The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas

LisaRex · Feb 20, 2015

YYJMSP said:
There is no "gold select season owner" at SVR -- you owned Platinum or Gold Plus.

Gold Select refers to the single internal blended redemption rate for SVR owners booking at SVR with SO's. Non-SVR owners booking at SVR with SO's used the Platinum or Gold Plus redemption rates.

Did it actually say the season had been changed, or just that the SO's associated with their existing season had been changed?

The email I got just said I was getting more SO's, nothing about a change in seasons. But my units were already Platinum season, so perhaps I got a different email than those owning Gold Plus season...

Ah, okay, thanks for the clarification. I thought Gold Select was the name of the season. In any event, I wasn't suggesting changing seasons for WKORV owners anyway, because Starwood cannot mess with deeded rights. Rather I was hoping that they'd overlay seasons for SVNers exchanging in, so that owners could still book a villa with 148,100 SOs. Overlaying seasons would muddy the waters, which I hate, but it'd be easier to stomach than raising the entire resort out of price range of so many SVNers.

Since Nanea isn't scheduled to open for 2 years, I wonder when they'll start actively selling it? It'll be nice to have actual information in front of us so that we can plan accordingly.

topdog · Feb 20, 2015

Noise issue during construction?

We are looking forward to an exchange into WKORVN for a week beginning August 28. First time in that area in 25 years. Any guess on how bad the construction noise might be in the unit or on the beach?

Am I correct to infer that the snorkeling there is not that great? I'm new to snorkeling and got spoiled when I saw a turtle in Wailea last year. Leave the snorkel at home and enjoy other things?

YYJMSP · Feb 20, 2015

LisaRex said:
Since Nanea isn't scheduled to open for 2 years, I wonder when they'll start actively selling it? It'll be nice to have actual information in front of us so that we can plan accordingly.

I would suspect one year in advance of occupancy. That's how they were/are controlling inventory at WDW during construction.

VacationForever · Feb 20, 2015

YYJMSP said:
There is no "gold select season owner" at SVR -- you owned Platinum or Gold Plus.

Gold Select refers to the single internal blended redemption rate for SVR owners booking at SVR with SO's. Non-SVR owners booking at SVR with SO's used the Platinum or Gold Plus redemption rates.

Did it actually say the season had been changed, or just that the SO's associated with their existing season had been changed?

The email I got just said I was getting more SO's, nothing about a change in seasons. But my units were already Platinum season, so perhaps I got a different email than those owning Gold Plus season...

Gold Select is II's designation for SVR 1-52 blended weeks for the phases that are fixed/float. However in SVN, I have never seen a "Gold Select" listed against my SVR week. I believe it was listed as "Flex".

This was the announcement for bumping the 90K SOs for 2BR LO to 95.7K SOs: As a result of your new StarOptions value, the Gold Select season is no longer applicable. You will now be able to reserve a seven-night stay in Platinum season in the villa type you own.

This "blended" SOs of 90K bump to 95.7K applies to all 2BR LO weeks, regardless of what the fixed week is.

Henry M. · Feb 20, 2015

topdog said:
We are looking forward to an exchange into WKORVN for a week beginning August 28. First time in that area in 25 years. Any guess on how bad the construction noise might be in the unit or on the beach?

I would not expect any major noise issues from WNOV at WKORV-N. They are fairly far apart. I stayed at WKORV in building 2 when building 3 was being built, and noise was not a problem. They are pretty good about this, and these properties have some distance between them.

Am I correct to infer that the snorkeling there is not that great? I'm new to snorkeling and got spoiled when I saw a turtle in Wailea last year. Leave the snorkel at home and enjoy other things?

The snorkeling in front of WKORV and WKORV-N is very nice. Do bring your snorkel. We see turtles regularly, and there is a lot of life on the reef. The comment above was about the area between WKORV-N and WNOV. Where you will be staying, snorkeling is great.

Ken555 · Feb 20, 2015

YYJMSP said:
I would suspect one year in advance of occupancy. That's how they were/are controlling inventory at WDW during construction.

I suspect that may be more due to their failure with WMH North since they starting selling a right to buy for $1000 before receiving legal/local/State/whatever approval to actually build and then ran into problems. I don't recall all the details but have them somewhere since I actually bought one of those options to buy and then had about a year to convince myself out of it (and did receive a full refund). I doubt their sales organization wanted to sell something without full approval again. The new Maui property may be different, especially since they've already started working on the building...they may start selling sooner than you think, and offer some alternative use package for the first year or so, or just a better price...

Sent from my iPad

topdog · Feb 20, 2015

emuyshondt said:
I would not expect any major noise issues from WNOV at WKORV-N. They are fairly far apart. I stayed at WKORV in building 2 when building 3 was being built, and noise was not a problem. They are pretty good about this, and these properties have some distance between them.

The snorkeling in front of WKORV and WKORV-N is very nice. Do bring your snorkel. We see turtles regularly, and there is a lot of life on the reef. The comment above was about the area between WKORV-N and WNOV. Where you will be staying, snorkeling is great.

