At Aulani Now, Lovin' the Lanai

[LisaT91403]

Last week, we decided to do a last minute trip to Aulani. We arrived last night. Our group has Grandma, her 2 adult kids (my brother and me), and then our spouses and kids (DS5, nephews 8 and 10).

Brother's family is in a 1 bedroom villa. Grandma is with us in a 2-bedroom, and we have Island Garden views. We are next door to each other in the long wing of the Ewa tower. Unfortunately, we are on the 4th floor, so we don't have a partial ocean view like we did last year on the 8th floor.

We like the new Ulu Cafe. It's convenient and has some good options if you don't want a sit down restaurant or something from the pool menu.

Since we booked so late, we were not able to reserve a cabana. However, we found something that suits our group better -- it's called the Executive Lanai. I had never heard of it...not sure if anyone has mentioned it? Here's what we even better than a cabana:

- Location, Location, Location! The Lanai is a private deck just below Ama Ama. We have a spectacular ocean view.

- Quiet. The cabanas seem to be in very busy areas of the resort...crowded and noisy. The exception to this would be the cabanas at the adult pool, but we don't qualify for those.

- Size. We have A LOT more space than a cabana. The lanai a big, private patio with 2 casabellas (each has 2 loungers, so that makes seating for 4), 2 loungers, one table, 2 chairs, and and 2 umbrellas. The cabanas have 2 loungers, a couch, a table, and 2 reclining chairs...but it's all smooshed into the cabana space.

- Sun options. Part of our group likes sun, part likes shade. The casabellas and umbrellas provide shade, and the loungers are in the sun unless you move them under an umbrella.

- Cost. It's $50 less expensive than a cabana.

The service is the same. However, the cabanas have:

- Flat screen TV

- Refrigerator (Lanai has a cabinet, but isn't refrigerated)

- iHome clock radio with iPod Dock

- Safe

You get waters and a fruit platter at both, but the cabana gets a dessert tray as well.

I will try to post pictures of the Lanai tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Aloha!

 

[tbay]

We are going in July and would love to see pictures of the lanai
Have a wonderful vacation . We have 25 below zero weather here
I am sure it's much warmer where you are.

 

[cccory]

Yes, please post pictures!

 

[LisaT91403]

I will post once we are back home. We have a cabana tomorrow, so I will compare the experience to the lanai...and will let everyone know which we liked better.

 

[dadaleus]

There was an earlier thread with a picture of the executive lanai when it first opened. Does this look similar to the way it looks now?
http://www.www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=48465092&postcount=33

I'd also love to see a picture of the two smaller verandas.

 

[LisaT91403]

There was an earlier thread with a picture of the executive lanai when it first opened. Does this look similar to the way it looks now?
http://www.www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=48465092&postcount=33

I'd also love to see a picture of the two smaller verandas.

Yes, that's exactly what it looks like (and better than my pictures!)

We spent 3 days on "our lanai", and loved it! I will post more upon my return.

 

[GAN]

Wow.. Looks amazing!

 

[LisaT91403]

So for those of you still interested, I am back to post some pictures from "our" Lanai. After spending 3 days in it (we were going to do a cabana on the third day, but loved our lanai so much that we grabbed it when someone else cancelled), I think I can give you a comprehensive list of pros and cons versus a cabana. I will be repeating some of what I listed previously, but want to give you a comprehensive list. So here goes....

Pros

1. Size. The Lanai is really big, and we had a group of 8 traveling (5 adults and 3 kids). The cabana is only about 10x10, and they are grouped close together. The lanai had 6 loungers (4 as part of the two casabellas, plus 2 more), as well as 2 chairs and a table. There were also 2 umbrellas that you could move around. With 8 of us, the cabana would be cramped, and would not provide enough loungers for the adults.

2. Location. You just can't beat the view from the Lanai. We explored the cabanas, and your view is either of the Menehune Bridge or the new kids pool. We loved our gorgeous ocean view.

