Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club — Hotel in Oʻahu

While the property itself is beautiful, the rooms were nice but felt outdated. In particular, the disabled shower bar had noticeable black mold where it connects to the shower, which was concerning. As timeshare owners, we were also frustrated with the room we were assigned. We were placed in a parking lot view room right next to a semi-truck unloading dock, meaning we were constantly disturbed by the sound of trucks reversing and unloading—day and night, for the entire seven days of our stay. The walls are incredibly thin, and we could hear everything from neighboring rooms, including the smell of what others were cooking and room lacked air fresheners, which made it even more unpleasant.

Our stay coincided with Halloween, and we hoped to take our daughter trick-or-treating. We asked multiple staff members for recommendations on good neighborhoods, but every time, we were just told to check mall events. It felt like they were avoiding offering any real advice, and their response came across as rude. It was especially disappointing since I would expect better hospitality from a resort of this caliber.

We also had several meals at the hotel, but the food was mediocre at best. On one occasion, they messed up our order, and it took 45 minutes to fix. Only after I called the front desk did they offer any form of compensation, which shouldn’t have been necessary. When we called the front desk for assistance, it often took a while for anyone to answer, and valet service seemed like an inconvenience for guests, with the parking lot completely full by 9 pm. The lack of parking was a major issue, with guests constantly circling in search of spots for several hours each night. The elevators were another hassle. There are four, but with the number of people staying at the resort, you often had to wait or take the next one because it was full.

Location-wise, the resort was far from everything. The walk to the beach was about 10 minutes, and since we were staying in one of the furthest resorts on the lagoon, everything else—restaurants, other resorts, activities—felt far away. The nearest food options off-site were a mile walk each way, and the resort’s food was overpriced and not great quality.

I also had an unpleasant interaction with the pool towel attendant. When my husband approached to get towels, the staff member spoke to him in Spanish, assuming we were Spanish-speaking simply because of our Hispanic last name we gave. It was clear that the staff member was making assumptions based on our last name and ethnicity, as the attendants Spanish was poor, and the tone in which he spoke to my husband felt unprofessional and awkward.

Additionally, we had an incident at the kids’ pool, which had recently been renovated with lava rocks flooring. The uneven surface caused the pool chairs to be unstable(legs sit off the floor over an inch) and when I sat down, my daughter’s foot got caught underneath the chair leaving her with a sore foot for the rest of the night. We immediately filed an incident report, but we never heard back from the hotel, which was incredibly disappointing.

I also found it inconvenient that they didn’t have ice machines or water dispensers on every floor, but they had laundry rooms. For a property of this size, I would have expected basic amenities like ice and water to be easily accessible. It was also odd that in the sauna locker room, there wasn’t any water provided. Considering how hot it gets in the sauna, I felt this was a serious safety hazard and an oversight for a resort of this caliber.

For the price of $600 per night, you will probably expect much more—especially considering my experience at other Marriott properties, including one near Disneyland, which had updated rooms, better service, and overall better amenities. The property may be beautiful, but the service, lack of attention to detail, and ongoing issues made it hard to enjoy our stay. We won’t be returning, as there are better options on the island that offer better value...

I'm currently (May 2023) staying at this MVC property, day 2. I'll edit this when I conclude my stay to add more information. So far, my visit has been awful, so I have to give this property one star, more details below. I've stayed at dozens of MVC properties, and this is one of the worst, which is extremely unfortunate because O'ahu is beautiful.

I had no issues at check-in and even have to acknowledge that the front desk worker, whose name I didn't get, was very friendly and helpful. The VIP Renter representative was great as well!

If you are considering booking, here are a few things to know. Very limited security, if any at all. I haven't seen any yet. I list this first because I went to the hot tub at 9 PM, and two men were eyeing my belongings. After feeling uncomfortable/in danger, I grabbed my stuff and walked over to the pool where there was more lighting, and they followed. Anyone can walk right into the resort area because there are no fences or gates, which is why I find the lack of security so alarming. The rooms are about 2-star quality. The pools/hot tubs are okay. They aren't very large and are close together. The staff can be hit and miss. Some are friendly, some not so much. The food at Longboards, on the property, is terrible. I would not recommend it. And if you want to eat at the more upscale restaurant, Longhi's, you'll need reservations. This is where we planned to eat, but after check-in, we went to get a table, and they wouldn't take walk-ins. Valet parking and self-parking are the same price, $45/night. This is advertised on their site, so no surprise, but having no difference in the price of self-park and valet is quite odd.

