Updated my Waiohai pictures (m)

We spent spring break at Waiohai. I took a lot more pictures of the beach and threw in some of our snorkel pictures. The week was amazing and love Poipu Beach (wish I lived there). Anyways, click this link to see them ---

http://travel.webshots.com/album/163673217mSYpVS

The new pictures are about half way into the album. The first one is labeled April 2011.

If you have any questions let me know. We've been visiting since 2004.

Thanks!

Wow! I really enjoyed looking at those. What a great resort.

Thanks for sharing. Was this a hotel converted to a MVCI?

Waiohai was built specifically as a MVCI property. Marriott's Kauai Beach Club had previously been a hotel.

Ann in CA said:

Waiohai was built specifically as a MVCI property. Marriott's Kauai Beach Club had previously been a hotel.

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I am only aware of two hotel conversions that MVCI did. That is Kauai Beach Club and Maui Ocean Club.

Wow !! What a very detail slideshow description of your villas and the resort grounds.

Thanks for the info. It just surprised me as it did not look as themed as the other MVCI's properties we have stayed at or been to. It looked very low key. Is it one of the older ones?

davewasbaloo said:

Thanks for the info. It just surprised me as it did not look as themed as the other MVCI's properties we have stayed at or been to. It looked very low key. Is it one of the older ones?

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I think, it was built in 2002 or 2003. It is new resort in my eyes. There was a hotel there previous but Hurricane Innki (spelling??) destroyed it. There was a hotel next door that was destroyed as well and was just recently redone.

I'm not sure what you mean by theme. It has a lot of nice touches throughout the unit like pineapple wood carving on the chairs; tropical looking lamps, etc... I thought it was similar in design to Timberlodge & Ko'Olina. Shadow Ridge has a really boring design if you ask me.

In general the public areas at this resort like the lobby, bars, marketplace and game room are small.

In general Hawaii is more laid back especially Kauai. The other resort Kauai Beach Club which is a converted hotel rooms has tons of theme. HUGE lobby that goes for miles so, if that is what you are looking for I'd stay there over Waiohai. But do realize you give up the beach for lobby. We are total beach people so, Waiohai fits us better.

Thanks for posting these. I appreciated seeing the photos of the remodeled units. The red carpet is bold, but I like it.

It seems that MVCI is making their remodeled rooms look more generic (less tropical) with their new decorating choices. I noticed the same thing with the newly-remodeled units at Kauai Beach Club. I don't say that's a bad thing - the rooms still look very nice. But from the furnishings alone you wouldn't necessarily know if you were in Hawaii, Florida, or California.

I think that was my point gblotter, and especially the outside. I have stayed in Playa Andaluza, Marbella, Son Antem, Ile de France (where we own) and Newport Coast. I have looked into Williamsburg and Phuket.

all of them are very distinct and themed to their areas. I suppose with all the praise I have heard about the Hawaii resorts, I was surprised to see generic looking buildings and polystyrene ceiling tiles in the owners lounge.

I am sure it is a lovely resort (the pool and beach look nice) and I am sure the service is great. It just caught me by surprise.

davewasbaloo said:

I think that was my point gblotter, and especially the outside. I have stayed in Playa Andaluza, Marbella, Son Antem, Ile de France (where we own) and Newport Coast. I have looked into Williamsburg and Phuket.

all of them are very distinct and themed to their areas. I suppose with all the praise I have heard about the Hawaii resorts, I was surprised to see generic looking buildings and polystyrene ceiling tiles in the owners lounge.

I am sure it is a lovely resort (the pool and beach look nice) and I am sure the service is great. It just caught me by surprise.

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Dave, the outside has looked the same since I've owned which is pretty much since the beginning of time. So, nothing really has changed much there. The insides were remodeled a little bit. Going back through my pictures I see that they took away the flower arrangements that they had on the coffee table, etc.. I knew it looked different but I couldn't remember.