3. Quiet. The Menehune Bridge area is very loud, both because of the rushing water as well as the kids screaming. The cabanas near the kids pool also had a lot of action going on around them.

4. Private. I admit it, we don't really like being on top of other people The regular pool deck chairs are VERY close together. Since we were at the resort at a busy time of year, pretty much all of the chairs were occupied. Therefore, you were going to be seating right next to/on top of other people. Even the cabanas are grouped together (close together!)

5. Sun Options. With the casabellas and umbrellas, you can always have shade on the Lanai. And, you can always have sun as well.


Cons

1. No Electricity. There are no electronics (refrigerator, TV) or outlets on the Lanai. This was not an issue for our group, as we had absolutely zero interest in turning on a TV while spending the day in paradise. In fact, I didn't even turn on the TV in our villa! And we absolutely didn't want to let the kids watch TV during the day, so not having one saved us some battles! A refrigerator would have been nice. However, our ice buckets were refilled several times, and we were brought additional water bottles when we asked, so it wasn't a big deal.

Some might miss the ceiling fan that is found inside the cabanas. Since the weather was never more than 80 degrees (and no humidity), this was not an issue for us. It might be different in the summer, however.

2. The Gate. The Lanai is set up along a set of stairs that heads down to the beach. There is a gate at the bottom of the stairs, and each time someone opened the gate, it slammed closed. It was annoying, but after a while, I just kind of blocked it out. If you are very sensitive to this kind of noise, then the Lanai is not for you.

3. The Stairs. As I mentioned, there are stairs going down to the beach, and they are right along the edge of the Lanai. Occasionally, people would start to walk from the stairs across the Lanai, and then they'd realize it was a private space. I'd say this happened about twice per day. And, of course, there were people going up and down the stairs all day. It was not loud, but there was foot traffic. I couldn't see the people because I was always huddled into my casabella. But honestly, there are people walking back and forth in front of all of the cabanas as well...so I think this might be a wash.

4. Hot Deck. The deck itself can get hot. The staff put towels down for us to walk on, and this solved the problem. No big deal for us, but I supposed it could bother some. I am also guessing it gets more hot in the summer than it did for us. We had no trouble walking barefoot on the stairs all day, and only needed a towel on the deck itself once or twice.


In summary, we absolutely loved "our" Lanai. But it's not for everyone. If I were at the resort during a less crowded time, I would NOT have spent the money. Since we were there during Christmas, the Lanai gave us private space, nobody on top of us (or even near us), room for our party of 8, and a place to camp out without having to worry about losing our spot. It also meant we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to try to find a nice area (to accommodate 8 people) that had both sun and shade.

Here are some pictures:


View looking towards the stairway/entrance to the Lanai:




View of beach:




View from the entrance:




View looking towards Ama Ama and the resort:

 

[dadaleus]

So for those of you still interested, I am back to post some pictures from "our" Lanai.

Thank you so much! This is exactly the kind of info I have been looking for.

If you will indulge me, a couple more questions:

1) Did you take a look at and/or happen to take any pictures of the two smaller verandas? It's just four of us and I'm wondering if those wouldn't work out as well. But if there is no umbrella that would probably be a deal breaker for me.

2) What was reserving this like. I believe I read that it can only be reserved day of? Or were you able to reserve it ahead of time? We currently have a cabana reserved, but I'd like to switch some days to this. But my understanding is these can't be reserved until day of. I may give them a call to find out.

 

[dadaleus]

Oh, and a 3rd question:

3. Does an attendant come around to take drink and food orders or do you have to go get stuff yourself? Did you notice if there are servers coming around to everyone on the beach and around the pool or is this exclusive to the cabanas?

Thanks again!

 

[LisaT91403]

Thank you so much! This is exactly the kind of info I have been looking for.

