kalunchi

Hi all,
I love what fodorites did for me when I was looking for great deals with airfare and hotel stays. So I'm gonna spread this great news to you all~
Call the starwood vacation owner's number, 800-553-0464 and ask for promotions in Maui. There are two available,
1. Westin Kaanapali Resort and Spa (timeshare units) at $629 for 6 days/5 nights + $90 resort fee for the 5 nights. THe only catch is that you have to attend a 90 minute timeshare presentation on the 3rd day of your stay AND you have to have an minimum annual income of $100,000 and own a home. This is NOT available to NY residents, it was a bummer for me.

2. The Westin MAui Resort and Spa, a few miles from the Sheraton, going rate of $749 for 6 days/5 nights. no catch, no timeshare presentation.

I booked the latter already for my august trip to Maui and Kauai. This promotion started on Monday so there are alot of availability, even for the Xmas holidays.
So hurry~

I am so excited about this trip, but i have to wait over 5 months til I get to go.

biker

That is a good deal. We got one thru Marriott (since it is under construction they put us up at the Ritz) for 6 days/5 nights, with Hertz rental car for $798. I beleive it was thru a contest i entered on the AA website to win a million FF miles.
Biker

Stephanie82

Thank you for taking out the time to mention this. I will look into it and let you know how it works out.

Stephanie82

We were able to get the $749 rate for the Westin for a week in August. Thank you for the info. What a nice break.

jd

What type of room is available with this special-any oceanview? I am thinking of calling about this special for next Oct.Thanks

Tasha440

I was also curious about the room type, so I called them to find out about possible upgrades. The promotion only includes the most basic room type. At the Resort Villas, it is the studio non-view room and at the Westin, it would be a standard non-view room.

I was told that I could call the resort directly to ask about upgrade possibilities. I did call the Westin and they said I could pay $80 a night additional for a mtn view or $100 per night for a partial ocean view. They did say the chances of a "free upgrade" are slim to none because of the extremely discounted rates.

jd

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know how the beach is in front of the Westin. I read 1 review that stated there was not much of a beach there.

Tasha440

There is very little beach fronting the Westin. However, it is only a short walk over to the larger beach at the Sheraton. Many people choose the Westin for the pool, and go over to the Sheraton for their beach time.

ellenkd

My sister and I each booked a room on this promotion for March 2006. Now my other sister wants to book a room too for that same time, but they keep telling us that it can only be booked if we got a "special invitation" in the mail. I got one, as did my first sister, but the other sister didn't get one, and they won't let her book. Has anyone else had this problem?

salz14

Thanks for the heads up! Are there similar offers on Kauai? How do i go about finding them...Thx

Tucker74

I also encountered the "by invitation only" problem. For those that booked the deal, did you book it without the invitation/promo code? Maybe it's just the luck of the draw with a helpful sales agent?!

giulietta429

I booked it for this September with just the info I got from this post. When I received the confirmation papers, they stated that I need to present the original invitation letter (which I do not have) at check-in, but I called the Westin people and they said that just bringing the confirmation letter was enough. It has the dates, the price we paid, etc.
So we will just take these documents with us. If they ask for the original invitation letter, I will say I left it at home because I was told that we did not need it.

giulietta429

ellenkd: what does the invitation you received look like? Just in case I need to describe it to someone...
Does it have some sort of a code? As I said earlier, we were able to book without the code, but I am just curious whether there is one.

texasaggie00

Some friends at work recently stayed at the Westin Maui using this deal - they didn't have an invitation, I just gave them the info I found on this post and they called in and booked the reservation. They didn't have any problems and only had to bring the confirmation that they received in the mail after booking. With this deal, you also receive a $100 resort coupon and $185 towards a rental car. When they got there, they were told that they could attend a timeshare presentation if they wanted and receive another $100.

giulietta429

texasaggie: thank you for this helpful information. I was getting worried that I will be required to show the original invitation (that I obviously do not have). It is good to hear that someone did it and did not have problems. We already booked Avis car with the code the Westin gave us.
Do you know whether they really pressure you to attend a timeshare presentation when you go to pick up your $100 resort certificate? Our plan was to pick it up as soon as we check in, to be done with it right away. Also, we do not own a home, so maybe that would "disqualify" us from attending?

texasaggie00

They weren't pressured too much about the timeshare presentation. She explained what they would get for attending and tried to get them to sign up. They weren't interested though and didn't sign up - I don't think they were asked about it on the rest of the trip.

giulietta429

wow, that sounds great. What did they think of the hotel and especially of the room they got? was it clean? I know it is a non-view room, so that does not bother me. I just want it to be clean, not too tiny, and not too noisy

kalunchi

giuletta, u said u used their code to book an avis car, what rate did u get for taht? I got a rate for $30/day for a compact car. please tell me if the westin code is going to be a better deal. thanks.

giulietta429

The Westin rate is not better than something you would find on your own. At first we wanted to do what you have done (I think) and reserve the car on our own, apply their $185 certificate towards it, and, if there was anything left, use the money on our Avis rental on the Big Island. Well, it's not how this promotion works. You must get the booking code from the Westin, then call Avis, and reserve the car. Economy, compact, and midsize all go for $185, so it makes sense to reserve midsize (that's what we did). Then you only have to pay taxes out of pocket (around $40). It is a bummer, but that's the only way you can use their certificate. It goes with the promotion, and Avis will take the entire $185 from you, plus your own $40 for taxes.

kalunchi

so you only paid $40 which is the taxes for the car rental? that sounds like a pretty good deal.