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If you are doing an Interval exchange, your unit at Barony will not be on the beach but in the "garden view" which is in the 2 buildings behind the Westin. The Westin is directly oceanfront.
Not true. I've received Ocean Side twice with Interval exchanges out of my three exchanges. The first time was Garden View and that was a long time ago. I'm Executive and Titanium Elite so that may have been part of the reason. Each time the unit code was definitely ocean side.
I do see a week at Grand Ocean.. I see building spread out bit it seems easy access to the entire resort . So between Barony or GO what one will have the more ocean feel ?
Grande Ocean is the better resort all around IMO. Better location and you are not more than 100 yards from the sand in any building. There are many more things to do on the property. I love Barony's units though.
Grande Ocean is the better resort all around IMO. Better location and you are not more than 100 yards from the sand in any building. There are many more things to do on the property. I love Barony's units though.
SOLD !!!
Grande Ocean it is.
Thanks for all the help everyone....I’m an over thinker and now I can just book and go with it.
I do think the furniture looks outdated but location is more important to me. Even if I have just a peek of the ocean from my balcony I’ll be happy.
If I knew I wouldn’t be stuck in the one section at Barony I’d book there but I don’t want to be in a completely different area than the main resort and no ocean view at all.
SOLD !!!
Grande Ocean it is.
Thanks for all the help everyone....I’m an over thinker and now I can just book and go with it.
I do think the furniture looks outdated but location is more important to me. Even if I have just a peek of the ocean from my balcony I’ll be happy.
If I knew I wouldn’t be stuck in the one section at Barony I’d book there but I don’t want to be in a completely different area than the main resort and no ocean view at all.
All GO units were renovated/refurbished last year, so you're apparently not looking at the most recent pictures.
All units at GO, Barony, and Surfwatch are essentially the SAME furniture (styles, quality, and feel),
same fixtures, accessories and furnishings in general....only different color schemes, etc, etc.
The SAME decorator/designer did them all, and purchased it all from the same sources, and the only difference
will be WHEN they were done----the scheduled roll-over refurbs do happen at different times for each resort,
but they are virtually identical.
All GO units were renovated/refurbished last year, so you're apparently not looking at the most recent pictures.
All units at GO, Barony, and Surfwatch are essentially the SAME furniture (styles, quality, and feel),
same fixtures, accessories and furnishings in general....only different color schemes, etc, etc.
The SAME decorator/designer did them all, and purchased it all from the same sources, and the only difference
will be WHEN they were done----the scheduled roll-over refurbs do happen at different times for each resort,
but they are virtually identical.
GO was updated- except for the bathrooms which were not. The rest of the unit is nice but the bathrooms are very old/tired with a small shower in the master and an outdated jetted tub. They are planning to redo those at some point. The Barony units are VERY nice and they did a great job on the bathrooms (special doors on showers and bathroom entries). Barony have the best decor of the three (even though it was same design group). If you can get Barony oceanfront then that would be my choice. If you are using points the view will be guaranteed but if using interval it will not so that might be you deciding factor.
SOLD !!!
Grande Ocean it is.
Thanks for all the help everyone....I’m an over thinker and now I can just book and go with it.
I do think the furniture looks outdated but location is more important to me. Even if I have just a peek of the ocean from my balcony I’ll be happy.
If I knew I wouldn’t be stuck in the one section at Barony I’d book there but I don’t want to be in a completely different area than the main resort and no ocean view at all.
Are you booking with DC Points? If you book Oceanfront at either Grande Ocean or Barony you will be guaranteed a view of the water. If you book Oceanside you might get lucky and see a little water if you get a high floor assignment but most likely Oceanside will just give you a courtyard view - at least expect a courtyard view and be pleasantly surprised if you can see water. Garden view at Barony will have no chance of a water view.
If you are using II you should not expect to see the water at either place as no view is guaranteed, and owners and DC Points users get a higher priority in unit assignment.
