Hilton Waikoloa Village in Waikoloa Village, HI

The grounds are beautifully landscaped and dotted with interesting statues, like an outdoor museum. Vegetation is well maintained and pools are clean. Staff at all levels are helpful and friendly. Our room was clean and maintained daily; but the shower ran either too hot or all cold. We enjoyed the tropical oceanfront view. But the whole operation is an isolated manufactured oasis carved at great expense out of a lava desert some 20 miles north of Kona town. The architecture is 1970s protractor-and-straight-edge, with a flare of brutalism like the giant stairways projecting needlessly into the lagoon. There is no ocean beach -- it's all lava rocks. Eating opportunities are limited. There is the $55 breakfast buffet and the $100 dinner house for regular meals; all the rest are snack bars, coffee, or evening bar. Bring lots of money. After a few days it feels like prison and we needed to get out. The trolley and several restrooms needed repairs. It's a tough place for ADA. The flagstone paving is mostly level but in a wheelchair you'd feel the cracks and ridges with every turn of the wheel. We enjoyed it but next time we'll look elsewhere.

Got here late and checked in with Eugene. He was able to get us adjoining rooms, with the view overlooking the dolphin pool and ocean. Everything about this property is top notch. Everywhere I go, someone is cleaning or polishing. there are restaurants on property, and nearby in Kings or Queens landing. The noise level is perfect: sounds of the waves crashing on the shore all night long, just by leaving the slider door open, and screen door closed. The small coffee shop, open 6a-3p, has a collection of protein and non-protein breakfast items, as well as hot or cold drinks, lattes, etc. A huge plus is being able to charge everything on site to our room, with our wallets safely stowed in the room safe. Especially for the children traveling with us, is the ability to sign into Disney+ and Netflix with my own home account. There may be other channels available, but these were the ones we loaded for the kids.

When I first went to this hotel when it opened in 1988 I considered it a six star hotel. That’s because there is nothing like it. It had so many unique features that no other hotels in Hawaii had. Slowly over the decades some of these features have either completely gone away or deteriorated. I can think of at least four restaurants that used to be on the property that are no longerthere one of the closed restaurants is just abandoned and has become an eyesore. Besides the restaurants there used to have a nightclub, when it was owned by Hyatt. When reading descriptions of the hotel one of the things you often read was that it had such a unique canal boat and tram transportation system. no longer use the canal boats, which was one of my favorite features. They used to have a couple canal boats and a couple trams simultaneously. Now they only use one tram and no boats to get around this 62 acre property. There is also lesser things missing such as parrots in the lobby, flamingos around the property, and a large Koi pond behind one of the closedrestaurants that also had black swans. The lagoon Grill used to have entertainment and stayed open much later now it closes at 5 PM. Another thing my family enjoyed was around the river pool. They had elaborate statues for each Chinese year with a description of the animal and whatyears of birth pertain to that particular year most of the statues are all gone. they used to have more hammocks between palm trees. If I came here for the first time, I probably would’ve given the hotel four stars and anyone that has come here for the first timewould probably do the same thing. But I just can’t do that knowing what it used to be like. In its early years it was better than grand Wailea on Maui. I used to highly recommend this hotel and the visitors were well pleased. But anyone that hasn’t been here in a decade or more would be extremely disappointed. Because they too would’ve known what a unique and crowned jewel property it was. Makes me sad.

Hilton Waikoloa Village is a massive, spread-out resort. There are multiple pools, several restaurants (we didn't try them), a sundries shop, morning coffee shop (good coffee, but get there early because it will line up), and a lagoon that’s good for snorkeling when the ocean is too rough (the lagoon was the highlight). There is no real beach. If you prefer staying at a large, self-contained resort and not leaving the property much, this may work for you. However, make sure to get an updated room. Our experience was frustrating. We were initially placed in a room in Ocean Tower that felt more like a Motel 6 than a Hilton — outdated, worn, mismatched furniture. We had booked what we were told was a 2 bed / 2 bath with full kitchen and had to complain multiple times before being moved to what was originally promised. The night manager was excellent in helping to resolve the issue and our new room was what we expect from a Hilton. Other things to know: -$48/night self parking. I think valet is $55/night. There are no alternatives. -Long walk (up to half a mile) from parking to some rooms; shuttle is often full. -Snorkel rentals are $55/day at the hotel. We rented from a snorkel shop at Queen’s Market (about 1 mile away) and paid $16/day. -We received one room cleaning during our week-long stay. If we wanted more, we had to request it. -The internet speed was fine for streaming, but we did have to reconnect multiple times a day. We’re not big resort people. Between the service issues, extra fees, and overall experience, this just wasn’t the place for us, and we won’t be back.

My husband and I stayed at the hotel for a week with the Kawasaki group. It was very nice. I wanted to give a shout out to someone that worked in the breakfast buffet area. Her name is Chelsie and she was amazing. I think all the guests at the hotel showed up at the same time for breakfast. I would have been overwhelmed but she handled everyone in a smooth manner. We got to talk to her during the week and you could tell she was there to make sure everyone was taking care of as fast as possible. By the end of the week she didn't even need us to say our last name and room number. She remembered it. I was shocked by that because she sees so many people each day. I will never forget how nice she was. Thank you Chelsie for making our stay so welcome.