Curious where other HGVC owners stay on Maui?

[presley]

For those of you who own HGVC and don't own something else on Maui, where do you stay? Looking at RCI, I don't see anything comparable. I'm often not a timeshare snob and willing to stay in less, but I think for the enormous effort and expense of traveling to Maui, I would want a higher level of service/on site amenities.

Am I pretty much stuck with a hotel if I were to visit this island?

 

[SmithOp]

This is exactly why I picked up a Sheraton to trade in II, I think it makes a nice complement to HGVC, we now have trading options for the Hawaii Westins even though its off season. I managed to get a WKORV trade, we stayed there this past May, loved it!

I really don't think there are a lot of choices for HGVC only owners with a Maui trade, equal to HGVC quality, using HGVC points.

I have never traded my HGVC points through RCI portal, the only units I want in RCI are the HGVC bulk deposits and we are blocked from them

 

[JIMinNC]

I am not a HGVC owner (yet), but you are correct that there are no RCI properties on Maui that are quite up to HGVC standards - most are not even close as far as overall resort and amenities. We have stayed at HGVC resorts on the Big Island (Kohala Suites) and in Orlando (HGVC Sea World and HGVC Tuscany Village on International Drive).

The closest on Maui to HGVC quality is probably the resort we own a 2BR at right now - the Kaanapali Beach Club (#4985). It is a former Embassy Suites hotel that was converted to timeshare starting back in 1998. It is mostly one bedrooms with a variety of views from ocean front to mountain views. The resort does have 16 or so two bedroom units.

The units themselves are nicely done and Diamond Resorts does a good job keeping them updated. The pool is a nice resort pool and the resort is beachfront. KBC has most of the same amenities that other Maui resorts like the Westin and Marriott have.

Based on our experience at the three HGVC resorts we have visited and our stays at our home resort, I would say Kaanapali Beach Club is a small notch below HGVC, but it would not be a huge step down for you and would certainly be better than a hotel. I do think you would be pleased with the accommodations - although if you need and want a 2BR - that can be a harder trade in RCI due to small numbers.

https://www.diamondresorts.com/Ka'anapali-Beach-Club

 

[presley]

Kaanapali Beach Club is the one and only thing I found in the directory that I was considering putting in a search for. I was just concerned that something wouldn't come through. My Hiltons are GPR affiliates, so I should look at GPX, too, for the same resort. I could probably get the same room type for a lower exchange fee. Do you know what they are charging exchangers for a day use fee?

EDIT: Got my answer for GPX.
Alert Note
The Hawaiian Tax will be collected at check-in: $6.10 USD for one-bedroom units and $8.34 USD for two-bedroom units. A $30 per day minimum incidentals deposit is required at check-in.
The GPX fee is on $149. compared to the $209. RCI.

 

[bastroum]

KBC is your only option. I own at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club, however, if I could do it again I would buy an SDO 2-BD, lock it off. Then deposit both 1-BD's with II and trade into the Westin's. May, Sept and Oct are fairly easy trades.

 

[presley]

KBC is your only option. I own at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club, however, if I could do it again I would buy an SDO 2-BD, lock it off. Then deposit both 1-BD's with II and trade into the Westin's. May, Sept and Oct are fairly easy trades.

I do have the option of trading a studio Marriott in II. I just don't know if I'd be comfortable staying in a studio for a week. I already used my one bedroom deposit for something else.

 

[Luanne]

I do have the option of trading a studio Marriott in II. I just don't know if I'd be comfortable staying in a studio for a week. I already used my one bedroom deposit for something else.

Wouldn't a studio be better than a hotel, which is what you were asking about in your first post?

 

[presley]

Wouldn't a studio be better than a hotel, which is what you were asking about in your first post?

It depends on what services are offered. I like handing my car keys to someone and have my car parked and luggage/groceries delivered to my room like HHV. If I haven't had time to shop, which I hate doing, I like to pick up the phone in my room and order room service if I am hungry right after I get there.

So, if it was a choice between a hotel room that offered all that and a studio that offered none of that, I think I'd prefer a hotel. Again, not totally sure. I stayed in a studio once at the Westin and was only Maui experience.

 

[Luanne]

I'm not a Hilton owner so I don't have the experience of staying in Hilton timeshare properties. We've been very happy staying in our home resort on Maui. We like the homey feeling.

 

[baf99]

I am a GPR owner and I have seen Kaanapali Beach Club show up in GPX searches. I can trade my Carlsbad Inn 1BR even for a 1BR at KBC. I would have had to combine deposits to trade for it through RCI. Since your GPR resorts are also HGVC, you probably don't use TPUs the way I do, so maybe it won't be as good a deal through GPX. Still, it is definitely worth checking.