Not true. I've received Ocean Side twice with Interval exchanges out of my three exchanges. The first time was Garden View and that was a long time ago. I'm Executive and Titanium Elite so that may have been part of the reason. Each time the unit code was definitely ocean side.
The unit codes don't actually mean anything for Barony on an II exchange. They will downgrade or upgrade you on a whim. Their policy is actually to downgrade all II exchangers in advance and in my limited experience they do just that by modifying the reservation in marriott.com. You will initially see Ocean Side (or whatever marriott.com labels it) and then at some point it will change to Garden View. You won't know unless you lookup the reservation. Then later just before check-in they may upgrade back to Ocean Side or possibly even Ocean Front.
The unit codes don't actually mean anything for Barony on an II exchange. They will downgrade or upgrade you on a whim. Their policy is actually to downgrade all II exchangers in advance and in my limited experience they do just that by modifying the reservation in marriott.com. You will initially see Ocean Side (or whatever marriott.com labels it) and then at some point it will change to Garden View. You won't know unless you lookup the reservation. Then later just before check-in they may upgrade back to Ocean Side or possibly even Ocean Front.
I have a confirmed exchange at Barony for late January. My confirmation I received in Feb shows ocean front and my Marriott website confirmation also shows ocean front. I also reserved an additional 6 nights ocean front using DC points. I hope the resort doesn't try to change my II exchange.
I would be surprised that a resort can actually change the villa category of an exchange, since an owner reserved and deposited that specific week. Contractually, how can MVC change the category from what was deposited? Owners payed a premium for it and its cost in DC points would also be higher. In my 25+ yrs of owning and staying at various MVC resorts, I've never been upgraded to a higher category. I don't see how they could legally take a higher 'bucket' reservation and convert it to a lower category.
Jim, unless something has changed recently MGO gives Marriott Exchangers and DC points the same priority, at least that's what they say. I know they don't get the info about one being a Marriott owner directly from II anymore but they usually have it in other ways.
I have a confirmed exchange at Barony for late January. My confirmation I received in Feb shows ocean front and my Marriott website confirmation also shows ocean front. I also reserved an additional 6 nights ocean front using DC points. I hope the resort doesn't try to change my II exchange.
I would be surprised that a resort can actually change the villa category of an exchange, since an owner reserved and deposited that specific week. Contractually, how can MVC change the category from what was deposited? Owners payed a premium for it and its cost in DC points would also be higher. In my 25+ yrs of owning and staying at various MVC resorts, I've never been upgraded to a higher category. I don't see how they could legally take a higher 'bucket' reservation and convert it to a lower category.
Technically they can change it, view type is not guaranteed. That said I've seen precious few instances where it was assigned differently (up or down) and lots that have said they lock it in. Ko Olina was 100% hardline on this issue including the EXACT villa type and in general it seems resorts have been more stringent in this area the last couple of years. For example if it was the 2 BR of a 3 BR that is all they would consider.
I would be surprised that a resort can actually change the villa category of an exchange, since an owner reserved and deposited that specific week. Contractually, how can MVC change the category from what was deposited? Owners payed a premium for it and its cost in DC points would also be higher. In my 25+ yrs of owning and staying at various MVC resorts, I've never been upgraded to a higher category. I don't see how they could legally take a higher 'bucket' reservation and convert it to a lower category.
The explanation I have heard is since II does not give the owner any additional trade power because it is an OF unit or guarantee the exchanger any specific view, MVC does not "owe" the exchanger the OF view. So, if their inventory management needs allow MVC to substitute a Garden View or Oceanside unit, they have the right to do so. Maybe that gives them a better view unit to rent on Marriott.com when an Oceanside or Garden owner converts to Bonvoy or one of the other ways MVC can secure rental inventory. Honestly, this seems fair to me, since II doesn't guarantee view, but the inability to secure a specific view with II is one of several reasons we now choose to use points instead of II trades, even though we can in theory get more $$ value with trades.
