difference for lahaina & napili?

[ushulu]

I searched...I couldnt find any info about if there is any difference between these two buildings...seems to me except the location (one is south of the main hotel, one is north)....is there any other differences that I should know before i buy one?

Really appreciated!

 

[tugcccsp]

Napili Villas:
3-bedroom unit has larger balcony, which is nice.
A little closer to Black Rock and nicer beaches
Small parking garage and a long walk to large parking garage = not so good
Not quite as close to the beach, but no problem

Lahaina Villas:
Close to large parking garage, that's good
Close to a good restaurant (Ka'anapali Grille)
3-bedroom unit has a larger entry area with a closet for snorkel gear
3-bedroom unit main balcony is tight
Ocean front units face straight toward ocean
Lawn lounge chairs have a little more shade from palm trees (if that's what you want)
Closer to Ululani Shave Ice at Hyatt Regency

After these things, pretty much the same.

 

[ushulu]

Super appreciated!! awesome info
I am only looking at 2bedrooms...so the balcony for 3bed doesn/t matter to me, but awesome info! Thank you thank you!!!
Now I think I can buy into either...

Napili Villas:
3-bedroom unit has larger balcony, which is nice.
A little closer to Black Rock and nicer beaches
Small parking garage and a long walk to large parking garage = not so good
Not quite as close to the beach, but no problem

Lahaina Villas:
Close to large parking garage, that's good
Close to a good restaurant (Ka'anapali Grille)
3-bedroom unit has a larger entry area with a closet for snorkel gear
3-bedroom unit main balcony is tight
Ocean front units face straight toward ocean
Lawn lounge chairs have a little more shade from palm trees (if that's what you want)
Closer to Ululani Shave Ice at Hyatt Regency

After these things, pretty much the same.

 

[TXTortoise]

Determine if you are buying a fixed or floating 2BR week. (3BR are all fixed weeks)

If buying a fixed OF week, you will get the specific week/unit that you buy in either Napili or Lahaina. Not a lot of them, but significantly more 2BR OF fixed weeks in Lahaina than Napili.

If buying a floating week your building assignment would depend on the view category you are buying:

OF - Assigned to either Lahaina and Napili

OV & Mountain/Garden Views - Lahaina Only

Island Views - Napili Only

These diagrams show how the units are allocated between fixed and floating.
https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-pMXGQ/i-4p3wRct

(FWIW, be sure the listing is correct. There's a $84K 2BR Week 7 listed in Napili on Redweek showing floating. It's not, the broker needs to update it to 10th floor. Others show fixed, but don't give the unit. I've also seen listings giving the Marriott unit number on the deed and not the actual current room number, e.g., it may look like 2nd floor, when in fact it was 12th floor. All of this is less of an issue with floating weeks, as you just determine view and price point and unit is assigned at check-in.)

 

[ushulu]

So...I got some new information from your post...so it doesn’t matter my deed is in Napili or Lahaina if I am buying a OF 2bed floating week? Because I will be assigned in either? Thank you!

Determine if you are buying a fixed or floating 2BR week. (3BR are all fixed weeks)

If buying a fixed OF week, you will get the specific week/unit that you buy in either Napili or Lahaina. Not a lot of them, but significantly more 2BR OF fixed weeks in Lahaina than Napili.

If buying a floating week your building assignment would depend on the view category you are buying:

OF - Assigned to either Lahaina and Napili

OV & Mountain/Garden Views - Lahaina Only

Island Views - Napili Only

These diagrams show how the units are allocated between fixed and floating.
https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-pMXGQ/i-4p3wRct

 

[drlee]

Our experience is yes....we have an ocean front 2br and have been put in either tower. If you purchase a fixed week, you will get what you purchase, but for floating weeks it will be either tower. Note that ocean view units only exist in Lahaina tower, while ocean front are in both. The rooms are identical, with the location differences noted above.

 

[JIMinNC]

You also may want to chat with other Lahaina/Napili floating OF 2BR week owners about their booking experience. I know from posts on here there is some frustration with booking high demand periods like February/March, summer, etc. in the Lahaina/Napili buildings. I believe one person (GregT) actually sold their floating units and bought fixed because of the difficulty in booking the weeks they wanted. We just bought a floating 2BR OV in the old towers at MOC and had no problem booking for whale season 2019, but from posts I read on here, floating 2BR OF in the Lahaina/Napili towers may be a different situation. So if you must go during peak seasons, you should ask some more questions about this, and see what feedback you get from floating week owners in those two towers.

Here is one post from Southerngirl528 a month or so ago.

