HI Hawaii Marriott Waikoloa Beach Kamuela

[blueci]

Just got back from my trip. This hotel is wonderful. Very nice and spacious room. When we checked in, the front desk receptionist even asked me what type of room( King / Double ) we wanted, priceline was never mentioned. Even though my room is on the first floor, it has nice view of a garden, with a little bit view of the pool and the beach at the end of it.

Right across from the hotel is the King's Shop. It's a small shopping mall with a few restaurants and a grocery store. So dining is not a problem for those who would like to eat around the hotel. That's what we did on the first night we arrived there. The drive to Kona is only 20 mins. Kona has nice beaches, restaurants and stores. I didn't spend that much time in the hotel, but seems like there are a lot to do. I will definitely choose this hotel again next time I go to Big Island.

[LoneStar]

I stayed a couple nights at this property too (please see my review of the Hilton Waikoloa Village for all the general pluses and minuses of staying in this area). I agree that the Marriott is pretty nice, but the bottom line is that it is nowhere near as nice as the Hilton a mile away. Currently, the Marriott goes for $95 on priceline, and the hotel will charge you an extra $7 to park (there's also a $15 resort fee option that includes parking, decide for yourself what your best option is). The Hilton is $135, with no resort fee and free self-parking. Given the overall high cost of a Hawaiian vacation, I think it's worth paying the extra $32 to "upgrade" to the Hilton.

Why is the Hilton nicer? First, the rooms are puportedly 50% larger (I can't personally vouch for this, because I was given a suite at the Hilton, which was about 500% larger than my very ordinary room at the Marriott!). Second, while the Marriott's grounds are very nice, they're not in the same league as the Hilton's. The only advantages the Marriott has (other than price) is that they give you a refrigerator, where at the Hilton you'll have to beg for one. Also, the Marriott is directly adjacent to Anaehoomalu Beach and from the Hilton you'd have to shuttle to it or swim off their man-made sandy beach lagoon (personally, I think A'beach is a little overrated, and I'd rather swim and snorkel in the Hilton lagoon). Finally, from the Marriott you can just walk across the street to the cheaper eats at the Kings Shops, but you'll probably want to drive the distance from the Hilton. You might also want to consider that there will be significant construction at the Marriott for the next several months. Overall, my recommendation is that unless you're just popping in for a night and don't want to schlep your luggage across the Hilton's grounds to your room, pay the nominal difference and stay at the posher resort.

By the way, the poster who said you can make it to Kona in 20 minutes from the Marriott obviously didn't do it in rush hour. Try one-hour thirty minutes (or more!) for the drive. Otherwise, you can do it in 30. Keep in mind though that if you're doing it to save on Waikoloa restaurant costs, the roundtrip gas alone will run about six bucks (gas is currently $2.70/gallon in Waikoloa).

[7continentKaren]

Here's a great gas hint: if you belong to Costco, buy gas there. In the states, you save a few cents. On Kona you can save as much as 20 cents per gallon! It is a reasonable place to stock up on macadamia nuts, etc for souvenirs and our family purchased our booze there. It is off the main hiway and a little tricky to find. First time we ended up below it and hiked up to it rather than try to figure it all out! It is between the airport and town.

And we definitely love the Hilton. We stayed years ago at the Marriott when it was a Sheraton. It is a nice hotel but the gardens at the Hilton are amazing. Every evening we go on a boat ride. And sit in the hammocks for two. :)

Suggest Roy's at Kings Shops for dinner. Nice view, great Hawaiian/Asian food. Only a little pricy. The grocery store is only for the desperate - very expensive.

[forress]

Stayed here for 3 nights in early Dec 2005, paid $95/night thru priceline. I have the Marriott Rewards Visa credit card (annual fee waived for first year), it comes with membership for Marriott Silver Elite (their frequent hotel guest program). So as soon as I found out I'll be staying at this property, I called Marriott's 800# and gave them my membership #. A few days later, I checked my reservation on marriott's website and saw that they've reserve a partial oceanview room for me which was great. If not for this, I think they would put priceline guests in garden view rooms (which isn't all that bad either).

