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bay club vs waikoloa beach resort

pacman

pacman

Guest
Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
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Location
BC
thinking of staying at our newly purchased HGVC ts in October. What are the main differences of these 2 Hilton resorts in Waikoloa?
 
Bay Club

I've never been to either resort so I'm probably not the best source of information, but since I own at Bay Club I've been following the posts on TUG so here is my summary:

HGVC @ Waikoloa are brand new units. Guests are also granted free access to the pool in the nearby Hilton hotel (free shuttle available). These units have nice upgrades such as Plasma TV's.

Bay Club are much older, but slightly larger, units. There is an additional fee for access to the hotel pool. There are subjective reports that the "plus" views from Bay Club are nicer than the views from HGVC for what that is worth.
 
Waikoloa vs. Bay Club

I've been to both resorts. The Bay Club is where you stay when the HGVC Waikoloa is booked. Newer and nicer resort with free access to the Hilton Waikoloa Village down the street. :)
 
We just returned from the Bay Club and I agree with the previous comments. Bay Club has nicer lanais and appears to be more spacious. I did post a review after our visit.
 
HGVC waikaloa is much better than Bay Club

pacman said:
thinking of staying at our newly purchased HGVC ts in October. What are the main differences of these 2 Hilton resorts in Waikoloa?
Click to expand...

I am staying at Bay Club now, but toured HGVC new units this morning. HGVC timeshare at Waikaloa, which is closer to the club house and pool, is way, way better than Bay Club regarding the quality of the unit. The difference in quality and class is just too far apart for me to even have any second thought.
 
Does the Bay Club have wireless or wired Internet in the units?

Do the units have a washer & dryer, or is the laundry room separate?
 
Last edited:
linsj said:
Does the Bay Club have wireless or wired Internet in the units?

Do the units have a washer & dryer, or is the laundry room separate?
Click to expand...

Don't know about wireless, but each unit does have a washer/dryer.
 
linsj said:
Does the Bay Club have wireless or wired Internet in the units?

Do the units have a washer & dryer, or is the laundry room separate?
Click to expand...

There is wireless access near the lobby area if you have a laptop but not in the units. Our unit had a washer/dryer and I think that they all do.
 
Both are great and you'll likely be happy with a vacation at either of the resorts.


lakers said:
I've never been to either resort so I'm probably not the best source of information, but since I own at Bay Club I've been following the posts on TUG so here is my summary:

HGVC @ Waikoloa are brand new units. Guests are also granted free access to the pool in the nearby Hilton hotel (free shuttle available). These units have nice upgrades such as Plasma TV's.

Bay Club are much older, but slightly larger, units. There is an additional fee for access to the hotel pool. There are subjective reports that the "plus" views from Bay Club are nicer than the views from HGVC for what that is worth.
Click to expand...

I think that this is a good review of the main difference between the two resorts.
 
Are all the Bay Club units recently remodeled, new carpets, furniture etc?

It would be nice if HGVC would put pics/videos of interiors of the affiliates like they do for the HGVC built properties.
 
Minor correction

Bay Club units are way larger than The HGVC Waikoloa. Additionally the Bay Club has really large L-shaped lanais compared to the HGVC Waikoloa's much smaller one.
 
Bay Club Renovated..VERY high quality

The Bay Club has just completed a major renovation with all new interiors, furnishings, granite counter tops, more hawaiiana look to the interiors, etc. There is no comparison to other timeshares in size and amenity, These were originally fee simple condos, and converted to timeshare, due to market conditions at that time. Now professionally managed by HGVC. Theses units are huge with a giant lanai. It is by far the best TS I have stayed in.
 
Loved the Bay Club

yes, the Waikaloa area is newer, but the Bay club units are fantastic. I absolutely loved my huge 1-BR with a great view of the far off mountains. I was a minute from the Hilton hotel and could use any pool in the resort that consisted of Bay Club and the Kohala Suites, or Waikoloa HGVC. Waikoloa only has 2 BR's so if you only need a one BR, don't hesitate to book the Bay Club. It is fantastic. The place was bigger than my home. Everything new, great huge balcony, full kitchen, free parking, sloooooooow internet (same with every hgvc property).
 
Bay Club has wired and wireless in each room, i'm here now too. If you come to Hawaii to swim in a pool you might as well save the airfare and go to a water park. Bay Club is a gem.
 
Bay Club vs. Beach Club

I go to both each year, because each is unique and provides different benefits.
As an owner in the Hilton group I go by points. Only the Bay Club has a one bedroom, so that is usually 4,800 points or 3,400 for a few weeks in May and September(so I prefer that time of year). Size wise think of the Bay Club as a condo size units(yelp) and the Beach club as a TS. If I am going with a bigger group I rent the free standing Bay Club duplex, I think it is 2,000 sq. ft and it has a private covered parking area in front of the duplex; and it is 2,000 points or so less than the Beach Club. This October I am staying at the Beach Club in their premium 2 bedroom unit, even though it is not as large as the Bay Club villa, our group is small and the amenities are those of a premier so I will pay more. But since the Bay Club has been renovated, its not a big point either way. Oh yes, everyone speaks about the Beach Club being free admission to the Hotel Pool, and they are right. But for 15 years my family walks over to the Hotel and we swim in the lagoon and have never been stopped. Just don't carry a Bay Club colored beach towel.

Bottomline, stay at either and have a great time. If you pay by points, the Bay Club is a better value. If you are doing a RCI trade, say a 2 bedroom for a two bedroom and you get the Beach Club, good score. But it is harder because there are fewer Beach Club units. I am glad you did not bring up the Kingsland, because for the amount of points being charged for those units, I would not even consider it.

