Oh, what to say about the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club?

My fiancé and I stayed 5 nights last week. We visit Hawaii often and had received a offer on a room for 5 nights – the only catch was a 90-minute time-share presentation from Marriott. Feeling like a vacation was in order, and having trouble passing up a good deal, we signed up – not sure what to expect.

Our experience proved that you truly get what you pay for – if you pay less than a full fare guest you get less than a full fare guest – it’s that simple.

We checked in on a Saturday afternoon. When we entered to property we were impressed, it’s very pretty. The check-in process was fine, but we later learned that there were quite a few pieces of information that were skipped, and they may have been helpful for our stay. A few examples:

-There’s a free washer and dryer room on a few floors of each tower, that would have been nice to know prior to our last day when we stumbled upon them.
-The standard rooms don’t have Ethernet connections (only 1 bedroom units do) and the wireless connection is slow to the point of useless.
-There are machines in the lobby where you can rent DVD’s – a great idea if your room has a DVD player – ours didn’t. On our last day we were told that they would install one for us – that’s great, but a little too late.
-The room itself (20300) was very well appointed. When we checked in we were told we were getting a “garden/pool view” and we thought that sounded lovely. It turns out the “pool” view was only visible if we turned in precisely the correct way and peered through trees. The garden part was actually overlooking the garbage/recycling/service area of the hotel. I was pleased to see that the hotel takes recycling seriously, but I don’t know that I needed to see it every time I looked out my one and only window.

The Pool – the pool is really beautiful in the morning – but by 9:30 it’s so packed with children that it’s more or less impossible to find a small space to stand in the water without being kicked or severely splashed. Please bear in mind that I do have kids, so I understand how exciting a pool can be, but I think I prefer a slightly smaller human to pool size ratio.

The Beach – The location of the hotel is naturally a rocky/lava shore – but the resort has carved out 4 lagoons and trucked in enough sand to make a “beach.” They have left much of the rocks, so there are almost no waves, making it close to perfect for children, but not so fun if you plan to surf. We didn’t see any fish, but others said they saw some in the Lagoon to the north of the hotel. I highly recommend renting a cabana for a day – they’re really comfortable and proved a great way to spend the day.

The Gym – One of the largest and nicest gyms I have seen in a hotel in a long time – I was very impressed.

The Food – We only tried the restaurant by the beach/pool – it’s mediocre at best. We did eat there a few times, and this was mostly because there are only two restaurants on the property. Give Roy’s a try – it’s a 10-minute walk and the food is great. If you haven’t been there before I HIGHLY recommend the chocolate soufflé.

The Time Share Presentation – They promise a low-pressure experience, and it was fairly low-pressure. The staff making the presentation is quite skilled, and they have the sales pitch down perfectly and will skillfully alter it to fit your personal vacation needs. We went in with open minds about the concept of a time-share, but certain this was not the correct property for us. Our sales rep recommended a property in Kauai and after talking over price, options, etc – we seriously considered buying. We like the idea of returning every other year with the kids – but in the end the timing wasn’t right for us, and we couldn’t get past the discomfort of buying a property we hadn’t seen first hand.

Snorkeling – I’m having some trouble with this one – because part of me is very satisfied, and part of me is incredibly disappointed. We went on the Ko Olina Cat – with is a catamaran that leaves from the nearby harbor. The boat was awesome – the crew was superb and we saw a few dozen dolphins, making the sailing experience nearly perfect. The snorkeling was another story. We anchored a few hundred yards off the coast right in front of a large power plant. we were told that there are large water intake and expulsion pipes beneath the water – and that the water being returned to the sea (which is completely safe) is warm, causing the pipes to heat, making the algae grow at a rapid pace, and in turn giving the fish ample food – meaning that we would see an abundance of fish. There were quite a few fish, but in the end I found it depressing to swim around a power plant pipe – it was somewhat “Simpsonesque.” Bottom line – if you’ve seen the fish on the north shore of Kauai, or Molokini in Maui you are likely to be disappointed.

The bottom line – this place is nice, the rooms are very nice, but just not right for us. It was too large, too loud, and just not quite right. We had a great vacation, but in the end we don’t picture ourselves going back to this property.

The Good-

This is a timeshare condo style property that's managed by Marriott. The resort is new and the furnishings top notch. Now that we've gotten the "4 Seasons/Ritz Carlton" itch scratched (see previous reviews), we've found that our travel style really meshes nicely with a semi resort/semi condo style facility. We absolutely loved the full kitchen and washer/dryer in our extremely spacious unit. There is nothing like making a leisurely breakfast for the kids while we eased into our day.

