Marriott Vacation Club Waikoloa Beach Big Island

[bevans]

I will begin this by stating that I do not own a Marriott although I have attended presentations at Waiohai, Newport Beach, Maui, and the Big Island. I have not attended one in almost ten years until recently going to one on The Big Island. I currently own HGVC and was going to stay in Kingsland so I thought I would go ahead and do the presentation to see the conversion before my HGVC reservation. Like a lot of people on here they call with their promotions and I always say no since I do not like giving five minutes of vacation up to salespeople much less ninety minutes. The promotion was $499 for three nights with $50 in food voucher once completed.

I have to say this conversion was cheaply done and it shows it. There is no oven and no burners for a stove. The furniture was cheap office style made of veneers and already a few chips here and there as veneer in my experience does not wear well. We were in a bottom floor unit with no view and a building in front of us blocking any possible view. Marriott is obviously banking on the fact of the timeshare being close to the beach to sell these. Considering 52 weeks of sales for each unit I am guessing each unit goes for around two million dollars. To me this was by far the cheapest construction of all the presentations I have been to and tells me some CPA was behind maximizing profit.

I let the salesman know right away that no stove in the kitchen is a deal breaker for us as we take family sometimes. He was respectful and understood and the presentation ended at ninety minutes, we received the vouchers and left. To finalize the units are disappointing to me but the presentation was no pressure. Curt

 

[JIMinNC]

What you observed - at least in regards to the kitchen facilities - is pretty much the way MVC has always done their hotel conversions. Neither of the other hotel conversions in Hawaii - Marriott Kauai Beach Club and Marriott Maui Ocean Club - have full kitchens either. The HGVC conversion of the Ocean Tower at Waikoloa is schedule to have full kitchens, so clearly HGVC has a different philosophy on their conversions.

We own an EOY in the converted portion of Maui Ocean Club, but don't mind the lack of full kitchen facilities as we would never cook a big meal on Maui anyway. We're eating-out kind of people. Always have been, even when traveling with our kids and to other locations. But I recognize that many people do like to cook to save money, so in that situation, the MVC hotel conversions would not be a good fit. For us, breakfast is really the only meal we often eat in the unit, so a mini-kitchen can usually work OK for us.

 

[mjm1]

We enjoyed our stay at the resort and thought they did a pretty good job on the conversion compared to those 9n Maui and Kauai. They provide a 3/4 size refrigerator, dishwasher and washer and dryer, which were not in the original conversions on Maui and Kauai. Maui did add the 3/4 size frig in the last renovation. The layout of the 1BR unit was good. The furniture is a more modern look and we will have to see how it stands up over time until they replace them. I am sorry to hear there are already chips. We do wish they had installed two counter top burners, but thought it was ok to not have a stove. We rarely if ever use the stove if a unit has one.

The Big Island isn’t our favorite island in Hawaii, but if we go back I can see staying there again. We definitely enjoyed the overall resort and the beach area.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[bazzap]

What you observed - at least in regards to the kitchen facilities - is pretty much the way MVC has always done their hotel conversions. Neither of the other hotel conversions in Hawaii - Marriott Kauai Beach Club and Marriott Maui Ocean Club - have full kitchens either. The HGVC conversion of the Ocean Tower at Waikoloa is schedule to have full kitchens, so clearly HGVC has a different philosophy on their conversions.

We own an EOY in the converted portion of Maui Ocean Club, but don't mind the lack of full kitchen facilities as we would never cook a big meal on Maui anyway. We're eating-out kind of people. Always have been, even when traveling with our kids and to other locations. But I recognize that many people do like to cook to save money, so in that situation, the MVC hotel conversions would not be a good fit. For us, breakfast is really the only meal we often eat in the unit, so a mini-kitchen can usually work OK for us.

I guess these MVC hotel conversions were done the way they were with cost and speed as important criteria?
Not all converted resorts have been done like this in other regions though.
St Kitts Beach Club is a hotel conversion, albeit of multiple smaller buildings, but all 2 and 3 Bed units here have full kitchens and are amongst the largest units in all the MVC resorts we have stayed at.

 

[JIMinNC]

I guess these MVC hotel conversions were done the way they were with cost and speed as important criteria?
Not all converted resorts have been done like this in other regions though.
St Kitts Beach Club is a hotel conversion, albeit of multiple smaller buildings, but all 2 and 3 Bed units here have full kitchens and are amongst the largest units in all the MVC resorts we have stayed at.

I didn't know St Kitts was a conversion. I had always assumed that since it was made up of multiple smaller buildings it must have been built as a condo. Have never stayed there, but hope to go one day. Maybe as you say, because it was smaller buildings, maybe the room configuration there lent itself to a more inclusive conversion than the traditional hotel layouts in Maui, Kauai, and Waikoloa.

