# battle of the resorts..



## carl2591 (Jul 1, 2012)

The Bay Club at Waikoloa Beach Resort  (#3684)

                  VS

Wyndham Mauna Loa Village  (#4908) 


for sept 2013 time frame.
both are fine places. The reviews are good on both. the Wyndham unit appears to be the older of the two. 

any input on both appreciated. We will be traveling with another couple with no kids allowed.. 

input on beach access and level of service at each.. not looking for 5 star stuff just a good quality resort with happy endings.. for me that is..  

let the battle BEGIN..


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## aliikai2 (Jul 1, 2012)

*This is more about location*

Bay Club is in Waikoloa, 20-30 minutes north of Kona village. Closer to the premier sun beaches, A beach etc.

Wyndham is just south of the village, not walking distance, but much closer to the snorkel beaches, and food stores etc.

Other than that, you are on the Big Island, any resort is going to be fine.

Greg


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## jacknsara (Jul 1, 2012)

carl2591 said:


> The Bay Club at Waikoloa Beach Resort  (#3684)  VS
> Wyndham Mauna Loa Village  (#4908) ...


Aloha,
The VOG is likely to be substantially different for those two locales.  It is very serious in the Kona area with the current rate of volcanic emissions.  We were quite happy to have focused on and getting a trade into the Bay Club this past May. 
Jack


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## DaveNV (Jul 1, 2012)

MLV was built as wholly-owned condos, some of which are now timeshares. Bay Club has more of a resort feel. If you're planning to hang around the unit, Bay Club is probably a better choice. If you're heading to the southern part of the island, MLV is much closer, since it's at the southern end of Ali'i Drive. It all depends on how you want to spend your time.

Dave


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## Ron98GT (Jul 1, 2012)

BMWguynw said:


> MLV was built as wholly-owned condos, (so was the Bay Club) some of which are now timeshares. Bay Club has more of a resort feel.  If you're planning to hang around the unit, Bay Club is probably a better choice. If you're heading to the southern part of the island, MLV is much closer, since it's at the southern end of Ali'i Drive. (But if you want to go to the Northern part of the island, see waterfalls, go to great beaches like Hapuna, go to Hilo, go to Volcano National Park or Mauna Kea, or stay in a Hilton TS, you have to pick the Bay Club) It all depends on how you want to spend your time.
> 
> Dave



We just stayed there in May in a duplex Villa and Luv'd it.


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## klpca (Jul 1, 2012)

aliikai2 said:


> Bay Club is in Waikoloa, 20-30 minutes north of Kona village. Closer to the premier sun beaches, A beach etc.
> 
> Wyndham is just south of the village, not walking distance, but much closer to the snorkel beaches, and food stores etc.
> 
> ...



This sums it up. We just returned from our trip and I couldn't agree more. We've stayed in both places and it really depends on what you want to do.

Btw, we didn't notice any vog on this trip. If it was there it didn't bother my husbands asthma.


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## elaine (Jul 2, 2012)

Hapuna Beach has a little cove at one end that has excellent  shore snorkeling.


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## BevL (Jul 2, 2012)

Yep, totally location.  We've stayed in both as well.  Either resort you spend a lot of time in the car and that's the norm on the big island.  There is a shopping centre with a grocery store, it's a bit of a hike from MLV but walkable.  Bay Club has shops there but the closest grocery store is up by Paniolo Greens and you have to drive there.

At MLV, we had a huge unit, up and down with bedrooms down and living area up.

At Bay Club we lucked into one of the townhouse style villas by the pool which is basically two master type suites.  

So the units were both very nice and we'd go back to either one.


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## daventrina (Jul 2, 2012)

Are you limited to those two resorts???


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## Gracey (Jul 2, 2012)

when we were at Mauna Loa in may we were told the resort was undergoing renovations in Sept. 2012.  All new paint, carpeting, furniture and all soft goods such as bedding and drapes also.  They handed us a paper stating all the renovations coming.  I let my sister use my week that I had at Bay Club and while her units were much better.  We liked the location in Kona better.  Hands down our favorite resort there was Kona Hawaiin Resort though.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jul 2, 2012)

I generally concur with comments that it's mostly about what you plan to do while you're there.

