Just back from WM Kihei during renovations

[marmite]

Warning, this is largely negative. Escape now if you want to keep your positive vacation-planning mood!

I had needed a single night somewhere after my week in Ka'anapali, so felt lucky to get a single night reservation at WM Kihei. I was keeping my expectations in-check as a night was cheap, and I knew it would be a step down from leaving the Marriott Napili tower. However, it was a BIG step...

I was assigned to a building that a few of the suites were undergoing renovation. I had an old 1BR suite. Not only was it dark, small, had terrible lighting, terrible art, uncomfortable furniture, noisy AC and a lousy TV in a weird position, all exterior hallways had 'protection' of cut up old carpets. The halls were filled with garbage bags and bins from the construction. Approaching your suite was ugly and dirty looking. I really am struggling to find anything good to say so I should probably just stop here.

After a few hours of settling in and being utterly disappointed at our surroundings, my husband texted the front desk to try and get us into a newly renovated room at our cost... we were willing to pay a brand-new reservation fee for a new room. We were told that 2 buildings are renovated and that there was a renovated 3BR available, but they said they could not 'guarantee' if we booked we would get it. That was beyond confusing as we were on site and able to move rooms immediately. The whole conversation just ended up going nowhere through texting, so we stuck it out for the night and were glad to leave the next day.

I am not down on WorldMark, it does a lot of things well -- I just can't see that Hawaii (or at least Kihei) as a good use of points. I have had good luck trading WM in Interval, but realize that can't get me a one night stay when needed. My recommendation is to be patient until the renovations are complete or book elsewhere.

 

[Luanne]

Sorry you had a disappointing experience. We've never stayed in the Worldmark in Kihei, did stay at one in Kona and were underwhelmed. We own in Kihei at Maui Hill and love it there.

 

[nomadio]

We were there in late March pre-renos. At first they put us in a room in the bldg next to the pool. Room was run down and smelled something awful, and the wifi did not work. Upon request they switched us to the building furthest up the hill (bldg 8?). That room was in excellent shape and the wifi worked well. In general, the staff was very responsive. Looking forward to returning once the renos are complete. Fantastic location.

 

[easyrider]

One of the worse rooms we ever had was a roach infested room in Kihei Kai Nani. The room and everything about it was fine but the roaches were every where. We lucked out and used Worldmark bonus time for the rest of the week. Our experience was pretty good considering we had to move three times. I'm not a fan of being across the street from the beach which is how the WM in Kihei is. Other than that it was a solid 8 resort, imo.

Bill

 

[sparty]

Warning, this is largely negative. Escape now if you want to keep your positive vacation-planning mood!

I had needed a single night somewhere after my week in Ka'anapali, so felt lucky to get a single night reservation at WM Kihei. I was keeping my expectations in-check as a night was cheap, and I knew it would be a step down from leaving the Marriott Napili tower. However, it was a BIG step...

I was assigned to a building that a few of the suites were undergoing renovation. I had an old 1BR suite. Not only was it dark, small, had terrible lighting, terrible art, uncomfortable furniture, noisy AC and a lousy TV in a weird position, all exterior hallways had 'protection' of cut up old carpets. The halls were filled with garbage bags and bins from the construction. Approaching your suite was ugly and dirty looking. I really am struggling to find anything good to say so I should probably just stop here.

After a few hours of settling in and being utterly disappointed at our surroundings, my husband texted the front desk to try and get us into a newly renovated room at our cost... we were willing to pay a brand-new reservation fee for a new room. We were told that 2 buildings are renovated and that there was a renovated 3BR available, but they said they could not 'guarantee' if we booked we would get it. That was beyond confusing as we were on site and able to move rooms immediately. The whole conversation just ended up going nowhere through texting, so we stuck it out for the night and were glad to leave the next day.

I am not down on WorldMark, it does a lot of things well -- I just can't see that Hawaii (or at least Kihei) as a good use of points. I have had good luck trading WM in Interval, but realize that can't get me a one night stay when needed. My recommendation is to be patient until the renovations are complete or book elsewhere.

Any pics to share?

 

[marmite]

Any pics to share?

That's so funny. I did consider taking some, but stopped myself.

 

[VacationForever]

I had really great experience staying at many properties when I owned WM contract from 2013 to 2016. Then this year we got back into WM ownership and our first stay was at Oceanside. The property was horrible, although in a good location. Besides being terribly dirty and appeared to be black mold in some areas of the tiles in the bathroom, housecleaning was also absent in general areas. Everywhere was littered. They were supposed to start a $15 Millon renovation, gutting out every room starting from September. I gave honest feedback in the post-stay survey. I still don't know how we toughed it out for the 30-day stay in summer. We will likely try the property again in 2025.