In places that rank DC Points higher than II, it would only be for points bookings themselves. Points owners who are exchanging through II would still just get II priority.
Jim, unless something has changed recently MGO gives Marriott Exchangers and DC points the same priority, at least that's what they say. I know they don't get the info about one being a Marriott owner directly from II anymore but they usually have it in other ways.
I'll certainly trust your knowledge of GO since you've worked that assignment process over more than probably about any one! That would explain why we got a terrible room assignment there in April 2018 (first floor above parking in one of the back buildings farthest from the ocean) even though we were on a DC Points booking. I do know that some resorts give a higher priority to DC Points bookings over II (I believe both Waiohai and Maui Ocean Club do it that way), but apparently MVC gives the individual resorts some latitude in how they rank their assignment priorities.
I’m aware that the view is not guaranteed and I’m good with that.....I’ll have my coffee on the beach then.
We are trading with II so, that being said we’ve been pretty lucky with a Marriott in the past.
I'll certainly trust your knowledge of GO since you've worked that assignment process over more than probably about any one! That would explain why we got a terrible room assignment there in April 2018 (first floor above parking in one of the back buildings farthest from the ocean) even though we were on a DC Points booking. I do know that some resorts give a higher priority to DC Points bookings over II (I believe both Waiohai and Maui Ocean Club do it that way), but apparently MVC gives the individual resorts some latitude in how they rank their assignment priorities.
They told me this specifically both 2 years ago and for this July, that they treat them the same. 2 years ago I only had points and owned weeks, this year with had all 3 types though other than 4 owned OF weeks they were all OS. My understanding is this is the basic direction from MVC though a portion of the resorts micromanage the details both in this area as well as those owning at that resort but not using their week. Personally I think they should stratify DC above exchangers, even MVC ones, but below owners but I understand it can get confusing. Plus I learned a long time ago if you don't like the answer call back and you'll get a different one. I find GO and most resorts try really hard to hold this tiger by the tail. I've seen lots of unreasonable complaints and meltdowns at the FD and owners meetings in the past. One thing GO does, or at least say they do, is they alternate higher and lower floors for owners using their week. Realistically this likely means 4th or 5th floor one year and 3rd the next.
For us personally I try to be very flexible and understanding as someone has to get the dumpster view. I can only think of one situation where I truly had issues with room assignments enough to actually complain, that was at Ko Olina in 2018 where we had 4 units spread out on opposite ends of the resort. It did impact our experience and IMO, it didn't have to be that way. There were 3 issues that combined to sabotage us. One is they were absolute in the EXACT unit type for exchanges without regards for any other factors. Another is they caved to a complaint on the day of arrival and gave away one of our rooms and then assumed we'd rather be in 2 buildings on opposite ends than 3 buildings which was incorrect in that exact situation. Even then I didn't go "complain" as I wasn't there at check in making a grocery stop, I waited until midweek and went and talked to the FD manager. It would have stopped there had he been appropriate but he was intent on "educating me" on the assignment issue and he was wrong in his information. So I asked for an audience with the GM which was arranged and we had a very good discussion (He, another higher manager and the Waiohai GM where we'd be the next week who was onsite). We discussed that it appeared to me that Ko Olina had seen a change from common sense to absolute in unit assignments including exchanges (where they have latitude) and the GM took responsibility for that change which I appreciated. I came away from the meeting with the impression they'd try to put a measure of common sense back into the process. To be fair the % of owners that week was much higher than it normally is which certainly made it more difficult to work around other requests. When the COO called me to arrange the meeting he was gracious enough to let me know about the unit change, I would not have known otherwise. And while this may have added fuel to the fire for some, I always appreciate honesty, esp when it isn't favorable to them and has the potential for being used against them.