If you will indulge me, a couple more questions:

1) Did you take a look at and/or happen to take any pictures of the two smaller verandas? It's just four of us and I'm wondering if those wouldn't work out as well. But if there is no umbrella that would probably be a deal breaker for me.

2) What was reserving this like. I believe I read that it can only be reserved day of? Or were you able to reserve it ahead of time? We currently have a cabana reserved, but I'd like to switch some days to this. But my understanding is these can't be reserved until day of. I may give them a call to find out.

Sorry, I did not take pictures of or check out the other smaller verandas. We were a party of 8, so the smaller ones didn't work for us.

We planned our trip about a week in advance, so we didn't do anything ahead of time! We called everyday before arrival to see if a cabana had opened up, and had no luck. Once we got to the resort (late at night), we asked at check in and were able to get a cabana reservation for 1 of our 4 days. The next morning, we went to Rainbow Reef early. The CM told us she had a feeling there would be cancellations, and took our cell number. Sure enough, they called us at around 10:00, and said they had the Lanai available (which we knew nothing about). We checked it out, and took it for the day. We were able to get it again for the following day, but not the day after that (nothing available at all that day)...and then on our final day, we were assigned Cabana 1 (by the Bridge). It was not our first choice, of course. Then in the morning of that last day, they called to say we could have the Lanai instead...and we grabbed it.

My point is that everything was last-minute for us, and it all worked out great (other than the one day where we were without a private space).

 

[LisaT91403]

Oh, and a 3rd question:

3. Does an attendant come around to take drink and food orders or do you have to go get stuff yourself? Did you notice if there are servers coming around to everyone on the beach and around the pool or is this exclusive to the cabanas?

Thanks again!

There are servers for the Lanai, and also for the regular pool area. I didn't stay on the beach, so not sure about that.

There was a "regular" server who brought us food and drinks on the Lanai. He brought our fruit platter, as well as buckets of ice filled with water bottles. In addition to the server, we had a lot of people checking in on us throughout the day. I'm not sure what they are called, but there are CMs who are in blue shorts and white shirts who work in the Rainbow Reef...they also book the cabanas. These guys were great, and kept checking to see if there was anything we wanted or needed (clean towels, more water/ice, move the umbrellas, etc.) So while the food and beverage service was about the same as at the pool, there was an additional level of service provided. Managers also came by a few times to check on us.

 

[dadaleus]

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[Katiebugg14]

We're going to aulani in July! We are so so excited!
Never been to Hawaii so any tips you have we would appreciate!

 

[kyton]

Oh, and a 3rd question: 3. Does an attendant come around to take drink and food orders or do you have to go get stuff yourself? Did you notice if there are servers coming around to everyone on the beach and around the pool or is this exclusive to the cabanas? Thanks again!

I'm not a DVC member but have stayed at Aulani 3 times so far. There is food and beverage service at the lagoon/beach. They probably come around once an hour or so.

 

[LisaT91403]

We're going to aulani in July! We are so so excited!
Never been to Hawaii so any tips you have we would appreciate!

Definitely search for Aulani on this board, and you will find lots of info. The "Aulani Villas & Views" thread is a great resource. If you have any questions, feel free to ask

 

[disneybirds]

We were there in July and these were just part of the regular seating. We sat there one day and had lunch. It is very private and you have great views of the ocean. We definitely enjoyed it. Glad things worked out for you!!

 

[preedymtnwest]

Thank you so much for this thread, LisaT91403! We will be arriving 2/15 for our first Aulani visit and will be a party of 8 (4 adults, 4 kids) and the lanai sounds perfect. Where can I find cost info for the cabanas and lanai?

Thanks again!

 

[preedymtnwest]

Thank you so much for this thread, LisaT91403! We will be arriving 2/15 for our first Aulani visit and will be a party of 8 (4 adults, 4 kids) and the lanai sounds perfect. Where can I find cost info for the cabanas and lanai? Thanks again!

Never mind - found the prices on the Aulani site!

 

[ngchiro]

So true. I like your comment.