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On our visit to Maui, we used the Hilton Free Weekend Night Reward for the Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort. The approval of my American Express Hilton Aspire Card offered that weekend night reward certificate and automatic complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond elite status with the Hilton Honors program.
Grand Wailea is a luxurious Hilton resort hotel in Maui and requires 110,000 Hilton Honors points per night. It is one of the Hilton’s top-tier properties, and the cash rate at this property can be $1,000/night easily. So using the Hilton Free Weekend Night Reward there was a great use.
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| Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort |
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Napua Club Room Upgrade
The Hilton Free Weekend Night Reward can be used towards the standard award room at the Grand Wailea, 1 King Bed Terrace View. Upon arrival, the receptionist was very pleasant to acknowledge me being a Hilton Honors Diamond elite member and complimentarily upgraded my room to the partial oceanview room inside the Napua Tower. That was when the fun part began!
Napua Tower has rooms that provide an ocean view, but all guests staying in that executive tower can also access the Napua Club.
A few things to note in regards to the Napua Tower upgrades:
- Napua Tower at Grand Wailea resort is not an Executive Lounge access benefit found at select Hilton properties. Therefore, getting the complimentary upgrade to the Napau Tower is not part of your Hilton Honors Diamond elite benefits.
- Getting upgraded to the Napua Tower is always at the resort’s discretion whether they want to upgrade you or not.
- You may request the Napua Tower upgrade in your reservation; however, it is NOT guaranteed. The request is always subjected to the availability and the resort’s willingness to upgrade you ONLY on arrival.
I have received quite a few questions about how I received the upgrades to the room inside the Napua Tower for free as a Hilton Honors Diamond elite member. The truth is, I did not do anything special:
- I requested a note asking for an oceanview room upgrade in my reservation. I did not mention any request to Napua Tower as the upgrade is not guaranteed, and I was more concerned about staying in an ocean view room.
- I only stayed one night using the Hilton Free Weekend Night Reward, which could have helped me score the upgrade because it was a very short stay.
- I did not call or email to demand the upgrade being a Hilton Honors Diamond elite member, and I simply made the reservation and asked the agent to make a note request for me. I later learned about the Napua Tower upgrade on the arrival check-in date.
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| Napua Tower Executive Club Entrance |
Maui is really expensive, and having access to the club helps with food and drinks expenses. Accessing Napua Tower is all through the room’s key, so you can enjoy all the amenities there once you are in the tower.
Here are the amenities provided inside the Napua Tower:
- Coffee & Juice Service 6 am – 10 am.
- Continental Breakfast 7 am – 10 am.
- Afternoon Tea 1 pm – 3 pm.
- Cocktails (6th Floor) 4 pm – 9 pm.
- Hors d’oeuvres 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm.
- Chocolate Decadence 8 pm – 9 pm.
- Napua Personal Concierge 7 am – 9 pm
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| Napua Club Amenities |
Continental Breakfast
The Continental Breakfast inside the Napua Executive Club is a buffet-style breakfast. The variety of hot and cold items is pretty good, and the food’s quality is also good.
When we were there, they had quiche, bacon, and sausages. Many bakery items such as croissants, muffins, pastries, etc. There’s also another section with fruits and European-style breakfast items like ham, cheese, and salmon.
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| Breakfast at Napua Club |
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| Pastries at Napua Club |
Cocktails
I am not the first to say that drinks in Maui are not cheap. So being able to enjoy some free cocktails was a great deal to us.
The cocktail is served outside the club but inside the Napua Tower. A server stood by the table serving the drinks, and behind her, there were many kinds of alcoholic beverages.
Cocktail time can get really busy, so be prepared to stay in the queue or go there early before the serving begins!
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| Napua Tower Cocktail Time |
Hors d’oeuvres
For those who don’t know this fancy word, hors d’oeuvres refer to a small dish much like an appetizer at the beginning of a meal.
When we were there, there was a steak meat item, sautéed cauliflower, and various small dishes such as Ahi Tuna and fried tofu, to name a few. It is served buffet-style, so you can get full easily although they are small plates. Consider that as your dinner time. The cool thing about this is that the cocktail hour does not end yet, so you can enjoy the cocktail or wine with your hors d’oeuvres.
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| Hors d’oeuvres Buffet |
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| Hors d’oeuvres |
Chocolate Decadence
As the name suggests, it’s dessert time. You will find various sweet items such as chocolate cakes and cookies to enjoy.
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| Desserts |
$15 Food Credit
Hilton Honors Gold and Hilton Honors Diamond elite members can also receive $15 credit at the Grand Wailea‘s onsite Grand Dining Room.
The Grand Dining Room only serves breakfast, so if buffet-style breakfast is not your thing, you can go down to the Grand Dining Room. The $15 credit is per day and per person with a maximum of $30 per day, including a 15% gratuity. Simply let the server know that you are a Hilton Gold/Diamond member, and the credit will be applied at the point of service.
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Other Diamond Benefits
- Two bottles of water per stay.
- 1 Complimentary movie.
- 100% elite tier bonus points.
Did you do anything special to score the Napua Tower upgrade? How much does the breakfast cost at the Grand dining room?
Hi, we didn't do anything special. When making reservation, I just included the notes for upgrading to the ocean view room. In my opinion, the only buffet breakfast is served inside the Napua Tower, so if you are a gold/diamond member, you are likely to get access to the Napua Tower complimentary as part of the elite benefits. We did not eat breakfast at the Grand Dinning room because we ate free at the lounge in Napua Tower, so I don't know the cost at the grand dinning room.
Hi PL, So as a Diamond you just added in the reservation notes that you would like to be upgraded to ocean view? We are going and I am hoping for something similar just not sure how to ask. I appreciate any feedback. Thx
Hi Sean, yes, that's all we did. If the property is not too busy, I am sure they will be happy to upgrade you as a Diamond. If you want, you can also leave the notes saying you also want upgrade with access to the Napua Tower if it's open. It does not hurt to be straight forward 😉