I have heard two versions regarding the history of KBC--either it was originally an Embassy Suites hotel or it was built as an Embassy vacation club resort. I don't know which is true. I have read that there are only partial kitchens. Not sure if that is an issue for you or not.

Good luck.

 

[Passepartout]

On Maui, we just rent a full house or condo from an owner on www.vrbo.com You may not have a concierge and the like, but you can choose whatever level of luxury you are willing to pay for. Save your timeshare exchanges for places where your chosen resorts DO have presence.

Jim

 

[bastroum]

I am a GPR owner and I have seen Kaanapali Beach Club show up in GPX searches. I can trade my Carlsbad Inn 1BR even for a 1BR at KBC. I would have had to combine deposits to trade for it through RCI. Since your GPR resorts are also HGVC, you probably don't use TPUs the way I do, so maybe it won't be as good a deal through GPX. Still, it is definitely worth checking.

I have heard two versions regarding the history of KBC--either it was originally an Embassy Suites hotel or it was built as an Embassy vacation club resort. I don't know which is true. I have read that there are only partial kitchens. Not sure if that is an issue for you or not.

Good luck.

1 week in KBC will cost you 3400 HGVC points plus exchange fee. At HGVC a 1-BD Plus unit will be 6200 HGVC points for most weeks. KBC is a step below The Lagoon Tower. You get what you pay for.

I would stay there if MOC or Westin was not available.

 

[johnrsrq]

Kaanapali Beach Club is the one and only thing I found in the directory that I was considering putting in a search for. I was just concerned that something wouldn't come through. My Hiltons are GPR affiliates, so I should look at GPX, too, for the same resort. I could probably get the same room type for a lower exchange fee. Do you know what they are charging exchangers for a day use fee?

EDIT: Got my answer for GPX.
Alert Note
The Hawaiian Tax will be collected at check-in: $6.10 USD for one-bedroom units and $8.34 USD for two-bedroom units. A $30 per day minimum incidentals deposit is required at check-in.
The GPX fee is on $149. compared to the $209. RCI.

I've owned with the original Embassy. We had a few resorts Lake Tahoe/Sedona/Point Poipu/Grand beach Orlando and others- I forget. They eventually got separated into different trusts however I can easily trade into KBC. If your not a TS snob, it can be very effective and it is very nice but try to get a newer floor unit- upper floors ? 11th I think. I would take it over most of the hotels. Some of my family live on Maui however, I wanted some time and space while out there. I also stayed next store at Kanapali Shores (Aston) it was ok. The KBC had decent balcony and pool good. Whaling season was awesome. Diving was great.

I've stayed (January/February 2012)there in a one bedroom deluxe oceanfront which was one of the upgraded/totally redone units. I would stay there again.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Studio in Marriott Maui

Wouldn't a studio be better than a hotel, which is what you were asking about in your first post?

I have stayed in the Marriott in an Ocean Front Studio and it was great. Certainly big enough for 2 people.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Maui Lea was very nice

I'm not a Hilton owner so I don't have the experience of staying in Hilton timeshare properties. We've been very happy staying in our home resort on Maui. We like the homey feeling.

We stayed in the Maui Lea for a week in 2009 and it was very nice. Would certainly go back. We also stayed for one night in the Grand Wailea and while I would say that was nicer, the 80,000 Hilton Honors Point cost for one night(at that time) was not worth it compared to the 3400 HGVC point cost for a week at the Maui Lea.

 

[JIMinNC]

I have heard two versions regarding the history of KBC--either it was originally an Embassy Suites hotel or it was built as an Embassy vacation club resort. I don't know which is true. I have read that there are only partial kitchens. Not sure if that is an issue for you or not.

Good luck.

Been an owner at KBC since 1998 and know the story. It was originally built in the 1980s, as the Embassy Suites hotel. Signature Resorts was the managing general partner of West Maui Resort Partners, a group that purchased the property in the late 1990s and began a timeshare conversion. Signature later became Sunterra.

Originally, Signature/Sunterra was developing a network of timeshares under the Embassy Vacation Resort (EVR) brand on behalf of Promus Corporation, which owned the Embassy brands. EVR also had locations on Kauai (now Poipu Point), Lake Tahoe, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, and Scottsdale.

