Great input from everyone here, many are certainly more experienced with both properties than myself. But here's what I know….
Our first trip ever to Hawaii I traded my DVC for the Westin Villas North, and got a 2 bdrm oceanfront villa. (Other than the grace of God, not sure how i got this as a non-owner!) It was gorgeous. We loved the entire resort. Beach has some very good snorkeling. It was the first TS I've ever stayed in that the Studio has a w/d. The master bedroom was huge, as was the master bathroom. We found the living & dining areas very tight for such a luxe unit. As much as I loved the huge master amenities, I felt the space would be better used in the main areas where families/friends would congregate. JMHO.
We loved Maui, and wanted to be sure we would return over and over, so we toured at the Westin. Came very close to buying but went to tour the brand new towers at MOC. Napili had just opened and MVC was celebrating their 25th anniversary and had some special pricing. Again, gorgeous units like the Westin. Biggest difference was that the living/dining area in a 2 bdrm was considerably larger than ours was at the Westin. With the anniversary pricing we could get an oceanfront 2 bdrm L/O for the same price as an Ocean View at the Westin Villas North. And I would not have been happy with their Ocean View I don't think. So all things considered, we went for an Oceanfront Napili 2 bdrm lock off, 2 weeks, EOYO since we live on the east coast. It's a very long flight. We have stayed a total of 8 weeks at our TS in Napili and we LOVE it. We love everything about this resort. It's huge and has an enormous amount of beachfront and like the Westin the grounds are immaculate and lovely. The ONLY complaint I have is that the lanai's are very small on the 2 bdrm lockoffs. We love it so much we are signing closing docs on a resale week 2 bdrm L/O, Napili, EOYE. This way we can go every year to Maui! We will lock off and use 2 weeks on the even years with our new acquisition. We wanted oceanfront again, but I just couldn't justify the prices right now so we bought Island View. It will be an adjustment and we really went back and forth whether to buy ocean view or ocean front in the original buildings, which are considerably cheaper than the new towers. The full kitchens and w/d won out for us, as well as how beautiful the units are in the new towers.
I have a friend that has 2 weeks EY oceanfront 2 bdrm at WKOV North. She loves it. She did actually have some difficulty booking on the opening day this last trip for their desired February dates. I have definitely hit the same challenges calling at the precise 13 month window as a "multi-week" owner at Marriott.
These are both magnificent TS's with spectacular views and locations. I would suggest if possible, visit them before deciding. If you can't, it really would be almost impossible to make a bad choice between these 2 properties.
This time though I will have to wait until next year to purchase so I won't have to take care of the MF for 2016 (advice from many tuggers)
