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Worst timeshare resort you've stayed in?

DeniseM

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Here on TUG we share the good and the bad. You may disagree with some of the posts, and if it is about a resort you own, maybe you find it irritating, but we aren't going to hide the info. just because it's negative.
 

Passepartout

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Actually, skimbal, the oldest report in this thread is less than eight years old, not 18 as you charge. And it was about a Gold Crown resort in San Francisco. I suspect since then many folks have stayed in far worse accommodations. Me included.

Like all review sites, like tripadvisor or TUG, or cruisecritic, take the outliers- either positive or negative- with several grains of salt and look at the aggregate.

I hardly ever even look at this thread and if it hadn't been brought up again I'd have continued to ignore it. I do my research BEFORE I book a resort rather than whine about it after the fact.

Best wishes for your hoped-for outcome or one that you can live with.

Jim
 

Egret1986

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I think Skimble was referring to these posts; yes, from 18 years ago

I stayed there in 2003. Old and dirty. Not one bar of soap or shampoo or any cleaning detergent in the kitchen. No paper towel in kitchen. Cheap toilet roll, cheap towels in the bathroom. We stayed away all day and came back to sleep. Did not bother to check out the facility and activities.

We made the mistake of exchanging to this resort when there was Fisherman Wharf's timeshare at Punta Gorda, which we were really there to visit.

This was years ago (1996), but my husband and I wanted to do a quick, local ski vacation getaway.

At the time, we owned a week in Hawaii and had been given an extra "bonus" week with RCI as a thank you for turning in our week to be rented out.

We used it to book Endless Mountain Resort in PA.

The two weeks before we were to go, the temperatures were unseasonably warm so there was no skiing at the Elk Mountain ski resort. But since it was winter, they'd taken the shoes off the horses so there was no horseback riding. There was no restaurant. There was an indoor pool and hiking in the surrounding woods, but that was about it.

The condos were split-level townhomes with the bedrooms on the lower floor. They were very nice except that the lower floor of our unit felt really strange. It's hard to explain, but I got a terrible creepy feeling when I was down there. It freaked me out so much that we ended up sleeping on the pull-out sofabed on the upper level.

When we mentioned the lack of stuff to do, the manager snidely told us that it was a "very quiet resort." There's "quiet" and then there's dead. This one was dead.

We lasted 4 days then went home. The following year, we traded into Smuggler's Notch and had a wonderful time.

Stayed there about 18 yrs ago, in New Orleans, in a unit that was supposed to be for 4 people.
It was an II exchange.
My parents came and stayed with us. The square footage in that unit barely allowed us room to breathe.:eek:
It had 1 bedroom with no space around the bed, no place to hang clothes, no dresser. You had to walk through the bathroom to get into the bedroom! The sleeper sofa was worse than sleeping on the floor.:annoyed:
The crazy thing was when we first got there, they gave us keys to a different unit and that was a bigger/better unit but they came up after we walked into the room and said they made a mistake and had given us the wrong keys and then stuck us in the little 'closet' room. I complained and said we would like to be in a better unit and that the unit we were given was unacceptable. Of course they didn't have any other units available and the place was under construction so we were stuck. :mad:
I told II that they better take that unit out of the available units or let people know if they are exchanging into that unit that it was the size of a glove box so at least you can go in knowing what you will get.

Lots can change in 18 years, 17 years and 10 years; or not.


Actually, skimbal, the oldest report in this thread is less than eight years old, not 18 as you charge. And it was about a Gold Crown resort in San Francisco. I suspect since then many folks have stayed in far worse accommodations. Me included.

Like all review sites, like tripadvisor or TUG, or cruisecritic, take the outliers- either positive or negative- with several grains of salt and look at the aggregate.

I hardly ever even look at this thread and if it hadn't been brought up again I'd have continued to ignore it. I do my research BEFORE I book a resort rather than whine about it after the fact.

Best wishes for your hoped-for outcome or one that you can live with.

