- Joined
- Mar 10, 2007
- Messages
- 6,814
- Reaction score
- 331
- Location
- 'burbs of Cincinnati, OH
- Resorts Owned
- Used to own: WKORV-N; SVV - Bella
Stayed at WKORV-N 7/12-7/19/08. On the last day we walked over to the south side to check it out. Toured the model room to compare the two sides. Here are my observations.
North v. South
Personally, I preferred the room layout of the north side better as it’s more cohesive for those using both sides. The common hallway in the south side is wasted space.
I preferred the kitchen of the south side. The kitchen, of course, has a full oven (which we missed when our guests bought a Costco take-home pizza), which is lacking on the north side.
The lack of lanai on the south side’s studio side is a true drawback for those who want to split the sides. We gave our guests the suite side and they really, really enjoyed it.
I preferred the décor of WKORV better –N. The blonde wood and light walls gave it an airier feel. The south was also bigger, though not as appreciably larger than I thought it would be.
I prefer the wider lanais of the south property but the furniture of the north. The south had chaise lounges, which are nice but I love candlelit dinners on our lanai. The north chairs were padded and very comfortable. The regular chairs on the south side had no cushion.
The pool at the south side was fabulous with waterfalls, but I also liked the north side. My kids are older and enjoyed the volleyball more than they would have enjoyed a slide. The south side seemed to draw more younger kids while the south side drew more adults. Never had an issue finding an empty lounge chair, even in the shade. In fact, we had no trouble finding 4 together at any time.
The layout of the north side is confusing. Getting to our room meant navigating a long series of hallways/ However, they really leveraged their oceanfront property by giving most rooms a decent view of either the ocean or the pool area. The layout of the south side is simpler. but for the life of me I do not understand why they placed a parking lot in front of one of the buildings! They had oceanfront property to work with and a fifth of the rooms face a parking lot/highway. What a shame. For that reason, I wouldn’t buy OV or IV at the south side.
WKORV-N
General
The location of both properties is outstanding. It’s quieter than resort row on Kaanapali but the resort itself has a great feel to it. It’s elegant without being stuffy. The view is awesome.
Loved the shuttle!! It was very convenient getting to Black Rock and to Lahaina for dinner/shopping. Great idea and a real asset.
Ate dinner in the nicer restaurant the first evening in. The dinner was overpriced but amazingly good, esp the red snapper. We ordered a variety of pastas, fish and steak and 2 bottles of wine. The only thing that was not good was the French onion soup, which was strangely sweet. Cost for 8 of us with tip: $358.
Had a few lava flows from the poolside waiters. The were dee-lish but void of any alcohol.
North side does not have an owner’s lounge. This did not make me happy.
I really miss the oceanfront path that both the south end of Kaanapali and Wailea have. I heard rumors that they are building one and hope it’s true. It’s so nice to be able to stroll along the beach.
The beach out front was narrow this time of year but the kids had fun swimming in it. The adults snorkeled in front of it as well and really enjoyed it.
Tennis courts – There were only 2 tennis courts for all 500+ units. Ridiculous. We had to wait every time we played. There was no sign up sheet and no rules about time limits, age restrictions, etc. The couple before us spent a half hour squeegying the courts the morning after a rain. The staff should have done this. Bad form, Westin. We ended up using the public courts across from the Sheraton.
BBQs were nice. The BBQs by Building 8 were not as heavily used. The adult pool by Building 8 never had anyone in it.
Hot tub was very nice, though I would have preferred it to be in more of a private corner.
Our room was as far away from the parking lot as we could get. Twice we had to pay a bellman to take our groceries up because it was literally a ten minute trek from the parking lot. For those with disabilities, getting to your room could be a real hassle. However, I liked that the north put in a parking garage because it took up less space than the parking lots outside of the south side which detract from the beauty of the property.
Room
My view was outstanding. I was on the 6th level, front building. The previous owner called in the reservation at exactly 12 months out when we were in the process of buying. I honestly did not envy the sister property’s view over mine. However, I DO envy the fact that ocean front to them can only be the units facing the ocean. If we had a guarantee that Starwood would give North owners the view they paid for every time, all my trepidations about buying at the north side would be relieved. But until more owners come back with first hand accounts of getting the view that they paid for, I’d still recommend that ocean front owners buy at the south property.
