MVC Kauai resort, Never again

[PeteBob]

If the Sonesta restaurant included Marriott guests then most likely Marriott was paying too.
Did they give a reason for not moving you?

Marriott blames Sonesta. Marriott claims no responsibility

 

[PeteBob]

In July, we stayed at KBC in an Ocean View 1BR on the 5th floor, above the tile cutting tent. It was noisy, but we weren't in the room that much. KBC is centrally located, but we'll stay in Princeville or Poipu next time. Turtles come to rest overnight at Poipu Beach after sunset.

How is the airport noise?

 

[Matthew DB]

Again, I am curious. MVC doesn't control Hawaiian Electric...which is soon headed into bankruptcy anyway because of the Lahaina debacle. What would you have liked MVC to do?

Kauai is not served by Hawaii Electric. It is the only island that is not. It is served by Kauai Co-op, a customer owned utility.

 

[Matthew DB]

How is the airport noise?

Usually not bad. The prevailing wind is from the North, so what you have are landing aircraft that isn't as bad as to the North. The helicopters are worse. They start mid morning and they take off going south and can be noisy.

 

[PeteBob]

How is the airport noise?

I did not have any issues associated with the airplanes.

 

[PeteBob]

I am very upset with Marriott's performance when the power went out at the Kauai Beach Club. My beef with Marriott is that I am not convinced that the Marriott was paying attention to the generator. MVC told us that it was the Sonesta that failed since they control the generator. That is an easy answer, and most people will buy it.

I disagree.

The Marriott team has a responsibility to manage the Sonesta employees that manage the generators that supply the Sonesta and MVC.

Here's the why. MVC represents us (MVC Customers) to the Sonesta. What that means is that the Marriott has a responsibility to monitor the Sonesta's performance to ensure that MVC customers have electricity 24/7365. More specifically, the Marriott should have their own expert monitoring the equipment. I say this because I asked 4 different Marriot employees and they all said that the Sonesta owns the generator. No one mentioned that the Marriott has an Engineer onsite that monitors the generators.

But.... What the Marriot failed to do is to fallow the basic rule which is "Trust but Verify". For example, there must be maintenance records. Does the Marriott monitor the data from the generator? Does the Marriott monitor the maintenance of the generator?

Lastly. I am thankful that no one was hurt and that no one was stuck in an elevator (uses the other generator), or had to climb many flights of stairs).

 

[KS2beach]

I’m at the Marriott Beach Club and I am very disappointed with this place.

There is significant construction on the property and they start work about 7:30am to 8am.

So where is my room? Ground floor, 50 feet from the construction. They would not move us to a better location.

On day two, the entire property went black, no power.. Took 2+ days to get back power.
FYI, this place is split into two companies. A Sonesta and MVC.

As a token for the thrash, Sonesta had an open restaurant for all guests, including MVC members.

What did MVC do? Nothing.

MVC blew it

The only thing that is awesome at this place is the beach. It’s big! Awesome waves each morning and gentle in the afternoon.

Did I mention the property is directly in the path for the small plane airport?

In summary, this place is a POS.

Thanks for the info-- will be planning Westin Princeville on our next trip (we had not been to Kauai before -normally go to Maui and Ohau)

 

[RookWDW]

Ugh. We will be at the Kauai Beach Club this Christmas. I've been trying to swap to a different resort, but as to be expected nothing is available.

 

[alwysonvac]

April 2024 update

Spent a night here between my Westin Princeville and Marriott Waiohai stays.

Thankfully there was no construction noises at Marriott's Kauai Beach Club during my stay. They've started painting the exterior of the oceanfront Wai'ale'ale wing. You can see the white painted exterior in the lower right side of my photo along with the scaffolding on the next set of balconies.

We were assigned a one bedroom oceanfront room on the 8th floor in the Kilohana wing.
The oceanfront view was absolutely amazing as expected. I booked the one bedroom to help us determine whether we would prefer a studio or the parlor side for longer stays on Kauai. However, I was surprised by the tiny bathroom (reminded me of the small bathroom with our cruise staterooms) and the overall musty smell throughout our room (rooms 819\820) and the 8th floor hallway especially when the air conditioning was running full blast. Sadly, we decided that we won't return until the ventilation system is addressed otherwise we loved it.

Here’s some photos of the studio side and balconies (studio vs parlor).

 

[dougp26364]

In my not so humble opinion, Marriott screwed up big time for MVC owners when the hotel left the Marriott system. When that happened they lost control of everything except for the rooms they occupy. This makes it the least desirable resort on Kauai for us except for spending the day prior to a flight later that night. Even then I believe I’d prefer to book 8 nights at one of the other resort vs moving to KBC.

 

[ljmiii]

I can only wonder at what resort y'all are staying. We spend a week at KBC in February and *loved* it. The exteriors and grounds are in much better shape than when Marriott (the hotel company) ran things and the previously neglected roof of Wai'ale'ale is now a delightful garden. The only real downside is that incidentals are no longer Marriott spend (we started a charge account at the Sonesta when we arrived).