Our partial oceanview room faces the pool (see attached pic), to the left of the balcony is the ocean. The room itself was nice and clean. Roomy bathroom w/ the sink outside of the bathroom in the mirror/makeup area. In room hi-speed internet is included with the $15 resort fee (which also includes free parking, 1/2 day of snorkeling, 2 mai tai's daily which you can substitute for other drinks at the same price range at the bar like pina colada, strawberry daquiries, etc).

The construction didn't really bother us. You only notice it when you check in b/c it's adjucent to the check-in driveway area where the bell hops are, they're also working on the area behind the pool/beach where a small wall blocks access.

The beach is a within the hotel grounds, maybe 100 yards past the pool and is by far the best part of the hotel. You will enjoy a postcard-esque sunrise and sunset almost everyday (see attached pic) b/c of the excellent weather on this side of the Big Island. A nice treat for you and your spouse/gf is to get your 2 free drinks at the bar by the pool right before sunset and then bring it to the beach where there are ample beach chairs lying around. We haven't seen more than 10-15 ppl at the beach during our stay, and this is a nice size private beach. We took advantage of the free 1/2 day snorkeling. They'll give you free gear, fins, lifevest, etc. We didn't see any fishes in the afternoon, we were told you're better off snorkeling in the early mornings. Instead we went kayaking/snorkeling by Captain Cook where we saw hundreds of tropical fishes.

We didn't attend the Luau b/c I read reviews where some said it gets windy at night. And they're right, I found out Waikoloa means windy in Hawaiian. You'll witness 20+mph wind gust at night, perhaps they should built a wind farm here in the future. We were able to see parts of the Luau from our room and it looked like everyone was having fun, the fire dancing looked nice.

The only downside to staying at this hotel is the distance from Kona. It's about a 20 min drive from the Kona Airport. But it takes about 30 mins to drive to downtown Kona. We drove to Kona twice for dinner (at Kona Inn Restuarant and Kenichi's) and it is rough to drive 30 mins back to the Marriott after a big delicious meal at night. We were still jet lagged as we flew in from the east coast so that made the problem worst.

As mentioned by 7continentKaren, there's a nice shopping mall across from the Marriott. Inside the mall is a nice restaurant called Roy's. It is one of the best places to eat in Hawaii (better than the 2 restaurants mentioned prior), great food and great service in a trendy/hip atmosphere. Don't forget to make reservations as it gets crowded.

We haven't stayed at the Hilton so we cannot comment on which was better but was $95/night, it is well worth it. Would love to stay here again!

Room Pictures at RealHotelPhotos.com

[LoneStar]

The comment about calling Marriott in advance with your elite status is interesting. I checked into this hotel twice as a Marriott silver elite (without calling ahead of time) and got a pretty crummy room both times! On the other hand, I showed up at the neighboring Hilton Waikoloa with no Hilton status and got a huge suite.

So maybe "luck" is the determining factor in room selection sometimes? :)

The comments about driving into Kona for dinner are also interesting. I repeat my earlier advice: be very careful about what you're getting into if you decide to drive to Kona in the evening from Waikoloa. The rush hour traffic I experienced was mind-boggling (for a remote, sparsely populated locale), and I am apparently not alone.

http://www.hawaii-county.com/planning/konaroads.htm

[luckylassy]

I just spent my honeymoon here for 7 nights. Hotel renovations I believe were completed in October 2008. We very much loved it here. We were upgraded to a pool/partial beach front view w/o asking. Our room was very comfy and spacious. One of the best conveniences is that the King and Queen shops are just across the street within walking distance. Eat there for dinner (Roys or Sansei were our favs), rather than at the hotel. However, the breakfast buffet is superb at the Marriott and is highly recommended. Didn't do the Laui, so I can't comment, but we had a great view of it from our room.

Very comfy relaxing stay at a great price!