Ritz Maui Bargain - Your Opinion
 

So here is the deal. Got a promotional call from Marriott for their timeshare presentation on Maui (Ocean Club). Told them I might be interested, since we plan on going to Maui in May-Jun. The lady then tells me the Marriott on Kaanapali will be closed for remodelling from Apr-Nov 05, so they are offering a 5-nite, 6-day package, with Hertz rental car, $50 food voucher - at the Ritz - for $798...if you agree to listen to the 90min timeshare presentation.
We plan on being on Maui 15 days, so the only pain would be changing hotels (from the Sheraton), wither at the beginning or end of the stay to go to the Ritz.

On the surface it sounds like a heck of a deal to me...what do you think?

$800 for 5 nights with the car does sound like a great deal to me. And switching hotels might be a welcome thing. The Kaanapali area where the Sheraton is located, is full of restaurants, shops and activities and thus, is pretty busy night and day. 15 days of that might be too much, at least for me! The Kapalua area, where the Ritz is located will be much more laid back. No fighting the crowds here, the pool area will be calm and serene and it's just a totally different "vibe". The hotel is one of my favorites anywhere and yes, you do have to walk down the path to the beach and yes, the weather can be cooler and rainier than Kaanapali but to me the atmosphere and service make it a super place to stay and we'd go back for the 4th time in a heartbeat!

Sounds like such a great deal, almost too good to be true. The 90-min presentation will be a pain, but have a couple drinks beforehand and time will go by faster! 15 days in Ka'anapali is way too much...I think you'll enjoy the change. And it's just up the road anyway, so not far to move. The Ritz will be much more luxe than the Sheraton, too. I say go for it! We're going back to Maui in June for our honeymoon and staying at the Ritz, and I would take an offer like than in a heartbeat.

How did they offer this to you? I'm so interested!!!!! I have heard wonderful things about that hotel and would choose that hotel anyday over the Sheraton especially for the price. Go for it!

I've been offered the same deal, and although we've stayed at the Maui Marriott and were very unimpressed, we're thinking of taking advantage of the $800 deal to stay at the Ritz, which I hear is very nice. We don't mind TS presentations. We already own at Marriott's Ko'Olina Beach Club on Oahu and a place in Cabo, so we already know we're NOT going to buy, but the 5-day deals and the resort certificates they give you for attending the presentation is worth 60 min of our time. You can usually get out of the presentation in 30-60 min if they can tell you're really not interested. Or, do like my friends and bring kids (borrow some if you have to!) who will be bored to death and squirming around. haha Works like a charm.

BTW, I'll bet they're going to be showing you the new TS units they are building, which are "purpose built", meaning they're not converted hotel rooms, which we've seen at the Maui Marriott and found to be awkward and decorated like something out of the 1970's. I'm sure the "purpose built" units are going to be gorgeous -- but I heard they're starting at $80,000!!! Waaaay too expensive in my opinion. We paid less than half that for a gorgeous place on Oahu, which we liked better than Maui anyway. But we'll likely still go to Maui on this package because, really, it IS Hawaii so how can we go wrong??!!

Have a wonderful time!

This is interesting that you got a call for this deal. I usually get mine in the mail. Makes me wonder if those telemarketing calls I've been dodging are from Marriott...LOL