TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Excellent staff! Super friendly and several went the extra mile to make sure we were taken care of. Rooms are updated and every time we stay here our room has an excellent view. Bar was wonderful and the onsite luau was a blast. Great location in Kona town proper, and easy walking distance to shopping. We’ll be back.

Great location for restaurants and shops! Amazing ocean views with sunset viewing right from your balcony! Great restaurants and a luau onsite! Staff were very friendly and helpful! Rooms were clean and spacious. Would definitely recommend.

Just back from our Big Island vacation. I will say the Royal Kona has an excellent ocean front location. In its day it WAS most likely gorgeous. But as it stands now? We left after 1 night, of a 9 night stay. The concrete rim around the outside of the place, viewable from Beachcomber outside cafe/bar is missing chunks of concrete. While sitting at the outside table for lunch the metal railing between our table and the tables slightly above us (close to where live music played in the evening) is rusted and “peeling” in sheets. Don the Beachcomber Restaurant is used as storage. We could look inside. The wood siding here is in great disrepair! The outside balconies look in great need of a paint job … the whole outside area actually. The “Sandy beach area” is deserted & neglected. I didn’t know what this space was for till looking at old photos here on Trip Advisor. The Luau area … cheap plastic table clothes on cheap tables with cheap folding chairs. No ocean view, looks just as run down as the rest of this place. Our room: We open door, walk into a hallway. Kinda weird. Turn right and see the room. The furniture in the old photos do not exist. The wooden blind doors are painted white. The room has no ceiling fan nor ceiling light. [They “upgraded” us at check in to a corner wrap Balcony Room. We didn’t ask] The Balcony was huge. This big space had 2 high back chairs & table, old carpet (??) on the lanai floor. Chunks of concrete missing across all the edges of where floor meets balcony ‘wall’. And when walking on this old icky carpet (with flip flops on our feet …eww) there are dips/chunks of floor obviously missing, where you could trip. Back to The room, it was minimally furnished. There was the bed area ….a huge empty spot in the middle of the room, and a lone couch on other side . No end tables, coffee table or lamps. The sliding glass door to the lanai?? My husband could barely slide it across the track to open. And It was filthy. Seriously, damn near impossible to open. If that’s normal due to tropical weather, then maintenance needs to do whatever it has to keep it sliding. I couldn’t open it. I thought .. what if I were in here alone and there was an emergency? I’m giving this 3 stars ONLY because of the great staff. Front Desk, Bellman, Bartender, & Bar Waitress. Thank you! BTW, my fish ‘n chips were delicious. We’d t drink alcohol so can’t review their Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai’s. We woke up the next morning and contacted the Front Desk. To their credit, they said they’d only charge the one night we stayed. We called a Resort in the Waikoloa area & continued on to the rest of our 2 week vacation. Yes, an expensive mistake. I saw the 4 Star Rating here and figured it can’t be too bad, even though I read reviews.

We've stayed there on several occasions. The hotel is older but very clean. A/C worked fine and we had a great view from our balcony. Actually, we watched native Hawaiian dancers on two different nights. Great happy hour, outstanding drinks and apps. Very nice lounge chairs at the pool. Please note; the pool is rather small and very deep. There is only a small stretch of sandy beach on the property (in the lagoon area), with a long set of stairs to get to it. Purified water is available, free on each floor. Saves trips to the ABC store. Parking is $25. per day. Some free handicapped parking is available. Other dining establishments are within easy walking distance. All in all it was a very nice stay.

My husband and I spent a week at this resort. We stayed in a corner king room, which was spacious and had a gorgeous ocean view. Even with the balcony doors closed, you could hear the waves crashing onto the rocks. Our room (main tower) also overlooked the luau, so it was perk to see a ‘free’ show! The room was clean, though I was expecting a few more amenities. For example, it would have been nice to have a clothesline in the shower to hang swimsuits. A full length mirror and robes would have been nice to have. They also don’t offer room service. I appreciated the separate sink in the bar area and two bottles of water in the fridge, which you are expected to refill (the only refill dispenser is on the second floor, which I found a bit inconvenient). We had breakfast once and dinner once in the restaurant and the food is very good. There’s plenty of restaurants of various price points within short walking distance from the hotel, making the location very convenient if you want to explore different restaurants. An ABC store is also across the street. I chose this hotel because of the location in being close to the ocean, walking distance to a lot of restaurants and fairly close to the harbor for scuba diving excursions (about 15 minutes drive). Various Kona coffee farms are also within 10-20 minutes drive as well. Overall, the hotel is on par with a Sheraton. I found it to be a no frills experience with no major issues or complaints. Staff we encountered were friendly and helpful. If you want a more romantic or luxurious stay, I’d look into the resorts north of Kona airport.