When Hilton Corp bought Promus Corp in the 2000/2001 timeframe, they no longer needed the Embassy Vacation Resort Brand since they already had HGVC. As I recall, I think the Myrtle Beach and Scottsdale EVR locations may have had different ownership, so they ditched the Embassy name and were transitioned to Sheraton/Starwood. The Signature/Sunterra developed locations on Kauai, Maui, and Orlando stayed with Sunterra.

Hilton had great interest as I recall in the Embassy Vacation Resort on Maui and had negotiated a deal with Sunterra to acquire the property, totally renovate it, and convert it to HGVC. But the post 9/11 travel recession coupled with some purchase accounting rule changes brought on by the Enron scandal scuttled the deal and Sunterra removed the Embassy name and changed the name to Kaanapali Beach Club.

The kitchens at KBC have been vastly improved since the beginning. At first they just had a mini-fridge like the Marriott Maui Ocean Club has in their older sections, plus a dishwasher, microwave, etc. Sometime after the HGVC conversion deal fell through, Sunterra did their own major renovation and we had to pay an $800 or so assessment to cover it - in addition to new furnishings and modernized bathrooms, islands were added in the kitchen as well as a full sized refrigerator. Some newer 2BR conversions on the third and fourth floors also got small cooktops as I recall, but to my knowledge cooktops have not been added to the 2BR units on floors 8 and 9. We haven't been out since 2011. I don't think any of the 1BR units have cooktops, but all have the full size refrigerators, microwave, and dishwasher, etc.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am the opposite while on the islands. When I am in Orlando, I don't take lesser resorts because the best are easy to get, and so I stay in the best resorts.

When we go to Maui, we own a little ordinary place and love it and look forward to that stay more than any other. I have seen and stayed in so many great places on Maui. We love Maui Lea and have stayed there twice. My mother-in-law really loves it there. We have stayed at the Westin 3 or 4 times, multiple weeks because we had back-to-back stays.

We are looking forward to a second stay in a 1 bed at Kahana Beach next to Sands of Kahana in Sept of 2015. I traded into the resort with my Shell points. Love that place because the units are clean and nice, and the 1 bedrooms are all oceanfront.

I gave Rick the option of buying additional weeks or counting on exchanges with our Sheraton weeks. He chose to buy more weeks at Hono Koa for the sure thing.

One of the firefighters is looking to buy SOK because he loved it so much. He stayed at the Westin last time, about a month ago, and he decided it was not his style. I get it. Totally, as my grandson would say.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I don't actually like Maui, as when in Paradise I prefer either Big Island or Kauai. I think there are too many tourists on Maui (and Oahu for that matter). I stay where I like, and that excludes Maui.

I am a diver and diving is best on the Big Island so that is my first choice always.

 

[Ron98GT]

For those of you who own HGVC and don't own something else on Maui, where do you stay? Looking at RCI, I don't see anything comparable. I'm often not a timeshare snob (I am) and willing to stay in less, but I think for the enormous effort and expense of traveling to Maui, I would want a higher level of service/on site amenities.

Am I pretty much stuck with a hotel if I were to visit this island?

Find someone with a Marriott or Westin that wants to swap you for your HGVC. You book a 1 or 2-Bdrm in the Lagoon tower at HHV when they want to go and they book you a 1 or 2-Bdrm Marriott or Westin on Ka'anapali when you want to go.

 

[Ron98GT]

It depends on what services are offered. I like handing my car keys to someone and have my car parked and luggage/groceries delivered to my room like HHV. If I haven't had time to shop, which I hate doing, I like to pick up the phone in my room and order room service if I am hungry right after I get there.

So, if it was a choice between a hotel room that offered all that and a studio that offered none of that, I think I'd prefer a hotel. Again, not totally sure. I stayed in a studio once at the Westin and was only Maui experience.

I'm pretty picky and cheap, so I'd rather go to the store & shop. But when staying at HHV, shopping at Food Land at Al Moana can be a real pain in the a**, I hate that place, Although, once your there, it's interesting looking at all the different foods that I don't see on the other islands, at Ko'olina, or here in Vegas.

I never noticed, is room service available for the timeshares at HHV. What about the Marriott and Westin on Ka'anapali?

 

[Ron98GT]

I do have the option of trading a studio Marriott in II. I just don't know if I'd be comfortable staying in a studio for a week. I already used my one bedroom deposit for something else.

You could book a studio and "try" to get a 1-Bdrm when you get within 59 day, I've done that, but there are no guarantees.

last year, we stayed in a 2-Bdrm OF WKORV and that studio was really nice. Kitchen was bigger than the studio kitchens at Ko'olina: big refrigerator. It had the W/D and full bathroom with shower & tub. Don't know if all the studio's at WKORV & WKORVN are that big, but Denise would know.