 

[bazzap]

I didn't know St Kitts was a conversion. I had always assumed that since it was made up of multiple smaller buildings it must have been built as a condo. Have never stayed there, but hope to go one day. Maybe as you say, because it was smaller buildings, maybe the room configuration there lent itself to a more inclusive conversion than the traditional hotel layouts in Maui, Kauai, and Waikoloa.

Yes St Kitts probably did lend itself to a more inclusive conversion, although I suspect it did still have a more costly and time consuming conversion than at other resorts.
In the attached resort map, all buildings around the 2 pools were hotel buildings before those around the South pool were converted from as I recall perhaps 28 hotel rooms in each building to 11 MVC units.

 

[TravelTime]

I am disappointed to hear that Marriott skimped on its remodel of the Big Island resort. I am really picky about finishes and probably will not want to stay here if they are using fake wood and it is already scratched up. I do not need a full kitchen but I do need at least some burners to boil eggs and preferably an oven. I am not a cook myself but we like to eat in some days and eat breakfast in the room. I do not know what gets into Marriott’s corporate head when it remodels. Marriott is trying to position itself as upscale and charge $13+ a point. That won’t work if they skimp on materials and they screw up on customer service. I have a pet peeve right now with Marriott because I reached Presidential level months ago and they still have not upgraded my MR account to Platinum Premier. I am not at all happy with customer service. So reading this review of the Big Island resort just rubbed me the wrong way. I was in the process of considering buying another Vistana resort but I think I will hold off because now I am worried when Vistana integrates, they might lower the quality and increase the maintenance fees a lot. At least, that is what folks on the Vistana forums are worried about.

 

[TravelTime]

View attachment 8677
Yes St Kitts probably did lend itself to a more inclusive conversion, although I suspect it did still have a more costly and time consuming conversion than at other resorts.
In the attached resort map, all buildings around the 2 pools were hotel buildings before those around the South pool were converted from as I recall perhaps 28 hotel rooms in each building to 11 MVC units.

This site map is very helpful. I have not been to St Kitts yet. In which building ate the Oceanfront units and where are the Oceanview units?

 

[bazzap]

This site map is very helpful. I have not been to St Kitts yet. In which building ate the Oceanfront units and where are the Oceanview units?

In Jessup, Westbury and Palmetto houses every unit has Oceanside designation.
It is more complicated with the other buildings, as they have different mixes of Oceanview and Gardenview designation dependent on individual units and where they are located within each building.
I am not aware of any published plan showing this, as I have seen for some Hawaii and Aruba resorts.

 

[mjm1]

In Jessup, Westbury and Palmetto houses every unit has Oceanside designation.
It is more complicated with the other buildings, as they have different mixes of Oceanview and Gardenview designation dependent on individual units and where they are located within each building.
I am not aware of any published plan showing this, as I have seen for some Hawaii and Aruba resorts.

Barry thanks for sharing information about St Kitts. We will be staying in a garden view unit with two balconies next April. This will be our first visit. Do you have any recommendations regarding the building we should request, especially considering the view? Thank you.

Mike

 

[dioxide45]

Also consider that Marriott isn't selling weeks at Waikoloa. This is a pure points property. So it is probably selling for more than you suspect. IMO, Marriott has been sloppy in their hotel conversion. I think this may be more to do with local ordinance than anything else. It is hard to put an oven, cooktop or even laundry in to a unit where it wasn't built to proper specifications as a hotel. All of these things require special materials and fire retardant building requirements and proper venting. It would probably end up being too costly. However, that doesn't excuse the lack of these offerings that many people are used to when booking in to a timeshare villa. Though Marriott likes to call the units that lack these amenities, a suite. At a minimum, we require in villa laundry. None of their conversions have this. I am not aware that Maui added this. They do have free onsite laundry, but that makes it hard because it isn't really something where you can drop your load of laundry and walk away and do other things. With in room laundry, I can start a load and go to the pool. When I get back I can switch up the clothes. I don't like shared laundry facilities in a timeshare.

 

[ljmiii]

I think this may be more to do with local ordinance than anything else. It is hard to put an oven, cooktop or even laundry in to a unit where it wasn't built to proper specifications as a hotel. All of these things require special materials and fire retardant building requirements and proper venting...

My impression is that in Hawaii it's more than just the building code - a villa with a full kitchen is a 'residence' and is a completely different permitted use. At least I have read that original MOC and sequel MOC are on different sides of the permitted use fence - hotel vs condo - even though both are 'timeshares'.