We've been to Newport Coast and Williamsburg and the structure of the buildings are totally different there so, now I can see where you are coming from. From what I remember of Williamsburg it is more colonial type buildings and it looks it. Newport Beach reminded me of the Greek look in the common areas. They also had more fun things like the human sized checker board, basketball, etc... But the building structure is the same with the stucco look. It sure does make Waiohai look boring but don't let that deter you from staying as the beaches and lovely scenery there make up for it.

I think, everything else at Waiohai the lobby, game room, restuarant, etc... were an afterthought. Seriously, they did not put any thought into them. Not sure why either.

I think that is what surprised me. Given I imagine the Hawaiian resorts are ones where folks spend a lot of time on resort, I guess I was picturing something a bit more stereotypical hawaiian themed.

davewasbaloo said:

I think that is what surprised me. Given I imagine the Hawaiian resorts are ones where folks spend a lot of time on resort, I guess I was picturing something a bit more stereotypical hawaiian themed.

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The resort I'm most looking forward to seeing is the DVC resort on Oahu. I bet Disney will make that a very themed type resort.

I've never stayed at other resorts like Hilton or Hyatt and those might be more Hawaiian themed.

When we go to Waiohai we leave the room very early to explore the island and then, we come back around dinner time and BBQ. We love watching the sunsets from Poipu Beach. They are just amazing. At night they do light up the resort tiki torch lights and there are the meandering pathways with the pond. There is also a famous Swan that lives on the property. Everything is green and lush so, it reminds me of Hawaii. I know the building is boring as well as the hallways but my understanding is that it can withstand a very strong hurricane. The previous hurricane wiped out the resort so, I do think they were thinking more on the engineering side when they built the resort.

I've yet to go to a European resort to compare but hopefully, one day we can trade over the pond. We've stayed at two hotels over there the Reinaissance at the Barcelona Airport and also the one in London. I should probably post those pictures.

Tina

Oh ya, I am looking forward to Aulani.

ciscogizmo1 said:

The resort I'm most looking forward to seeing is the DVC resort on Oahu. I bet Disney will make that a very themed type resort.

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We took an onsite tour of Disney Aulani this past April (mid-construction, complete with hard hats). It is heavy on Hawaiian theme as you might expect, but still very tasteful. The water park will be spectacular. All very kid-friendly of course.

My biggest concern about Aulani is the unavoidable overcrowding that will come as a result of putting so many people onto such a small piece of real-estate. The resort is HUGE! I'm willing to tolerate crowds at Disney theme parks, but not so much at a destination like Hawaii where I expect a degree of peace and relaxation.

That was my impression too when we did the tour. At that time, non of the landscaping was in so all you saw was concrete and dirt. This is what I like about the Marriott next door as it seems more relaxing. There is more space.

We were there in March on a quick tour and it didn't look crowded at all even though they were practically full. The lagoon wasn't crowded either but that may change once next door is open.

We never felt crowded at the MOC either but we never sit at the pool where it is crowded as we prefer the grassy space in front of the new towers and the beach has lots of space in front of the resort.

iconnections said:

That was my impression too when we did the tour. At that time, non of the landscaping was in so all you saw was concrete and dirt. This is what I like about the Marriott next door as it seems more relaxing. There is more space.

We were there in March on a quick tour and it didn't look crowded at all even though they were practically full. The lagoon wasn't crowded either but that may change once next door is open.

We never felt crowded at the MOC either but we never sit at the pool where it is crowded as we prefer the grassy space in front of the new towers and the beach has lots of space in front of the resort.

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How was the erosion at MOC? In 2009 they had tempoary paths next to the beach because the old one were about to cave in, as were many trees.

Hi Terry,

I don't believe that the erosion got much worse from the last two years. Here are some pictures of this year with links from the same spot taken in 2009 or 2010. The beachwalk in front of the Lahaina tower has been replaced and was moved further from the edge. It took two years!

In front of the Lahaina tower in March this year.



Here is the picture from March 2009.

Beachwalk in front of the Hyatt Regency this year.



Here is the picture from March 2010.

Beachwalk in front of the MOC this year to the right of us. I don't see much difference from last year.



Here is the picture from March 2010.