Form over function
Whoever was in charge of decorating the place chose form over function in several key areas. As an example they installed ivory tile with ivory grout. On a heavily traveled floor. About 1 year later, the grout is the color of dirt everywhere except the closets.
There are also frosted glass doors on both the water closet and the shower. My daughters are in their teens and would not be caught dead showering without the modesty of a door. So anytime one of them was in either area, the entire bathroom was inaccessible to us. Frosted glass would have been fine on the studio side, where you expect to find couples, but 1 bdrm units should offer doors on the toilets and showers.
Bathtub – maybe a lot of you take Jacuzzi baths when you’re on vacation. Personally, I thought it was a big waste of space. I would have much preferred to see less room devoted to that monster tub and more to the common areas. I realize that Westin is leveraging their “Heavenly Bath” theme, but I could have done without it.
The bedroom furniture was shoddy. My husband went to tie his shoe and placed his foot on top of the dresser. When he removed it, the veneer on the front snapped off. Yes, the dressers were made with pressed plywood and veneers. Two of the drawers in the nightstand refused to stay closed. They shouldn’t have cut corners on heavy use furniture and we owners will be paying for new furniture before long.
The carpet was a light print and was already showing stains. I would have preferred to see more tile and area rugs, especially with the amount of sand/dirts that come into the rooms.
TVs were nice if you turned them on. I didn’t.
Showers were nice and large. A stool for shaving would have been nice.
I wish they would have left instructions on whether we should have emptied the fridge before we left. We did, but not sure if this was expected. Ditto on doing dishes, etc.
The bed was outstanding. Very comfy.
It was awesome having two washer/dryers at our disposal. We used it every day.
They should have put a sign up that the a.c. would turn off if the patio door was opened. I knew it from staying in other Hawaii hotels. But a novice would not. FYI, the north side did have screens on their patio doors.
****
Overall, my impression of both properties was really positive. The staff was friendly, the property was well maintained and landscaped beautifully. And my oceanfront room was everything I hoped for. We were very, very happy and our friends were really impressed by the Westin. I’d give it an 8 out of 10.
North v. South
Personally, I preferred the room layout of the north side better as it’s more cohesive for those using both sides. The common hallway in the south side is wasted space.
I preferred the kitchen of the south side. The kitchen, of course, has a full oven (which we missed when our guests bought a Costco take-home pizza), which is lacking on the north side.
The lack of lanai on the south side’s studio side is a true drawback for those who want to split the sides. We gave our guests the suite side and they really, really enjoyed it.
I preferred the décor of WKORV better –N. The blonde wood and light walls gave it an airier feel. The south was also bigger, though not as appreciably larger than I thought it would be.
I prefer the wider lanais of the south property but the furniture of the north. The south had chaise lounges, which are nice but I love candlelit dinners on our lanai. The north chairs were padded and very comfortable. The regular chairs on the south side had no cushion.
The pool at the south side was fabulous with waterfalls, but I also liked the north side. My kids are older and enjoyed the volleyball more than they would have enjoyed a slide. The south side seemed to draw more younger kids while the south side drew more adults. Never had an issue finding an empty lounge chair, even in the shade. In fact, we had no trouble finding 4 together at any time.
The layout of the north side is confusing. Getting to our room meant navigating a long series of hallways/ However, they really leveraged their oceanfront property by giving most rooms a decent view of either the ocean or the pool area. The layout of the south side is simpler. but for the life of me I do not understand why they placed a parking lot in front of one of the buildings! They had oceanfront property to work with and a fifth of the rooms face a parking lot/highway. What a shame. For that reason, I wouldn’t buy OV or IV at the south side.
WKORV-N
General
The location of both properties is outstanding. It’s quieter than resort row on Kaanapali but the resort itself has a great feel to it. It’s elegant without being stuffy. The view is awesome.
Loved the shuttle!! It was very convenient getting to Black Rock and to Lahaina for dinner/shopping. Great idea and a real asset.
