Hilton Waikoloa Village

The lobby is scented of plumeria and it instantly greets you. They provide you with 1 wristband for your stay. We were in the Palace Tower. The tram runs on the same speed as walking, but it is nice to be able to sit after a day of exploring and playing in the sun. There was lots to do at the resort. I wish they offered the classes throughout the day. We were out in the morning and back in the afternoon and evening. That would be a great time for lei making or ukulele lessons. However they were only once a day when we were out exploring. I wish the pools were heated. The pools were great, but cold. Even at night, the pools were cold. Our room was huge and had a walk in closet where we put all of our luggage, a huge sink area and a separate toilet and shower room. Our room had a patio that led to a grass area to play catch and see the Nene. I wish they had a walk up counter for quick, fast food. Everyone was order and wait at a table. If you go, be sure to eat a Nui and order the Side Bread! So yummy! Read less

This was my family’s second visit to this resort and unfortunately it will be our last. There are other resorts in Hawaii that just do things better. The grounds of the hotel are beautiful and the staff does a good job maintaining them. The staff interactions we had were pleasant. I’m trying to find more positives to write but I’m struggling to find any. Like others have said the hotel is very understaffed and dining options are limited. My wife and I went to the bar at Nui and were never served. We waited 30 minutes and left. We tried to eat off property but they don’t offer a shuttle (I thought they did last year). Big Island Breakfast is shut down (it was open last year). The pools were overcrowded, and the hotel could solve this by eliminating day passes and having these areas as guest only. They won’t do that though because this is very much a nickel and dime type of place. There is no natural beach to swim. You can use the lagoon but again, it gets crowded. No shaded seats available unless you want to pay for cabanas. The rooms were ok, nothing spectacular. Housekeeping did a great job cleaning! If you are a Diamond member don’t expect much. No upgrade here and not providing an actual breakfast and instead doing the cash credit cheapens the experience. I will be discontinuing my diamond status this year because I’ve experienced this Hilton wide. In conclusion this place could be great, but it’s mediocre at best due to all the issues above. If you can get a good rate on a room here it might be worth it to you but I just expect more out of a resort property. Read less

I just completed a three-night stay at the iconic Hilton Waikoloa Village. This was our 11th stay at this resort. Our last stay was in 2018. The resort continues to be very well maintained. The fauna, beaches, pools, public areas and the multi-million-dollar Asian art and sculpture collection (a holdover from the hotel’s origins as the Hyatt Regency Waikoloa) were immaculate! The hotel still runs both a fixed-rail tram and boats between the two towers. New is the boats have been modernized with new lighting and are now electric – no more chug-chug of the diesel motors. However, the boats seem a bit slower than when they were diesel. The boats were not running as often as before, and at times are only running one boat, even during the sunset hours – a staffing issue. The resort has one of the most amazing natural saltwater lagoon beaches of any hotel in the world. Lagoon beach inlet is void of waves, so anyone from 2 to 92 can safely swim, paddleboard or enjoy other water activities. This year we saw many, many more beautiful fish in the lagoon along with the famous large turtles swimming back and forth from the waterfall. The two pools were also immaculate and seemed warmer than my previous stays. They were renovating the waterfall in the main pool, so it was turned off and a small construction area netted. Even though I understood the hotel was full, the beach or pool never seemed crowded or any issues finding a lounge chair or place to lay on the beach. The hotel uses dispensers to issue towels, but a number of times I found these to be empty. You need to scan your room key to access the towels. Even though they say there is a fee for non-returned towels, the hotel TRICKS GUESTS as there is no chip in the towels, so it’s still an honor system to return them. There was a set of towels in our room when we checked in. We were upgraded to one of the ocean-front Makai rooms in the Lagoon tower. The rooms had been completely remodeled a number of years ago, and still were beautiful and furnishings in great condition. Having a long double sink in the bathroom is great for married couples. We were travelling with our teenage daughter, and the large sofa bed made the room “kid friendly” The challenges at this hotel and the whole of the Waikoloa area is staffing and food prices. The hotel seemed under-staffed. The lines at the expensive Waikoloa Coffee are worse than queuing for TSA at the airport. Severely understaffed. In addition, at least one day one of the two Waikoloa Coffee areas had a sign posted saying they were closed due to staffing – shame on them. If Waikoloa Coffee can fix their staffing issues they need to be replaced with another vendor. This is compounded by the fact that the hotel still has closed their Big Breakfast Buffet, which Gold and Diamond Elites previously had a great Hawaiian experience for breakfast, which is replaced by daily vouchers. We stayed at the nearby Courtyard by Marriott in Kona following this stay and they not only had the amazing complimentary Platinum buffet but has complimentary water and tropical juice in the lobby – you can do better Hilton! The food on-property is expensive. We spent over $80 for lunch for three at the Lagoon Grill without drinks. We also found the food options limited and expensive at the nearby Queen’s Marketplace. The Macaroni Grill was seating less than 50% of their capacity due to staffing issues. The large shop area in the Lagoon tower were mostly closed and windows taped over. As I’ve previously suggested, they need to rework this area by adding a large ABC Store in this area. An ABC Store would not only give guests more affordable food options on-property, but would give more energy to an area that had the ambiance of a mausoleum. If Hilton can have ABC Stores inside the Hilton Hawaiian Village, then they can do the same here. Also, the food options felt limited by the continued closure of the Boat Landing Cantina and the bar and casual food options at the Kohala Pool. The new Kona Tap Room seems uninviting for a lobby bar, as compared to the two previous uses of this space. It may be target for a much younger generation. New is the Nui Italian restaurant, which replaced the Japanese Restaurant. It is a nice large casual dining area, but is a bit pricy for being casual. The hotel has renovated their self-parking and for guests in the Makai tower, it’s even easier to get from their rooms to the parking lot via the spa. My wife had a great experience in the spa and couldn’t give more praises to their staff. The hotel sold the Ocean Tower to Hilton Grand Vacations, however it appears only about 25% of the rooms have been converted to timeshares. In the four years since our last visit, only one small section appears to have been converted. Beware to those renting a room from Hilton Grand Vacations, as the non-renovated rooms are likely still furnished from the last century. In our first visits in 2006 and 2007, this hotel had the most amazing HHonors Gold and Diamond Elite Concierge lounges of any Hilton property in the world. Sadly, these have never been restored. In visiting Maui, I see the Hyatt still has their Regency Club. Hilton should “step it up” and restore an area for Elites with the food and beverages options as they had pre-recession of 2008. In summary, the Hilton Waikoloa Village is still an amazing property for families with the large lagoon, large pools with slides, Disney-like boat and tram rides and idyllic weather year-round. The isolated resort is safe to let the kids roam the property and explore all it has to offer. The challenge is most families trying to budget for meals will find it extremely challenging to eat affordably unless they choose to make daily half-hour drives down to Kona or up to Waimea. Hilton could fix this by again simply placing an ABC Store in the Makai Tower. Read less

We had a two bedroom suite right next to the pool. It was very nice and one of the cleanest places I have ever stayed. The furniture is dated and needs to be replaced.IF the furniture was replaced, the stay would be a 5. The staff was very friendly and attentive. The pool was clean and family friendly. I was here for two weeks and enjoyed every minute. Close to the Queen shops and the "A" beach. The room was cleaned twice a week and the housekeeper was excellent. She wanted to change the sheets each time she cleaned! I would stay at the Kahala Suites again without a thought. I have been to Hawaii 25 times, and I think everyone is trying to bring things back to where they were before the pandemic. It will just take time. Read less