If you were to just offer me the two straight up, I would probably take Waikoloa. and then just build my plans around spending more time in areas that are more accessible from Waikoloa - the northwest beaches, the Hamakua Coast, the Kohala Coast, etc.  

If it's important to you to spend time near the Volcano, then you would definitely want Mauna Loa Village.  And unless I knew I was going to be back to the Big Island again, the Volcano absolutely would be a "must-do".


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## carl2591 (Jul 3, 2012)

daventrina said:


> Are you limited to those two resorts???



more or less these two in terms of availability for the time frame. Have a week scheduled for may '12 in bay club but friends that wanted to go are not able in may so looking to move time to sept and this was the two we looked at and could get. 

any one know when the hawaii unit typically pay MF and bank weeks.. if like on mainland its jan to feb. i want to wait to change reservation till late jan to see what else come up.. wife want to do the change now or in the next month or so at least by sept (a year out) so as to put word out to other friends that have expressed interest in joining up in hawaii..  

my current confirmation is using 35 points i had to cobble to together from a couple SA units i had.. 

just got a Mrytle Beach 3 bed unit that will afford 80 points in jan (i hope) after i pay the MF and bank as 2 bed and 1 bed units. The unit is EOY even yr so 2013 is odd year. hope i can pay the full amount and bank both units a year early.. use week is 31 so that would almost 1.5 yrs early. 

anyone know how that works for sure??


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## RichardL (Jul 4, 2012)

*Town vs. Destination Resort*

Waiokoloa is a high end destination Resort on the Kohala Coast.  The other resort I visited is in town.  It is your choice.

I prefer the ambiance of a destination Resort.  Everyone there is on holiday and
it is more of a vacation wonderland.  It is a short drive from town(30 min) and that was done for several reasons.  I have traveled to Waikoloa for the past 10 years and I don't ever seem to get tired of the many things to do at Waiokoloa and the Big Island.  

If you are using RCI points, sometimes you can even score the new Kingsland as a location, I recently did for next January.

If you are dealing with RCI perhaps availability will be the deciding factor.  You will enjoy your trip.  I have yet to schedule an over night to either the Hilo side of the island or at the resort nearby the Volcano.  Keep in mind that the Volcano is a 4+hour drive, so the fact of which resort you stay at on the Kona side of the island is not really that significant.  Last visit at Waiokoloa we board a helicopter which quickly crossed directly over the middle of the island high peaks and we got a birds eye view of the flowing lava that can't be beat by a walking tour, but still a day trip to the volcano is nice as a exploration.


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## Aaron Kristen (Jul 4, 2012)

aliikai2 said:


> Bay Club is in Waikoloa, 20-30 minutes north of Kona village. Closer to the premier sun beaches, A beach etc.
> 
> Wyndham is just south of the village, not walking distance, but much closer to the snorkel beaches, and food stores etc.
> 
> ...



As someone else said, I agree as well.
Part of why we love the WMLV is the drive TO/FROM from the beaches up the coast. Stopping in at Kona mountain coffee in the morning for awesome coffee/baking, and then Costco for icecream or snacks on the way home.
But I also don't mind the drive.
You are on the BI, everything is all good! you cannot choose unwisely!!


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## Tamaradarann (Jul 5, 2012)

*Bay Club's Local Grocery Store*



BevL said:


> Yep, totally location.  We've stayed in both as well.  Either resort you spend a lot of time in the car and that's the norm on the big island.  There is a shopping centre with a grocery store, it's a bit of a hike from MLV but walkable.  Bay Club has shops there but the closest grocery store is up by Paniolo Greens and you have to drive there.
> 
> At MLV, we had a huge unit, up and down with bedrooms down and living area up.
> 
> ...



We were in Kings Land in 2009 which is right down the road from the Bay Club.   I recall a grocery store in the Queens shopping center which is less than a mile from the Bay Club. I also recall a free shuttle that takes you to all of the 4 Hilton properties and the Queens and Kings shopping areas.  In fact we used the shuttle to go to dinner one night at Roy's in the Kings shopping center to enable us to enjoy a nice dinner with wine without the drinking and driving.


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