Purchasing a unit at Hanalei Bay Resort

[beach_bumz]

Are there any Hanalei Bay Resort owners out there?

We love the resort, and are seriously considering purchasing a resale unit there but would like to hear from owners about the management of the resort.

After searching through threads on here I found a discussion about the financial mismanagement from over a decade ago. Now that a different management company has taken over, are things better, and are you as owners happy with the current company?

How hard is it to book a week? Is it more difficult to book a 1 bedroom vs a 2 bedroom? I called Grand Pacific and spoke to someone in owner services who said I can bank a week and use the exchange to go every other year for two weeks, but I'd like to hear from other owners if this is actually possible.

Any feedback on this timeshare would be very much appreciated!

 

[chellej]

I don't own at Hanalei Bay but DO use GPX to exchange in there. In the past, available units were released on the 1 st of the month for that month the following year...Jan 1, 2021, all units for Jan 2022 are released, This year I presume because of covid, all the units for 2022 were released in January. With proper planning, I have been able to get the weeks I want, The drawback to exchanging back in through GPX is that they charge exchangers exorbitant fees.
The following fees are payable to the resort upon check out:
The resort fee per day is $20.94- includes Wi-Fi, phone calls, beach towels
The TOT tax per night is $11.05 for 1 bd or $14.23 for a 2bd
The parking fee per day is $6.28.

There is also a one-time $25 check-in fee.

The total comes to $315.55 for a 2 bedroom plus the $219 exchange fee. They do seem to treat GPX exchangers more like owners and assign better views from what I have experienced.

GPX is supposed to accept other resorts ( at this time they are reworking their system and have not been able to tell me what resorts) so if you have another resort with low maintenance fees you might want to exchange but I don't think you would want to trade your Hanalei Bay and add another $500+ to do so. Unless of course, they have a special deal for trading back into your home resort.

 

[beach_bumz]

Thank you for that info - that's exactly what I was looking for. We'll have to decide if that additional $$$ is worth it. I guess we could buy two EOY contracts and just book them back to back.

Have you been happy with GPX?

 

[zentraveler]

Had to look up GPX; don't see it talked about much here. Have only used II for trades. How would they compare?

 

[chellej]

I am happy so far the exchanges have put us in nice units. I have only exchanged to Hawaii so far. I do not like the added fees...but it is only some resorts and not all. I have an exchange to Hono Koa and there are no fees other than taxes. Any of the "diamond Resort" properties seem to have additional fees. Their flex option is only $29 or $39 forget which and it allows you to cancel up to 45 days and you get your week back as well as a credit for the exchange fee. I have used it several times with the covid stuff.

There are no ongoing search options to speak of....you can make a request and if they get the inventory you will get an email that they have inventory. It was delayed by the time I received it and had already found the inventory through my daily search.

They did get some good inventory this year that surprised me....lots of Worldmark units...I was able to book summer at west Yellowstone for this year.

@Zen In order to use GPX, you have to own at one of their affiliated or managed resorts. They supposedly allow you then to deposit other owned weeks but when I inquired earlier this year was told they were getting a new system so they were not able to tell me which other weeks of mine would qualify.

I bought a week at Indian Palms to use for trading in GPX , I believe it has the lowest maintenance fees of their resorts...but not all Indian Palms trade with GPX...there are several HOA's at Indian Palms.

 

[pspercy]

Is the restaurant at HBR still closed ?

 

[chellej]

When we were there 2 years ago. food was available in the lounge but the restaurant was not open

 

[wilma]

There is an ongoing battle between the owner of the Bali Hai & Happy Talk Lounge with the resort-timeshare and year-round condo owners-over parking. The restaurant owner wants more parking and there was a resolution finally after extended legal battles so we'll see if they ever open the restaurant. The old management (Quintus) embezzled money and underfunded the reserves so owners had to pay special assessments for the reserves and a huge remodel of the timeshare units and now they look great. Things have settled down and Grand Paific seems to be doing a good job.

 

[beach_bumz]

I bought a week at Indian Palms to use for trading in GPX , I believe it has the lowest maintenance fees of their resorts...but not all Indian Palms trade with GPX...there are several HOA's at Indian Palms.

That is a great idea. There are several available on Redweek. I would use it strictly for Hawaii- much lower mf.

Thanks Wilma for the restaurant information. I remember reading about the old management company on here back in 2008 or 2009. Glad to hear things are much better with Grand Pacific.

 

[chellej]

That is a great idea. There are several available on Redweek. I would use it strictly for Hawaii- much lower mf.

Thanks Wilma for the restaurant information. I remember reading about the old management company on here back in 2008 or 2009. Glad to hear things are much better with Grand Pacific.

Just make sure that it is in the section of the resort that exchanges with GPX. There are units out there that show the maintenance fees at around $500. The ones that trade with GPX the fees are around $900.

 

[zentraveler]

I am happy so far the exchanges have put us in nice units. I have only exchanged to Hawaii so far. I do not like the added fees...but it is only some resorts and not all. I have an exchange to Hono Koa and there are no fees other than taxes. Any of the "diamond Resort" properties seem to have additional fees. Their flex option is only $29 or $39 forget which and it allows you to cancel up to 45 days and you get your week back as well as a credit for the exchange fee. I have used it several times with the covid stuff.

