Kona Coast II questions

[nolesman98]

I'm thinking of buying at Kona Coast II, and I'm interested to get tugger feedback on this resort, the location, and the on the big island itself. I'd like to hear from owners as well as exchangers please.

Owners: How does Kona Coast trade?

I live in Florida, and although I would plan to use this week, because it is so far away, I would probably trade at least 50% of the time.

 

[DeniseM]

In general, the MF's & taxes for Hawaii timeshares are too high (and rising) to be cost effective traders. I wouldn't buy in Hawaii, unless I planned to use it most of the time.

Have you been to Hawaii? Each island is very unique. I'd visit Hawaii, before I bought there and I wouldn't buy to trade.

 

[nolesman98]

I have been to Hawaii many years ago, but I have never been to the big island.

Also the unit I'm looking it would actually be a gift from my uncle. It is a biennial 2 BR, summer season. I think the maint fees seem reasonable to me. $518 every other year.

 

[Culli]

We just stayed there in November, it was nice and we had a good time. I did find the bed and furniture to be the most uncomofortable I have ever stayed at. It is the only time we had been to Hawaii so I can't compare to other resorts. I liked the location and the staff was very nice. Check out the resort reviews there are some pretty recent ones. This resort seems to be the easiest to trade into.

 

[Luanne]

This resort seems to be the easiest to trade into.

I haven't found this to be true. The resort on the Big Island that I seem to see the most frequently is Paniolo Greens. Also, I think Kona Coast has a 1 in 4 ruling.

 

[lily28]

maintenance fee sounds too low. shouldn't it be $518 every year for biennial use?

 

[chester1122]

We stayed at last year and actually really enjoyed it. The property is well maintained and the furnishings are quite nice. I found the bed actually quite comfortable.

The units are huge in comparision to the newer resorts so loads of room to stretch out. The pool is nice and you can see the ocean. Nice walking around the grounds and out around the community.The location is nice with a shopping mall a short walk away. It is at the south end of Kona so it adds another 10 minutes to the drive up th coast to the best beaches.

I also own at Panilola and for the MF it is a bargin ($647). Using SFX I have used it to trade into HGVC kingsland and also have deposited it and recieved Kona Village.

I think a good rule of thumb is if you want to go to Hawaii buy in Hawaii - otherwise buy a good property with lower MF and trade in.

 

[DeniseM]

maintenance fee sounds too low. shouldn't it be $518 every year for biennial use?

I agree - and that means that your MF per use year is $1,036 - high for an exchanger.

 

[debraxh]

I agree with others, seems like the maintenance fee amount has been miscommunicated. $518/yr for EOY usage on a 2BR sounds about right. Our 1BR EOY is $393 PER YEAR.

It's a good price for Hawaii, if you're going to use it. Not such a great value to exchange. Be sure to consider maintenance fee + exchange fee + annual exchange membership fee (depending on co) to get a true cost of exchange.

 

[Culli]

I haven't found this to be true. The resort on the Big Island that I seem to see the most frequently is Paniolo Greens. Also, I think Kona Coast has a 1 in 4 ruling.

We got into Kona through II not RCI, I don't believe II has a 1 in 4 rule but I could be wrong. When I was searching in II I saw Kona Coast the most frequent of the resorts.

I agree very nice place, right on a golf course. Every night we would walk across the fairway to ocean and watch amazing sunsets. We got lucky and off our Lanai we could see the ocean - it was not considered an ocean view but we had a decent view.