Thank you, I feel greatly relieved. :whoopie:

alexadeparis · Feb 20, 2015

LisaRex said:
However, I'm not actually suggesting that Starwood would try to change seasons for OWNERS of WKORV/WPORV now. Since the entire year is platinum plus, that'd be a pointless exercise anyway. No, I'm suggesting that they might overlay seasons into the SO chart for folks exchanging IN, IOW charging exchangers 176,700 SOs for Jan/Feb/Mar exchanges and 148,100 for Oct/Nov/early Dec exchanges. (Owners exchanging OUT would all have to be given 176,700 SOs, of course.)

The only reason I'd even suggest overlaying seasons now is because I'm convinced that an increase in SOs for WKORV is extremely likely now that they are going ahead with Nanea. (Feel free to disagree with me.) And IF they do this, they risk a huge backlash from other SVNers, the vast majority of whom bought under the 67,100/81,000/148,100 SO chart.

It's one thing to increase SOs to 176,700 in platinum + season at a resort like WSJ, which has 3 seasons, because an exchange is still attainable for most owners, albeit in shoulder/low season. It'd be quite another to do this at a resort that has 1 season year round, and you've just priced the most popular resort out of range for a huge percentage of your owners. And note I wouldn't have dreamt that they'd increase the SOs to 176,700 at WKORV absent the WSJ increase. I never thought I'd see a 2 bdrm in platinum season be priced above 148,100. Now I believe that 176,700 is going to be the new norm for the upper tier resorts, and the others (WKV, WMH, WLR) will be left at the lower rate. It's a roundabout way of resetting the SO chart to be more in line with supply/demand.

Anywho, that is my latest stream of consciousness. I actually look forward to seeing what they're going to do. If they leave it at 148,100 SOs, that works for me, but it would leave me even more confused as to why they singled out WSJ.

The following is absolute conjecture of mine with no concrete facts to back it up: One resort does not a trend make. I think they singled out WSJ because 1) it is literally the smallest number of units for an ultra premium resort and 2) very few exchanges were available precisely because they had set the staroptions too low and given the high MF, no one in their right mind would release their WSJ unit for less time / smaller size unit elsewhere using staroptions. The SO bump addresses that disparity and provides incentive for WSJ owners to try someplace new. However, at that same time, they really wanted to make WSJ available to their 3,4, and 5* elite before the "normal 148,100 so owner", and therefore put those units just outside their reach unless they decide to bank, whereas the elite owner waltzes right into WSJ with no problem.

I really don't see them adjusting elsewhere, in my personal opinion. I have only used staroptions twice, once was to get into WSJ and the other to go to HRA. HRA had plenty of availability, WSJ was slightly more difficult. So I would be very surprised if the Nanea had higher staroptions.

YYJMSP said:
Pure speculation on my part -- but it would make sense to me for SVO to make a Sheraton trust and a Westin trust.

Ok, my turn for pure speculation. For the most part, I do think that they will eventually create a Westin style trust. If you look at the SO chart, the remaining resorts already not named in the "five resorts placed in the Sheraton trust" are all 148,100 and higher, if I'm not mistaken. I think you will eventually see a trust with those remaining resorts,but perhaps with only the voluntary resorts in it. The Mandatory ones will probably not be part of that since they have resale value.

vacationtime1 · Feb 20, 2015

alexadeparis said:
. . . .

Ok, my turn for pure speculation. For the most part, I do think that they will eventually create a Westin style trust. If you look at the SO chart, the remaining resorts already not named in the "five resorts placed in the Sheraton trust" are all 148,100 and higher, if I'm not mistaken. I think you will eventually see a trust with those remaining resorts,but perhaps with only the voluntary resorts in it. The Mandatory ones will probably not be part of that since they have resale value.

They don't need to. If Starwood wanted, it could allow resale owners of voluntary Westin resorts into SVN which already has most of the functionality of a trust for exchange purposes. Starwood could make this offer on a one-time basis, on an ongoing basis, limit it to the current owner, or even make the newly-acquired SVN rights transferable (in effect, making the unit the equivalent of a mandatory resort unit). Of course, Starwood could charge for the privilege as does Marriott.

It strikes me that many WMH, WPORV, WLR and other resort owners would pay a lot for this "enhancement" and it would be pure profit to the new Starwood spin-off company.

YYJMSP · Feb 20, 2015

sptung said:
Gold Select is II's designation for SVR 1-52 blended weeks for the phases that are fixed/float. However in SVN, I have never seen a "Gold Select" listed against my SVR week. I believe it was listed as "Flex".

There were two different SO charts for SVR (see attached for the internal one). This is like the overlay that someone suggested for WKORV/N...

Gold Select was the internal SVN season name given to SVR owners wanting to book SVR outside of their Home Resort period.

If you owned SVR you could book within your season (Platinum or Gold Plus) by the week, or outside your season at the blended internal Gold Select SO rate. Platinum owners had to pay more than the Gold Plus rate to book in Gold Plus season, while Gold Plus owners paid less than the Platinum rate to book in Platinum season.