 

[dioxide45]

My impression is that in Hawaii it's more than just the building code - a villa with a full kitchen is a 'residence' and is a completely different permitted use. At least I have read that original MOC and sequel MOC are on different sides of the permitted use fence - hotel vs condo - even though both are 'timeshares'.

That makes perfect sense.

 

[bevans]

My feeling when it comes to conversions is yes it is expensive to put in venting but when you look at the number of units selling for about two million dollars each just do it. We all know it can be done but takes a lot of time and expense but not doing it says we think buyers will overlook this shortcoming and pay for location. I know that lots of people do not care if there is a full kitchen but many like me (retired bakery-restaurant owner) like the choice when staying in Hawaii. My wife and I always go for at least two weeks to a month and we just can not eat out all the time as the food just starts tasting the same and becomes not special. So for us we want the ability to choose how we eat while on vacation. Curt

 

[mjm1]

Also consider that Marriott isn't selling weeks at Waikoloa. This is a pure points property. So it is probably selling for more than you suspect. IMO, Marriott has been sloppy in their hotel conversion. I think this may be more to do with local ordinance than anything else. It is hard to put an oven, cooktop or even laundry in to a unit where it wasn't built to proper specifications as a hotel. All of these things require special materials and fire retardant building requirements and proper venting. It would probably end up being too costly. However, that doesn't excuse the lack of these offerings that many people are used to when booking in to a timeshare villa. Though Marriott likes to call the units that lack these amenities, a suite. At a minimum, we require in villa laundry. None of their conversions have this. I am not aware that Maui added this. They do have free onsite laundry, but that makes it hard because it isn't really something where you can drop your load of laundry and walk away and do other things. With in room laundry, I can start a load and go to the pool. When I get back I can switch up the clothes. I don't like shared laundry facilities in a timeshare.

Just to clarify, the Waikoloa resort does have laundry facilities in the unit. We were very pleasantly surprised since as you noted they haven’t usually included them in their conversion resorts. We do wish they had installed a two burner stove top like the Westin properties in Hawaii have.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[normab]

I view this property as more in line with the Pulse properties, even though it’s in a beach setting. It’s nicer than the Kauai and Maui conversions, in my opinion. But it’s still not a full timeshare experience...

Last year (2017) we stayed at the pulse NY and Waikoloa. (You can read my reviews in the review sections). We also have stayed several times at the Kauai and Maui properties and we own at st Kitts and have stayed there.

St Kitts’ rooms were large to start off with, making the full timeshare experience possible in the conversion. Those timeshares are very roomy, with full kitchens. In my opinion they don’t compare with the Hawaii room sizes which are smaller. St Kitts is also not Hawaii....

NY and Waikoloa are much smaller rooms, although NY has some really tiny rooms, smallest I’ve seen. That being said, both properties sent us at least two emails telling (read: warning) us honestly about the room amenities. So we knew what to expect. And we managed well, but we don’t cook that much in Hawaii, we tend to make do with whatever is in the room. We love the KBC, and usually combine a week there with our Waiohai ownership week. There are grills at all the HI timeshares so you can grill your meal if you choose.

I think Marriott realizes there are different needs and that’s not a bad thing. We have different needs now that we don’t travel with little ones. But that may change again if we have grandchildren.

My bottom line is different strokes for different folks. Different is not “bad”.

 

[bazzap]

Barry thanks for sharing information about St Kitts. We will be staying in a garden view unit with two balconies next April. This will be our first visit. Do you have any recommendations regarding the building we should request, especially considering the view? Thank you.

Mike

Hi Mike, we own the Garden View External (which is the two balcony variant of the 2 Bed units, located at the ends of the non Oceanside buildings)
Garden View won’t get you top floor, so we prefer the larger balcony/terrace of the ground floor overlooking and with direct access to the South Pool in Camp Bay House or alternatively Brimstone House.

 

[mjm1]

Hi Mike, we own the Garden View External (which is the two balcony variant of the 2 Bed units, located at the ends of the non Oceanside buildings)
Garden View won’t get you top floor, so we prefer the larger balcony/terrace of the ground floor overlooking and with direct access to the South Pool in Camp Bay House or alternatively Brimstone House.

Thank you Barry. I will make note of that and share our preferences with them. We have a few trips before going to St Kitts, but are looking forward to a new experience there next April.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[JIMinNC]

I think this may be more to do with local ordinance than anything else. It is hard to put an oven, cooktop or even laundry in to a unit where it wasn't built to proper specifications as a hotel. All of these things require special materials and fire retardant building requirements and proper venting. It would probably end up being too costly.

That's probably true, but in the same Waikoloa development, HGVC is putting full kitchens in their Ocean Tower conversion at the Hilton Waikoloa hotel. It can be done, but as you say - at a cost.