I had a timeshare week that was going to expire (due to non-use during the pandemic), so I exchanged into Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club, which we frequent. I also heard that the points needed to redeem award nights at the Wailea Beach Resort was going to increase, so I booked 5 nights with my stash of Marriott Bonvoy points. We enjoyed staying in Wailea back in 2017. My parents were also coming along with us on this trip.
FLIGHTS
Hawaiian Airlines was offering very good deals on flights to Hawaii. Cash price for our itinerary was around $400 total per person to fly roundtrip (including the inter-island flight from Kauai to Maui), which was a nice deal. What was even better was being able to pay for the tickets using American Express Membership Rewards points and Hawaiian Airlines miles. Since I selected Hawaiian Airlines as the "preferred airline" on my AMEX Business Platinum card, I would get a 35% rebate on the Membership Rewards points redeemed for our economy tickets to and from the mainland. I still had a stash of HawaiianMiles from a previous Hawaiian Airlines credit card sign-up, so I redeemed them on the flight from Kauai to Maui. In summary, it only cost $22.40 cash for all our flights. (the taxes on the inter-island award flight) To be thorough, our baggage fees were covered with the AMEX Business Platinum card airline credit, plus the airline credit offered by the CNB Crystal Visa Infinite card. I also upgraded our return economy seats to ones with extra legroom, using the rest of the CNB airline credit.
LODGING
As mentioned earlier, we would stay one week at Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club. Cash price would have been close to $6,000, but since I exchanged the lock-out portion of my owner week at Marriott's Shadow Ridge Villages, it ended up costing around $1000, which is a steal for a 2-bedroom villa - only $75 per room per night to stay at a resort on Poipu Beach, with a kitchen, living room, lanai and washer/dryer! Timeshares get a bad rap, but great deals can be had if you are flexible.
Afterwards, we had reservations for two hotel rooms, staying 5 nights at the Wailea Beach Resort, paid for by redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points collected from Marriott credit card bonuses and topped off with American Express Membership Rewards point transfers.
On with our trip...
Before our flight, we spent a little time at The Club at SJC lounge, entering with a Priority Pass card (provided by many credit cards, such as Chase Sapphire Reserve). Items were mostly individual servings since we were at the tail end of the pandemic.
The legroom on our Hawaiian flight was definitely less than when we flew on Southwest. At least the flight was only 5.5 hours. This was the reason I ended up upgrading our seats on the return.
USB power was available, as well as a phone holder on the seatback to make watching entertainment more convenient.
It is rare to find a US domestic airline serving hot meals in the economy cabin. Hawaiian Airlines does, for free. The menu is simple, but chock full of calories to satiate most appetites. This morning, we were offered a warm chicken sandwich and chips.
Our journey to Kauai included a layover in Maui, so we used our Priority Pass card to enter the Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club. The lounge only offered beverages.
The flight from Maui to Kauai was on an old plane with cramped seating. It was only 50 minutes long gate-to-gate, so we were quickly served a container of POG (passion-orange-guava juice).
There isn't much option for rideshare or public transportation in Hawaii (except for Honolulu), so even though we weren't planning to leave the resort often, we still needed to rent a car (using a corporate rate). It was just used to get to and from the resort, groceries at Costco and the local supermarket, and a few outings.
Despite being a Marriott Vacation Club owner and having Platinum Elite status, staying for only one week on an exchange wouldn't have a high priority for view. Our lanai was facing the Poipu Beach public parking lot. At least it was in the shade for most of the day. We had lucked out with a resort view during a 2-week exchange here back in 2019, since multiple-week reservations had priority.
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| view out our lanai |
The night we arrived, we didn't feel like cooking, so we went out to Genki Sushi for dinner, located in the Kukui Grove Center in Lihue. Diners would order from a tablet at the table and food would arrive on the belt. We had a short wait before being seated. The meal was average, so I didn't take any pictures. Most of the week, we ate in. The BBQ grills on-site were handy.
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| Waimea Canyon |
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On Tuesday, Kauai County tested their tsunami warning siren system at 11:45am. If you didn't know what was going on, it would cause some alarm, since it sounded like an air raid was imminent. It didn't help that Russia had just invaded Ukraine a week prior.
Around a 20 minute walk from our resort, Koloa Fruit Stand is a great place to stock up on fruits and vegetables. We'd load up on papayas, apple bananas, and seasonal fruit such as longans. Bring cash, or they can take Venmo (according to recent reviews).