Jim

But like you, I only looked at this thread today because there was some recent activity. This would not be my go-to place in researching a resort.
 

Saintsfanfl

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It never entered my mind that this thread had any real "review" substance. But more of a place to vent about your worst timeshare experience. To me it has always been about sharing and entertainment. I love this thread and wish people added to it more often. My problem is that in my very short timeshare life, I have not had a bad experience. I have TUG to thank for that!
 

MichaelColey

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It never entered my mind that this thread had any real "review" substance. But more of a place to vent about your worst timeshare experience. To me it has always been about sharing and entertainment. I love this thread and wish people added to it more often. My problem is that in my very short timeshare life, I have not had a bad experience. I have TUG to thank for that!
Exactly!

I can't say that my stays have been problem-free, but most of them have been fabulous and I have the members of TUG to thank for most of that. Sharing both the good and the bad is how we learn.

And we can (or SHOULD anyway!) learn from more than just the recent past.
 

tombo

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Exactly!

I can't say that my stays have been problem-free, but most of them have been fabulous and I have the members of TUG to thank for most of that. Sharing both the good and the bad is how we learn.

And we can (or SHOULD anyway!) learn from more than just the recent past.

Most of my exchanges have been great too. Perhaps I am not as picky, or perhaps I am just reasonable and don't expect EVERYTHING to be perfect.

I posted about reviews people leave but decided it was better in the "about the rest of TUG forum" under the "Fairness on reviews of TS locations? " thread.

I appreciate it when people take the time to review resorts and relate their experiences (both positive and negative). However when people carry out a personal vendetta giving a resort a rating of 1 out of 5, or a 1 out of 10 (here, RCI, trip adviser, etc) because they had a minor problem or 2 , or because they didn't like the front desk employee(s), or because they didn't get one of the best views, or because they didn't get a renovated room, or because they weren't upgraded, or because everything wasn't perfect, that is a disservice to all who own there, manage it, or are considering visiting the resort IMHO.
 
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Jimster

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bad timeshares

Some 250 posts ago I thought this was thread was a bad idea. My opinion remains unchanged. It has nothing to do about the worst timeshare. It has everything to do with the writers worst timeshare experience. These are two different things. Maybe you didnt have a good experience. Maybe you want to vent. Maybe you want to apply your own silly criteria to the resort. However, that doesnt mean the TIMESHARE is bad.

Obviously, anyone can have a bad experience in ANY timeshare. If you are the one person in 10,000 that has ants in your room, maybe that leads you to the conclusioin that it was a terrible experience. That doesnt mean that the other 9,999 people also had a bad experience-perhaps quite the contrary.

What people can do is write a full review in an objective manner and let others determine if this is the type of resort they want to spend their time but to throw the entire timeshare under the bus because of their special problems is at the very least myoptic and at most a terrible disservice to the timeshare community.

As it stands now, there are some superb timeshare resorts now on the list. Its too bad that people have chosen to distort reality based upon their unique experience.
 
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gnorth16

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If I want reviews, I look at the resort reviews on the red bar above or Trip Advisor. If I want an interesting read, I read this thread.

As with any comments, I look at the nature of the complaint, the impact on the vacation as well as the date and take all reviews with a grain of salt.
 

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Disney's Boardwalk Villas owns this distinction for us. Sad, because we're actually owners there. It wasn't even a trade. That unit was GROSS. The resort compensated us $150 because of the state of the room. If we could have just gotten our points back, we would have gone home after the first night. It was that bad. Even "DVC Member Satisfaction" was surprised by the pics of the grossness that I sent...and she confessed that they get a LOT of complaints about the state of the resort. Made me really wonder where my dues go...
 