In my mind, I just want to be in Waikolao, and the first location that I check into since the renovation suits me well. Check out the pictures. By the way, the two resorts share the same check in and are literary 15 feet adjacent to each other and their pools are available to everyone. The hotel pool is the shuttle ride or short walk, and the grounds of the hotel are worth at least one day of your vacation, but for my money that is it. The Big island has a lot of attractions and a swimming pool is nice for a relaxation day. More fun than the hotel pool is to go to the beach and by the way a nice beach is a 10 minute car drive. The beach at the Hilton Hotel is non swimmable. The closest beach is the Marriott 2 blocks away. All beaches in Hawaii are public. But if you want to snorkel, it is worth a short drive say to the Four Seasons or Mauna Kea for a world class beach. I have read the comparisons between the Bay Club and the Beach Club for years and all the talk of the free use of the hotel, but no one ever mentions that fact that hotel pools are not as important as a beautiful beach, and that the Hilton Hotel does not have a safe accessible beach. Just for good measure if you offered me a 2 bedroom Bay Club or a Beach Club for free, I would opt for the Beach Club, but go on ebay and for the same amount of HGVC points the Beach Club costs 6-10x more and no I would not consider that price point differential since I have the same great time at either one, and enjoy spending my points between them.
 
Walk up price for full hotel pool access is $80 a head. If you stay at BC and want the access they have a discount 3 day pass for 4 people at $150 total.
 
We have also stayed at both... right on about the quality of the furnishings from previous posts... we have tried the Hilton Hotel pool several times at various times of year and it is always FREEZING! They have never asked for ID unless you are getting a towel. There is so much amazing snorkeling nearby... I will never go to the Hilton pool again! ;)
 
I'm surprised that the hotel pool is too cold. I was thinking of going there with HH points but maybe I should reconsider.
 
topdog said:
I'm surprised that the hotel pool is too cold. I was thinking of going there with HH points but maybe I should reconsider.
Click to expand...

We stayed at the Hilton [hotel] once. The pool was fine. We were there during the summer, maybe it's different at other times of the year.
 
cdesignm said:
The Bay Club has just completed a major renovation with all new interiors, furnishings, granite counter tops, more hawaiiana look to the interiors, etc. There is no comparison to other timeshares in size and amenity, These were originally fee simple condos, and converted to timeshare, due to market conditions at that time. Now professionally managed by HGVC. Theses units are huge with a giant lanai. It is by far the best TS I have stayed in.
Click to expand...

This is important to remember, especially when reading old reviews. The units at Bay Club at this point in time are superior, because of size, to any of the other HGVC resorts. Furnishings are now somewhat equal so a draw. Pool access, if important, go to the other HGVC resorts. So you just have to decide what is important.

I personally would pick the size of Bay Club over the other two resorts now that the units are all upgraded. I would have put Kingsland over Waikaloa prior to the upgrade, but size of unit is something I personally like, and Bay Club has that hands down.
 
Sandy Lovell said:
This is important to remember, especially when reading old reviews. The units at Bay Club at this point in time are superior, because of size, to any of the other HGVC resorts. Furnishings are now somewhat equal so a draw. Pool access, if important, go to the other HGVC resorts. So you just have to decide what is important.

I personally would pick the size of Bay Club over the other two resorts now that the units are all upgraded. I would have put Kingsland over Waikaloa prior to the upgrade, but size of unit is something I personally like, and Bay Club has that hands down.
Click to expand...

We've stayed at the Bay Club several times, prior to the rennovations. I'd still choose it over the othe properties, mostly because of the location. It's closer to the water, farther from the main road. Some of the Kingsland units looked like they were going to be very close to the highway.
 
To cheap to pay

cheryltwin said:
We have also stayed at both... right on about the quality of the furnishings from previous posts... we have tried the Hilton Hotel pool several times at various times of year and it is always FREEZING! They have never asked for ID unless you are getting a towel. There is so much amazing snorkeling nearby... I will never go to the Hilton pool again! ;)
Click to expand...

So you can't take your Bay Club towel over to the hotel pool, because they'll know your staying at the Bay Club and not the hotel. :bawl: You don't want to get a towel at the hotel because they will card you and know that you are not staying at the hotel. :bawl:

Can you bring your own beach towel over to the hotel to circumvent the hotel system or do you just skip a towel all together? :shrug:

Also, if you go over to the hotel pool from the Bay Club, do you have to go thru the main hotel entrance or is there another way to get to the pool/logoon? :shrug:


We'll be there in May - :cheer:
 
Bay club access to hotel grounds

From Bay Club, walk down to bldg 1 and exit at the sign, cross the street at the bus turnaround and enter the service area. Take the service path to the beach walk north end. Head south, the lagoon is right there, we take our own beach towels. Further south is the dolphin quest and pools with slides and waterfalls.

Its a nice 2 mile morning stroll your first morning here, all the way down the beach walk, exit the south end at the hotel entrance back to Bay Club.
 
Couple of comments on the pools at the Hotel.

I would not try to use the pools absent a wrist band. They look both at the towel hut as well as for any of the slides. I also wouldn't want to be there with any type of non-hotel towel and risk getting thrown out. We were there in the OFF season (early November) and they were still checking. Agreed, the Lagoon is a different story (but it's in dire need of some refreshing so we've never bothered with the lagoon).

As to temp, they do heat the pools but there are quite a few waterfalls that cool the pools quite a bit. If you swim at the ends away from the waterfalls, it is quite a bit warmer.

Agree with everything said about the Bay Club. Top notch now. Had an interesting conversation with one of the staff memebers about the (very) few "older" members who had complained the updates were too "modern". Thank goodness they were in the minority because I think the updates are spot on!
 
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