Aulani Oceanview worth the extra points??

[Frugal Fairy Tales]

Is ocean view worth the extra points?? If so, what one-bedroom ocean view rooms do you recommend?

 

[WinterSolider]

I think Island Garden and Ocean are both worth it. I think Poolside Garden is a ripoff since it is priced VERY close to Ocean but isn't nearly as good.

My favorite Ocean View 1 bedroom would be anything ending in 52 or 58, as high as you can get. These rooms are a different shape and more directly face the ocean than the others.

 

[jimmymc]

I agree with the other poster. Island Garden in the best value IMO because you can get a higher floor, and poolside gardens is frequently right behind trees.

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

Yes, OV is worth it. When we stayed at WDW DVC resort, I booked the lowest point total because we never took advantage of the view since we were rarely in the room. Aulani is different where we hang out in the room on the outdoor patio because, coming from the East Coast, we are awake early and back in the room early where we have a nightcap on the deck. The first time we stayed at Aulani, we had an island view, which was ok, but on the next trip, we stayed at OV and fell in love. I dream of those nightcaps on the OV patio listening to Hawaiian loop music, the band playing in Olelo's room, or the waterfall sounds and enjoying the pool area lit up at night.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Definitely worth it. ewe building, in the 50 series, 9th floor or higher.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

I think I'd rather have island view facing the Halewai Lawn and watch the luau than have an Oceanview. After experiencing oceanfront in waikiki, the Oceanview at Aulani isn't as impressive.

 

[longboard55]

We had a Garden View and it was a pretty good view up the coast on the back side

 

[teawar]

 

[teawar]

The above picture was our ocean view. The rainbow was stunning, but we mainly looked at the 4 seasons…

 

[CWTC]

We definitely think it’s worth the extra points!! It certainly isn’t ocean front but we really love the ocean view rooms.

 

[McNs]

We've only stayed in hotel rooms - first was poolside gardens view, we were on the second floor and could see trees and a glimpse of the lazy river. Most recent trip we paid extra for ocean view and the unanimous consensus was that yes, it was worth it!

 

[Iceman93]

The above picture was our ocean view. The rainbow was stunning, but we mainly looked at the 4 seasons…

That looks just like the "ocean view" we had on our very first stay to Aulani, paying cash for a 2BR. I let them know I wasn't pleased with the room categorization (this was within a year of them opening), and they admitted they had gotten lots of complaints and were looking at re-categorizing the rooms. Apparently they never did.

Another poster mentioned they thought the poolside gardens rooms were a rip-off; that is our go-to category now on every visit since that so-called ocean view. Our favorite is on the ground floor, being able to just walk right out to the pools and lazy river. Our second favorite is being on the lobby level, avoiding lots of extra elevator rides.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Because of the way Aulani is shaped, the only rooms that really have a full, nearly unobstructed view of the ocean, are the grand villas on the ends of the Ewa and Waianae towers.

I'm guessing this pic below was taken from the long wing of the Waianae tower:

View attachment 838651

That is an ocean view - it's just not "oceanfront" and maybe should really be classified as partial oceanview.

 

[Chy]

It’s a tough call. The island garden view is my preference. I would rather save the points/money. Viewing the luau is great too. The ocean view can be very nice. It’s really just trying to balance out how much you are in the room, how much the extra cost impacts you, whether you go to Aulani often or one time only etc.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I’m going to say ours was worth it…

 

[alohamom]

We had ocean view once and although it was beautiful we are hardly ever in our room.
We might have been out on the lanai once or twice but really didn't use it.
I felt it wasn't worth it for us but obviously it is case specific.

 

[DonMacGregor]

We had ocean view once and although it was beautiful we are hardly ever in our room.
We might have been out on the lanai once or twice but really didn't use it.
I felt it wasn't worth it for us but obviously it is case specific.

We spend about an hour every morning enjoying coffee out on the lanai, and end every day relaxing out there before dinner (I’ll also sit out there and read before bed), so we get plenty of use out of it.

As you said, it’s very case-specific. We’ve been visiting the islands for decades, and with two trips a year, we don’t feel the need to rope drop the beach or pools anymore. Makes stressing over getting a pool chair every morning much less of an issue as well. It’s Hawaii, so time to slow down.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

For those who have stayed in the poolside view (or ocean view close to the pools) on lower floors, how is the noise level? I like the idea of being able to get in out to the pools quickly or at least skip the elevators, but I hate being woken in the mornings (once I’ve adjusted to Hawaii time. For a short stay this may not be a factor…)

 

[LilyJC]

We’ve had poolside once, and I believe we were on the third floor which was super convenient. Here was our view:

​

We actually ended up enjoying it more than I thought we would. I always request Waianae tower because I can’t stand the Four Seasons eyesore, but we’ve only gotten it once. That was my biggest gripe from this villa.

If we happened to be in the room during the day, we could definitely hear happy screaming since we were so close to the lazy river crazy cavern. That summer was also the summer “shiiiiish” went viral, so my teens enjoyed yelling it back and forth with other kids from our balcony. I don’t recall having any issues in the morning with noise, and I always like to sleep with the slider open.

 

[Iceman93]

Aulani was well-built, with much better soundproofing than most other hotels. We've had ground-floor poolside rooms a few times now, and with the sliding door shut you really can't hear much from outside at all.