CO skier

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This thread has inspired me to enter a review for the worst timeshare stay I ever had. I hope it helps someone avoid what I endured.
 

rapmarks

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I stayed in Lehigh Resort for six weeks in 2003 and one week at Fisherman's Village. So I had to laugh a that report. every week, Lehigh gave a big bag full of supplies, all the things that poster said were not there. It was not old and dirty, and they had great activities and amenities. We stayed at Fisherman's Village before it was forced to remodel due to hurricane. It had a lot of problems, and you were above a shopping mall with little security and little reprieve from the noise. It was old,, but not dirty. I had trouble with ants, the bed was missing the center pedestal so was caved in.You shared the pool with all the people staying on their boats int he marina, as well as all the people in timeshare. Poster would not have liked it at all. despite all the things I mentioned, we enjoyed the stay there, but probably would not go back.
 

vacationhopeful

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Disney's Boardwalk Villas owns this distinction for us. Sad, because we're actually owners there. It wasn't even a trade. That unit was GROSS. The resort compensated us $150 because of the state of the room. If we could have just gotten our points back, we would have gone home after the first night. It was that bad. Even "DVC Member Satisfaction" was surprised by the pics of the grossness that I sent...and she confessed that they get a LOT of complaints about the state of the resort. Made me really wonder where my dues go...

That reminded me of MY RCI stay at BWV (first time at DVC)... the first unit was a STUDIO unit with the prior guests' food still in the refrigerator along with a dirty bathroom and towels. I WHINED about being GROSSED out, was upgraded and wisked away immediately to a 1bdr which could have won the award For UNIT "as far as possible from the elevators" ... except there were 2 units still down the hall from mine. Even a bellhop who walked one time with me .. told me that was the LONGEST hallway in all of Disney. After 2 days, you just TRUMPED down the hall ... like in a military march with the wooden hallways echoing every foot step. I really don't recall seeing or hearing ANY other guests near me and my lonely hallway ... it was quiet.
 

Kauai Kid

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Worst timeshare ever is Banff Gate Mountain Resort in Alberta. They claim to be in Canmore Alberta but are actually at Dead Man's Flat Alberta.

Check out my review. -10*

A runner up was a resort years ago in Atlantic City NJ but the resort and Atlantic City have both closed down.

Sterling
 

clifffaith

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The LA Times occasionally has a "vacation horror stories" write-in in the Sunday travel section. Some years ago there was a story about a bad rainstorm at a resort with thatched roofs. Front desk handed out umbrellas to be used INSIDE because scorpions were dropping out of the thatch and onto the guests. The woman writing the story stayed huddled on the sofa in the lobby as scorpions bounced off her umbrella. I think they'd have to commit me after that. So I figure nothing could be worse than that! Faith
 

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Worst Exchange - Westgate Town Center in Kissimmee FL

I just joined this group a few minutes ago. My first and only exchange so far and it was an awful experience this past April. I was told by Intervale that this was a premier property. The property didn't compare at all to my property in Cancun but this was my first time so I wasn't sure what I was doing, I was just excited to find an open resort near Disney to take the kids on shorter notice. I didn't get a washer or dryer, I had to be moved, the room above us leaked and water was coming down our ceiling and walls and almost ruined our laptop, ipads, etc. The tiles on the floor in the bathroom were all loose and the bedding was stained. It was a zoo there with other people partying all night till all hours in there room (had to be moved again bc of the neighbors blasting music till all hours) ..The staff was very nice but the place just didn't do it for me. It was close to Disney though so it was conveniently located.
 

hajjah

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Ok, I thought I'd share my worst experience in our twenty years of timesharing.

Sunset Ridge Villas, St. John, US VI NEVER AGAIN! We left this place after one night:

Date of stay: July 16, 2011.

We exchanged into Sunset Ridge for a week. We left after the first night! I could not wait for RCI to open the next morning to get us out of there. We were in Unit C, which supposedly had just been updated. The only thing we could see were some new cheaply made cabinets. Everything else was dilapidated. Even the kitchen utensils were corroded and could not be used. We could not even boil water since the tea pot was corroded with rust.

