# Need help with Lockoff/non-Lockoff.  Problems at Ko Olina



## brianfox (Jul 2, 2013)

I am not a happy camper with Marriott right now.

I own 2 weeks at Ko Olina and we are going there next week.
My goal was to stay specifically in NON-lockoff units for two reasons:
1) We don't need a lockoff nad wanted there to be lockoffs available for people who could use them
2) We wanted to stay in the Naia tower, which is primarily non-lockoff.

When I reserved my weeks a year ago, I reserved the "full villa".  I called Owner Services and verified these were not lockoff units.

When I contacted KO today, they said I had lockoff units, and I need to reserve "Single Entry Units" if I wanted non-lockoff.  Having never heard of Single Entry, I called Owner Services.  They had never heard of Single Entry, either.  They double checked my reservation and said it is in fact not a lockoff.

Which way do I go at this point?

I remember when I reserved these weeks a year ago, they specifically told me that if I wanted the full villa, I would NOT be able to later lock off the unit.  To me that was pretty clear, but now Ko Olina says they will put me wherever they want to - even in a unit that is lockoff capable.


----------



## Aviator621 (Jul 2, 2013)

I think some of the confusion is terminology. For Ko Olina, it will say Full Villa on your reservation regardless of whether you have reserved a lock off or not. The only time the difference is visible is when you make the original reservation online, and the pull down menu lets you chose between the lock off and non-lockoff versions of the two bedrooms. (And yes, you can not split even a lock off once it is reserved as a Full Villa).  think that is what Ko Olina was trying to tell you. However, as far as I understood it, reserving one or the other only impacts you if you are trying to lock off and deposit/split the unit into two weeks. Otherwise, if you are actually using the full two bedroom, it should have no bearing on your room request when you check in--so either way, you should be able to request the Naia building. Did the Ko Olina room assignment people tell you otherwise?


----------



## Werner Weiss (Jul 2, 2013)

I own ocean-view (but not penthouse) at Ko Olina. My understanding is that when you book a 2-bedroom villa as an owner, you reserve from a specific inventory bucket. There are three kinds of 2-bedroom villas at Ko Olina:


Both parts of a 2-bedroom lock-off (second bedroom has king and sofabed)
Full, dedicated 2-bedroom (two queens in second bedroom, IF I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY)
2-bedroom master suite of a 3-bedroom villa (two queens in second bedroom; locked connecting door to 3rd bedroom)

To complicate things more, each of these is available as ocean view, island view, ocean view penthouse, and island view penthouse. As a weeks owner, your view depends on what you own. If using Destination Club points, you can pick the view category.

In all cases, what you can reserve depends on what is available at the time you reserve.

Because there's a one-to-one correlation between reservations and villa inventory, you will be assigned a unit that matches the exact category you reserved. With so many different villa types, anything else could lead to disasters.

The last two times we stayed at Ko Olina, I booked a 2-bedroom without specifying what kind of 2-bedroom (and without being asked by Member Services). I learned later that I had booked a 2-bedroom lock-off. As check-in approached, I requested the Nai'a Tower. In both cases, we were assigned a very nice 2-bedroom lock-off in the Nai'a Tower (two entrances, connecting door, and kitchenette).

Although all dedicated 2-bedroom villas are in the Nai's Tower, the building also has 2-bedroom lock-offs.

We were traveling with our college-age kids, so it really didn't matter if we had a dedicated or lock-off 2-bedroom. The bonus of a lock-off is that the kids had there own kitchenette with a refrigerator.

My guess is 2-bedroom lock-offs are plentiful, but dedicated 2-bedroom villas are rare. So unless an owner says "I want a dedicated 2-bedroom with a single entrance from the hallway" AND such villas are available at the time of reservation, the reservation will be for a 2-bedroom lock-off.

"Full villa" only means both parts of 2-bedroom lock-off. It is not synonymous with dedicated.

In the OP's case, it seems that there's disconnect between Marriott Owner Services and the resort itself. Both should have the same story about which of the three kinds of 2-bedroom villa the OP has reserved (and will get).