If you didn't own SVR you booked at the Platinum or Gold Plus SO rate. The problem there was that SVR Platinum season owners were paying more SO's (76000 SO's for a 2BR) to book a Gold Plus season week than non-SVR owners (67100 SO's for a 2BR). This has been fixed by getting rid of the Gold Select internal season.

The units have always remained Platinum (Prime) and Gold Plus (High) season.

The adjustment in SO's was something else, likely to equalize SVR with the other Sheraton trust properties?

This is all changes in the SVN club layer...

DavidnRobin · Feb 20, 2015

topdog said:
Thank you, I feel greatly relieved. :whoopie:

The snorkleing in front of WKORV and WKORVN is great - a good-size reef extends from the public beach next (south) of WKORV to the north boundary of WKORVN - you can see it on Google maps and Google earth.

I have 1000s of UW photos and 100s of UW video of all sorts of sea life.

as such…

Hello! this guy was about 5ft long

triangulum33 · Feb 21, 2015

alotofgolf said:
as an owner of 2 weeks there (north) I don't like this for construction/disruption reasons then 1k more people right there on the beach and walkway

solitude of this vacation will be a thing of the past

only upside...maybe resale values will climb dramatically if SVN prices or "points" the new units into the stratosphere

I tend to agree. I worry about the beach being busy.

GregT · Feb 21, 2015

David, those are great pics....thanks for posting them!

topdog · Feb 21, 2015

David,

Thanks for the photos!

Packing List:

Maui Jim sunglasses - check
Snorkel and Mask - check

Ken555 · Feb 21, 2015

triangulum33 said:
I tend to agree. I worry about the beach being busy.

It's a large beach. If you require 20 ft between yourself and another then you might have a problem, but otherwise I doubt this will be an issue for any except those who desire solitude. Let's not forget that there will be another public park in the green space between WKORV-N and the new resort, and while that will bring local visitors (similar to the public access south of WKORV) I suspect there will not be an issue with the beach.

This beach area will still have significantly less rooms than at the Whaler's Village area hotels, which I would agree is too congested.

Sent from my iPad

mjm1 · Feb 21, 2015

David, thanks for posting your pictures. I will need to snorkel there when we are on Maui in April. The weather didn't cooperate the last time we were there.

Mike

Ken555 · Feb 21, 2015

mjm1 said:
David, thanks for posting your pictures. I will need to snorkel there when we are on Maui in April. The weather didn't cooperate the last time we were there.

Mike

Morning hours usually offers better snorkeling near WKORV, as the water is calmer, etc.

Sent from my iPad

DavidnRobin · Feb 22, 2015

From mid-Sept 2014
our daily spot (morning set-up i shade) in front of B2 - blue umbrella [BlackRock in distance]
shot from walkway beach stairs between WKORV (B2) and WKORVN (B5)

Our spot mid-afternoon (typical cloud cover over Lanai)
no one is standing barefoot on that hot sand for more than a few seconds

Robin checking out Rays in above photo

Tangs!

tomandrobin · Feb 22, 2015

A new resort.....finally......sort of.

Good news for West Coasters!

SDKath · Feb 27, 2015

tomandrobin said:
A new resort.....finally......sort of.

Good news for West Coasters!

I'm excited! :cheer:

farsighted99 · Oct 14, 2016

DavidnRobin said:
The snorkleing in front of WKORV and WKORVN is great - a good-size reef extends from the public beach next (south) of WKORV to the north boundary of WKORVN - you can see it on Google maps and Google earth.

I wonder if that is "Hank the Tank". He usually hangs out a Black Rock (near the Sheraton)... He's friggin' huge...

I saw him in the water and he looked the same. Course, I couldn't tell one turtle from another. But he seemed to be the only giant one. He's been there forever. Sea Turtles live a very long time.

DavidnRobin · Oct 15, 2016

This was a moderately sized turtle - probably not Hank.

farsighted99 · Oct 17, 2016

DavidnRobin said:
This was a moderately sized turtle - probably not Hank.

Hank hangs around Black Rock. Make sure you go there and see him.... I think he's like 90 years old or something.

farsighted99 · Oct 17, 2016

Meanwhile, waiting for Nanea to be finished. Opens in May next year?

I have a 1 bedroom, but so far, haven't seen one availability for it... I read somewhere there were 52 of them. Lots of 2 bedrooms though (but I don't have enough points or really need a two bedroom).

Planning on going there in 2018... but might be tempted if there was any availability.... nice, new resort. Looks lovely.

Kildahl · Jan 16, 2017

I am presently at WPORV and the folks in the "ocean front" studio next to me are Nanea owners. They said they were told that they have a priority for existing units at the WKORVs until their resort opens but were given this studio as the WKORVs were full. Hmmmm-priority? Look forward to talking to them further.

The Westin Nanea Ocean Villas

LisaRex

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topdog

YYJMSP

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