If fact, we enjoyed it so much we bought a (EOY) 1BR OF week at KBC after our stay. While Waiohai continues to be our favorite Hawaiian MVC resort for stays with family, KBC has become our favorite Hawaiian MVC resort for the two of us.

 

[Dean]

I can only wonder at what resort y'all are staying. We spend a week at KBC in February and *loved* it. The exteriors and grounds are in much better shape than when Marriott (the hotel company) ran things and the previously neglected roof of Wai'ale'ale is now a delightful garden. The only real downside is that incidentals are no longer Marriott spend (we started a charge account at the Sonesta when we arrived).

If fact, we enjoyed it so much we bought a (EOY) 1BR OF week at KBC after our stay. While Waiohai continues to be our favorite Hawaiian MVC resort for stays with family, KBC has become our favorite Hawaiian MVC resort for the two of us.

As I noted earlier in this thread, we hated it and that was before the hotel changed hands and without major construction issues. It's the only MVC resorts I've stayed at that I can honestly say I'd rather have been working. HP was my next least favorite resort.

 

[ljmiii]

As I noted earlier in this thread, we hated it and that was before the hotel changed hands and without major construction issues. It's the only MVC resorts I've stayed at that I can honestly say I'd rather have been working. HP was my next least favorite resort.

Wow! That said, diversity of locations and experiences is part of what makes MVC interesting.

Our equivalent was Grande Vista which felt like a week in prison - villa badly in need of reno, absurdly overcrowded pools, bad food onsite, nothing in walking distance, and Easter Week traffic meant it took more than a half hour to get to nearby restaurants (almost all which were awful) and an hour or more to WDW. By contrast KBC's villa was in good shape (the spectacular view and ability to open our windows to the sounds of the waves didn't hurt), ample space at the beach, pool, and even hot tubs, a wide variety of walkable reasonable to good restaurants (and one spectacular one - Hualani's), and the unexpected pleasure of travelling against the flow of heavy traffic on our visits to the North and South Shores.

But as they say (or at least wrote), de gustibus non disputandum est.

 

[MikeM132]

Waiohai is night and day to KBC. You'll have a great time. But if you are trading in, you may have a tough room location.

Agree. I've stayed at both. I exchanged MOC for Waiohai and got the worst room I've had ever. Resort was really nice, but they have rooms all the way in the back facing a parking lot and some trees blocking another complex. It stinks. Kaui overall was great, though. I spend little time looking out the window anyway. KBC was just OK. It's pretty much a hotel calling itself a "villa".
Regarding Waiohai....I've stayed at a lot of places and have a lot of memories but none better than there, watching the Eagles on TV (at 9AM) with a bunch of people from my area (just conicidence) with a view of the big TV hanging over that beautiful beach. I'll never forget that. Makes up for a lot of angst with maintenance fees and stuff.

 

[StaceyM]

Again, I am curious. MVC doesn't control Hawaiian Electric...which is soon headed into bankruptcy anyway because of the Lahaina debacle. What would you have liked MVC to do?

I think any lodging where power is down for 2 whole days would offer some sort of refund or compensation. At a minimum, a dining voucher for each meal where you couldn't cook in your kitchen. Or Marriott/Sonesta points. Or some sort of acknowledgement that a room without electricity isn't really meeting the minimum definition of "safety" that is expected with a non-camping vacation booking.

ETA: Oops I didn't realize this post was a year old!

 

[marmite]

Wow! That said, diversity of locations and experiences is part of what makes MVC interesting.

Our equivalent was Grande Vista which felt like a week in prison - villa badly in need of reno, absurdly overcrowded pools, bad food onsite, nothing in walking distance, and Easter Week traffic meant it took more than a half hour to get to nearby restaurants (almost all which were awful) and an hour or more to WDW. By contrast KBC's villa was in good shape (the spectacular view and ability to open our windows to the sounds of the waves didn't hurt), ample space at the beach, pool, and even hot tubs, a wide variety of walkable reasonable to good restaurants (and one spectacular one - Hualani's), and the unexpected pleasure of travelling against the flow of heavy traffic on our visits to the North and South Shores.

But as they say (or at least wrote), de gustibus non disputandum est.

Hualani's is spectacular (our official family favourite for Kauai). We went there while staying this year at the Lagoons and the year previous. We were actually considering if we should book KBC for this great location.

 

[marmite]

Thanks for the great trip report and photos @alwysonvac . Was this an Interval exchange with an OF code on your confirmation?

 

[alwysonvac]

Thanks for the great trip report and photos @alwysonvac . Was this an Interval exchange with an OF code on your confirmation

No, it was a 2 night booking using Abound (through my Vistana ownership).

 

[GrayFal]

Thanks for the great trip report and photos @alwysonvac . Was this an Interval exchange with an OF code on your confirmation?

edit, found info needed