New MVC Waikiki reviewette

[daviator]

We arrived today at the new Marriott Vacation Club Waikiki, after spending the past week at WKORV on Maui. The MVC Waikiki is a newly-built "City Collection" property which just opened on October 12 of this year.

The property consists of an eight story building; the first two floors are parking garage (valet only, $55 per day.) Third floor is the lobby, check-in, concierges, and a sales gallery. Floors 4-7 are guest rooms: the majority of rooms are one bedroom units with a small but well=equipped kitchenette, while a minority are studio units similar to a standard hotel room. On the eighth floor – the roof – is the pool and lounging area, a bar, the fitness facility, and the restaurant which is for take-out only. There is plenty of seating and so you could order food and eat it on the open-air roof if desired. The pool is a small infinity pool surrounded by lounge seating.

The rooms are modern and relatively spacious. The one bedroom unit we have has a four-person dining table and a full-sized pullout sofa in the living area. The kitchenette has a full-sized refrigerator/freezer with ice maker, a small dishwasher, a built-in microwave oven, several small appliances, and a generous supply of kitchenware.

The bathroom is spacious with dual sinks and a "bathing room" containing both a tub and a stall shower in the same room. There is a separate vestibule in the bathroom for the toilet, but unfortunately it lacks a separate door. This is a missed opportunity, as the large bathroom has two entrance doors, and you must close and lock both doors (and therefore close off the entire bathroom) to use the toilet with privacy. A sliding door on the toilet room would have made the bathroom much more convenient and flexible given that most guests will have at least two people in the room. The toilet itself has an electronic bidet toilet seat that automatically opens as you approach.

There is a small balcony off the living area which is suitable for standing or brief people watching but which isn't deep enough for seating.

There are large (at least 65", I didn't measure) televisions in both the living area and bedroom. The bedroom contains a king-sized bed, a dresser and two end tables.

The staff has been excellent so far: well=trained and eager to help. They were so service-oriented I felt like I was at a hotel in Japan and not the United States.

So far we are very pleased with the property: it's not a beach resort, but it's a very comfortable property for a few days in Waikiki.

 

[Fasttr]

Nice write up. Thanks.

 

[pedro47]

To the OP, Thanks for your review and photos.
Please continue to enjoy your vacation in the land of paradise.

 

[alexinorlando]

Nice! Is there a washing machine and dryer in the room? If not where are they located in the resort and is there a cost to use or are they free?

Also do you know if they have rooms with connecting doors? To be able to make a 2-bedroom setup if needed or traveling with children?

 

[craigc]

Thank you! We booked 3 nights before an 8 night stay at Ko Olina in Nov of next year. Any restaurants recommendations in walking distance?
Also, is the $55 parking for owners as well ?

 

[bellken]

Thank you! We booked 3 nights before an 8 night stay at Ko Olina in Nov of next year. Any restaurants recommendations in walking distance?
Also, is the $55 parking for owners as well ?

Yes, the $55 applies to owners.

 

[sponger76]

Also, is the $55 parking for owners as well ?

I think a majority of the City Collection (formerly Pulse) locations charge for parking even for owners.

 

[daviator]

Nice! Is there a washing machine and dryer in the room? If not where are they located in the resort and is there a cost to use or are they free?

Also do you know if they have rooms with connecting doors? To be able to make a 2-bedroom setup if needed or traveling with children?

There are not washer dryers in the room. They are located on two floors and are free. I believe they said you needed to start your washing no later than 8 pm.

Not sure on connecting doors but I’m going to guess no. In our room there would be no place for such a door, they are pretty efficiently designed without any wasted wall space. Also, because of the way that timeshare rooms are booked, it would probably complicate their room assignments if there were connecting doors, so I’m guessing there aren’t any.

The sound insulation turns out to be rather poor, surprising for a new build. We were awakened by traffic noise early this morning, and we could also hear people talking and laughing in the next room. That’s the opposite experience from both Maui Ocean Club and WKORV, both of which are dead silent unless sliding door to outside is open.

 

[ljmiii]

The sound insulation turns out to be rather poor, surprising for a new build. We were awakened by traffic noise early this morning, and we could also hear people talking and laughing in the next room. That’s the opposite experience from both Maui Ocean Club and WKORV, both of which are dead silent unless sliding door to outside is open.

It is surprising...and we haven't experienced that at other City Collection locations in which we've stayed. And even though Boston, SD, and South Beach were previously existing structures I'm pretty sure the villa walls were new.

 

[frank808]

It is surprising...and we haven't experienced that at other City Collection locations in which we've stayed. And even though Boston, SD, and South Beach were previously existing structures I'm pretty sure the villa walls were new.

I haven't experienced hearing noise through he walls at any Pulse collection properties yet. Though only been to South Beach, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington DC properties.

