The Westin Kā‘anapali Ocean Resort Villas North vs South

[fung.francis.j]

Any recommendations on staying on the north vs south villas at the Westin Kā‘anapali Ocean Resort Villas

 

[DeniseM]

For Oceanfront - I choose South (the South Towers have superior OF views)

For Oceanview - I prefer South (I like the location of the OV units better, but North is OK, too)

For Island View - I choose North (In the South towers, OV = parking lot view, but the North Towers have no parking lot views)

For a family with preschoolers, I think the 2 bdm. layout of the North Towers is better, because the South Tower 2 bedrooms are 2 separate units joined by a foyer with heavy self-closing and locking doors in between the units and the foyer, and you will have to get door stoppers and wedge them open for the children to go back and forth between the 2 sides of the unit.

If having a conventional oven is very important to you, the South Towers have them and the North Towers have a convection microwave oven. (This may not be current info.)

If you are exchanging in through II, you will not get to select a view and you should expect to get Island View.

 

[daviator]

For Oceanfront - I choose South (the South Towers have superior OF views)

For Oceanview - I prefer South (I like the location of the OV units better, but North is OK, too)

For Island View - I choose North (In the South towers, OV = parking lot view, but the North Towers have no parking lot views)

For a family with preschoolers, I think the 2 bdm. layout of the North Towers is better, because the South Tower 2 bedrooms are 2 separate units joined by a foyer with heavy self-closing and locking doors in between the units and the foyer, and you will have to get door stoppers and wedge them open for the children to go back and forth between the 2 sides of the unit.

If having a conventional oven is very important to you, the South Towers have them and the North Towers have a convection microwave oven.

If you are exchanging in through II, you will not get to select a view and you should expect to get Island View.

I believe that all of the 1 br/2 br North units received a full oven during remodeling several years back. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. It is true that, when built, they didn’t put full ovens in WKORVN. But I think that “mistake” was later rectified.


Full ovens are only in the larger (1 br) side of the lockoff, so if you have only the studio side, you will have only a small convection/microwave combo. That’s also true on the South property.

 

[ocdb8r]

I believe that all of the 1 br/2 br North units received a full oven during remodeling several years back. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. It is true that, when built, they didn’t put full ovens in WKORVN. But I think that “mistake” was later rectified.


Full ovens are only in the larger (1 br) side of the lockoff, so if you have only the studio side, you will have only a small convection/microwave combo. That’s also true on the South property.

You are correct. North units now have a full regular oven.

I otherwise agree with Denise's assessment. There are few to no "bad" Island View units at the North property, while there is a decent section of one building at the South property where Island View will get you a parking lot view. The only other difference not mentioned is that South has all internal (air conditioned) corridors, while North corridors are open (but covered). I have a slight preference for the South pool, but you can use both pool areas as a guest of either complex.

 

[DeniseM]

The description on the website does not list an oven, so perhaps the installation is not complete in all units? Here are both descriptions, south, and then north:

 

[DeniseM]

I just found my pictures from last May and our WKORVN unit did have an oven, so I'm not sure if the website is just not up to date, or the installation isn't complete. Good question!

 

[rickandcindy23]

We have had ovens at Westin North for a while during our exchange stays in the one bedrooms.

 

[alwysonvac]

Another difference is the studio balconies.

In the North, all studios have a full balcony.

In the South, only deluxe and oceanfront studios have full balconies. The other studios have juliet balconies.

 

[daviator]

The description on the website does not list an oven, so perhaps the installation is not complete in all units? Here are both descriptions, south, and then north:

View attachment 95604

View attachment 95603

I own at North and South, but I typically only stay in South, so my info on the North rooms is based on heresay and what I read here on TUG. But I think they may have forgotten to update the room descriptions after they renovated the property. I am pretty sure that all of the 1 br rooms at WKORVN had been renovated to include the addition of a full oven before the pandemic struck, so it's been several years. I remember one owner update, maybe around 2017, where they insisted on taking me over to the North property so I could tour a renovated room there, and that's when I first became aware that those rooms were getting real ovens.

I'm thinking that nobody ever thought to update the kitchen diagram or description. But also: when I look at the room photos on the MVC site, what it looks like to me is that rather than having a range (which is a combination stove/oven) like at the South property, it looks like they opted for a cooktop with a built-in oven below it, i.e. a separate stove and oven. They probably made this choice because it allowed them to retain the existing countertops and just put an oven where there were previously cabinets. The units wouldn't have been slated for new countertops yet so that makes sense. (They added the ovens during the "soft remodel" which I think occurs every 10 years, so it makes sense that this would have been around 2017.)

Maybe someone who has more recent experience in the North rooms can confirm.