----------



## rpgriego (Jul 3, 2013)

brianfox said:


> I am not a happy camper with Marriott right now.
> 
> I own 2 weeks at Ko Olina and we are going there next week.
> My goal was to stay specifically in NON-lockoff units for two reasons:
> ...



I'm confused... How does being assigned a lock off unit hinder your enjoyment of the villa and/or Ko Olina?


----------



## brianfox (Jul 3, 2013)

Aviator, Ko Olina told me today that I had a 2 BR lockoff, and that because it was a lockoff, I may or may not be put in the Naia tower.  I know that Naia is the only tower with non-lockoff units, so reserving a non-lockoff guarantees that tower.  When I reserved 13 months ago, I felt I had a clear understanding of what I was getting, but evidently, I was wrong.

Wherever the miscommunication lies, this is the second year such a thing has happened.  Last year, I attempted a "Request First" with II trying to trade one of my KO weeks for Waiohai.  It was unsuccessful, but when the week reverted back to me from II, KO claimed it was an exchange week and wanted to treat me with low priority even though it was one of two weeks reserved 13 months out.

Werner, your situation sounds 100% like mine, except that you had no issue with getting a lockoff.

I'll ignore the snarky question about why this hinders my enjoyment.


----------



## chunkygal (Jul 7, 2013)

WE are here now at Ko Olina. In the past I have been in the Nia tower with the standard 2 bdrm. This time we are in the MOana (excuse Hawaiian spelling) and we have what must be a lock off (two entrances, seems like a studio and 1 bdrm.) It is bigger than the other room, but just as nice. Traveling with high school college age, so no concerns about them coming and going unannounced (maybe I should have :ignore Bonus, they have an odd anteroom in front of the bedroom. It has a desk , but other than this seems like an odd use of space, but makes it a bit more private and larger. I did not request or not request and wouldn't care either way the next time. 

It is as always so beautiful here. FOund a room key on the beach for a DVC member and returned it to Aulani yesterday...beautiful property, but seems more crowded. I am a DVC member, but am not sure I would use points to book there, but was nice to visit.


----------



## MALC9990 (Jul 7, 2013)

brianfox said:


> Last year, I attempted a "Request First" with II trying to trade one of my KO weeks for Waiohai.  It was unsuccessful, but when the week reverted back to me from II, KO claimed it was an exchange week and wanted to treat me with low priority even though it was one of two weeks reserved 13 months out.



I'm confused. Surely when you do a request first your reservation for the week at your Home Resort stays with you until II get you the exchange and if the request fails then you still have your week at your home resort and II never had the week at all. You just did a request first and II checked with MVCI that the confirmation number was valid.

However you never deposit on a request first until the request is successful.

Someone correct me if I got that wrong.


----------



## dioxide45 (Jul 7, 2013)

MALC9990 said:


> I'm confused. Surely when you do a request first your reservation for the week at your Home Resort stays with you until II get you the exchange and if the request fails then you still have your week at your home resort and II never had the week at all. You just did a request first and II checked with MVCI that the confirmation number was valid.
> 
> However you never deposit on a request first until the request is successful.
> 
> Someone correct me if I got that wrong.



Perhaps the resorts know weeks are an exchange based on the reservation number? We know when we deposit a week in to II, MVCI actually cancels our initial reservation and assigns it a new number that identifies it as an exchange. The same thing happens when you do a request first exchange. Your reservation actually gets cancelled. This has caused some fear for some when palcing "request first" exchanges. We also know that if you make a reservation for deposit when you make your reservations online that the confirmation number assigned is specific to an II exchange.

I think that MVCI uses two different "types" of confirmation numbers to differentiate between an II deposit/exchange and an owner week. So perhaps if your request first doesn't come through, you just get back the week that had the confirmation number that looks to the resort like an exchange?

Just theory really, I have no hard facts. Though reading over the years about people's experiences with reservations/cancellations with II exchanges. This seems like a likely scenario.


----------



## brigechols (Jul 7, 2013)

Is all this an attempt to ensure a room in the new tower? Contact the resort and request a single entry unit, accept whatever view and floor is available. If the resort truly does not have such a unit available for your checkin date, chalk this one up to a lesson learned.


