# Suggestions for Bay Club Unit



## travelguy (Oct 18, 2010)

We are going to HGVC Bay Club for several weeks next month and are looking for suggestions for the "perfect" unit for our trip.  We were at the Bay Club last year and are familiar with the layout and the resort.

Any HELP that HGVC owners that have stayed at the Bay Club can give me would be appreciated!!

I want to call ahead and ask for specific buildings if possible.  Here are our criteria for a 1 Bedroom unit (in this order):

1) Renovated (I understand that buildings #10 & #9 are done?)
2) NO overhead footsteps (Any 1 bd units on top floor?)
3) View (golf vs. parking lot, maybe even distant ocean?)
4) Proximity to pool for a few laps (no kids)
5) Proximity to grills (I cook out a lot)
6) Proximity to exercise room (to keep the weight off from cookouts)  
7) Quieter is better!

We drive to different beaches everyday so proximity to the "Big" pools is not an issue.

Last year we stayed in building 1 on the second floor.  We liked it except for the overhead footsteps and I understand that it's not renovated yet.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!


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## travelguy (Oct 20, 2010)

Do I understand correctly that the renovations have started at building #10 and are going toward #1?

Does anyone know which buildings have been completed?

Thanks.


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## GregT (Oct 20, 2010)

Travelguy,

Great questions -- and I'm curious to hear the answers from Bay Club experts as I have the identical room objectives (my apologies that I don't have the answer myself).

I've sent an email to the manager asking what the timeline for renovations are, and if it's correct that they started at Building 10 and are moving towards Building 1.

I'll let you know what I learn.  Thanks!

Greg


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## GregT (Oct 20, 2010)

His response -- thanks!


Aloha Mr. Tibbits,

The Bay Club renovation is scheduled to be completed by April of 2011.  They are on track now and have indeed finished buildings 9 & 10 and we will open building 4 tomorrow.  Additionally villas 11, 8 and 6 have been completed.  The units look fantastic and the customer feedback very positive.

Hope this helps.  Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.


Phillip Murray
Resort Manager
HGVC Waikoloa Beach Resort & The Bay Club
69-550 Waikoloa Beach Dr., Waikoloa, Hawaii, 96738
email- pmurray@hgvc.com
Ph#    808-895-7759 (cell)
          808-886-4546 (office)
          808-886-4469 (fax)


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## travelguy (Oct 21, 2010)

Thanks for that info GregT!

Interesting that they completed buildings 9 & 10 and then skipped to 4??     I thought the buildings were numbered in consecutive order.

So that narrows it down to two buildings and the villas.  And the villas are out since I booked a 1 Bdrm and I believe the villas are all 2-3 bdrm.

Does anyone recall if the Bay Club buildings have 1 Bdrm units on the top floors?


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## Blues (Oct 21, 2010)

travelguy said:


> Does anyone recall if the Bay Club buildings have 1 Bdrm units on the top floors?



Yes they do.  They put us into a top floor 1BR when we stayed there a few years ago.  Very nice unit -- it had a bit of a cathedral ceiling which made the whole unit feel larger.  We loved having breakfast on the lanai, too.

We're also staying at 1 BR at the Bay Club for a few days next month, so I've been following this thread carefully.  I plan to call soon to ask for a top floor.  That's more important to me than a renovated unit; though that would be very nice, too.

Thanks for starting this thread.

-Bob


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## GregT (Oct 21, 2010)

Travelguy,

I found the site map here on TUG (I love TUG) and it's got some interesting data.

http://tug2.com/ResortImages/Hawaii/Hawaii/BayClubSiteL.jpg

Apparently, all the buildings that have 1BR's  (1,2,3,4,9,10) have them on all three floors (1BR's are plans C and D).  There aren't any 1BR's in the other buildings (5,6,7,8,11,12,13), which are the Villas.

So, you should be able to request a Top Floor unit -- but they all appear to face the road so you won't get a golf course view (???)

Additionally, all but Building 4 appear to have reasonable proximity to a BBQ.

Let us know what you end up getting!

All the best,

Greg


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## travelguy (Oct 21, 2010)

Great Info!!

I'll give BC a call and ask if I can get building 9 or 10, top floor unit and see if they have a golf course view.  I'll let you know how I make out.


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## travelguy (Oct 23, 2010)

So after trying to call the Bay Club guest services for two days and getting only a message saying they are on another line .... I give up.  

They do give a fax number so I'll try to send my unit request to them by fax.

This would be very disappointing if I had a precheck-in issue that needed the attention of a human!


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## GregT (Oct 23, 2010)

Travelguy,

Post #4 here has a fax number in it for the manager, I don't know if that works for the front desk also???

Let us know it goes!