There were bugs everywhere!!! It was impossible to use anything in the kitchen because of the bugs, which we sprayed numerous times. The top of the garbage can was full of bugs. I left my luggage on top of the dining room table to prevent the bugs from crawling inside. One of my friends awakened during the night while sleeping upstairs only to find her chest full of bugs!!! Her luggage and pocketbook were also full of bugs. I had a sleepless night from not wanting to close my eyes in this place. At 8:00 AM the next morning, I was on the phone with RCI requesting for them to get us out of that place. I had numerous mosquito bites just from one night of being in this villa. I slept for about 2 hours on the old worn sofa by putting a sheet on top. I was not about to pull out that sofa bed. There are no curtains to prevent the neighbors across the street from looking directly into the kitchen and living room. Upon our arrival when the agent was showing us the pool, there was animal feces in several places near the pool, which she seemed to think was fine. So, were we supposed to look at the feces an entire week??? She made no mention of having someone come to remove the feces. I guess it would have to stay in the same spot until it was washed away by the rain? This place was horrible.

I notice that there are some updated reviews about this place. Oh well, the bottom line is that we all have different standards. What is good to some people might be a dump to others. TUG is the best ever! We don't accept a trade without checking on TUG.
 
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bhrungo

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I'm not surprised one bit! We used to live right behind Sunset Ridge over 20 years ago, it was pretty crummy back then. The only thing that was nice back in the 90's was the pool. Sorry you had a miserable time.





Ok, I thought I'd share my worst experience in our twenty years of timesharing.

Sunset Ridge Villas, St. John, US VI NEVER AGAIN! We left this place after one night:

Date of stay: July 16, 2011.

We exchanged into Sunset Ridge for a week. We left after the first night! I could not wait for RCI to open the next morning to get us out of there. We were in Unit C, which supposedly had just been updated. The only thing we could see were some new cheaply made cabinets. Everything else was dilapidated. Even the kitchen utensils were corroded and could not be used. We could not even boil water since the tea pot was corroded with rust.

There were bugs everywhere!!! It was impossible to use anything in the kitchen because of the bugs, which we sprayed numerous times. The top of the garbage can was full of bugs. I left my luggage on top of the dining room table to prevent the bugs from crawling inside. One of my friends awakened during the night while sleeping upstairs only to find her chest full of bugs!!! Her luggage and pocketbook were also full of bugs. I had a sleepless night from not wanting to close my eyes in this place. At 8:00 AM the next morning, I was on the phone with RCI requesting for them to get us out of that place. I had numerous mosquito bites just from one night of being in this villa. I slept for about 2 hours on the old worn sofa by putting a sheet on top. I was not about to pull out that sofa bed. There are no curtains to prevent the neighbors from across the street from looking directly into the kitchen and living room. Upon our arrival when the agent was showing us the pool, there was animal feces in several places near the pool, which she seemed to think was fine. So, were we supposed to look at the feces an entire week??? She made no mention of having someone come to remove the feces. I guess it would have to stay in the same spot until it was washed away by the rain? This place was horrible.

I notice that there are some updated reviews about this place. Oh well, the bottom line is that we all have different standards. What is good to some people might be a dump to others. TUG is the best ever! We don't accept a trade without checking on TUG.
 

ThreeLittleBirds

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several "worsts"

This may surprise some, but we found Sands of Kahana to be the our worst timeshare experience.

The rooms are huge but dated, and we had no problem at all with that. Our son loved all the space (we live in a very small house).

The beach and the pool, however, were a total deal breaker for us. The pool was freezing cold. Granted, I am water temp sensitive, but it was miserable. And the beach is small and has a concrete wall that spans the backside. Also, there were lots of cigarette smokers on the beach. Gross. We were supposed to be there for 2 weeks, but fortunately something showed up at Ko'Olina as a last minute trade and we booked flights, went to Oahu, and surprisingly really loved it there.