----------



## chunkygal (Jul 7, 2013)

brian-

Not trying to be snarky- genuinely interested- because there is always a point of view I have not considered and can't think of myself, what is the advantage in your opinion of the non lock off?


----------



## SMHarman (Jul 7, 2013)

chunkygal said:


> brian-
> 
> Not trying to be snarky- genuinely interested- because there is always a point of view I have not considered and can't think of myself, what is the advantage in your opinion of the non lock off?



You get one living space and one kitchen instead of 1.5 of each and room for everyone to sit in that space. 

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2


----------



## chunkygal (Jul 7, 2013)

so the living spaces are larger in the dedicated 2 bedroom?
One advantage I can think of is you get 2 doubles in the dedicated second bedroom. 
My kids having a mini fridge is an advantage.


----------



## Werner Weiss (Jul 8, 2013)

SMHarman said:


> You get one living space and one kitchen instead of 1.5 of each and room for everyone to sit in that space.


I don't understand what that means.



chunkygal said:


> so the living spaces are larger in the dedicated 2 bedroom?
> One advantage I can think of is you get 2 doubles in the dedicated second bedroom.
> My kids having a mini fridge is an advantage.


The living room, dining area, and kitchen of a dedicated 2BR and a lock-off 2BR are the same.

The only real difference involves the door that connects the living room to the second bedroom. A dedicated 2BR was a normal interior door. A lock-off 2BR has a lock-off door (two doors that only connect the rooms only if the doors are unlocked from both sides). But that doesn't mean the room sizes are different.

The Nai'a building has a different master bedroom configuration (one large room) compared to the first two buildings (bedroom + small room between the bedroom and the window). But this has nothing to do with dedicated vs. lock-off.

Yes, a lock-off has a kitchenette in the second bedroom and its own door from the hallway. A dedicated 2BR has neither of these.

I think the OP wanted a dedicated 2BR to guarantee being in the Nai'a building. The Nai'a building is close to the coastline, so it has excellent ocean views. The first and second phases of the Nai'a building are at different angles in relation to the coastline. I haven't stayed in the newer phase yet, but I'm sure both phases are wonderful. Then again, the Moana and Kona buildings are wonderful too.


----------



## chunkygal (Jul 8, 2013)

The sunset from the lanai is beautiful from the moana tonight


----------



## mjm1 (Jul 10, 2013)

Werner Weiss said:


> I own ocean-view (but not penthouse) at Ko Olina. My understanding is that when you book a 2-bedroom villa as an owner, you reserve from a specific inventory bucket. There are three kinds of 2-bedroom villas at Ko Olina:
> 
> 
> Both parts of a 2-bedroom lock-off (second bedroom has king and sofabed)
> ...



Thanks for this detailed explanation. Do I understand correctly that when you buy a 2BR unit at Ko Olina, you are not specifically buying a 2BR lock-off or a dedicated 2BR unit. Rather, you own a 2BR and you can request either type of unit when you make your reservation?

Thanks.


----------



## Werner Weiss (Jul 10, 2013)

mjm1 said:


> Thanks for this detailed explanation. Do I understand correctly that when you buy a 2BR unit at Ko Olina, you are not specifically buying a 2BR lock-off or a dedicated 2BR unit. Rather, you own a 2BR and you can request either type of unit when you make your reservation?
> 
> Thanks.


Yes, more or less.

It's not a just a request (like for a specific building). It's a reservation into specific inventory.

Although a 2-bedroom owner's deed is for an actual, physical unit for a particular week, the owner can reserve a dedicated or lock-off 2-bedroom within the owned category (ocean view or mountain view; penthouse or regular).

However, it's based on availability. With far fewer dedicated 2-bedroom villas, it's likely that these will be booked up sooner than lock-off 2-bedroom villas, especially for periods when people are traveling with their children.

The OP understood he had booked a dedicated 2-bedroom villa, but was later told he had booked a lock-off 2-bedroom villa. Based on his experience, it would be a good idea to make absolutely sure the VOA confirms the correct kind of 2-bedroom villa.


----------



## mjm1 (Jul 10, 2013)

Thank you Werner.  I appreciate your insights.

Mike


----------

