californiagirl
TUG Member
We returned tonight from a week at the Marriott Waikoloa Ocean Club. We had a great week. For a little background my husband and I stayed the same February/March week in 2008 on the hotel side. We did not have a good experience. The “ocean view” (not!) room, the surly staff, the property in general were all in bad shape in 2008. Our expectations were low, but we looked at the location of the MVC ocean view rooms and read recent reviews and decided to give it another try.
We had the EXACT OPPOSITE experience this time. The whole property received a facelift with half of it transitioning to timeshare. The lobby is beautiful and open air. Each and every staff member we encountered was genuinely friendly and welcoming. We were supposed to arrive at noon but our flight was cancelled because of weather 15 minutes prior to boarding. We felt very fortunate to be placed on another flight later in the day, however we arrived at 11:00 pm completely exhausted. (With the time change we had been up nearly 24 hours.) The woman at the front desk was so gracious and kind. She went out of her way to accommodate us. We expected to get the worst room in the resort. When she gave us our room keys she said this was the best ocean view, 1 bedroom on property. She was right! We were in room 6101...top floor with a direct panoramic ocean view from both rooms as well as the balcony. The sunsets were spectacular. The picture is from our balcony. Several of the reviews stated that they did not like the feel of the new rooms. We liked them. They are contemporary and the colors soothing. The couch was very comfortable to lie or sit on. The kitchen was small but had everything we needed. The toaster, blender and rice cooker are in the cabinet by the dining table.
The shops near the resort have improved since last time we were there. The Island Gourmet in Queens Marketplace is a kicked up ABC store. Full bakery, hot and cold deli, large variety of fruits and vegetables whole or sliced, meat counter in addition to general groceries. The warm mochi mango malasadas are delicious. It’s a good thing I can not get them near my house.
Bottom line I would go back there and would highly recommend this property. I’d be happy to answer questions.
Our destination is always a couple of weeks at Waiohai. Yes, the villas are a bit modern, but nice and new. Can just look outside and get lots of Hawaiian. 