For GO this summer I'm sure having 10 Saturday units and 1 Friday unit with 3 points weeks & 1 exchange week made it a little challenging but they came through with flying colors. We requested Dolphin as one of 2 buildings with both OF & OS but we are fully prepared to be in 2 buildings given the specifics. Dolphin is less requested than Starfish, I'm sure that helped some. We actually have more units next year with 9 owned and a few points reservations all Sat start days so I'm skeptical if they can honor the request of being all in 1 building but we'll at least try and I'm sure they will as well. Fortunately this year Kim and I had a great view unit as the last 3 trips it's worked out where we had a poor view through no fault of the resort.
I’m aware that the view is not guaranteed and I’m good with that.....I’ll have my coffee on the beach then.
We are trading with II so, that being said we’ve been pretty lucky with a Marriott in the past.
Make your request straightforward and as simple as possible. I'd either request "best view" or a specific building highest floor possible which for an exchange is likely to be second floor. Do you have the exchange in place already?
Make your request straightforward and as simple as possible. I'd either request "best view" or a specific building highest floor possible which for an exchange is likely to be second floor. Do you have the exchange in place already?
I’m going to do it in the morning.
In the past I’ve always received an email asking preference and any special occasions. We are celebrating our 35 wedding anniversary and we are going the very end of February into March.
Fingers crossed is all I can do. It will be nice to not be in -0 temps....60’s are good for me
I’m going to do it in the morning.
In the past I’ve always received an email asking preference and any special occasions. We are celebrating our 35 wedding anniversary and we are going the very end of February into March.
Fingers crossed is all I can do. It will be nice to not be in -0 temps....60’s are good for me
I didn't realize you were going in the HHI cold season. Others may have more direct experience, but my suspicion is that will be a much lower occupancy time of year, hence you may have a better chance of a somewhat better view.
I’m going to do it in the morning.
In the past I’ve always received an email asking preference and any special occasions. We are celebrating our 35 wedding anniversary and we are going the very end of February into March.
Fingers crossed is all I can do. It will be nice to not be in -0 temps....60’s are good for me
Since you're going off season your chances of success are much higher though the principles remain the same. Do you know the actual unit type of the exchange? Maybe you'll get lucky and it's an OF unit. I wouldn't call yet, see if you can add your Bonvoy # to the reservation first on Marriott.com. They will email you. I found they were assigning units later this year than in our previous experiences. They assigned about 5 days out this year where it was about 1.5 weeks the last 2 times. I got the impression they had changed their routine.
We were in HHI in April 2018 when on a couple of days the temps stayed in the 60s. Walking on the beach those colder mornings was COLD, at least for us. We had to go buy some jackets. We were at Grande Ocean but were wishing we had the fireplaces at Heritage Club. For us beach weather is upper-70s/low-80s to mid-90s.
You are correct though on the temps for late Feb/early Mar. Expect highs in mid-60s and lows in low 50s/upper 40s. Warmer days might get into low 70s, but a cold snap could still send lows down to low 40s or even mid/upper 30s.
I have a confirmed exchange at Barony for late January. My confirmation I received in Feb shows ocean front and my Marriott website confirmation also shows ocean front. I also reserved an additional 6 nights ocean front using DC points. I hope the resort doesn't try to change my II exchange.
I would be surprised that a resort can actually change the villa category of an exchange, since an owner reserved and deposited that specific week. Contractually, how can MVC change the category from what was deposited? Owners payed a premium for it and its cost in DC points would also be higher. In my 25+ yrs of owning and staying at various MVC resorts, I've never been upgraded to a higher category. I don't see how they could legally take a higher 'bucket' reservation and convert it to a lower category.
I hope you do end up with the Oceanfront view but I would be very surprised if you actually do.
Routinely I used to get Oceanfront views thru my exchanges to HHI up until about 2011 but since then it hasn't happened.
Marriott knows they can sell that view and obtain a higher dollar amount as a result (vs. a Garden View) so I believe your view will be altered prior to arrival. The only thing in your favor is that you will be there in the Bronze or Silver Season and occupancy will be far lower than normal.
Please come back and let us know what you actually do end up with, and Best of Luck!
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