Ate dinner in the nicer restaurant the first evening in. The dinner was overpriced but amazingly good, esp the red snapper. We ordered a variety of pastas, fish and steak and 2 bottles of wine. The only thing that was not good was the French onion soup, which was strangely sweet. Cost for 8 of us with tip: $358.
Had a few lava flows from the poolside waiters. The were dee-lish but void of any alcohol.
North side does not have an owner’s lounge. This did not make me happy.
I really miss the oceanfront path that both the south end of Kaanapali and Wailea have. I heard rumors that they are building one and hope it’s true. It’s so nice to be able to stroll along the beach.
The beach out front was narrow this time of year but the kids had fun swimming in it. The adults snorkeled in front of it as well and really enjoyed it.
Tennis courts – There were only 2 tennis courts for all 500+ units. Ridiculous. We had to wait every time we played. There was no sign up sheet and no rules about time limits, age restrictions, etc. The couple before us spent a half hour squeegying the courts the morning after a rain. The staff should have done this. Bad form, Westin. We ended up using the public courts across from the Sheraton.
BBQs were nice. The BBQs by Building 8 were not as heavily used. The adult pool by Building 8 never had anyone in it.
Hot tub was very nice, though I would have preferred it to be in more of a private corner.
Our room was as far away from the parking lot as we could get. Twice we had to pay a bellman to take our groceries up because it was literally a ten minute trek from the parking lot. For those with disabilities, getting to your room could be a real hassle. However, I liked that the north put in a parking garage because it took up less space than the parking lots outside of the south side which detract from the beauty of the property.
Room
My view was outstanding. I was on the 6th level, front building. The previous owner called in the reservation at exactly 12 months out when we were in the process of buying. I honestly did not envy the sister property’s view over mine. However, I DO envy the fact that ocean front to them can only be the units facing the ocean. If we had a guarantee that Starwood would give North owners the view they paid for every time, all my trepidations about buying at the north side would be relieved. But until more owners come back with first hand accounts of getting the view that they paid for, I’d still recommend that ocean front owners buy at the south property.
Form over function
Whoever was in charge of decorating the place chose form over function in several key areas. As an example they installed ivory tile with ivory grout. On a heavily traveled floor. About 1 year later, the grout is the color of dirt everywhere except the closets.
There are also frosted glass doors on both the water closet and the shower. My daughters are in their teens and would not be caught dead showering without the modesty of a door. So anytime one of them was in either area, the entire bathroom was inaccessible to us. Frosted glass would have been fine on the studio side, where you expect to find couples, but 1 bdrm units should offer doors on the toilets and showers.
Bathtub – maybe a lot of you take Jacuzzi baths when you’re on vacation. Personally, I thought it was a big waste of space. I would have much preferred to see less room devoted to that monster tub and more to the common areas. I realize that Westin is leveraging their “Heavenly Bath” theme, but I could have done without it.
The bedroom furniture was shoddy. My husband went to tie his shoe and placed his foot on top of the dresser. When he removed it, the veneer on the front snapped off. Yes, the dressers were made with pressed plywood and veneers. Two of the drawers in the nightstand refused to stay closed. They shouldn’t have cut corners on heavy use furniture and we owners will be paying for new furniture before long.
The carpet was a light print and was already showing stains. I would have preferred to see more tile and area rugs, especially with the amount of sand/dirts that come into the rooms.
TVs were nice if you turned them on. I didn’t.
Showers were nice and large. A stool for shaving would have been nice.
I wish they would have left instructions on whether we should have emptied the fridge before we left. We did, but not sure if this was expected. Ditto on doing dishes, etc.
The bed was outstanding. Very comfy.
It was awesome having two washer/dryers at our disposal. We used it every day.
They should have put a sign up that the a.c. would turn off if the patio door was opened. I knew it from staying in other Hawaii hotels. But a novice would not. FYI, the north side did have screens on their patio doors.
****
Overall, my impression of both properties was really positive. The staff was friendly, the property was well maintained and landscaped beautifully. And my oceanfront room was everything I hoped for. We were very, very happy and our friends were really impressed by the Westin. I’d give it an 8 out of 10.
. That darn airfare is painful, otherwise we might just hop over there. 
