brp
TUG Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2007
- Messages
- 4,540
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Bay Area, CA
- Resorts Owned
- HGVC: W. 57th, Vegas Strip
DVC: Boardwalk Villas, Beach Club villas
We just completed our first stay at Kingsland after a number at Bay Club and Kohala. We had wandered around Kingsland several times, but never actually stayed. Here I will give a review of our stay at Kingsland along with a comparison against the other two non-hotel, i.e. not Ocean Tower, properties as we've not stayed there and that one is more different 
I'd always thought of Kingsland as too big and sprawling and staying there confirmed that to me. Don't get me wrong, we love walking around. We walked down to HWV I think three different times despite having a car and free parking, and walked all the way around the loop to get back. I just don't need/want my resort to be so spread out. it adds no benefit.
Check-in: This was not handled well. Covid probably played a part in some of it, of course. No room ready when we got there at 11AM. We've had mixed results at the Kohala/Bay Club complex, so this was not very different. However, when we went back to check again at maybe 3PM after getting groceries (to see if we needed to have them store the stuff), it was a long-line zoo. Got to the desk and "yes, it's ready. You should have received a text." Uh, no...got the text after we got the keys. So that was a FAIL compared to the other properties since they just have less going on. I'll note that, when we got to the room, the dishwasher was still going with about 1 hour left. I consider this a positive as they got us into the room before things were complete done rather than making us wait for that and that was much preferred.
Location: We stayed in a first floor 1BR unit in Building 3. Location was superb, right across from the Serenity Pool. I highly recommend this part of the world. My thought was "this is like being at Bay Club, right near the quiet pool." So, to us, the best part of Kingsland was the part like the other property. We ate every breakfast and 4 of 5 dinners on the lanai and that was lovely.
Room: Standard 1BR, not too different from the other properties, although it did seem fresher in terms of condition. Huge (really more than needed) bathroom with a tub reminiscent of W. 57th that they could have lost and made the bathroom smaller in favor of the bedroom. All of the cookware we needed was there, as expected and matching the other complex.
Cooking facilities: We did 4 of 5 meals in the room on the grill (the 5th was the early Kama'aina at Sansei) and the grills were plentiful (at least 1 per building in the area) and very nice. One near us was a bit wonky, but that could happen anywhere. Making dinner and sitting on the lanai with wine in the evening was, to us, far superior to going out. We've done this at the other complex and it is similar. The immediate location here made this just a tad better.
On-site food and beverage: This is where Kingsland falls short in a big way. For this huge complex there is one bar. It is nice, but insufficient. The other complex, being smaller, has 2 (the Bay Club location is being refurbed now, but that's temporary). This is a big Fail for KL. Also, it closed at 6 daily...and one day was not open at all. This was completely lame. No Happy Hour (Kohala had theirs), but a $10 glass that reduced all cocktails by $4, so maybe a wash. This was a big gap.
Pools; The Serenity Pool was great. Posted hours 8AM - 8PM but one can open the door by reaching over, so we'd be in by 7:15 or so some mornings after running. We're very quiet at those times so don't disturb anyone. Even staff who came by and saw us were OK with it. Didn't think we'd care for the Super Pool and we didn't really use it. But we did very much enjoy the hot tub at the Adult Pool section (if you've stayed there, you know the one). Went there every evening and met different interesting people each time. This was a highlight because we had so many different conversations with interesting people. Talked up RESALE quite a bit
The one bit of magic here was the folks who had gone out fishing, caught a mahi and didn't eat fish! Well, two large mahi filters later and we never did make it to Da Fish House up the coast. Grilled mahi one eve and mahi tacos another.
The pools at the other complex are nice, and we very much like the Bay Club pool. But KL is the clear winner here, even for those without kids who don't want most of the Super Pool.
Cheers.
I'd always thought of Kingsland as too big and sprawling and staying there confirmed that to me. Don't get me wrong, we love walking around. We walked down to HWV I think three different times despite having a car and free parking, and walked all the way around the loop to get back. I just don't need/want my resort to be so spread out. it adds no benefit.
Check-in: This was not handled well. Covid probably played a part in some of it, of course. No room ready when we got there at 11AM. We've had mixed results at the Kohala/Bay Club complex, so this was not very different. However, when we went back to check again at maybe 3PM after getting groceries (to see if we needed to have them store the stuff), it was a long-line zoo. Got to the desk and "yes, it's ready. You should have received a text." Uh, no...got the text after we got the keys
. So that was a FAIL compared to the other properties since they just have less going on. I'll note that, when we got to the room, the dishwasher was still going with about 1 hour left. I consider this a positive as they got us into the room before things were complete done rather than making us wait for that and that was much preferred.Location: We stayed in a first floor 1BR unit in Building 3. Location was superb, right across from the Serenity Pool. I highly recommend this part of the world. My thought was "this is like being at Bay Club, right near the quiet pool." So, to us, the best part of Kingsland was the part like the other property. We ate every breakfast and 4 of 5 dinners on the lanai and that was lovely.
Room: Standard 1BR, not too different from the other properties, although it did seem fresher in terms of condition. Huge (really more than needed) bathroom with a tub reminiscent of W. 57th that they could have lost and made the bathroom smaller in favor of the bedroom. All of the cookware we needed was there, as expected and matching the other complex.
Cooking facilities: We did 4 of 5 meals in the room on the grill (the 5th was the early Kama'aina at Sansei) and the grills were plentiful (at least 1 per building in the area) and very nice. One near us was a bit wonky, but that could happen anywhere. Making dinner and sitting on the lanai with wine in the evening was, to us, far superior to going out. We've done this at the other complex and it is similar. The immediate location here made this just a tad better.
On-site food and beverage: This is where Kingsland falls short in a big way. For this huge complex there is one bar. It is nice, but insufficient. The other complex, being smaller, has 2 (the Bay Club location is being refurbed now, but that's temporary). This is a big Fail for KL. Also, it closed at 6 daily...and one day was not open at all. This was completely lame. No Happy Hour (Kohala had theirs), but a $10 glass that reduced all cocktails by $4, so maybe a wash. This was a big gap.
Pools; The Serenity Pool was great. Posted hours 8AM - 8PM but one can open the door by reaching over, so we'd be in by 7:15 or so some mornings after running. We're very quiet at those times so don't disturb anyone. Even staff who came by and saw us were OK with it. Didn't think we'd care for the Super Pool and we didn't really use it. But we did very much enjoy the hot tub at the Adult Pool section (if you've stayed there, you know the one). Went there every evening and met different interesting people each time. This was a highlight because we had so many different conversations with interesting people. Talked up RESALE quite a bit
The one bit of magic here was the folks who had gone out fishing, caught a mahi and didn't eat fish! Well, two large mahi filters later and we never did make it to Da Fish House up the coast. Grilled mahi one eve and mahi tacos another.
The pools at the other complex are nice, and we very much like the Bay Club pool. But KL is the clear winner here, even for those without kids who don't want most of the Super Pool.
Cheers.
