I used my points to trade into Hyatt Regency
I did an RCI exchange last year using my HGVC points for one week at the Hyatt Regency Maui. Yes it was a hotel room, but it was Maui. We also have had trouble trading into a RCI property on Maui due to low availability. I think the resort has since undergone a renovation. I'm not sure we would do it again, just because we have become spoiled staying at TS properties. We did the best we could to use the fridge for meals or snacks (prices at resort were high), and not bump the minibar to avoid getting charged for something! LOL.
After a week at Hyatt Regency, we rented a TS rental through vrbo.com in Kihei for 3 nights. We were much more comfortable there. We have also rented at Grand Champions in Wailea through vrbo.com. Both were very positive experiences.
When comparing the nightly rental to the HGVC open season price, we found that the rental price through VRBO was about the same (if you want to think of it that way).