I was greeted with a powerful musty odor when I entered my room after check-in, which is not pleasant but understandable because of the humidity and guests leaving the doors open, but something the property can handle better. The room was dirty, which to me is unacceptable. The bathroom had possible fecal matter or blood around and on the light switch, the floors, surfaces, and chairs were dirty and had dirt/sand all over them. The bathroom floor had mold growth in the corner, and the shower/tub was dirty. I notified the front desk and they sent a cleaning crew to the room. We exited the room while they cleaned and returned when they had completed it, but still, the job was subpar.

I asked the front desk (a different employee from check-in) what it would cost to upgrade my room to consider since the room was dirty and outdated. I was told they could not modify any reservations, which is odd since I booked directly with this property and paid the full nightly rate and did not pay with points or a timeshare exchange.

My assumption is that because they offer this resort for a discounted rate for their timeshare presentations that they do not go out of their way for owners or guests who pay the full rate but do not do a timeshare presentation.

Also, their pool towel policy is absolutely ridiculous. You can get one towel per person and have to carry paper cards to the pool in exchange for a towel. Once you return the towel, they'll give you another paper card per person. Given the crime/safety issues at the property, I don't think towel theft is the best area to focus their attention on.

I will edit/update this with more information once I...

Ko Olina

My wife and I chose to use our week of @MarriottVacationClub ownership to celebrate our 33rd anniversary in Hawaii and we found the @MarriottKoOlinaBeachClub. We used a deposited week in to @IntervalInternational of our 2 bedroom villa, in exchange we got the lock off unit in Hawaii – a bummer for sure but we thought ‘hey we’ll be in Hawaii for our anniversary. My wife contacted pre-arrivals to convey the reason for our visit and request an Ocean View, High Floor room and ensured the pre-arrival point of contact knew we were celebrating our anniversary.

I can’t express my disappointment in the room we were assigned, but I’ll do my best. Upon arrival our request was noted by the front desk staff, and it was explained that the only unit available was a Mountain View, but they were able to get us to a high floor – floor 7 out of 14, overlooking the parking lot. Wow, thanks for that… love opening my curtains each morning and seeing how many cars are or aren’t in the tower 3 parking lot… and oh boy, nothing says romance like sitting on a balcony with your wife celebrating 33 years of marriage with champagne and a view of parked cars and the Honolulu refinery in the background.

The front desk staff stated that when a trade comes in through @IntervalInternational they don’t have as many options for where they can assign that room… Now from my perspective that seems like complete #BS – Marriott owns Interval International, so that makes less than no sense. On top of that I bought into #MarriottVacationClub ownership more than 20 years ago in order to trade through interval and see the world, that was part of the pitch…. Didn’t know it would be as a second or third class ‘owner’.

After spending a couple of days on the property it sure seems that there are many, many lock off units sitting vacant (completely black at night, and no activity during the day) so I thought to myself what if I were to go online and try and book a room, hey what do you know there are plenty of Ocean View lock off rooms available if I’m willing to book and pay for the room.

This leads me to feeling extremely #Frustrated #Disappointed and #Duped. So @Marriott @MarriottKoOlinaBeachClub @MarriottVacationClub let me get this right… as an #Owner of more than 20 years who pays all my dues/fees in a timely manner I’m prioritized less than a paying customer. That seems a bit backwards to me since I bought into the concept of vacation ownership to stay at vacation properties not pay to play hotels… #SoWrong. The other thing that I’d think factors in would be @Bonvoy status, but apparently that #loyalty doesn’t count with @VacationClub.

Looking forward to toasting my 33rd anniversary on Friday from our patio… wonder if we’ll be looking at a Kia, Toyota, VW or something else… #VactionOwnership ??? May want to...