Studio or Standard room

[Michelle smith]

What is better, Studio room or standard (DH, DD, DS and me) ?I am worried about space. Anyone done both?

 

[BrandoMom]

Bumping because I want to know too

 

[heaven2dc]

Studio has queen bed, queen sleeper sofa, microwave, wet bar sink, toaster, small fridge and coffee/tea maker and is about 350 sq ft.

Standard room has 2 queen beds (there is a small minority with king and sleeper sofa), small fridge, coffee/tea maker and is about 380 sq ft.

Usually a personal choice based on bedding, size and/or amenities in room.

 

[Roshni_Patel]

Depends on your requirement too. Do specify them for a precise answer.

 

[LottiesMommy]

We have done both room types and we far preferred the regular hotel room. We are two adults and one child under age 10. We stayed in the hotel room for 7 nights and studio 12 nights. I really wished I had the hotel room about half way through our studio stay.

We preferred having two real beds rather than one bed and one sofa bed. We found the sofa bed was hard to walk around when it was put out given the irregular configuration of the room. We felt like the regular room felt much larger even though it is only about 26 square feet larger (or about that).

We didn't find the microwave that useful for us, but if you plan to use it then I would consider that in the choice.

If you plan to watch movies in your room or spend any time watching TV (some nights we just wanted to eat pizza and rent a movie from the community room)... then the hotel room is better since both beds face the TV (the couch/sofa bed faces the other way so hard to watch TV from both the bed and sofa).

That was our experience and certainly may be unique to us, but sharing in case it is helpful for you.

 

[trs518]

The studios have several different layouts. We've stayed in two of them. Most of them, I believe, follow the standard DVC layout. The couch and the bed are next to each other and face the TV. We also had one where things were at a slight angle by the patio door. Others are as you describe, where the couch is on the same wall as the TV.

We have done both room types and we far preferred the regular hotel room. We are two adults and one child under age 10. We stayed in the hotel room for 7 nights and studio 12 nights. I really wished I had the hotel room about half way through our studio stay.

We preferred having two real beds rather than one bed and one sofa bed. We found the sofa bed was hard to walk around when it was put out given the irregular configuration of the room. We felt like the regular room felt much larger even though it is only about 26 square feet larger (or about that).

We didn't find the microwave that useful for us, but if you plan to use it then I would consider that in the choice.

If you plan to watch movies in your room or spend any time watching TV (some nights we just wanted to eat pizza and rent a movie from the community room)... then the hotel room is better since both beds face the TV (the couch/sofa bed faces the other way so hard to watch TV from both the bed and sofa).

That was our experience and certainly may be unique to us, but sharing in case it is helpful for you.

 

[OKW Lover]

I think the real advantage to a DVC Studio over a standard room is the kitchen facilities. Nice to be able to fix something in the morning, or an afternoon snack.

 

[frank808]

I think the real advantage to a DVC Studio over a standard room is the kitchen facilities. Nice to be able to fix something in the morning, or an afternoon snack.

The major difference between Aulani studios vs dvc hotel rooms is the small sink and cupboards available in the studios. But the hotel rooms are larger than most aulani dvc studios. There are a few studios that are the same size as hotel rooms.

 

[nkereina]

We stayed in a studio at Aulani as two adults, and thought it was crowded. I can't imagine more people than us in that room, even kids. It was the fourth resort we had stayed at during our time in Hawaii, and it was the smallest room by far. With your party, I would do the standard room for two queen beds. Otherwise, it will be one queen bed and a sleeper sofa that you'll need to pull out and make up each day. If you leave it in the sleeper position, there will be little to no walking room and balcony door access will be tough. There's also limited storage space in the room, IMO.

PP mentions the benefit of the studio is the kitchenette, which is true. But the amenities of the kitchenette can also be found at Ulu Cafe for the public - microwave and toaster. I believe all rooms have a mini fridge. It's of course not as convenient as having it in-room, but the only time we used the kitchenette amenities was to heat up leftover pizza and make pop tarts, both of which we could have done at Ulu.

 

[Michelle smith]

Depends on your requirement too. Do specify them for a precise answer.

We have 2 adults two children 12,9 going.

 

[DieHardJoe]

I realize this isn't an apples to apples comaprison, but it may be helpful. We are DVC owners and up until the last few visits have stayed in Studios and they sufficed for what we needed. But we love the extra room and amenities with a 1-BR. So when we were in Hawaii for 2 weeks back in May, we spent the second week at Aulani, and to save points and because we knew we would not be in our room that much, we stayed in a 1-BR Standard view. We were lucky that we were given a room on the 7th floor (the highest floor before crossing into a higher point category) and for us, it was totally worth it, though obviously it is much more epensive than a Studio. I have no idea about possible discounts available, but you may want to at least take a look at a 1-BR. Happy hunting!

 

[heaven2dc]

I think the real advantage to a DVC Studio over a standard room is the kitchen facilities. Nice to be able to fix something in the morning, or an afternoon snack.

You're right - having that microwave and toaster helps a lot in the deluxe studios (although having a 1 or 2 bedroom villa with a full kitchen is even nicer!)