Marriott Maui Ocean Club.. Is it that bad?

[taterhed]

There's a Foodland and Safeway in Lahaina. The Safeway is bigger and open 24 hours. There's a Longs drugs and ABC store as well (liquor).
The Times is past the resort up past the Westin. We like the times, but I'd stop at Lahaina on the way in.

Safeway (a mid-level grocery) will give you the card at checkout.

The best choice is to visit Costco by the airport IMHO.....

cheers.

 

[hajjah]

Thanks so much!

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I just checked reviews for marriott maui ocean club and quite shocked by nasty reviews... most of recent reviews said the rooms are dated, stained, stink, etc...
...
I am very sad as a Marriott owner, I thought Marriott brand name guarantees a certain quality and service level.
Any thoughts or sharing your experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

When I looked at the trip advisor reviews, I see a good looking satisfaction histogram. 86% of the reviewers found the place either good or excellent. Only 6 percent for the unit poor or Terrible. When I looked at the TA reviews for Westin, the shape of the histogram looked almost identical. No significant difference in the histogram. You will always find a few people who are unhappy and write bad reviews. I think that there was only one review that addressed the rooms as being dated, stained, etc. Sometimes I read bad reviews and realize that the person is actually reviewing a different timeshare complex. Sometimes the reviewers are angry and tend to embellish. Sometimes maybe they just got a room that had problems that are atypical. So my advice is to largely ignore those few bad reviews as being out-liers and look more on the shape of the histogram.

 

[mjm1]

We just checked in the MOC in an Ocean Front 1BR unit in the Lanai tower. We had stayed in an OV 1BR last year, so before the remodel. We are very impressed with the unit and happy they remodeled. We like the color scheme and the addition of a 3/4 sized refrigerator is a very welcome change. They also have dish washer in the kitchenette. There is a 55” LG LCD TV in the living room and a 43” unit in the bedroom. Both rooms feel spacious. Both bathrooms have also been remodeled.

The only thing that we can think of them improving is to put a higher table on the lanai, so it would be comfortable eating out there. They currently have 2 chairs and a small short side table.

We would definitely stay in this type room again. We will be here for three nights and then move to an OF 1BR in one of the new towers.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[hajjah]

Mike, thanks for the information. We're there for 7 nights as of tomorrow, then moving to the Residence Inn and Courtyard before returning home. I'm on the 9 nights in 90 days platinum challenge, so that is the reason for two different hotels. We're not Costco members anymore. Bulk shopping is not for us. We will probably shop at Safeway and maybe Walmart just to check it out.
I did contact the resort last week about getting an updated unit. They advised me that all of the units have been updated, so I am very happy. Oh, I also requested a unit closer to parking since we are seniors and my sister uses a cane for walking. I am still working on a few tours. There are many places to visit, but we may not be able to do the Hana tour because of the terrain. My sister has back problems. I will try to see as many places as possible while driving during this vacation.

 

[taterhed]

Congrats to you!

 

[hajjah]

We arrived last night around 8 PM and have been assigned to a 9th floor ocean front unit. The unit is really nice. We are quite a distance from the lobby, but the bellman told us last night that we can request a wheelchair for my sister to be taken to the lobby area daily. The views from our unit are amazing. I plan to book our road to Hana tour today, but cannot decide on the resort's tour or Valley Isle. The price is about the same. Is one any better than the other?

 

[taterhed]

We arrived last night around 8 PM and have been assigned to a 9th floor ocean front unit. The unit is really nice. We are quite a distance from the lobby, but the bellman told us last night that we can request a wheelchair for my sister to be taken to the lobby area daily. The views from our unit are amazing. I plan to book our road to Hana tour today, but cannot decide on the resort's tour or Valley Isle. The price is about the same. Is one any better than the other?

Definitely get the banana bread on the road to Hana tour. It really is a treat.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

[taffy19]

We arrived last night around 8 PM and have been assigned to a 9th floor ocean front unit. The unit is really nice. We are quite a distance from the lobby, but the bellman told us last night that we can request a wheelchair for my sister to be taken to the lobby area daily. The views from our unit are amazing. I plan to book our road to Hana tour today, but cannot decide on the resort's tour or Valley Isle. The price is about the same. Is one any better than the other?

You have an amazing view! I am happy for you. Yes, the bellman will come with a wheelchair if you need it and help with your groceries too.