Up there in the "worst" category was Hale 7 at Marriott Waiohai. The view is terrible. I don't need an ocean view, and in fact, request an island view (specific) room when at the Westin Kaanapali, but this view was miserable. It really wouldn't take much to up the foliage and improve the experience.
 

rickandcindy23

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Funny to me to see Waiohai and Sands of Kahana as someone's worst experiences. Sands is pretty nice, and Waiohai is top Marriott quality. Ocean views are not guaranteed for exchangers. Our favorite Maui resort has no beach, but we own and have a view, 50 feet from the water. You must stay in some amazing places.
 

ThreeLittleBirds

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Funny to me to see Waiohai and Sands of Kahana as someone's worst experiences. Sands is pretty nice, and Waiohai is top Marriott quality. Ocean views are not guaranteed for exchangers. Our favorite Maui resort has no beach, but we own and have a view, 50 feet from the water. You must stay in some amazing places.

Worst is relative, although I will say I found the beach to be depressing at SOK. I'm not sure if the water is always so muddy, but it was super muddy when we were there.

And I know there are no guarantee views. My hopes for a view are for foliage at the very least, and in fact, I quite enjoy a foliage view. Electrical wires, parking lots and a road are not my cup of tea. The rest of the resort is fine. My main problem is that I think it could be a very easy fix with planting trees and such.

Again, this is all relative and very subjective. Funny thing, on the first page of this thread you say you don't like Spinnaker and that is one of our all-time favorite timeshares! :)
 

alexadeparis

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I just joined this group a few minutes ago. My first and only exchange so far and it was an awful experience this past April. I was told by Intervale that this was a premier property. The property didn't compare at all to my property in Cancun but this was my first time so I wasn't sure what I was doing, I was just excited to find an open resort near Disney to take the kids on shorter notice. I didn't get a washer or dryer, I had to be moved, the room above us leaked and water was coming down our ceiling and walls and almost ruined our laptop, ipads, etc. The tiles on the floor in the bathroom were all loose and the bedding was stained. It was a zoo there with other people partying all night till all hours in there room (had to be moved again bc of the neighbors blasting music till all hours) ..The staff was very nice but the place just didn't do it for me. It was close to Disney though so it was conveniently located.

Now you know why around here we call it "Wastegate" LOL

Worst place I ever stayed was Shell's Desert Rose in Vegas. Hoes on the stroll right outside, seedy neighborhood, people coming up to my husband selling "watches", a fellow guest barbequing in the bushes, and on and on. NOT a relaxing vacation.
 
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rickandcindy23

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Worst is relative, although I will say I found the beach to be depressing at SOK. I'm not sure if the water is always so muddy, but it was super muddy when we were there.

And I know there are no guarantee views. My hopes for a view are for foliage at the very least, and in fact, I quite enjoy a foliage view. Electrical wires, parking lots and a road are not my cup of tea. The rest of the resort is fine. My main problem is that I think it could be a very easy fix with planting trees and such.

Again, this is all relative and very subjective. Funny thing, on the first page of this thread you say you don't like Spinnaker and that is one of our all-time favorite timeshares! :)
Spinnaker in Dillon is actually pretty nice. I shouldn't have said that, when I didn't really know about it personally. I really was thinking of Orofino.

SOK has some bad views, and one of my friends just stayed there and was disappointed in a view of the parking lot. But otherwise, she thought it was fine. The water gets muddy along the shore on Lower Honoapiilani Road because the waves really get stirred up, most especially in winter.
 

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Worst Was Coral Baja San Jose Del Cabo

I wrote a Tripadvisor review. Old units, work right above us jackhammering tile. Construction noise during the day made the room unbearable. Good thing, because we came up from the pool one day, and the shower ceiling was collapsed, with exposed Mexican quality wiring and all. We could have been killed if we were showering. Front desk moved us. Next, I come up to our new room, and the electronic door mechanism won't work, even from the inside the door would not open (my wife was trapped in the room, and had to crawl out a window). The grounds were shabby and dangerous as well. In a strip of plants along the pool, more quality Mexican wiring exposed for kids to touch. Grounds were watered with grey water (sinks and shower discharge), and the place had a septic tank smell. Oh and NO compensation whatsoever from the manager for these issues. In fact, she was VERY rude.

