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- Jun 7, 2005
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- Resorts Owned
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Westin Kierland
Sheraton Desert Oasis
More pics of the 2-bed non-LO
Thanks Ken555 for the review and photos !
The studio kitchenette looks about the same size as the St John Coral Bay 2 bdrm we had; not very usable for cooking other than very simple stuff. The Los Cabos unit kitchen was just slightly bigger, but not a big deal, because eating out is so much more enjoyable & inexpensive in Mexico.
I would not let the unit sizes & other small deficiencies keep me from booking, as south side Kauai location is great. With star options can book half a week at the south side and another half week on the north side...far less driving than staying only on end of the island. I'm sure others will say a whole week at Waiohai or Point at Poipu is much better than SKR, and I'd probably agree although I've stayed at none of them.
Ken, do you get full access to the amenities at the hotel, like in Kierland? The hotel pool and beach at the Sheraton are quite nice. I think I'd probably spend most of my time at the main resort.
To JK's question, I prefer purpose built timeshares or condos converted to timeshares over hotel conversions, and would choose Waiohai over the Sheraton if I wanted to stay on the south shore. (I own in both systems.) The grounds at Waiohai are really lush compared to the back (timeshare) side of the Sheraton, and I've had lovely garden views at Waiohai, even on Interval trades. Kauai is Kauai though, and I don't spend a lot of time in my room, so I would certainly give the Sheraton a try if that was all I could get.
Hmm... some of these pics didn't want to display from photobucket. I'll try again later, and add more pics.
Thanks! Parts of the resort look good. Was the bed in front of the window? Looked kind of odd. But I suppose you would close the curtain at night?
That's a big negative in my book. I thought Vistana had learned their lesson with WKORVN. Apparently not. Too bad.
WKORV-N is getting ovens in the upcoming renos. It will be interesting to see how the full-size stoves fit into the space where the cook-top and microwave are now.
WKORV-N is getting ovens in the upcoming renos. It will be interesting to see how the full-size stoves fit into the space where the cook-top and microwave are now.
Thanks for the review. Looks worth a visit. I see it has a tea kettle which puts it above Nanea in my estimation. How can anyone be expected to enjoy their vacation without afternoon tea
Appreciate the photos. Are they converting the hotel side to timeshares? I hope so. We have many happy memories staying across the street on the ocean side and the grounds with the koi ponds are lovely. The oceanfront lanai views couldn't be beat. I am surprised at the small size of the dining area for a 2 bdrm. Is there room on the lanai for a dining table?
Ken,
Thanks for the great pictures.
It looks like they went with an open concept kitchen/dining versus the bar separation between kitchen and dining that we see at WKORV. Probably saved some square footage there.
The dinner table is a deal breaker for me -- way too small to fit 5 or 6 people (and we use it more than just for eating) though I can see how it would work for most. Maybe it is the 2 large chairs that are positioned around it, but the table sure looks tiny, especially if people are sitting there while others are prepping meals.
5 of us will be staying at Nanea in August in the 2BR unit so we'll see how space works out for us -- 3 small kids but we are so used the space at WKORV/WKORVN.
-ryan
Note that we haven’t had anyone post pictures of the SKR 1-bed unit (yet, we have a member that was there last week and hopefully will post!). My impression and understanding is the 1-bed units don’t even have a table! They have a counter with two chairs against a wall. So, in this respect at least the 2-bed non-LO is better, albeit small.
You are right -- the picture on Vistana shows this. I guess it does sleep only 2 -- maybe because only 2 people can possibly fit at that skinny counter to eat.
I really do think that they missed the mark with a 1BR 81k SO reservation that only sleeps 2 --> yeesh... they seem to be devaluing the options here. Since they can't decrease the SOs once sold (and anger full boat owners), my worry is that they will inflate the SOs for other properties and cause devaluation for those of us that own elsewhere. We will see.
I hadn’t seen that feature, to my knowledge, since I last posted pics. I think that was added with the new software, since we used to always post from other sites. This just shows how often I post pics here.
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