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What to expect with Ka'anapali Beach Club exchange?

DaveNV

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I have an exchange for a one bedroom at Ka'anapali Beach Club in May. The exchange is originating from DAE, and is handled through Grand Pacific Resorts' GPX system. Is there any way to know what room type I'm likely to receive, and are there any insider tricks to getting a better room assignment? Does requesting in advance mean anything? Is there a certain room location that is better or worse than another?

I've read the old threads about the resort, and have looked at a lot of pictures. I'm really looking forward to staying there. Anybody with recent information care to share some tips on this resort, or good-to-know things about the area?

Thanks,
Dave
 
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DianneL

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We have stayed there twice. Both times I got an ocean view room, not ocean front. My advice would be to call the resort two weeks in advance and request an ocean view on an upper floor. I have read, however, that most exchangers get the mountain view. Good luck. We loved the resort and location.
 

DaveNV

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We have stayed there twice. Both times I got an ocean view room, not ocean front. My advice would be to call the resort two weeks in advance and request an ocean view on an upper floor. I have read, however, that most exchangers get the mountain view. Good luck. We loved the resort and location.

Thanks, Dianne. Good to know. I'll call them when it gets closer.

Dave
 

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The other thing to note is that because you are exchanging in, you'll be subject to the daily amenity fee of $25/day.
 

DaveNV

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The other thing to note is that because you are exchanging in, you'll be subject to the daily amenity fee of $25/day.

Yes, thanks. That's on the Confirmation I have. Plus the $10 TAT fee, I think. My out-of-pocket for this exchange was only half my week's normal maintenance fee, so I don't mind paying the amenity fee. It still leaves me way ahead.

Dave
 

klpca

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I sent my dad there on a bonus week through GPX and they received a partial ocean view. They were very happy with their room placement, especially considering the price. I don't think he called in advance but it certainly wouldn't hurt.
 

DaveNV

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I sent my dad there on a bonus week through GPX and they received a partial ocean view. They were very happy with their room placement, especially considering the price. I don't think he called in advance but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

That means there's hope. ;)

Dave
 

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Since your booking is going via GPX, once the reservation has been confirmed, you can contact the front desk (not reservations) and ask them to confirm what the specific view category is that is tied to the reservation (ie. island view, ocean view or deluxe ocean view). It can only be one of those 3. I have found when I called in that they have typically told me. After you know that, then review all the various TUG posts about rooms that people have been assigned for a specific view category and call back prior to the check-in and give them a few options for requests at assignment time. Remember to ask nicely :)
 

DaveNV

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Since your booking is going via GPX, once the reservation has been confirmed, you can contact the front desk (not reservations) and ask them to confirm what the specific view category is that is tied to the reservation (ie. island view, ocean view or deluxe ocean view). It can only be one of those 3. ... Remember to ask nicely :)

I called GPX and asked if they could tell me the room view type for this exchange, but they didn't know. I explained about wanting to call the resort to request a room view type, and GPX also suggested calling about two weeks before check in. I plan to do that later this week. Cross your fingers!

EDIT: I just called the resort, and spoke with a very nice lady at the Front Desk. She says my reservation is for an Ocean View room (as opposed to a Deluxe Ocean View.) I take that to mean I'll get a partial ocean view, compared with a full ocean front type view. I said I'd prefer the best view possible on a higher floor, which she put in as a request.

Does anyone know which specific room numbers are best to request for a one bedroom Ocean View room?

Thanks,
Dave
 
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dougp26364

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One thing to keep in mind about this particular resort is that it's in a points based reservations system with DRI. How that affects exchangers is that anyone reserving that's in the system will get the unit view they pay for in points. Reserve a mountain view and you're assigned a mountain view. Reserve deluxe ocean view and you're assigned a deluxe ocean view.

So, if everyone is going cheap and reserving the island view units to conserve points, then there will be more units with ocean view available to exchangers. If, however, you're arriving in a week where DRI owners have spent the points to reserve the higher cost views, then you'll be reduced to the lower cost view. I wouldn't venture a guess as to what the majority of owners booking using points would choose. I always figured if I'm going all the way to Hawaii (we live in KS) then I want the very best view available, so we always booked the deluxe ocean view or nothing.

My opinion is that your chances are dependent upon the % of DRI owners staying at this resort when you're there and, how many of those owners spent the money for the nicer view. If the majority booked the cheaper views that should leave the more expensive views available to be assigned to exchangers. I don't believe DRI upgrades a view for owners without a fee, although at higher ownership/executive levels those who own in DRI I think are afforded an upgrade certificate or two.
 