I recently purchased a GoPro (the newest model can be found here), along with some underwater filters and practiced using it while snorkeling off of Poipu Beach. It was mostly rocky, but there were some fish to be seen.
We had one more dinner off-site at Red Salt, located next door inside K'oa Kea, with reservations easily obtained through OpenTable. Prices were high as expected at a resort restaurant; at least the food was tasty. The pretzel bread was complimentary when we were there, but currently listed on the menu as an appetizer.
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| hamachi sashimi |
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| charred octopus |
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| seared Hokkaido scallops |
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| lobster gnocchi |
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| Hawaiian butterfish |
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| drunken noodles, curries, bao tacos |
Check-in at the Wailea Beach Resort was just as friendly as it was back in 2017, though this time, we weren't as fortunate with getting a swanky upgrade. Our rooms were located in the main hotel tower, with a filtered view of the ocean if you stood out on the balcony. Unfortunately, we were right above the hotel's receiving dock. Delivery vehicles would arrive during the day, beeping while backing up, etc. We weren't in the room that often, but enough to notice. If we were actually paying $1000+ a night to stay there, I would be unhappy. Since we used points, and we were so lucky to get the fancy digs on our last stay, we were content with the situation.
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| check-in refreshments and leis |
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Due to having Marriott Platinum Elite status, we had daily complimentary continental breakfast, refillable bottles of water (we found a water station in the icemaker room), and other inclusions. All guests get a welcome mai tai coupon. (some servers will let you order a different drink of equal value)
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| Whale's Tale menu |
We no longer had a kitchen, so we ate out every day. Tonight's Italian dinner at Matteo's Osteria was decent.
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Afterwards, we returned to the resort and explored the grounds. There was a company function on the grounds with a live band, then fireworks ensued.
For Saturday's lunch, we enjoyed poke bowls and noodle soups from Island Gourmet Markets across the street inside the Shops at Wailea. Dessert was two scoops of ice cream at nearby Lappert's; the aroma of freshly made waffle cones emanating from the shop was too irresistible to ignore.
Dinner was at a "permanent" food truck called Kitoko Maui, located at South Maui Gardens. The seafood selections were tasty.
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The next day, we went snorkeling off the shore of Ulua Beach, walking distance from the resort. Lots of fish, and even honu (turtles). Hearing the whale songs in the water was pretty cool. We even saw a nurse shark!
Listening to the whale songs (1:09):
Encounter with a honu (1:32):
Nurse shark! (0:44):
Dinner that night was at a sushi restaurant called Miso Phat. Everything we ordered was so fresh and yummy. The uni nigiri were packed full!
The next day, we snorkeled again, but due to the wind, the waves kicked up the sand and clarity was not as good. We listened to the whale songs and saw another honu (0:23):
Lunch was at Island Gourmet Markets again - I could eat poke bowls and spam musubi every day!
Dinner was at a newly-opened restaurant called Lineage, serving Asian fusion cuisine. Everything was delicious, albeit a bit heavy. It looks like they've lightened up the menu since then.
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On our last full day at the resort, the wind was still blowing so the snorkeling wasn't great. We found some lounge chairs and relaxed. We ate at the resort's bar and grill for our last dinner, which was standard fare.
Our flight home was uneventful. Having exit row seats provided much needed legroom and we got a hot meal again.
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| cute Hawaiian touch |
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| chicken alfredo roll |
And that's the end of our visit to Kauai and Maui! Even though we've been to these islands many times, and even stayed in the same properties, it is always fun and relaxing. It's easy to get to from the West Coast, and using points, miles and timeshare week provides a huge discount.
What's next? Kaleb and I embark on a cruise to Alaska, a rebooking of the canceled Southern Caribbean cruise due to my positive Covid test...stay tuned!
(Missed reading about our stay at the St. Regis Bal Harbour? Click here! Don't miss a single update! Click here to subscribe and have the latest delivered straight into your inbox...opt out anytime.)
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Getting excited reading about these trips and want to go? Contact me at kat (at) yellowdogtravel (d0t) com with your ideas and I can help you plan it! Or if you've already put a deposit on a cruise through the cruise line, contact me to get more information on transferring the reservation to me to get bonuses like extra onboard credit or gifts. I have lots of happy repeat clients - references always available.
Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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