Who does the resort use? Find out if they will stop by the Charles Lindbergh's grave long enough to see it and walk around and see the church inside, if you like. Also, ask if they stop at the "Halfway to Hana" stand too where you can buy banana bread from their own banana trees amongst other goodies.

Our TUG friends who we meet in Maui every year didn't stop there. They went on a bigger tourbus. I don't know which one but I could find out.

We have gone to some of the tour information presentations on the other islands and then booked the tours that they recommended but we don't need to do this in Maui because we have been there so many times so book online. We liked the Valley Isle tour and would go with them again but yours may be just as good.

Have a great time!

 

[mjm1]

We arrived last night around 8 PM and have been assigned to a 9th floor ocean front unit. The unit is really nice. We are quite a distance from the lobby, but the bellman told us last night that we can request a wheelchair for my sister to be taken to the lobby area daily. The views from our unit are amazing. I plan to book our road to Hana tour today, but cannot decide on the resort's tour or Valley Isle. The price is about the same. Is one any better than the other?

Congratulations on a great room assignment. We spent three nights in an OF 1BR on the fourth floor in the Lanai tower and enjoyed that view, so your must be amazing. We are now in the Lahaina tower in an OF 1BR on the sixth floor. The view is breath taking!

Enjoy your time here and your trip to Hana. We plan to drive there some time this week. Also, PM me if you would like to meet while we are both here. We leave next Saturday.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[slip]

I did the Valley Isle tour and thought it was very good. They stopped for banana bread and a nice long stop at the sacred pools plus a stop at Lindbergh's grave. Really nice tour.

 

[taffy19]

Yes, the Valley Isle tour does stop at both places but not all tours do.

 

[taterhed]

Wow. I had no idea the tours went all the way to Lindberg's grave. That's special.
Do they eat lunch in Hana?

IF so, the Thai food place there is really really good.

 

[hajjah]

We scheduled the Valley Isle tour through the resort. I was able to charge the tour to our room rather than booking online for the $10 discount. This way I will earn reward points.

 

[hajjah]

We had a bad storm last night and no power until a half hour ago. I could only think about the people who have been without power since the recent hurricanes. Since we are on the top floor, we are blessed to have the power back or we would have been confined to our unit until the elevators were working again. The sun is trying to break through. Other than a problem with the AC units, we have no complaints. The AC is a new unit and will not shut off using the thermostat. I have developed a cold from sleeping in a room at about 65 degrees, which is too cold for me. I take medications which causes my fingertips to get numb if I’m too cold. The maintenance techs spent 2 hours in our unit last night trying to correct the problem. They are scheduled to return today with more crew to figure out the problem. I really don’t want to move to another unit. Our view is amazing.

 

[csodjd]

Heard on the news today that the entire island of Maui was without power due to the severe storm that passed through.

 

[NTP66]

My wife and I used Valley Isle, as well. If you luck out and get Charlie as your driver, be prepared to laugh pretty much the entire trip. That was an incredibly fun tour for us.

 

[taterhed]

Well, if you're going to sit in the dark for a few hours....I can't think of a better place than staring out at the ocean on K-beach.

Hope it's all you expected and more!

 

[NboroGirl]

We're leaving for Maui Ocean Club in two days and I forgot to inquire about where to shop for groceries near the resort? We aren't arriving until after 6 PM, so the first night we'll get a few things at the resort's Market Deli. I've been reading about Walmart and Safeway. We don't have Safeway in the South, so should I get a discount club card online now? Every little bit helps, especially for this trip.

We went to Safeway for groceries in Lahaina. I was surprised at how reasonable the prices were, especially if you have the discount card, which you can obtain while you're at the store (which is what we did).

I also vouch for the Maui Revealed Hana tour app. It tracks the location of your vehicle via satellite (since there's not very good cell service in that area) and gives you information in real time in relation to where you are. I think it cost $6 but was worth WAY more than that to us.

 

[BocaBoy]

We scheduled the Valley Isle tour through the resort. I was able to charge the tour to our room rather than booking online for the $10 discount. This way I will earn reward points.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you will not get the 10 points per dollar for tours charged to your villa. This is because the tour is from a third party vendor. MOC did give you this type of credit years ago, but it changed several years ago and is now consistent with overall Marriott Rewards guidelines.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Heard on the news today that the entire island of Maui was without power due to the severe storm that passed through.

Very true. We were out of power for about 8 hours at Kahana Beach. The entire island was out. Wailea was one of the first areas to get power back, about two hours before we got ours back.