 

[SmithOp]

You could book a studio and "try" to get a 1-Bdrm when you get within 59 day, I've done that, but there are no guarantees.

last year, we stayed in a 2-Bdrm OF WKORV and that studio was really nice. Kitchen was bigger than the studio kitchens at Ko'olina: big refrigerator. It had the W/D and full bathroom with shower & tub.

Ditto, I liked the way the lockoffs work with foyer and separate door with no connecting door. The studio side was huge with its own soaking tub, lanaii, and of course that king bed. . Might be an issue for people putting kids over there.

 

[rickandcindy23]

And sometimes it's a blessing to have a place for the kiddos to be, if they are old enough.

One of the guys at the firehouse has a lot on his plate. He has 2 of his three boys with the same genetic disorder, which is called Leigh's Disease. The boys fail to thrive and have very high metabolisms and need full-blast AC. The Westin was our gift to them last year. I didn't know how perfect it would be for them when I booked it, but the three boys stayed in the small side and pretended they had their own little apartment. Mom was in heaven because the one son takes very good care of his brothers, just on a regular, day-to-day basis, and so they had their own little place, and the boys stayed in their own side. I believe the boys are 11-15 years old, so a great respite for mom and dad. She said it was like a little honeymoon.

 

[GTLINZ]

Kaanapali Beach Club is the one and only thing I found in the directory that I was considering putting in a search for. I was just concerned that something wouldn't come through. My Hiltons are GPR affiliates, so I should look at GPX, too, for the same resort. I could probably get the same room type for a lower exchange fee. Do you know what they are charging exchangers for a day use fee?

EDIT: Got my answer for GPX.
Alert Note
The Hawaiian Tax will be collected at check-in: $6.10 USD for one-bedroom units and $8.34 USD for two-bedroom units. A $30 per day minimum incidentals deposit is required at check-in.
The GPX fee is on $149. compared to the $209. RCI.

We have personally stayed and Kaanapali Beach club and loved it.

We have been to Hawaii once - Maui for the first week and then HHV for 6 nights. Maui is beautiful, a million things to do, and KBC was really a pleasant surprise. You have a view of both Lanai and Molokai from the property, and it was Feb and the whales sighting were plentiful. The grounds are beautiful with an open air feeling inside and everyone was friendly and said Mahalo !

Then we flew into Oahu - what a shock. It initially felt like we landed somehow in the NYC airport. Once at the property, we stayed in the Lagoon tower which honestly was not that impressive - especially in the hallways. HHV is a beautiful property overall, and we got out and explored North Shore and Pearl Harbor and drove around the island. We also did a Luau and a sunset cruise on the propery and had a great time - it is just a different feel and was an adjustment. The reverse would have been better.

So we have very pleasant memories of KBC. I read another post that it almost became HGVC - it is ashamed that it did not. That would have sold an awful lot more TS for HGVC.

I have seen inventory on RCI sometimes, usually 12-16 months out. We actually exchanged thru SFX.

Good luck - we loved Maui and one day hope to go to the Big Island and Kauai too ...

 

[dougp26364]

Kaanapali Beach Club is the one and only thing I found in the directory that I was considering putting in a search for. I was just concerned that something wouldn't come through. My Hiltons are GPR affiliates, so I should look at GPX, too, for the same resort. I could probably get the same room type for a lower exchange fee. Do you know what they are charging exchangers for a day use fee?

EDIT: Got my answer for GPX.
Alert Note
The Hawaiian Tax will be collected at check-in: $6.10 USD for one-bedroom units and $8.34 USD for two-bedroom units. A $30 per day minimum incidentals deposit is required at check-in.
The GPX fee is on $149. compared to the $209. RCI.

We own with HGVC, Marriott and DRI. That combination gives us pretty decent and reasonably easy access to the big four Hawaiian Islands (Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island). Despite having access to the Marriott's on Maui, we stay at DRI's Ka'anapali Beach Club. Not as fancy but the resort has a decent beach front location, grocery store within walking distance and enough onsite amenities to keep us comfortable. If I was looking to exchange into Maui, it would be one of the resorts I'd look at, even though as an exchanger.

I have a photo album of our most recent stay there. We've booked back into this resort for 2015.
Here's a direct link to our photo album of the resort. http://dougp26364.smugmug.com/Trave...April/28619757_k5tn5c#!i=2454278948&k=ccPzWbZ

No, it's not a Hilton, but it is one of the nicer resorts on Maui that isn't a MVCI or Westin.