My experience booking my 2 two-bedroom OF Napili villas has been an entirely different story. Out of the 5 times I have booked ( I own EOYO), only once have I gotten my first choice in a single attempt. That includes me calling in at both the 13 & 12 month windows, as I have had to try at the 12 month release when I couldn't book at 13 months. I was shooting for January or February weeks, and didn't really care too much about which check-in day, with only a slight preference for Fri or Sat. And each year I was calling in at the moment the phones opened on the actual release date. This has been a painful learning experience for me, and one that actually brought me to TUGS in the first place. I've never had such issues booking with my DVC ownership, even when trying to secure low inventory rooms like 3 bedroom grand villas.

This year, I got up in the wee hours HST (on vacation on our EOYE Island View Napili), to call in at the 13 month release 9am EST. Got right to an agent and neither week I wanted was available. So I got up before 4am AGAIN the next Monday to try for the next week's release date. Same story. Nothing. I wanted both villas for the same week, but would have taken just one if it was available. Had to lock off both units and book my guest rooms arriving the day before both my 1 bedroom villas. Crazy, but that was ALL there was, and for this trip, I really had to have either Prez Week or the week preceding or following. Just called last Thursday on the 12 month release date to try and align my reservations to no avail initially, but thanks to a very guest service oriented agent, we were able to secure all 4 units checking in on Sunday of the same weekend! Fri or Sat c/i would have been better but hey, I'll take it!

 

[ushulu]

Thank you! Our schedule is pretty flexible so I don’t care too much about when to go. Although I am buying now because I have a family event there 1/26/2019 that week...but from all I’ve read, I realize gradually that I might not be able to book into that week since it is already Apr.....I wonder if I can request the seller to book that period before sells to me so I know I have that time...

You also may want to chat with other Lahaina/Napili floating OF 2BR week owners about their booking experience. I know from posts on here there is some frustration with booking high demand periods like February/March, summer, etc. in the Lahaina/Napili buildings. I believe one person (GregT) actually sold their floating units and bought fixed because of the difficulty in booking the weeks they wanted. We just bought a floating 2BR OV in the old towers at MOC and had no problem booking for whale season 2019, but from posts I read on here, floating 2BR OF in the Lahaina/Napili towers may be a different situation. So if you must go during peak seasons, you should ask some more questions about this, and see what feedback you get from floating week owners in those two towers.

Here is one post from Southerngirl528 a month or so ago.

 

[JIMinNC]

Thank you! Our schedule is pretty flexible so I don’t care too much about when to go. Although I am buying now because I have a family event there 1/26/2019 that week...but from all I’ve read, I realize gradually that I might not be able to book into that week since it is already Apr.....I wonder if I can request the seller to book that period before sells to me so I know I have that time...

The seller can book a week and the reservation should transfer to you if that is all spelled out in the contract. That would actually be handled when the transfer paperwork is sent to Marriott after closing, but it should be specified up front in the purchase contract. Having said that, I would be surprised if you could book 1/26/2019 this late. My suspicion is they are probably long gone, but you can always ask the owner to check.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I'd be interested to understand for those that had trouble reserving any high demand unit as to whether not they were using computer or calling in. I find the computer being much better and in my experience it allows me to get almost anything immediately at the very start of 12 month mark or within a day or so later as many dates get shuffled and I'm persistent with monitoring the availability.

 

[MOXJO7282]

The seller can book a week and the reservation should transfer to you if that is all spelled out in the contract. That would actually be handled when the transfer paperwork is sent to Marriott after closing, but it should be specified up front in the purchase contract. Having said that, I would be surprised if you could book 1/26/2019 this late. My suspicion is they are probably long gone, but you can always ask the owner to check.

I would agree with this. There might be a 1st week of January sitting there but not likely Jan 26.

 

[taterhed]

Most have indicated computer for 12 mos......obviously not for 13.

I'm sure that some have figured out a way to roll reservations and cancel as well....think there's a thread on that.
MM1 is pretty tough from what I've heard....we're on the fence as to whether to invest in a week we might not be able to reserve as desired...

 

[TXTortoise]

Thank you! Our schedule is pretty flexible so I don’t care too much about when to go. Although I am buying now because I have a family event there 1/26/2019 that week...but from all I’ve read, I realize gradually that I might not be able to book into that week since it is already Apr.....I wonder if I can request the seller to book that period before sells to me so I know I have that time...

I think there are at least seven 2BR OF Napili and Lahaina listings on Redweek. You could contact each and ask what week they have reserved for 2019 as that would determine your offer price, much like MOXJO recently did.

Alternatively, contact a one of the frequently mentioned brokers on here, like Syed at Advantage Vacations, or Seth, and tell them what you need in terms of a 2019 week and see what they can come up with. You should be able to negotiate a better price if you can find a private seller, but there is a hassle factor with that, which you might want to defer for your first purchase.

I assume based on the above you don't want to get locked into a fixed winter or summer week, which helps your budget tremendously, but reservations for a floating week during those times may be problematic as noted above.