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Marriott Ko Olina lays an egg by jettisoning Fia Fia

larue

larue

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I just heard that the Ko Olina resort abruptly terminated their relationship with the Fia Fia luau and chose another group to do a more limited luau at the resort starting next month. This came after several months of inexplicable delay by Ko Olina in negotiating a renewal. That is a terrible decision. We would not be owners at Ko Olina if we had not gone to the Fia Fia laua at the resort when it first began 10 years ago and most of our great memories of our time at Ko Olina are intertwined with the amazing entertainment and the many friends we have made at Fia Fia over the years.

Looks like we will have to drive to Sea Life Park to see Fia Fia during future stays but it would be nice if we could enjoy this integral part of our time on Oahu while at our home resort.
 
jimf41 said:
I've heard a lot of reasons why people buy TS's but a Luau, well that's a new one.
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Ask around at Ko Olina and you will find others. It is a major part of what draws people there. We were looking at all islands across multiple brands and going to Fia Fia on our first night there made the decision for us.
 
larue said:
I just heard that the Ko Olina resort abruptly terminated their relationship with the Fia Fia luau and chose another group to do a more limited luau at the resort starting next month. This came after several months of inexplicable delay by Ko Olina in negotiating a renewal. That is a terrible decision. We would not be owners at Ko Olina if we had not gone to the Fia Fia laua at the resort when it first began 10 years ago and most of our great memories of our time at Ko Olina are intertwined with the amazing entertainment and the many friends we have made at Fia Fia over the years.

Looks like we will have to drive to Sea Life Park to see Fia Fia during future stays but it would be nice if we could enjoy this integral part of our time on Oahu while at our home resort.
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How limitive will the new luau be ?
 
The "Chief"

The "chief" (star of Fia Fia) is the sole reason why my son wants to go back!
 
That's a big mistep by Ko Olina as their show is really fun. You can still catch it though over on the windward side at the water park. Plus, another opportunity is that there is a great tour led by the chief (or more often one of his guys) at the Mac Nut farm on the windward side. $20 and it's an awesome hour to hour and half show/tour. Several of the same jokes from Fia Fia. :)
 
Why is eveyone blaming the resort for dropping the ball? It could be that Fia Fia was the unreasonalbe party here.
 
csxjohn said:
Why is eveyone blaming the resort for dropping the ball? It could be that Fia Fia was the unreasonalbe party here.
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You are right there are two parties to any negotiation. However, based on the love for Fia Fia it would show me that the resort should have done more to keep them.
 
Why are you assuming what replaces Fia Fia will not be any good? Hopefully Marriott has plans for something better. I have seen Fia Fia twice and I welcome the change.
 
csxjohn said:
Why is eveyone blaming the resort for dropping the ball? It could be that Fia Fia was the unreasonalbe party here.
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That's my thought, too.

larryallen said:
You are right there are two parties to any negotiation. However, based on the love for Fia Fia it would show me that the resort should have done more to keep them.
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But at what cost? All the DSV I owners were up in arms when their HOA board wasn't able to work out a deal to keep usage of the adjacent JW hotel's amenities and the agreement expired. So the board kept at it and finally the hotel agreed to a new contract arrangement but with much more limited access at a much higher cost. When the terms of the new contract were announced, many owners who complained about the first contract expiring weren't nearly as happy with the current arrangement as they were with the first. But now every DSV I owner is stuck paying an additional $57.50 (slated to increase annually) in their MF's for the arrangement, despite the onsite facilities having been upgraded during the interim between contracts. See Desert Springs Villas 1- Spa benefit returns!

The hotels/outside vendors play hardball because they know they can. It's usually a case of, "be careful what you wish for."
 
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Only time will tell how the owners will receive this action. Sometimes change can be good.
 
cp73 said:
Why are you assuming what replaces Fia Fia will not be any good? Hopefully Marriott has plans for something better. I have seen Fia Fia twice and I welcome the change.
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I didn't love Fia Fia, but it seems like there's a fairly strong following. Now, if the Monkeypod cancels happy hour, that's when I'll be up in arms! :D
 
cp73 said:
Why are you assuming what replaces Fia Fia will not be any good? Hopefully Marriott has plans for something better. I have seen Fia Fia twice and I welcome the change.
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pedro47 said:
Only time will tell how the owners will receive this action. Sometimes change can be good.
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Some people like to do the same thing on vaca year after year and continually go to the same place.

Others get tired after a couple times.

Those that want to see this particular act and meal have ways to do it so maybe the resort did everyone a favor by bringing in something else.
 
While we aren't privy to such contracts, it is hard to really tell why Fia Fia was dropped. Since the Luau was paid for by the attendees, I would suspect that the HOA received a cut of all sales. So did the HOA want more of a cut, or did Fia Fia want to cut the HOAs share?

The Fia Fia luau was pretty expensive, so perhaps they didn't want to have to increase prices in order to provide more of a share of sales to the HOA. We won't really know, but I suspect an owner could contact a board member or the General Manager to get some more details.

At least Fia Fia is still an option, though further to drive.
 
It would interesting if someone is staying their in the coming months to ask and see if they can get any insights. We will be there in early June- the first time as owners.
 
I am also disappointed to hear this, we really enjoy "The Chief"!
 
Very sad day for KoOlina

All good things must end. We have seen five Fia Fia shows and we are very sad to see them leave Marriott. We have been to at least twenty other hawaiin shows and they all were way below FiaFia level.:(
 
No more Fia Fia at Ko Olina!

This is a disappointment for us. While we've seen the show multiple times, we go there with different people each time, and their first time is as much fun as our first time was.

We'll miss the Chief...

We will be at Ko Olina in April and will ask around about what happened, and report on the new offering.

(Can't wait to go! a week at Ko Olina, then a week on Maui.)

G
 
Didn't the Marriott Hotel at Ko'Olina drop Fia Fia a while back? Would these be related?
 
dioxide45 said:
Didn't the Marriott Hotel at Ko'Olina drop Fia Fia a while back? Would these be related?
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When we were at Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club in 2011, the resort had Fia Fia on Tuesdays, while the JW Marriott Ihilani had Fia Fia on Thursdays. By the time we returned in 2013, Fia Fia was still going strong at the Ko Olina Beach Club, but had been discontinued at the JW.

I wish Chief Sielu Avea well. He is an terrific entertainer with an excellent troupe.
 
dannybaker said:
All good things must end. We have seen five Fia Fia shows and we are very sad to see them leave Marriott. We have been to at least twenty other hawaiin shows and they all were way below FiaFia level.:(
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I think Fia Fia was fine but not nearly in the same league with the Old Lahaina Luau or the Feast at Lele. I realize those are on Maui and so not as direct a competitor.
 
Has anyone gone to the new luau? Any news? Is it any good?
 
Last week (Tues. April 25th) was the last show for Fia Fia at Ko'Olina. It was excellent and the ending was very touching. They acknowledged the chief & his family and the contributions they have made to Ko'Olina the past 10 years. The chief was very emotional in his final remarks & thanked his family, staff & support crew.
The new production was to start last night. Haven't heard anything about it yet.
 
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