TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Day two of our stay here and already I can give this hotel 1 star. The air conditioning doesn’t work. A building engineer came by after I requested help with the AC and he explained that although I have the AC set to 62, 75 is as cool as it will get. And the reason is that the building is too old and needs to be renovated. As a hotel operator charging the prices charged at this hotel (not cheap), you need to disclose this to guests UP FRONT. The solution to make it right is not to charge me for several nights of my stay.

This was the most disappointing resort visit in memory. My wife and I had visited the Waikoloa some 30 plus years ago and we recall very much enjoying all aspects of that stay. That’s why, when we saw the recent mediocre reviews, we disregarded them and booked a week long stay for ourselves and our son, daughter in law and their 3 boys. Now we cannot understand how it was rated as high as it was, particularly in light of the sky high prices. It is not worth the cost, on any level. The rooms are basic and adequate, but in no way luxurious. There weren’t even bathrobes (although those staying in the adjacent timeshares had them). We weren’t told that room cleaning is provided every other day(!) and so returned to find no fresh towels, etc. Upon being advised of our astonishment and disappointment management reluctantly agreed to provide daily service. The physical layout of the resort, and the lack of adequate transport options, is another sad aspect. Despite having channels for shuttle boats the boats are not in operation. The only way to get around, other than walking, is the tram, but it runs so slowly and infrequently that if you miss it you’ll have to wait at least 20 minutes in the heat for your next opportunity. And if, like us, you are in the Palace Tower, it is a LONG walk to the beach or a pool. At the Kona pool there is essentially no control over who uses it or their behavior there. A hotel wristband is supposed to entitle you to access but there were always groups of ill-behaved teenagers jumping, running and making noise who didn’t have them. It is hard to relax when you are surrounded by noise, splashed with water by people jumping in from the sides and crowded in by too many people. This was not a five star resort experience in any way, and I suggest that anyone headed to this beautiful area of the Big Island look elsewhere.

I've been coming to this hotel at least 5+ times. We took our family to have a great summer vacation memory our daughter is still talking about how much fun she had. Its a veryyyyy big property so be prepared to walk further than your other smaller hotels (We'd rather have a bigger hotel than a smaller footprint). The boats from a while back are discontinued, but I'm hearing that something even more special is in the works (Super exited!). The food is great, the staff is awesome. When we went the tram was still working 3/4 of it, but just not in a small portion of it to the Makai tower. They had to do emergency repairs to that very small portion of the track (that's almost done) to make sure customers are safe while being on the tram (very important safety first so it was ok for us to walk that small portion to Makai tower, we would rather be safe than sorry later). The stand up paddle boarding was super fun we even seen turtles in the water! The room views were amazing too I suggest getting the ocean view rooms. Overall my family had a blast my kids didn't want to even get out of the pools or leave the hotel to go home!

I truly don’t understand why so many people are knocking this resort down in reviews. I’ll start here. There is a lot of walking - the canal boats are no longer in use, and the tram system is under construction. While this is not a problem for us, I can understand why some people might not enjoy getting their 10k steps a day on property. We enjoyed our steps through the walking museums, and all the gorgeous and chill views. I could not complain for a million dollars - feeling the ocean breeze everywhere was worth the 10 billion steps! Another complaint I am seeing is about how much of a family friendly resort this is. If you want quaint romance, go to the Mauna Kea hotel. If you want cool pools, a private lagoon to explore, and things to do on site, come here. My kids loved it. 10/10 for our family. A huge and pretty property. Zero complaints!!! FYI, there is not sandy beach access, but there is a sandy private lagoon to explore, and a sandy pool with sandy beach.

Our room had a large puddle of water covering much of the floor, soaking our socks, and the air conditioning was not working properly, making the room uninhabitable. When we called the front desk, we were transferred to Housekeeping instead of receiving assistance. I then went to the front desk, where the employee assisting us, Mike, was dismissive and inattentive. We were moved to a lower-floor room with a much poorer view than the one we had reserved, and no one apologized for the room condition or the inconvenience. What disappointed us most was how management handled the situation. There was no apology or effort to make things right, and we were made to feel like we were the inconvenience. We decided to leave and find accommodations that better reflected the price we had paid. When I asked to cancel the remaining two nights, I was told we would be charged for the first night plus a $100 cancellation fee. Please be careful not to pay premium prices. Stay in the Palace Tower for less $ and the same resort experience.