It appears that Worldmark waits for a property to be really bad before they renovate it. While we gripe about how much our MVC MFs are going up next year, we really do not see us as swapping our MVC ownership for more WM. We do like WM's locations and for most properties, they are fine. Then there are the ones like Kihei as reported in this thread and Oceanside that make owners regret spending time at.

 

[sue1947]

We were told that 2 buildings are renovated and that there was a renovated 3BR available, but they said they could not 'guarantee' if we booked we would get it. That was beyond confusing as we were on site and able to move rooms immediately.

The front desk doesn't handle reservations. They could see one was available, but it could be booked by somebody else while you were having your conversation with them. Next time, look up availability on the website, check with the front desk to confirm and determine where it is and then book via a call into the main reservation line.

 

[marmite]

The front desk doesn't handle reservations. They could see one was available, but it could be booked by somebody else while you were having your conversation with them. Next time, look up availability on the website, check with the front desk to confirm and determine where it is and then book via a call into the main reservation line.

Yes, we were on the website and able to book, we just wanted to make sure that they could assign us the new unit. I don't know if there was more than one 3BR unit that had been renovated, the front desk were the only ones who could probably tell me that. I wouldn't have thought that calling in they would be able to guarantee any room assignment other than the category you chose?

 

[marmite]

I had really great experience staying at many properties when I owned WM contract from 2013 to 2016. Then this year we got back into WM ownership and our first stay was at Oceanside. The property was horrible, although in a good location. Besides being terribly dirty and appeared to be black mold in some areas of the tiles in the bathroom, housecleaning was also absent in general areas. Everywhere was littered. They were supposed to start a $15 Millon renovation, gutting out every room starting from September. I gave honest feedback in the post-stay survey. I still don't know how we toughed it out for the 30-day stay in summer. We will likely try the property again in 2025.

It appears that Worldmark waits for a property to be really bad before they renovate it. While we gripe about how much our MVC MFs are going up next year, we really do not see us as swapping our MVC ownership for more WM. We do like WM's locations and for most properties, they are fine. Then there are the ones like Kihei as reported in this thread and Oceanside that make owners regret spending time at.

A 30 day stay? Wow, you are made of tough stuff! I was trying to escape after only a few hours.

I suppose waiting until a property to be really run down before doing improvements, keeps the MF's low. I think I am fine with the increases I see from Marriott, as the quality has been really consistent. I haven't found a WM location yet that I've wanted to book a whole week, so I generally take the cash-rates for short stays (which are actually cheaper than if I book with points). I had only stayed in Portland and Victoria WM's before, and they are both great, so Kihei was a bit of a shock.

I know a lot of people say WM is expensive as a trader, but so far I love it for trading in II. 7000 pts can get me into a Marriott in Hawaii and 4000 pts during Flexchange is even better. I feel like it gives me the best of both worlds, and so many more locations that I may need a night or two in.

 

[VacationForever]

A 30 day stay? Wow, you are made of tough stuff! I was trying to escape after only a few hours.

I suppose waiting until a property to be really run down before doing improvements, keeps the MF's low. I think I am fine with the increases I see from Marriott, as the quality has been really consistent. I haven't found a WM location yet that I've wanted to book a whole week, so I generally take the cash-rates for short stays (which are actually cheaper than if I book with points). I had only stayed in Portland and Victoria WM's before, and they are both great, so Kihei was a bit of a shock.

I know a lot of people say WM is expensive as a trader, but so far I love it for trading in II. 7000 pts can get me into a Marriott in Hawaii and 4000 pts during Flexchange is even better. I feel like it gives me the best of both worlds, and so many more locations that I may need a night or two in.

We want to get away from our hot summers and cold winters, and hence we book long stays in the summers as well as in the winters. We were obviously going in with blind faith that the resort would be fine. Everyday we said to ourselves, this is a great location and the weather cannot be beaten.

 

[Mongoose]

Anyone been there recently? When does the renovation finish?

 

[alwysonvac]

Anyone been there recently? When does the renovation finish?

Maui, HI Resorts: WorldMark Kihei

Book your stay at WorldMark Kihei in Maui, HI. Soak up the sun and stay steps from golden sand beaches on a tropical timeshare vacation.

worldmark.wyndhamdestinations.com

 

[markb53]

I got back from WorldMark Kihei on February 8th. The updated suites are very nice Lots of parking spaces blocked off for trucks to use. I was in building 5. Mostly couldn’t hear or see the construction from inside the unit. Could definitely see it if you waked around the parking lots the person at the checkin desk said they were a little over half way through the update process.

We loved it there. Both the resort and the town of Kihei were great. We will go back in a couple of years.
oo