Upgrading on room views

[ml855]

Does anyone know whether you can request an upgrade on the view of your room?
We received 2 back to back weeks in KoOlina and was wondering if they would upgrade our view for at least 1 of the weeks. Both weeks are island/mountain views and would love to have ocean view for one of the weeks. We would even pay an upgrade fee, if they would upgrade us. I know hotels will do this if paying with points, but not sure about timeshares.

Thanks.

 

[ArBravesFan]

Call the resort about a month out and then again about a week out. We traded into Ko Olina in Oct '04 and followed this procedure. They told us they would "try" but couldn't "guarantee" an ocean view. We were also at Oahu for two weeks. We were at the Marriott Ihilani the week prior to our Ko Olina week. During our 1st week, we walked down to the Ko Olina and asked in person for the upgrade for our upcoming week and they said they would "try." On check-in at Ko Olina we were given a 11th floor ocean view room. Fabulous! I would make the phone calls in advance and then "ASK NICELY" when you arrive. You may get the upgrade for both weeks or maybe for the second week. But, not to worry ... you'll have a great time regardless of the view!

 

[ml855]

ArBravesFan,

Thanks so much for the information, I'll give it a try.

-Jean

 

[Werner Weiss]

With any timeshare exchange, if you're booked into a specific category (size and view), you will probably not get an upgrade to a higher category. There's a direct relationship between room inventory and reservations. Also, timeshare resorts tend to operate at or near full capacity. Together, that means there usually aren't empty rooms that you can be upgraded into.

In comparison, when you book a regular hotel room, the hotel may overbook lower price categories, and there may be plenty of higher category rooms. So some percentage of guests are upgraded.

But don't give up hope.

The original building at Ko Olina has "mountain view" rooms that actually face the marina and the industrial harbor. Although these rooms are officially mountain view rooms, they provide a pretty good ocean view. If you can get one of these rooms for the whole two weeks, I think you'd be pleased.

Also, I would not ask for an ocean view room for just one of the two weeks. For one thing, it would be no fun to check out of one room at 10:00 a.m. and into another room at 4:00 p.m. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if almost every exchange guest asks for an ocean view.

The one advantage that you have is that you're a two-week guest. I would recommend letting them know ahead of time that you're staying for two weeks, and you plan to spend a lot of time on your balcony. Nicely ask for the best view that they can give you. They won't bump an ocean view owner for you, but they might be able to put you into one of the better units on the side that faces the marina.

 

[Dean]

With any timeshare exchange, if you're booked into a specific category (size and view), you will probably not get an upgrade to a higher category. There's a direct relationship between room inventory and reservations. Also, timeshare resorts tend to operate at or near full capacity. Together, that means there usually aren't empty rooms that you can be upgraded into.

In comparison, when you book a regular hotel room, the hotel may overbook lower price categories, and there may be plenty of higher category rooms. So some percentage of guests are upgraded.

But don't give up hope.

The original building at Ko Olina has "mountain view" rooms that actually face the marina and the industrial harbor. Although these rooms are officially mountain view rooms, they provide a pretty good ocean view. If you can get one of these rooms for the whole two weeks, I think you'd be pleased.

Also, I would not ask for an ocean view room for just one of the two weeks. For one thing, it would be no fun to check out of one room at 10:00 a.m. and into another room at 4:00 p.m. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if almost every exchange guest asks for an ocean view.

The one advantage that you have is that you're a two-week guest. I would recommend letting them know ahead of time that you're staying for two weeks, and you plan to spend a lot of time on your balcony. Nicely ask for the best view that they can give you. They won't bump an ocean view owner for you, but they might be able to put you into one of the better units on the side that faces the marina.

I'd agree, as an exchanger it never hurts to ask. I think most of the floating week Marriott's have started giving multi week guests a priority over single week guests. But it depends on what you want. If you want one week to be better, you are somewhat likely to get that. If you want the same unit for both weeks, less likely to get a good view.

 

[Emi]

We are presently at the Ko'Olina. We are on an II exchange and own 4 Marriotts including Maui but not here. We called last week to request an oceanview room. At check in we were told they reserve those rooms for owners and cannot give us our request but did give us a room on the 8th floor overlooking the parking garage. Not the best view but much better than the lower floor rooms overlooking the garage. They do not have curtains in the Master Bedroom so you get a show from the top floor of the garage.

Our coffee maker had grinds in the water reservoir. We called guest services and waited half an hour for a second one which turned out to not work. Waited again and spoke to the Manager at the Front Desk. Showed little customer care. Beautiful units and resort but not impressed with the way it is managed.