DaveNV

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One thing to keep in mind about this particular resort is that it's in a points based reservations system with DRI. How that affects exchangers is that anyone reserving that's in the system will get the unit view they pay for in points. Reserve a mountain view and you're assigned a mountain view. Reserve deluxe ocean view and you're assigned a deluxe ocean view.

So, if everyone is going cheap and reserving the island view units to conserve points, then there will be more units with ocean view available to exchangers. If, however, you're arriving in a week where DRI owners have spent the points to reserve the higher cost views, then you'll be reduced to the lower cost view. I wouldn't venture a guess as to what the majority of owners booking using points would choose. I always figured if I'm going all the way to Hawaii (we live in KS) then I want the very best view available, so we always booked the deluxe ocean view or nothing.

My opinion is that your chances are dependent upon the % of DRI owners staying at this resort when you're there and, how many of those owners spent the money for the nicer view. If the majority booked the cheaper views that should leave the more expensive views available to be assigned to exchangers. I don't believe DRI upgrades a view for owners without a fee, although at higher ownership/executive levels those who own in DRI I think are afforded an upgrade certificate or two.


Thanks, Doug. That's good to know. I edited my post above just a few minutes ago, after calling the resort and talking to the Front Desk. They said my reservation is for an Ocean View one bedroom. I would expect that since that is what the reservation is for, that is what I will receive? I plan to go back through the earlier threads to try and find room numbers to specifically ask for, but since I've never been there I wouldn't know if those room numbers are really the best to ask for. Do you happen to have any room numbers you can recommend?

Dave
 

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Thanks, Doug. That's good to know. I edited my post above just a few minutes ago, after calling the resort and talking to the Front Desk. They said my reservation is for an Ocean View one bedroom. I would expect that since that is what the reservation is for, that is what I will receive? I plan to go back through the earlier threads to try and find room numbers to specifically ask for, but since I've never been there I wouldn't know if those room numbers are really the best to ask for. Do you happen to have any room numbers you can recommend?

Dave

I’m probably a little different than most tugger’s in that I don’t worry about calling ahead to request specific room locations. So I really don’t know any of the room numbers and really wouldn’t have a preference. I will say that with an ocean view room, you might not have the grandest view of the ocean but you should have a nice location. KBC is a very nice resort and you should have a very enjoyable stay.
 

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I called GPX and asked if they could tell me the room view type for this exchange, but they didn't know. I explained about wanting to call the resort to request a room view type, and GPX also suggested calling about two weeks before check in. I plan to do that later this week. Cross your fingers!

EDIT: I just called the resort, and spoke with a very nice lady at the Front Desk. She says my reservation is for an Ocean View room (as opposed to a Deluxe Ocean View.) I take that to mean I'll get a partial ocean view, compared with a full ocean front type view. I said I'd prefer the best view possible on a higher floor, which she put in as a request.

Does anyone know which specific room numbers are best to request for a one bedroom Ocean View room?

Thanks,
Dave
I believe that we had a partial ocean view the one time we stayed there. I tried to dig up the pictures and here they are. I believe that it was on the 9th floor. Ask for a high floor.

You will like the condo. :)

P1070011.jpg

P1070012.jpg

P1070013.jpg
 

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Thanks, Doug. That's good to know. I edited my post above just a few minutes ago, after calling the resort and talking to the Front Desk. They said my reservation is for an Ocean View one bedroom. I would expect that since that is what the reservation is for, that is what I will receive? I plan to go back through the earlier threads to try and find room numbers to specifically ask for, but since I've never been there I wouldn't know if those room numbers are really the best to ask for. Do you happen to have any room numbers you can recommend?

Dave
If you can read it without straining your eyes, here's the room maps color coded by category. The rooms on the south side (right side in the photos) have the best views. Rooms on the north side near the back are above the dumpsters.

https://artringwald.smugmug.com/Travel/KBC-Room-Categories/
 

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Click on one of the pictures and next to the green buy icon is another icon where you can enlarge the photo to the original size and you should be able to read the condo numbers.

Smugmug now bought Flickr too! :)
 

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dougp26364

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Great pictures! I asked for the best view on a higher floor, so we'll see what develops. Thanks for these!

Dave

But of course, doesn't "everyone" ask for the "best" view? I can't say everyone requests the high floor because, we've often found that the lower floors in some instances are as good as, if not better, than the high floors.