It's away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Honolulu/Waikiki, but seriously, it's less than a half hour drive to get to that part of town. We prefer to commute in to visit those areas and relax in our little paradise at Ko'Olina.

The staff was not up to par with Four Seasons staff, but that's to be expected given this price point. None the less, almost every staff person we interacted with was very nice and helpful.

We liked the kids pool, and now with Phase III of constuction under way, we understand that the water slide and lazy river is not too far off. As for dining, it's walking distance to some world class restaurants (Roys, Azul, etc.) but the price point for these is not for the faint of heart. For those who'd rather save their money for activities, there is a neighborhood strip mall about 3 miles away that has everything from fast food to some decent restaurants that cater more to the locals than to tourists. But the prices are great (1/4 what you'd pay at the resorts), and the food was seriously good. There's also a supermarket so that you can stock up your kitchen with the essentials (think beer, water, snack foods, fruits, etc.)

Parking is very convenient. Self parking is very near and they also do valet if you are so inclined.

We've been coming to the Ko'Olina resort area for years because of the wonderful lagoons. If you have small children, this is a "must visit" location on Oahu. We're talking perfect lagoons without waves! If your kids are a little older, there are some good beaches to visit that are just a short drive away.

The Bad-

The restaurants directly on property still need a little work. The little grill by Lagoon 3 is good, but the prices are a little steep for what you get. Not bad for lunch. We didn't go to Chuck's steak and seafood so I can't comment on that.

Pool service also needs a little work. After watching the scene for some time, I came to realize that because there are so many families, there tends to be very little heavy drinking going on. So if you're far away from the bar, it does take some time for the server to get to you, if at all. This was easily remedied with a nice tip after our first round. After that, we saw the server quite frequently.

The Ugly-

I think I still need to get used to the Condo style of chamber service/housekeeping. Our housekeeping service was very late in coming on two days so we passed (kids were sleeping). We could have complained, but we were so happy with everything else that I was mellowed out anyway so no big deal. She took out our garbage and gave us fresh towels.

Conclusion -

We've been doing the lavish vacations for about 6 years now and are starting to scale back a little. We still like luxery and fine appointments, but we could do without the snobbery and stratospheric restaurant prices. We'll gladly pay high prices for high value (e.g., superb dining experience, fantastic foods, etc.), but not for something that's simply a hotel cafe (as we found in some of the more expensive resorts.)

We found that the Marriott has created something here that hit us just right. We had tons of space for our growing family (1 bedroom villa), still had some "wow" factor in the room appointments and resort amenities, and had a kitchen and washer/dryer.

We will definitely be back in the years to come. I think this is now my favorite vacation destination hands down.

We stayed at the Marriott Ko'Olina resort in in June of 2008 and absolutely loved it! My parents are owners there and they gave us their week to enjoy. It was so beautiful. The rooms were large, clean and luxurious. I loved being greeted at the door during check in. We were asked to go to the Welcome center where we were greeted with Lei's and information on things to do at the resort.
The resort has every activity you would want to do in Hawaii. The resort also has some nice restaurants. We walked down to the JW Marriott near the Lagoon and ate at the Seafood Buffett that they have each Saturday night. It was wonderful.
We have 3 children ranging from 6-13. All of them just loved this vacation. We would definetly recommend families staying here.
I'll post some pictures - check them out if you get the chance.
Have fun!

As a Marriott Vacation Club International Resort owner, we were very happy to have booked at Ko Olina Beach Club. I can't say enough about how awesome this place is. It was just my wife and I celebrating our 10 year anniversary. The room, grounds, beach/lagoon area, and total resort ammenities are great. We loved getting a good lunch and a number of Mai Tai's at Kolohe's bar and grill which is right on the beach. Chucks Seafood and Steaks is also very good and prices were not bad. I like the walkway that goes around all four lagoons in Ko Olina. One way is a mile and a half walk, and was perfect for walking off dinner, or going to explore one of the other lagoons. The JW Marriott is at the other end of the walkway and has several great restaurants. If you like sushi, then Ushio Tei at the JW is a must. There was still some construction going on, but we barely even noticed it. The staff at the resort was great, and you cannot miss the "luau" on Tuesdays called Fia Fia. I say "luau" but it's more of an education show/dinner about Hawaii, and was different than any other kind of luau I'd witnessed. It started at 4:30 and didn't end until 9:30pm. That may seem long, but the time flew by. You will definitely be entertained, and will laugh a lot. I enjoyed this resort so much, we considering going again next year. This may become a tradition with us.