Few answers from experience this week:
Cabana 1 has the best view (by far) but the tree does shade the loungers unless you pull them way out into the walkway. If lounger sun is essential, go with 2-4.
Construction noise is pretty bad/annoying. They're currently digging a big hole right behind the cabanas. Sometimes quite a bit of diesel exhaust right behind the wall. Most of the time not that bad.
Drawer did not fit my slr (canon 7d) - the body was too tall by about 1/2". It does fit a couple of iPads stacked.
Service has been good some days and ok others. Food comes pretty quickly -variability has been how often the server comes by.
Cancellation policy seems to be either 24 hrs (what the email says) or 8 am day of (what a cm told me once!). They're pretty relaxed I'd say so evening before seems to be fine. They seem to be renting them in the morning if someone cancels, so they aren't too stressed.
The only private area you have is inside the cabana when it's closed! You're paying for the service, the shade, the tv, the refrigerator (awesome). The fruit plate at 11am is excellent and the desserts at 3 are pretty nice. I'll try to answer any other questions people have.
Aside from your check who ordering food/drinks, there isn't really an "opportunity" to tip the (white-shirted) recreation staff who drop by every hour or so to see if you need any towels or anything (not sure what else they could do for us). I kind of figured the high price paid a decent wage for them (unlike the servers).
Like I said - I never rented one before. I assumed it was kind of like when you hire a limo or car service. Although you pay a premium price for the service you're still expected to tip the driver 15-20% because the money you pay for the car goes to the company, not directly to the driver (unless it's a one-man-show). So I just assumed if we had a dedicated attendant for the day we were expected to tip them.
We reserved one for our upcoming stay next week(!!) and were told there's a 24 hour cancellation policy.
With the lack of pictures and opinions available on the internet regarding the Aulani cabanas, we'd be in your debt if you could take some pictures of the cabanas and the areas around them on your trip!
We have 4 cabana days booked in May and would like to figure out which cabana to request. So far, we hear #1 has shade from a tree, a view of the ocean, frequent visitors to take pictures, potential construction noise, but only one neighboring cabana. #4 looks to provide one less neighbor and sun but we have no idea what sort of people traffic is on the open end of the cabana.
You are renting a cabana for 4 days?
Yes, 4 cabana days is the compromise since I burn easily and the wife loves to tan. This way, we can stay out all day together and I won't get bored as easily. I'm used to spending the days at the theme parks and keeping active, not lounging by the pool smothered in sunscreen under an umbrella or tree! We love the cabanas in Disney World and Disneyland so I guess it's become and EXPENSIVE tradition...
4 days!! But this is sort of the reason why we're splurging on one - I want to sit in the sun a lot, DH burns easily & DS gets bored!! But we're only getting one for only 2 days out of 6 (we are there 7 nights but the arrival day is really only a half day & the last morning we leave early for Maui). I figured it would also ensure that we take a couple of days to DO NOTHING and to RELAX and to ENJOY the resort!! We will do all of our excursions & sightseeing on the 4 days in-between the cabana days! We are cabana virgins tho!! I can't afford for this to become a tradition!!!
Yes, 4 cabana days is the compromise since I burn easily and the wife loves to tan. This way, we can stay out all day together and I won't get bored as easily. I'm used to spending the days at the theme parks and keeping active, not lounging by the pool smothered in sunscreen under an umbrella or tree! We love the cabanas in Disney World and Disneyland so I guess it's become and EXPENSIVE tradition...
We have 2 weeks filled with excursions but many pool days as well. Due to my wife, the sun-goddess, I'm trying to make sure she has an unobstructed view of the sun so cabana #1 and maybe #2 have to be avoided by the big tree in front. I can see by the satellite map that there is clearly shade from the tree covering both those cabanas: http://goo.gl/maps/7xoIF