When it comes to unit location, Hawaii is likely one of those destinations where it's actually pretty important to the enjoyment of the trip. Because so many want the "best" view, most resorts have a hierarchy of sorts to make the playing field a little more even. In general terms it runs similar to this:

1. Owners staying on their time in their view category
1a. Points reservations are given their paid for view category
1b. status and date of confirmation act as tie breakers
2. Renters receive what they have paid for
3. Exchangers who own within the same brand
4. All other exchangers.

This is by far not a hard and fast list for every single resort or resort group out there but, in 20 some odd years of owning and exchanging, it's been a reasonable reliable gauge for us. I have seen owners at a resort complain that an exchanger received an ocean front unit when they were still assigned an ocean side unit, which is what they purchased. However every resort we own at stipulates that you will stay in the unit type and view category that you purchase. If it just so happens an exchanger gets an ocean front unit deposited by the owner of that view category, that's just the way it goes. Granted that exchanger has the lowest status and will likely get what's left over in that category, dependent upon what's available on the day they check in (read this as they could get a higher floor that was available on Friday but an owner receive a lower floor, which was all that was available on a Saturday check in).

To be sure unit location is a crap shoot when you're an exchanger with little or no status in the system you're exchanging into. Which is why we've switched things around and typically stay within the resort ownership group when we exchange. We rarely exchange our Marriott ownership for anything other than another Marriott. The exception being when we exchange back into a resort we own at in Breckenridge. Even then we're relegated to the 4th group but have slightly higher status in that group as we're actually MF paying owners at the resort (we still get less than preferred unit location but haven't ever received the dumpster view unit). With Hilton we NEVER leave the HGVC family. Our Spinnaker ownership never gets exchanged in RCI because, well, it's to expensive and Branson holds little value in RCI's exchange world. Our Breckenridge unit was purchased for personal use only and mainly because they allow owners to bring their dogs......and our dogs absolutely LOVE Breckenridge.

We use to own DRI but, MF's being what they are, we had to trim some of the fat from our portfolio. DRI was as expensive as Marriott, more expensive than Hilton and was equal in quality. So our two DRI units went back to DRI as deed backs a couple of years ago. Now when we want to go to Maui we'll have to use our Marriott ownership and stay at the Marriott timeshare. In some ways it's to bad. KBC is a very nice resort, we enjoyed our time there and it was reasonably easy to reserve the unit type/view we wanted. Unfortunately the fee's had climbed to nearly $4,000 between MF's and Club dues........so it had to go. Maui's great but not THAT great.
 

DaveNV

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KBC is a very nice resort, we enjoyed our time there and it was reasonably easy to reserve the unit type/view we wanted. Unfortunately the fee's had climbed to nearly $4,000 between MF's and Club dues........so it had to go. Maui's great but not THAT great.

Great post, Doug. And I completely see the logic you present. I would add that at some resorts with view types, the Owner who doesn't know the difference of how units are assigned won't ever get the better units. Research as an Exchanger is important, but as an Owner it's invaluable. One Hawaii resort I used to own has a limited number of full ocean front units, and certain units always check in only on certain days. As an Owner who wants one of those prized ocean front units, the trick to getting one is to reserve time so the check in day coincides with the days those units are available. I always got the exact unit and date I wanted there, because I knew how to use the system to my advantage. I did nothing underhanded -- I just used my research to put myself in the path of opportunity.

In the case of KBC, after viewing the images and room numbers Artringwald posted, I can see the rooms I'm likely to be assigned. Floor number is about the only variable. But no matter which unit I get, I won't have any complaints, since my out of pocket cost for this exchange is very, very reasonable. I got it for one-half of the maintenance fee on a unit I bought at Carlsbad Seapointe, (the other half was paid by the Seller I got it from), plus a $189 exchange fee Grand Pacific charges to trade within their system. That totals about $750. No matter how you slice it, $107 a night is a great rate for an ocean view unit at such a nice resort. This is a one-time thing for me, since I'm passing along my Carlsbad Seapointe unit to a new owner after I get home. It trades great, but like you, I need to make cuts in the costs I'm paying. So as a farewell, I think this was a great way to go. :)

Dave
 

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It's definitely a great way to go out since you're getting rid of an ownership.

When we were about to leave DRI we had a surplus of points. We used that surplus of points to book 2 deluxe ocean view units at KBC and took our son with us. He never takes time to go on vacation. He complained most of the time that he wasn't a "beach person". Now he'd like to go back. :)
 
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