Hawaii - Aulani, Marriott or Villas?
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Anonymous
| Thinking about going to Ko Olina area with my 3 kids ages 10-15 and my parents in their 70s. Debating between Aulani, Marriott Ko Olina, or the Villas which have 3 bedroom units. The first two only have 2 bedrooms. I would probably get my parents their own room at the Marriott since it's less expensive than the Aulani so we would essentially have 3 bedrooms. Aulani is more expensive, so all of us would have to crowd into a 2 bedroom. Is the Aulani really worth it? Or is it more for little kids? Thanks! |
Anonymous
| I've only been to aulani, but I didn't think it was worth it or particularly nice. The pools were small and crowded, the pool chairs to close to each other. The onsite food was expensive and mediocre. |
Anonymous
| Aulani is expensive and crowded. I would do the 3 bedroom somewhere else. Plus Aulani is really far away from all the action. |
Anonymous
| Aulani is very much "Disney". It's overpriced for what it is but gets by because they get to have the Disney brand behind them. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the feedback. That's what I was thinking also. My kids don't really care about the Disney stuff and characters, but wasn't sure if there was something truly special about it. All the reviews are so great but a 3 bedroom would be ideal for us. |
Anonymous
| We were just at the Four Seasons next the the Aulani and were shocked at how small the beach space was compared to the relative size of the resort (3x the FS) and it was crowded. Rows of people with chairs on top of each other. From walks, the Marriott seemed much less crowded. |
Anonymous
| We loved the Marriott kolina . We rented a two bedroom Villa from redweek, but they also have three bedroom villas. It was much cheaper than booking through Marriott. Marriott K’olina was awesome. They have multiple pools. They had good restaurants. They had a nice luau and we walked to Aulani and the surrounding area on most days. Aulani was very pretty, but very crowded so we much preferred the more spread out Marriott. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the feedback on the Marriott. It, indeed is much more economical and I do see 3 bedroom units thru redweek. Random question about the luau, do you see the cooked pig or is it just served up at the buffet? |
Anonymous
| I was disappointed in that area, including the Four Seasons. Marriott was very average and the water with the pools they made was only good for little kids. I wished we had stayed on the North Shore instead. Turtle Bay is now a Ritz I believe. |
Anonymous
How deep are the lagoons? |
Anonymous
| We’ve stayed in the Aulani two bedrooms with kids those ages and I think it’s too small to add in your parents. For the five of you, it would be perfect. Other than that point, loved Aulani. |
Anonymous
| I have stayed at the Marriot and walked down the beach. Aulani is definitely more crowded in the common areas. Marriott was nice and it's extremely easy to swim in those coves they built for the hotels. |
Anonymous
Not PP but stayed there. I think they get as deep as 12-15 if you swim out and you could see some fish. It's not a challenging place to swim (I'm an experienced ocean swimmer). So for someone leas confident or unused to ocean swimming it is a safer choice. I believe there still is a rip tide zone but it's marked (it's been a while). |
Anonymous
That's not too bad. I was reading elsewhere that the water doesn't move much and can get pretty yucky by the Aulani because of all the little kids. |
Anonymous
| I’ve been doing a lot of Hawaii research and Fairmont has an all suites in Maui that are supposed to be great |