We decided to add a 4 night stay here to check it out prior to our week in Princeville. Granted, we booked it only 3 months ahead so we did not really expect to get a high priority room but what we did get was a bit ridiculous. On the ride up north, I was playing with the headline for what I would write here in this board.
“Sheraton Poipu is NOT of Westin SVO caliber by a long shot!” Was my most recent idea but when I saw this thread I stopped attempting to be inventive and thought I should just get to the meat of the matter.
We’ve all been waiting for additions to the Villa portfolio for so long and I think Westin owners will be sorely disappointed! I can’t imagine why ANYONE would buy here and have it be their home resort.
First, yes, the villa buildings are across the (small) street from the beach front resort. There are no ocean front and I doubt any ocean view units. Honestly, that did not bother me much as the access through the hotel was short and easy. Only one building is currently occupied as the others are still under construction but they say the others will open soon. We did not hear any construction except for from the street repair. We visited at what must have been a very slow time of the season (end of sept-early oct) as it looked like the villas were only 60% occupied. Parking lots were empty and even the local restaurants were observing how slow it was.
We arrived 2 pm and were told the usual line - “checkin time is at 4 and we will call your cell when your room is ready”. Seriously......I hate that! It was a Wednesday and more than half of the rooms were empty and dark during our entire stay. And the bummer was that they forgot to call.....I finally called at 5:30....was put on hold for 10 minutes and then told “oh yes....come on over and get your key whenever you like”. I am confident the room was ready at 2:15 if not before!!!! What a waste of time.
First, I will say ditto to Ken555. He laid it out very well. Thanks for your review Ken.
We were assigned the 7_02 room. As I now see from the chart posted above, it is one of the smaller 1 bedroom units but I did not know that when we arrived or I would have complained. I thought they were ALL that ridiculously small and poorly laid out:
-You walk in the front door and the bathroom sinks are literally IN the kitchen!!
-There is no dining table (either in the unit or on the Lanai)....just 2 counter stools under a counter under the TV.
(Photos attached below but I regret not taking a shot of the bedroom portion of this particular villa )
-when you sit on the couch and look to the left.....you are looking directly into the WC/shower which is adjacent to the front door.....only separated by a small carved wooden divider
-the King sized bed in the attached “bedroom” basically takes up the WHOLE room! Not even room for nightstands that could hold a lamp. The large TV is mounted to the wall. There is a TINY wardrobe that has enough room for 4 hangers. No closet or dresser with drawers. There was absolutely no place to unpack a suitcase or even set the suitcase so you could live out of it. We had to choose between using the kitchen counter and the stools designed for eating or relinquish the sofa for our entire stay.
-everything was new and clean and esthetically pleasing but of poor quality. Even compared to what is stocked in the Westin units.
-WiFi in the units and around the property is intermittent and unpredictable. We were unable to sign onto a sensitive work computer that requires a secure connection and our Apple devices were very confused.
-no jacuzzi on the villa side
We were not sad to depart and arrive for our highly anticipated week at Westin Princeville! We love it here! And......low and behold......we were surprised to find that our room was available when we checked in at 1pm!!!
We, of course, refused the Owners update at the Sheraton as we would NEVER consider adding this property to our “current portfolio”. What a shame, since Poipu would be a nice addition to the Kaua’i offerings. I guess we will have to check out the Marriott or Hyatt options in the area.