All the best,

Greg


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## Blues (Oct 29, 2010)

I just called and requested top floor.  For some reason, the existing reservation said 1st or 2nd floor.  I had simply reserved via HGVC online, so I don't know why it said that.  But they put in a "request" for 3rd floor.  I don't really care about renovations.

But I previously got an email confirmation directly from Bay Club.  By following links in that email, I found the Bay Club summer newsletter, in which they published the renovation schedule.  It says the projected completion dates are:

• Building 9 and Villa Building 7
Late September, 2010
• Building 4 and Villa Buildings 5 & 6
Early November, 2010
• Building 3 and Villa Building 13
Late December, 2010
• Building 2 and Villa Building 12
Late January, 2011
• Building 1 and Villa Building 8
March, 2011

HTH,
Bob


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## Blues (Nov 6, 2010)

Well, travelguy, I hope you have better luck with your request than I did with mine.  As mentioned, I requested 3rd floor, and barring that, a renovated unit.  I just checked in and got neither.  I got 2nd floor in building 1, unrenovated.  They claim to be completely full, and are giving request priorities to Bay Club members.  I'm about as far from any pool as you can get.  And we'll have to walk through the construction area to get to the pools -- they have the parking lot and road closed in front buildings 3 & 4.  To get anywhere else in the complex, I have to exit via the west gate and re-enter further east.

-Bob


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## travelguy (Nov 7, 2010)

Unfortunately, I had to postpone our Big Island trip at the last minute.  Prior to the cancellation, I attempted to call the resort several times and got a message that they were busy or on another line.  The recording did not say to leave a message (that I can recall) so I sent a reservation request by e-mail.

I was surprised when I got a call from Bay Club cust serv and they scolded me for not leaving a message.  They explained in detail that they must manually sift through all the hang-ups to check for messages and that wastes their time.

Irony #1 - They admitted that they have "many many" hang-ups on their line each day (apparently most people are like me in that they didn't know they should leave a message or don't want to leave a message).

Irony #2 - It tooK far longer for the cust service rep to scold me about the hang-ups than it did for them to actually go through the phone hang-ups.

Irony #3 - The cust service rep was such an "over talker" that I couldn't interject that we had canceled our trip to Bay Club.  She went on and on about the hang-ups and that they couldn't guarantee any specific reservation, etc.

Irony #4 - After I finally interrupted the cust serv rep and was able to communicate that I had canceled the Bay Club reservation ... she went back to educating me on the protocol of not hanging up on the phone line when I call for my next reservation.

So ... I booked two weeks in Maui instead.


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## GregT (Nov 7, 2010)

Sorry to hear you had to cancel (I was looking forward to hearing where they put you).  And very interesting/annoying to hear about the customer service approach.

Where in Maui are you going and when?   Doesn't sound like a bad alternative!

Best,

Greg


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## bobemac (Nov 7, 2010)

I called the Bay Club at 808-886-4450.
They answered on the second ring.
I asked for a 1 Bed room Penthouse in the renovated section
for two consecutive weeks.
   The CSR said that she would see what she could do for us.
     She sounded very positive.
We are visiting January 6th to 21st.

     The toll free # 877-229-2582, did not get answered.


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## bobemac (Feb 8, 2014)

Since I left this post very hopeful, and I'm in a similar situation going forward, I wanted to update my experience with the Bay Club.

   Yes, they are discourteous in guest services/reservations and even rude to owners.We wound up with the dreaded parking lot Lanai on the first floor. When I contacted the Waikoloa Beach Resort GM he was uncooperative. They refused to assist me even though I held a reservation for a Penthouse one bedroom.

    I've scheduled three weeks in a one bedroom for March 2014,
when I called yesterday to check on my reservation, I had been assigned a specific unit per HGVC Orlando, the same employee in guest Services/reservations answered.

    I was put on hold for five minutes then she returned and stated that she was too busy with check ins and would call me shortly. The strange thing here is that I called The Bay Club at 8:30 AM Hawaiian time. It's difficult to believe that she would be doing check ins in the AM. Their check in time is 4 PM HST.

  We have stayed here over a dozen times and like the property, but here are several employees here who are rude and evasive.

    It's been almost twenty four hours and still no call back from Gloria at the Bay Club. I will have to escalate the issue to HGVC corporate.
   Most properties are friendly to guests, it's just good business. The fact that HGVC Bay Club is terrible is difficult to understand.


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## SmithOp (Feb 8, 2014)

It's been my experience at all HGVC check ins that they will not give out room numbers before check in, sure they will "make a note" of your request. If as you say, HGVC corporate has already assigned a room number, why do they take requests?  Simple, if there is availability at check in they could switch.  I think your best bet is at check in, not calling the resort reservation desk, they can't promise or change anything until check in. That's probably why they seem aggravated at all the people calling to try to jockey for a better room.

