Ko Olina OGS still not filled after 8 months [Ko 'Olina hotel being re-flagged]

I put in a request beyond 13 months before check in for Ko Olina and MM1 in April this year for a Low season last week of May to 1st week of June 2015. My request is still pending. I used my locked off units to exchange for Ko Olina and Maui. Is this unusual? I hear of everybody's success and am starting to lose confidence in an exchange coming through. I'm tired of checking multiple times a day.

I used a 2BR Waiohai unit to place ongoing searches for multiple Marriott destinations and after many many months I finally gave up. An acceptable place and location showed up on II's website and I manually snagged it. It was not a Marriott and not premium time.

My search included places like 2BR Marriotts in Hawaii for prime summer and Spring Break. It also included ski locations for Spring Break and Grand Ocean for prime summer. I am thoroughly convinced that Marriott now holds back ultra premium units for the DC and releases them to II only when they are ready to release them.

The old idea of having your search in place at 13 months and hoping to snag a great unit as soon as another makes a reservation and deposits doesn't work anymore. That other owner's unit will not readily be made available to II.

Our request for a Kauai Marriott for the first week of February just matched at the 60 day out mark. Only put in the OGS about 6 weeks ago. Already made the FF air reservations and had a backup cash reservation just in case. Will need to keep looking to see if we can get a checkin date of Saturday vs. the Sunday we have (using E-trade) but if not we again have a backup cash reservation for Saturday only now, but much better than paying for the entire week. We put in all the Marriots and a few others and we were confirmed into the Marriott Waiohai. Traded a 2 bedroom platinum Shadow Ridge and requested a 2 bedroom. I think the trades are just now coming in closer to the actual checkin date (ie 60 days or less) now so if you can make a backup reservation and wait until at least after the 60 day make, you may get something that way.

SkyBlueWaters said:

I put in a request beyond 13 months before check in for Ko Olina and MM1 in April this year for a Low season last week of May to 1st week of June 2015. My request is still pending. I used my locked off units to exchange for Ko Olina and Maui. Is this unusual? I hear of everybody's success and am starting to lose confidence in an exchange coming through. I'm tired of checking multiple times a day.

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Despite what many say here on TUG, this is not that unusual for Ko Olina. It is not always an easy exchange. I have relatives who own EOY at Ko Olina and locked off and deposited their 2013 unit. They then put in an ongoing search for 2014 to try to go back in their off year to their home resort (Ko Olina) in a studio and a 1BR--so they requested two "like-for-like" exchanges with a wide range of check-in dates. They would have been happy with even one of the matches coming through, but it didn't and about 3 months out, after almost 9 months of waiting, they accepted an exchange to a 1BR Kauai Beach Club (came through fast as usual after they added it to their search) and another exchange to a mainland 1BR ski resort. This is despite their Marriott preference AND being an exchange from a like unit at the same resort.

I think one problem is that, while there are a lot of unis at Ko Olina, most owners do not deposit them into II since the DC was introduced. Ko Olina owners who are in DC can usually get better values from exchanging their weeks for a relatively large number of DC points. That is what we do, where before we often used our 1BR lockoff and deposited the studio.

Sigh. This is frustrating. I was assured by the Marriott desk otherwise last year...I picked the lowest of the low season for this reason thinking surely they will release and bulk deposit those.

I think you'll get what you want, but it you'll have to wait for a developer deposit (I would guess January). From my limited experience, I find that requesting Marriott lower season weeks in Hawaii can be a bit more of a challenge than expected at the 12 month mark since everybody who is on the ball is requesting the highest TDI week possible to deposit. Just an observation with no empirical data, but perhaps this is your problem with the May OGS.

SkyBlueWaters said:

Sigh. This is frustrating. I was assured by the Marriott desk otherwise last year...I picked the lowest of the low season for this reason thinking surely they will release and bulk deposit those.

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I would stick it out and quit worrying. I too think you'll get your trades. Just check your emails daily. Marriott will eventually release some of those units to II, and since your desired dates are not high demand, you won't have as much competition from other Marriott owners.


Is you MOU unit platinum?

Looks like the 2014 bank for May didn't happen until Feb 2014: http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206526&highlight=olina

I think it should still be an ok time to get airfare unless you are using miles. I'm pretty sure that I have seen sales at that time of year.

What unit size are you requesting?

Yes, my MOU is ski week. However, deposited just a little outside the 60-day period. I used a studio to request a Ko Olina, and a 1 br for the Maui property.

Of course, the requests are limited by the size of my units but am hoping for an upgrade.

Thanks for the link! Will watch out in February. Hopefully, no one else has the bright idea of going on low season.

I've travelled during that region of time the last couple of years to Ko Olina and I think you will get it as well. Patience young grasshopper, it will come. Ko Olina is still a relatively hidden gem and not as high demand as Maui. On a consistent basis I have seen alot more availability there in 2 br units most frequently than Maui. There has been many weeks deposited during this time the past few years.

SkyBlueWaters said:

Of course, the requests are limited by the size of my units but am hoping for an upgrade.

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Just make sure to add eplus and plan on doing manual searches during the last month before check in.

Not sure if this is an issue but the JW is closing. rumor has it that those reserved in the JW after December have been moved to the beach club. not sure of the credibility but could be a reason.

