- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 4,893
- Reaction score
- 4,447
- Points
- 599
- Resorts Owned
-
Marriott:
Maui Ocean Club
Waiohai Beach Club
Barony Beach Club
Abound ClubPoints
HGVC:
HGVC at Sea World
Just got home from two great, but all too short, weeks in Hawaii. First week at HGVC Kings' Land on the Big Island and the second week at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club. I'll post regular TUG reviews of both resorts in a couple days, but in the meantime, I wanted to highlight a few things for anyone contemplating a trip to Maui...be forewarned, you may fall in love.
Both weeks were great, but the second week on Maui highlighted why a single week on Maui just leaves you wanting for more. We focused on trying some new dinner spots this year, so had to sadly pass on a couple of favorites. Our desire to do sunset at Merriman's and Fleetwood's on Front, a sunset cruise, and the wonderful Old Lahaina Luau meant early evening commitments on four days of our week, which limited our other activities somewhat. We also like to do whale watches and booked three this year, so we left feeling like we just didn't have enough time. Even though this was our 11th trip to Maui (my 12th), and we don't feel a need to do all of the touristy stuff every year, there was so much more we wanted to do that we just didn't have time for.
Fleetwood's on Front may be our new Maui favorite. We originally had a reservation for sunset dinner Monday evening on their rooftop, but windy/rainy weather closed the rooftop. Given the bad forecast, I had booked a backup reservation for Thursday, but the sunset slots were gone by then, so had to settle for 7:30. But there are 12 seats at the bar that are first come first served, so we got in line at 4:30 for the 5pm rooftop opening and grabbed two prime bar seats where we could enjoy the sun setting over Lanai, watch their "Scottish Piper" sunset ceremony, and drink a few Mai Tais before moving to our table for dinner (great food too!). It was the highlight evening of our trip, even though we also had another beautiful sunset dinner at Merriman's overlooking Kapalua Bay, a fabulous Valentine's Day dinner at Lahaina Grill, and a memorable sunset dinner at Mama's Fish House just before heading to turn in our bright red convertible rental car for the long flight home to North Carolina.
It was also great to meet up with @TXTortoise and his wife for a Trilogy sunset cruise and dinner at Leilani's last Tuesday afternoon/evening. It's always great to meet other TUGers and put a face to a Username.
A couple years ago, we bought our EOY Odd units at Maui Ocean Club and Waiohai and our HGVC points with the intent of spending three weeks in Hawaii every odd year. After last year's trip, we decided to use our Destination Points and HGVC points to add this year's even year trip. We've already booked our 2021 Waiohai and Maui Ocean Club weeks, doing so just before leaving on our trip (HGVC Big Island will be booked when their Club booking window opens 9 months out). But while we were in Maui last week, we decided to add a second week on Maui in 2021 using our remaining 2021 DPs, 400 Plus Points we got for a MVC presentation in Palm Desert last October, and borrowing some of our 2022 points. We added a week in a 1BR OV to our 2BR OV ownership week, so in 2021 we'll get four weeks in paradise!
It seems we may be heading towards an annual Hawaii vacation instead of the EOY rotation we originally envisioned. Since it's so expensive to use DPs for a regular every-year/every-other-year trip, I suspect we'll begin looking at adding at least an EOY Even to go with our EOY Odd at MOC, but may even consider adding an EY week instead, to lock in the ability to book two weeks on Maui every other year. Maui is just such a special place to visit (as are Kauai and the Big Island), it just never seems to get old.
As they say in Maui - Maui No Ka Oi - "Maui is the Best"
Both weeks were great, but the second week on Maui highlighted why a single week on Maui just leaves you wanting for more. We focused on trying some new dinner spots this year, so had to sadly pass on a couple of favorites. Our desire to do sunset at Merriman's and Fleetwood's on Front, a sunset cruise, and the wonderful Old Lahaina Luau meant early evening commitments on four days of our week, which limited our other activities somewhat. We also like to do whale watches and booked three this year, so we left feeling like we just didn't have enough time. Even though this was our 11th trip to Maui (my 12th), and we don't feel a need to do all of the touristy stuff every year, there was so much more we wanted to do that we just didn't have time for.
Fleetwood's on Front may be our new Maui favorite. We originally had a reservation for sunset dinner Monday evening on their rooftop, but windy/rainy weather closed the rooftop. Given the bad forecast, I had booked a backup reservation for Thursday, but the sunset slots were gone by then, so had to settle for 7:30. But there are 12 seats at the bar that are first come first served, so we got in line at 4:30 for the 5pm rooftop opening and grabbed two prime bar seats where we could enjoy the sun setting over Lanai, watch their "Scottish Piper" sunset ceremony, and drink a few Mai Tais before moving to our table for dinner (great food too!). It was the highlight evening of our trip, even though we also had another beautiful sunset dinner at Merriman's overlooking Kapalua Bay, a fabulous Valentine's Day dinner at Lahaina Grill, and a memorable sunset dinner at Mama's Fish House just before heading to turn in our bright red convertible rental car for the long flight home to North Carolina.
It was also great to meet up with @TXTortoise and his wife for a Trilogy sunset cruise and dinner at Leilani's last Tuesday afternoon/evening. It's always great to meet other TUGers and put a face to a Username.
A couple years ago, we bought our EOY Odd units at Maui Ocean Club and Waiohai and our HGVC points with the intent of spending three weeks in Hawaii every odd year. After last year's trip, we decided to use our Destination Points and HGVC points to add this year's even year trip. We've already booked our 2021 Waiohai and Maui Ocean Club weeks, doing so just before leaving on our trip (HGVC Big Island will be booked when their Club booking window opens 9 months out). But while we were in Maui last week, we decided to add a second week on Maui in 2021 using our remaining 2021 DPs, 400 Plus Points we got for a MVC presentation in Palm Desert last October, and borrowing some of our 2022 points. We added a week in a 1BR OV to our 2BR OV ownership week, so in 2021 we'll get four weeks in paradise!
It seems we may be heading towards an annual Hawaii vacation instead of the EOY rotation we originally envisioned. Since it's so expensive to use DPs for a regular every-year/every-other-year trip, I suspect we'll begin looking at adding at least an EOY Even to go with our EOY Odd at MOC, but may even consider adding an EY week instead, to lock in the ability to book two weeks on Maui every other year. Maui is just such a special place to visit (as are Kauai and the Big Island), it just never seems to get old.
As they say in Maui - Maui No Ka Oi - "Maui is the Best"
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