osukru

For our honeymoon we are only going to spend one night in the Honolulu area mainly to see the Pearl Harbor area before we fly back to the mainland. I would like to stay at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and I would also like to use my Rewards points for the one night stay. I also want to use the fewest points as possible, and get the best room possible.

Is it probable or possible to get an upgrade to an oceanfront room if I book a lesser room (with points vs. paying cash/cc) and inform them I'm on my honeymoon?

Has anyone had some experience they can share, specifically with Marriott?

Thanks,

Kevin

ksucat

I think the Marriott Ihilani is a Cat 6.
I am cashing in my points to this Sept. for Kauai and I am in the same boat as you..do I go garden room and work my magic at the Front Desk for an upgrade since it is either $100 or 10,000 points..
I have been always lucky booking the cheap room and getting the free upgrade to oceanfront or oceanview but sometimes that 1% doesn't work to your advantage and since you are only staying one night, I would go the cheap route and state that I am on my honeymoon..

DebitNM

The Ihilani is a LONG drive to/from Honolulu for a single night's stay. You will need to rent a car for sure or pay some ridiculous taxi fares.

Are you seeing Pearl Harbor during the day, then checking into Ihilani for the night and then flying out next day? If so, I would rethink it.

Check out is most likely before or around noon. Most flights back to mainland are late night. What will you do during that time? Where will you have your luggage? IF you stay somewhere closer to airport [Waikiki], you may be able to leave your things at hotel after checking out, enjoy the beach etc and then get bags and take taxi to airport in evening. That will not be possible if you stay at Ihilani.

We stayed at Ko Olina Marriott, and it was nice, but really it was difficult on the day we flew home due to above. We had a rental car [we were there for 5 days] so we checked out, drove to airport and somehow got lucky and were able to check our luggage in [despite it being more than 12 hours until our flight. This was in 2006, not sure they would do that now], turned our car in. We then took a public bus from airport into Waikiki and spent several hours there before taking another bus back to airport. I don't know I would recommend this, the busses took a really long time [commuters, lots of stops]. We got to airport with time to spare, but it could have been a different story if we got delayed.

Ihilani was beautiful, but think about this before you do it. You would be there for less than 24 hours, of which you will be sleeping for 1/3 of it.

Hope this helps
Deb

Mary2Go

I agree that the Ko'olina is out of the way for a one night stay. I have used Marriott points at the Marriott Waikiki and made sure to make it known I was there for our 25th anniversary. We really like that hotel, especially if it's not the main place you are staying. Make sure to book a room in the K tower which is the front tower closest to the ocean, then try to get an upgrade from there. If you book one of the cheapest rooms in the back tower I think your chances of getting a good room up front isn't very good. It all depends on time of year etc. With the bad economy on your side I hope you get a great room. Tell them when you make the reservations it is your honeymoon, then call a few days before to confirm and mention again it's your honeymoon!

wtm003

We stayed at the JW Marriott Ihilani about 18 months ago. If you really want an oceanfront room I would probably just book it and make up the difference with points and/or cash. Afterall, it is only one night and your honeymoon so you might as well splurge. We had a mountain view room which I usually don't mind but at this location it is not very scenic (parking lot below) and very little privacy. I've had some gorgeous mountain/garden view rooms in the past but not at this location.

It is a bit of a drive from the airport - probably around 30 minutes - but a world away from Waikiki if that is what you are trying avoid. The downside is that restaurant choices are limited but it is quiet and peaceful if that is what you are looking for.

One of the things we really enjoyed was finding our own private beach. If you walk toward the lagoon at the Marriott there is a path, which if you follow it to the north (away from the resort area) you will leave the property. After passing the first cove and climbing over a few rocks you may be lucky enough to find a small beach to yourself. I believe there is also another secluded area beyond. The area is fairly protected from rough surf and we were able to snorkel and enjoy the beach with a few turtles and no one else.

We did not have any difficulty on our last day. Although this is never recommended we left our luggage in our locked car trunk. It was the end of our trip and I wasn't really concerned about someone taking a couple of suitcases filled with dirty clothes. Obviously, we kept our valuables with us and didn't leave anything in the front or back seats that might be tempting to a thief. Our flight left at 10 pm so we headed to the north shore and circled the island. The scenery is gorgeous and there are many opportunities for great photos. We ended our day at the Ala Moana Shopping Center. We walked around and had dinner before heading to the airport and turning in the rental car.

Hope you have a great trip!

Shar

Marriott in wakiki might be a better fit for you. Lovely views of the beach and ocean. Although I don't think it is a top notch hotel. Room was large and nicely decorated but bathroom was so small I could hardly turn around in it. It is an old hotel that they renovated. I did have a fabulous view with a nice balcony however.

nanabee

Then there's the Turtle Inn on the North Shore!