I've been an owner there and always booked by mail, send in the mf with the requested dates and got my deeded unit.  All the one br are on the road side, only the 2br have golf course view.  I've been stuck down in building 1 on open season res too when it was busy, other times I've pulled a 3rd floor open season unit upgrade by sweet talking at check in.  I've extended stays with open season, having to change rooms and they have moved our suitcases and fridge contents while we enjoyed the day out, I've never had a problem with staff.

I've seen Asian visitors arrive early for check in from red eye flights, they could be busy at 8:30am.


Sent from my iPad Gen 4 using Tapatalk HD


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## Deb from NC (Feb 10, 2014)

Hi all,
I just exchanged for a week at this resort and now am getting a little concerned...the reviews sounded great so I chose it over a couple of the Wyndhams.  Should I re-think, or is this a nice place ?  I'm prepared for no
view (we exchanged into a 1 bedroom) but I thought the units were large and recently updated?  Should I stick with this ?  (We've never been to the Big Island before, FYI )
THx!
Deb


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## Ron98GT (Feb 10, 2014)

Deb from NC said:


> Hi all,
> I just exchanged for a week at this resort and now am getting a little concerned...the reviews sounded great so I chose it over a couple of the Wyndhams.  Should I re-think, or is this a nice place ?  I'm prepared for no
> view (we exchanged into a 1 bedroom) but I thought the units were large and recently updated?  Should I stick with this ?  (We've never been to the Big Island before, FYI )
> THx!
> Deb


Yes, it's a nice place.  I wouldn't give it another/2nd thought.

If your getting a 2-Bdrm, try to check-in early and ask about getting a villa.  It's still a 2-Bdrm, but their in a 2-story building, BIG, 2-Masters, 2-1/4, baths, and a carport.


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## ocdb8r (Feb 10, 2014)

Deb,

You're good.  You'll notice this thread was started in 2010.  Since that time, ALL units have been upgraded and in general the reviews are very positive.  I can't comment as to how the resort compares to the Wyndham properties in Kona as I haven't stayed at them, but the units are very nicely appointed, much larger than most timeshares (as they were built to be sold as apartment residences) and well located in Waikoloa.  That said, Waikoloa is more of a master planned resort type area locate 20+ minutes north of Kona town whereas the Wyndham resorts are right near Kona.  We actually quite like the location as it's close to some of the best beaches and we like driving around to explore the island (and we find Waikoloa just as suitable a base for exploring as Kona).

Have a GREAT trip!


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## Deb from NC (Feb 10, 2014)

Oh good, thanks all !  Since we stayed in a tiny hotel room (not a timeshare) when we went to Maui, I'm sure we'll be thrilled with all the extra room.  
Can't wait to go !


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## Ron98GT (Feb 10, 2014)

Both the airport and Costco are on the North end of Kona, convenient when staying at Waikoloa.

From Queen Kaahumanu Hwy take a left into the Waikoloa Beach Resort (you'll see the sign) on Waikoloa Beach Drive.  Watch for a small/narrow Maintenance Road on your right hand side (very easy to miss) and turn right onto it. When the road dead ends at Waikoloa Beach Drive turn left.  Take the 1st road on your left into the Hilton/HGVC Waikoloa Beach Resort (WBR) and drive up to the office to check-in. Both the WBR and the Bay Club use the same building to check-in.


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## bobemac (Feb 12, 2014)

SmithOp said:


> It's been my experience at all HGVC check ins that they will not give out room numbers before check in, sure they will "make a note" of your request. If as you say, HGVC corporate has already assigned a room number, why do they take requests?  Simple, if there is availability at check in they could switch.  I think your best bet is at check in, not calling the resort reservation desk, they can't promise or change anything until check in. That's probably why they seem aggravated at all the people calling to try to jockey for a better room.
> 
> I've been an owner there and always booked by mail, send in the mf with the requested dates and got my deeded unit.  All the one br are on the road side, only the 2br have golf course view.  I've been stuck down in building 1 on open season res too when it was busy, other times I've pulled a 3rd floor open season unit upgrade by sweet talking at check in.  I've extended stays with open season, having to change rooms and they have moved our suitcases and fridge contents while we enjoyed the day out, I've never had a problem with staff.
> 
> ...



 FYI;
Japanese red eye flights to Kona from Tokyo NRT arrive in the afternoon.
Typically 10 PM departure and 2:30 PM arrival.

   The second and third floor 1 bedroom units are fine.
It's the first floor units which have no quiet nor privacy.

   We were contacted by the HGVC Waikoloa GM and things are being taken care of.

  The Bay Club units are the largest units of HGVC Waikoloa by far and with the makeover three years ago, are very attractive, and are some of the best available. If you consider point values, there is no comparison.


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