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Coffee Machines at Elara

CalGalTraveler

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Heading to Elara for the long weekend. Do they have Keurig K-cups, or regular coffee makers?
 

Tamaradarann

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Heading to Elara for the long weekend. Do they have Keurig K-cups, or regular coffee makers?

Since you brought the Keurig Coffee Makers up I need to tell a story. First of all in my opinion the Keurig Coffee makers make too small and too weak a cup of coffee.

Now the story: We were at one of our home resorts, the HGVC at South Beach Miami about 5 years ago in December for 12 nights and they just put in the Keurig coffee makers. We usually buy our own ground coffee so we were taken back but tried them. We used up the supply they gave us the first night so we called the desk and asked for more. They said they would give us a much as we wanted. As an owner, I thought to myself "I am paying for all of the Keurig pods", but since I was getting them complementary I just went about enjoying my stay.

In January we were at the Hokolani in Honolulu for 2 nights before moving for our timeshare stay at the Lagoon Tower. They had a different pod coffee maker which I don't recall the name. Again the coffee was too little and too weak. We again used up the supply they gave us the first night. When we called the front desk for more coffee they said that an 8 pod supply would cost us $8. Well I went off the wall on the desk clerk telling him about the South Beach Story. I asked to speak to his manager who wouldn't be in until 9:00 AM. I told the manager the entire story from being a South Beach Owner and everyone getting the coffee complementary and that here they were going to charge me!! He gave me a supply for the next day to satisfy me.

I then called the Lagoon Tower to find out their policy. They assured me, to my pleasure, that they had the traditional coffee pot. Now up until that stay I always had to buy my own coffee at Sam's or Walmart after the initial supply was used. However, this time I received all the regular coffee I wanted for our entire stay, which is many many nights.

An additional aside; In between I spoke to the HGVC central office person who was working on making the HGVC coffee policy uniform for all resorts. We have gotten all the regular coffee we want at HGVC resorts from that day on and we have stayed about 500 nights in that time.

I haven't been back to either of those resorts that I mention in this story, except the Lagoon Tower, so I don't know what they are doing there about coffee.
 

brp

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Since you brought the Keurig Coffee Makers up I need to tell a story. First of all in my opinion the Keurig Coffee makers make too small and too weak a cup of coffee.

If you pack your own reusable cup the way you want, using the coffee you want. they don't. And it avoids all the waste.

Cheers.
 

Talent312

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We prefer bringing our own self-ground blend (Jamaican Blue Mountain & French vanilla).
We complained about the dinky 4-cup maker in a studio at I-Drive, so they brought us a new
(still in the box) 12-cup Cusinart dispenser. We liked it, so bought the same model for our house.
 

brp

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OK, so I know that this is all personal taste. But if I had Jamaican Blue Mountain, I wouldn't anything at all to it. Same as I treat 100% Kona. Not even the milk/cream that I usually put in coffee. Some things are sacred :)

Cheers.
 

CalGalTraveler

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W57 and the Conrad in NYC have Kcups. I have a supply and need to remember to bring since we dont use at home.
 

CanuckTravlr

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OK, so I know that this is all personal taste. But if I had Jamaican Blue Mountain, I wouldn't anything at all to it. Same as I treat 100% Kona. Not even the milk/cream that I usually put in coffee. Some things are sacred :)

Cheers.

Agree with you 100%. I normally have my morning coffee with cream and a bit of sugar. And I love a genuine Parisian café au lait at breakfast.

But nothing added to Jamaican Blue Mountain, nor 100% Kona. I love being able to buy 100% Kona when on the Big Island. We always bring a supply home with us, but it is always gone way too soon. :( Would love to be able to source it here.
 

Tamaradarann

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W57 and the Conrad in NYC have Kcups. I have a supply and need to remember to bring since we dont use at home.

You should call the resort that you will be staying at and see if they provide the Kcups complementary or do you need to buy or bring your own.
 

Janann

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I was at the Elara a couple weeks ago and had a hard time figuring out the machine. I guess its time for an upgrade at home, because I had never seen a machine that holds the brewed coffee in a separate tank.
 

BA21

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I was at the Elara a couple weeks ago and had a hard time figuring out the machine. I guess its time for an upgrade at home, because I had never seen a machine that holds the brewed coffee in a separate tank.
My first Elara stay, I called down to guest services to report I was missing the carafe. They explained you just need to put the coffee cup up to the dispenser bar. It was a fun start to the trip.
 

Talent312

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OK, so I know that this is all personal taste. But if I had Jamaican Blue Mountain, I wouldn't anything at all to it.

Our local Fresh Market sells a variety of coffee beans in large barrels.
Their Blue Mountain is cheaper than what tourists pay in Jamaican shops.
.
 

CalGalTraveler

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At Elara. We are in a studio so there is a four cup mini cuisinart. Better yet there is a full Starbucks in the lobby where you can charge it to your room. If you have the Amex Aspire you get a $250 resort credit of items billed to room = free Starbucks! (Will also use Amex credit for Starbucks runs at Kalia in July.)

Also received a 500 HH pts plus Grand experiences card for restaurant discounts in the area. Not as many selections as Elevated Rewards in NYC but also has a discount to the high roller which would have been helpful on a past trip.

LoL they invited us to another preso for $100. We just did one a month ago at a different location. She said that's okay because "we allow it in Vegas" We declined. I guess the Hawawian rep that gruffly declared that we would never do a preso again was wrong!

Let me know if you have any questions about Elara we can answer while here. Nice resort. Great location center strip and across the street from the MVC Grand Chateau.
 
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Tamaradarann

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Your thought about using the $250 credit for Starbucks charged to the room sounds good. Your comment about heading to the Kalia Tower reminded me that we use up our entire $250 resort credit at the Hilton Hawaiian Village paying Transient Accommodations Tax.
 
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