There are no ongoing search options to speak of....you can make a request and if they get the inventory you will get an email that they have inventory. It was delayed by the time I received it and had already found the inventory through my daily search.

They did get some good inventory this year that surprised me....lots of Worldmark units...I was able to book summer at west Yellowstone for this year.

@Zen In order to use GPX, you have to own at one of their affiliated or managed resorts. They supposedly allow you then to deposit other owned weeks but when I inquired earlier this year was told they were getting a new system so they were not able to tell me which other weeks of mine would qualify.

I bought a week at Indian Palms to use for trading in GPX , I believe it has the lowest maintenance fees of their resorts...but not all Indian Palms trade with GPX...there are several HOA's at Indian Palms.

Thank you chellej. I own at the Four Seasons Aviara and use it almost exclusively to trade through II in Hawaii but many other locations, so GPX is sounds like not the company for us. I appreciate reading about it and understanding it in posts so than you for the detail. Always looking for ways to get to Hawaii and Princeville/Hanalei are probably my favorite!

 

[jacknsara]

Aloha,
Due to covid, we haven't been to Kauai since late 2019. We were/are regular customers of Happy Talk when we use our week at the Shearwater.
Here's a year old link to an article about the situation with parking https://www.thegardenisland.com/2020/04/05/hawaii-news/lawsuit-filed-in-hanalei-bay-resort-dispute/
Has anyone actually been there to see if additional parking has been built?
Mahalo,
Jack

 

[wilma]

That is a great idea. There are several available on Redweek. I would use it strictly for Hawaii- much lower mf.

Thanks Wilma for the restaurant information. I remember reading about the old management company on here back in 2008 or 2009. Glad to hear things are much better with Grand Pacific.

Otoh, if you own a week at hbr, pick it up for next to nothing on redweek, you can reserve specific units. I recommend getting a 2 bedroom which has a much bigger kitchen and 2 decks, and the 2 bedrooms have stunning views. We always reserve 2 weeks in advance to get the plumeria bldg.

 

[jacknsara]

Aloha,
I remembered a bit more so was able to do a better search. Here are two more links:

County checking on alleged zoning violations - The Garden Island

HANALEI — Mason Chock, County Council Planning Committee chair, said he was asked to look into a situation where a restaurateur was being charged several thousand dollars per month for parking by its hotel and timeshare counterpart for visiting patrons.

www.thegardenisland.com

Letter for Wednesday, November 15, 2017 - The Garden Island

Hanalei Bay Resort responds

www.thegardenisland.com

Jack

 

[GregGH]

..... There are units out there that show the maintenance fees at around $500. The ones that trade with GPX the fees are around $900.

Hi to all -- been a Long time since we stayed at HBR -- loved our stay many years ago ( in an owner-condo - not part of any TS ) ... but the above comment on $500 MF's --that is just not enough to keep any unit up to date .... the TS units we toured when there were very very bad .... a lovely location ... but ...

ps - I see there has been NO reviews posted on TUG since 2019 .... ?? Sure hope this resort gets back on track -- been off the rails for a long time.

 

[wilma]

Hi to all -- been a Long time since we stayed at HBR -- loved our stay many years ago ( in an owner-condo - not part of any TS ) ... but the above comment on $500 MF's --that is just not enough to keep any unit up to date .... the TS units we toured when there were very very bad .... a lovely location ... but ...

ps - I see there has been NO reviews posted on TUG since 2019 .... ?? Sure hope this resort gets back on track -- been off the rails for a long time.

I believe the $500 mf referred to Indian palms resort in palm desert not hbr. All of the hbr timeshare units were fully renovated 5-6 years ago and they are back on track.

 

[chellej]

Yes the $500 referred to some of the Indian palms units that ARE NOT associated with GPX

 

[macmanrider]

That is a great idea. There are several available on Redweek. I would use it strictly for Hawaii- much lower mf.

Thanks Wilma for the restaurant information. I remember reading about the old management company on here back in 2008 or 2009. Glad to hear things are much better with Grand Pacific.

If you buy a resort close too you. You can use the day use. That's why we bought ours in Tahoe vista.

 

[Railman83]

Are there any Hanalei Bay Resort owners out there?

We love the resort, and are seriously considering purchasing a resale unit there but would like to hear from owners about the management of the resort.

After searching through threads on here I found a discussion about the financial mismanagement from over a decade ago. Now that a different management company has taken over, are things better, and are you as owners happy with the current company?

How hard is it to book a week? Is it more difficult to book a 1 bedroom vs a 2 bedroom? I called Grand Pacific and spoke to someone in owner services who said I can bank a week and use the exchange to go every other year for two weeks, but I'd like to hear from other owners if this is actually possible.

Any feedback on this timeshare would be very much appreciated!

I have a 1 br odd year paid thru 2023 if you want free…getting too old travel.

 

[macmanrider]

I have a 1 br odd year paid thru 2023 if you want free…getting too old travel.

Send me the info please
From Jeff McIntosh