher price than High-band units.  Reason is owners are buying Mid-band because the cost of the High-band is too high.  That's typical "time share huckster logic" which doesn't make much sense.
> 
> Great going!!


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## Scavanjer (Nov 14, 2022)

Kal said:


> Your floating week purchase is absolutely a perfect decision.  Those floaters are extremely hard to find.  I fully appreciate everything you went thru to finally purchase from the developer.  I went down this same decision tree logic and got lucky.  I purchased a EOY High-band float week resale and enjoyed a considerable savings over developer pricing.  I had the developer pricing in hand with 250K WOH points but didn't pull the trigger. Now I am searching for another EOY float week that I will likely rent.
> 
> I have learned that Hyatt will soon price the Mid-band unit at a higher price than High-band units.  Reason is owners are buying Mid-band because the cost of the High-band is too high.  That's typical "time share huckster logic" which doesn't make much sense.
> 
> Great going!!


Where are you searching for HKB floating resales?  I dont see much availability and where i do see some they are priced at developer rates.  I see lots and lots of fixed week at lower prices but flex weeks seems to be the sweet spot


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## owl (Nov 14, 2022)

@Kal will probably have the best response to this, but I've primarily been tracking RedWeek.  There are others, like SellMyTimeShareNow, but I like RedWeek the best for rentals and resales.


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## socaltimeshare (Nov 14, 2022)

Scavanjer said:


> i do see some they are priced at developer rates.


The one on Redweek right now for 49.5K is below developer pricing. Keep in mind floats weren’t initially sold so less likely to be on resale market.




Scavanjer said:


> but flex weeks seems to be the sweet spot


Disagee.  What makes HKB unique relative to other nearby timeshares is fixed weeks.  The sweet spot is a high demand week, like summer, that easily rents well above MF (2x or higher) the years you don’t want to use it. Those are rarely seen resale at a stellar discount.  If float is your desire, there are other timeshares that provide more bang for the buck IMO.


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## Kal (Nov 14, 2022)

owl said:


> @Kal will probably have the best response to this, but I've primarily been tracking RedWeek.  There are others, like SellMyTimeShareNow, but I like RedWeek the best for rentals and resales.


Float weeks are really hard to find.  One reason is there are fewer floats than fixed units at the resort.  Cover all bases including local Maui private agents.


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## Scavanjer (Nov 20, 2022)

So when I see fixed & float weeks available for resale on the various reseller websites the price range for a 2BR at HKB varies quite a bit which I get.  Variables such as annual vs. EOY, floor band, fix vs. float, fixed week demand, etc....

So when I see a price offered like $22,500 or $39,500, can't I just submit an offer for any price lower than what they offer?  I realize they could say no or if they agree Hyatt could exercise ROFR.  Even if I low ball on an offer, doesn't this ultimately accomplish the owners objective of getting rid of their timeshare at some value above $0?  I'm trying to understand why I wouldn't just submit multiple low ball offers across different resale sites for units that fit my criteria and then maybe I get lucky with one.  Does anyone have experience doing this and what price is too low?  If I'm not in any hurry to buy it seems to me this strategy would be prudent, patience and homework, as you all say.  Or is HKB different in that the price bar is set much higher on approved resales?  Earlier today I saw an offer from a sell-by-owner for a 1BR HKB low floor unit and it was listed at $1.   Now that is a motivated seller!!  Appreciate any advice from all of your experience in buying/selling on the secondary market.  Thanks


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## socaltimeshare (Nov 20, 2022)

Scavanjer said:


> Even if I low ball on an offer, doesn't this ultimately accomplish the owners objective of getting rid of their timeshare at some value above $0?



You can offer whatever price you want. I wouldn’t assume all HKB listings are sellers eager to sell at any price given these units do generate rental revenue.  As an example, I’ve now rented my 2 bedroom HKB summer unit twice.  It was a fairly easy process and both times it rented fast.


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## Scavanjer (Dec 15, 2022)

Is it true that even if you are a deeded owner at HKB you still must pay the $25 per day Hawaii occupancy tax upon checking in?


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## socaltimeshare (Dec 15, 2022)

Yes, TSO (Timeshare Occupancy Tax) applies to all.  It’s not a flat $25- it’s based on percentage of MF.  It you rent, also need to pay Hawaii TAT, Maui TAT, GET, and then file annual Hawaii taxes.

And you pay TSO at checkout (will be on folio).  The rest (for owners renting) need to be paid separately.


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