Two years later the Coral Baja was wiped out by a hurricane. Best thing for it really.
 

HappyGoLucky

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This may not seem like "the worst resort" to many, but it was for us, considering the other places we've stayed at. It may also be considered as the a worst resort experience or a series of unfortunate events. But... It's our experience.

As a last minute attempt to utilize my points in RCI and to spend time with visiting family, I decided to make accomodations at The Sea Village in Kailua Kona. Before going, we were well aware that resort did not have any AC. However, it was an ocean front resort with a small but quaint garden and a decent pool, with celing fans in the room. It didn't seem like an issue with any of us.

Upon booking, RCI charged me $60 for the reservation. I smirked while I entered my payment and figured it was cheaper than full price. When we got to the resort, about 7:30pm, we found that the front desk remains closed after dark. To receive the key to the room, you must use the phone located on the outside of the front desk's office, right along the main road. Talk about having a screaming match, just to hear the person on the other end and to confirm my identify. The noise from the busy traffic on Ali'i drive is very loud! I constantly looked over my shoulders in the dark because I was there alone. Had I known the front desk was closed, I would've sent my husband to stand in the dark and "check in". Unfortunately, available parking was not near the front desk at that time. That was a total FAIL on the resorts attempt to offer convienece and safety!

When we got to the room, the fans did not work. Fortunately, the men in our party are contractors. They checked everything with an attempt to trouble shoot and possibly fix it, if it didn't require tools. The fan remote controls did not require batteries and there was no obvious reason that it was not working. It was assumed that it was an internal, electrical issue. Had they had the tools available, I think they would've really got to the bottom of it.

I picked up the room phone to contact "someone on site" but the phones were not working as well. No dial tone, no connection! I walked around the property looking for an employee and couldn't find a single person or custodian available that night! Really?! We all took a shower before heading to bed. Fortunately 1 ceiling fan in one of the rooms were working that night. The windows in the other room had the sliding door to the patio had to remain open all night. We woke up sweating and showered again before running out of the room. It really felt like we were in an oven!

In the morning, it was required that we go to the front desk and officially check in. That took about 40 minutes. I was the only person checking in and there were 2 employees behind the desk. :ponder:

After notifying the front desk, we waited 2 hours for someone to come to the room. When I returned, their friendly custodian replaced the phone and could not find a problem with the fan. My husband explained the situation and suggested that the fan may not be connected to the electricals in the ceiling or may not be connected behind the wall plate because everything else was working properly. He then contacted someone who actually installed those fans. A few hours later, he returned and said that he was notified by the installer,that those fans had a battery located in the wall controls. When he removed the wall plate, low and behold, there was a place for a battery. To my luck, he also learned, a few hours after researching, that they do not carry that battery anywhere on the island. It had to be a special order.

As an act of desperation, I suggested that he remove the battery from an unoccupied room until the new one came in. To my surprise, due to recent renovations, the room we were in was one of a few rooms that had the same newly installed fans. Unfortunately, a few of the other units were occupied and the unoccupied rooms were also without batteries. The batteries were ordered and tracked to arrive the afternoon we were checking out!

Upon checking out, I was charged another $60+ for taxes. I believe I knew that at the time of booking but didn't feel like paying another penny after the gruelling nights in the sauna. It was the worst use of my points and $120 EVER SPENT ON ACCOMODATIONS and to boot, a mediocre office staff.

I believe the heat would not have been a big issue if we went at any other time of the year. What made it worse was the fact that Hawaii was experiencing a heat index of over 100 degrees that week, thanks to El Niño. We were sweating profusely all night.
 
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