SkyBlueWaters said:

I put in a request beyond 13 months before check in for Ko Olina and MM1 in April this year for a Low season last week of May to 1st week of June 2015. My request is still pending. I used my locked off units to exchange for Ko Olina and Maui. Is this unusual? I hear of everybody's success and am starting to lose confidence in an exchange coming through. I'm tired of checking multiple times a day.

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I assume you want to go over Memorial Day weekend, which is probably complicating the search. If you wait until you get closer, within 60 days, you"ll "probably" get your request. As others have stated, make sure you add E-Plus.

If you could extend your search to add a few weeks before and after Memorial Day, I'm sure you'd get your trade sooner.

Are you trying to get a 1-BDRM or studio? There are usually a lot of studio's available and I can usually retrade up to a 2-BDRM, but I don't uusually see a lot of 1-BDRMS when I'm searching and retrading. We're at Ko'Olina now. I used my 1-BDRM to get a 2-BDRM at Waiohai next week. I used a studio to get a studio at Ko'Olina and then retraded up to a 2-BDRM.

A couple of weeks ago, I used a 1-BDRM to request a 1-BDRM in Aruba for May/June of 2015. About a day later I got a 2-BDRM over the last week of May and the 1st week of June

Ron98GT said:

I assume you want to go over Memorial Day weekend, which is probably complicating the search. If you wait until you get closer, within 60 days, you"ll "probably" get your request. As others have stated, make sure you add E-Plus.

If you could extend your search to add a few weeks before and after Memorial Day, I'm sure you'd get your trade sooner.

Are you trying to get a 1-BDRM or studio? There are usually a lot of studio's available and I can usually retrade up to a 2-BDRM, but I don't uusually see a lot of 1-BDRMS when I'm searching and retrading. We're at Ko'Olina now. I used my 1-BDRM to get a 2-BDRM at Waiohai next week. I used a studio to get a studio at Ko'Olina and then retraded up to a 2-BDRM.

A couple of weeks ago, I used a 1-BDRM to request a 1-BDRM in Aruba for May/June of 2015. About a day later I got a 2-BDRM over the last week of May and the 1st week of June

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One word: Jealous.

LOL seriously, thanks so much for giving me some hope. And yes, Memorial Day weekend is my request. But even when it was originally May 8, it didn't come through during the 12 ro 13 month period.

JCerniglow said:

Not sure if this is an issue but the JW is closing. rumor has it that those reserved in the JW after December have been moved to the beach club. not sure of the credibility but could be a reason.

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Where did you hear this? That is sad. That is one beautiful property. My husband and I partied with the NFL probowlers by chance when we stepped out of the overpriced Azul. We at least got the chance to enjoy the place.

SkyBlueWaters said:

Where did you hear this? That is sad. That is one beautiful property. My husband and I partied with the NFL probowlers by chance when we stepped out of the overpriced Azul. We at least got the chance to enjoy the place.

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It was announced back in August; here's a link to an 8/13/14 bizjournals.com article that begins:

The JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina Resort in Hawaii will close in early 2015 and undergo an extensive renovation and reopen "under one of the top luxury brands in the world," according to a letter to Ko Olina residents from master developer Jeff Stone obtained by PBN. ...

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As far as the rumor, Marriott, Int'l can't move any guests from their hotels to any of MVW's timeshare units unless MVW releases units to MI for that purpose, or in this case unless any Ko 'Olina Weeks Owners (including MVW for the Weeks they own and/or have conveyed to the DC Trust) have given up their usage for those Weeks in exchange for Marriott Rewards Points. MVW can't release any units to which Owners have rights, so any intervals that MI has at their disposal to house the hotel guests wouldn't be in the pool that's available for Weeks Owners, DC Members and II exchangers to book anyway.

Plus, generally when there are months lead time before an expected closure, like there has been in this case, they stop taking reservations for dates after the closure as soon as the announcement is made. The only guests that will require re-housing are those who made their reservations prior to the announcement and MI has had plenty of time to contact them.

Ko Olina OGS still not filled after 8 months

SkyBlueWaters said:

Where did you hear this? That is sad. That is one beautiful property. My husband and I partied with the NFL probowlers by chance when we stepped out of the overpriced Azul. We at least got the chance to enjoy the place.

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I just walked back from the hotel. Employees don't know what's going to happen. They have to take all the sharks, rays, & other sea life from the pools, because the Four Seasons wants to expand the swimming pool.

Really windy here today. Rained yesterday. Still luving paradise. Also like this half marina & half ocean view.


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Four Seasons has better Food And Beverages department. Maybe a good thing for us Ko Olina guests. Anyway...still waiting.

Last days of JW Marriott Ihilani Ko Olina Resort-being Reflagged

If this has been reported, I missed it and am sorry....

Just read this on Flyertalk:

Four Seasons has purchased the JW Marriott Ihilani Ko Olina property so the resort is closing down Jauary 10th 2015 for a full year to renovate and transform to a mixed use of condos and a hotel. They will reopen early December 2015. All the staff will be given chance to work here again... in a year... job fair for them this weekend.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/...esort-four-seasons-to-offer-luxury-hotel.html