Will try the Marriott Waikiki location for the infinity edge pool and to try it out. But being an HGVC owner, there is the Hokulani property which is closer to central Waikiki. Also HGVC is building another HGVC property Ka Hoku on the other end of Waikiki across the street from the Moana Surfrider. Have not heard noises from road or neighbors at Hokulani. Another plus are having washing machines on each floor of Hokulani and there are only 8 units per floor.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[daviator]

I haven't experienced hearing noise through he walls at any Pulse collection properties yet. Though only been to South Beach, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington DC properties.

Will try the Marriott Waikiki location for the infinity edge pool and to try it out. But being an HGVC owner, there is the Hokulani property which is closer to central Waikiki. Also HGVC is building another HGVC property Ka Hoku on the other end of Waikiki across the street from the Moana Surfrider. Have not heard noises from road or neighbors at Hokulani. Another plus are having washing machines on each floor of Hokulani and there are only 8 units per floor.

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We are on the top (7th) floor, and some of the noise we are getting is coming from above. I can’t figure out if we are below the fitness room and there are people dropping weights, etc., or if it’s people moving/dragging lounge chairs around the pool. But we also hear sound from the neighboring room for sure. It’s not awful, you can tell there is SOME insulation but it’s less peaceful than I’d expect.

Interestingly, this property seems to be heavily pushed at the Japanese market. Of course, Japan has always been a big tourism market for Hawaii, but to my knowledge, it’s sort of untapped by MVC. The rooms here have several features that seem directed at that market, and every time we’ve gone down to get the free gift we were promised from the “concierge”, they have been busy talking to Japanese guests. Most of the “concierge” staff seems to be Japanese-speaking. (Japan visitor numbers to Hawaii are way down since the pandemic, and the state is trying to figure out how to get Japanese visitors to come back in volume; MVC seems to be attracting some.)

 

[daviator]

Mildly funny: they were willing to pay me to do an owner update even though I’d just done one (literally) three days prior. I declined as we had other plans and the offer wasn’t that great (20,000 points plus $50) but they were definitely doing a lot of tours, I saw them bringing people around all day long.

 

[Jerrygomi]

I’m finishing up a six day stay in a one bedroom here at MVC Waikiki. I don’t have much to add to OP’s thoughtful review —far more than a “reviewette” haha.

I haven’t experienced any noise issues in our sixth floor unit facing south (looking towards ritz). I would also add that we loved the location. It’s at the north end of waikiki, so tourist mobs are not as bad as in the center. At the same time, the property is right between the two main streets, kalakaua and kuhio, so it’s an easy walk to almost any place in Waikiki. The property also faces west towards Fort Debussy Park, which is a nice ten minutes walk to the beach.

OP‘s review really nailed the missed opportunity in the design of the unit in failing to install a sliding door to give privacy to the toilet. The toilet itself is a world class Japanese Toto washlet. My Japanese wife’s reaction on seeing the toilet without a door was: “WHAT WAS MARRIOTT THINKING??!”. The property is indeed full of Japanese guests and many Japanese salespeople but I think many of them will have the same reaction as my wife.

I did a presentation for 40,000 bonvoy points and $50 voucher for Dean & Delucca across the street. But I had to reserve the presentation on the phone or the gift would have been even more meager. And they wanted me to guarantee it with a credit card if I wanted a morning presentation!

 

[daviator]

I’m finishing up a six day stay in a one bedroom here at MVC Waikiki. I don’t have much to add to OP’s thoughtful review —far more than a “reviewette” haha.

I haven’t experienced any noise issues in our sixth floor unit facing south (looking towards ritz). I would also add that we loved the location. It’s at the north end of waikiki, so tourist mobs are not as bad as in the center. At the same time, the property is right between the two main streets, kalakaua and kuhio, so it’s an easy walk to almost any place in Waikiki. The property also faces west towards Fort Debussy Park, which is a nice ten minutes walk to the beach.

OP‘s review really nailed the missed opportunity in the design of the unit in failing to install a sliding door to give privacy to the toilet. The toilet itself is a world class Japanese Toto washlet. My Japanese wife’s reaction on seeing the toilet without a door was: “WHAT WAS MARRIOTT THINKING??!”. The property is indeed full of Japanese guests and many Japanese salespeople but I think many of them will have the same reaction as my wife.

I did a presentation for 40,000 bonvoy points and $50 voucher for Dean & Delucca across the street. But I had to reserve the presentation on the phone or the gift would have been even more meager. And they wanted me to guarantee it with a credit card if I wanted a morning presentation!

Thanks for adding to the review. I’m glad you agree with my astonishment about the toilet situation… as you pointed out, it’s a wonderful toilet but the utility of the room would have been so much better if they’d put a sliding door there. It's such a missed opportunity. I hope people will complain about it and eventually perhaps they will do something about it, but it would have been so much easier and cheaper to just do it right during construction.

I agree with all your other comments. Also worth noting that the property is just across the street from a great breakfast place, Eggs & Things, which has been around for 50+ years and is a local institution. Well worth a visit (pro tip: you can use the Yelp app to put yourself on the waiting list and avoid the need for a long wait once you are there.)