Planning for a Trip: Reading the Reviews
When my husband and I first started to look into a vacation to the Big Island we knew we were going to be staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. We had enough points for a 10 day stay and it would have been crazy not to go! The first thing that I always do is check out the reviews on TripAdvisior to see what guests have said about the hotel that we are going to be staying at. Sometimes we make a choice based upon those opinions. In this case we were just looking at the reviews to see what we were getting ourselves into.Now I am a big contributor to TripAdvisor as well as a fan of the info they provide for travelers. However, sometimes you run across reviews of a property that just don't quite match your own experience. The Hilton Waikoloa Village is one of these properties for me.
When I read the reviews I was bombarded with mediocre reviews and noticed a similar theme in the complaints that travelers had. Among these were: The property is too large. It reminds me of Disneyland. The birds are too loud. There isn't a "real" beach. The resort fees are too high. The service is bad. Employees aren't friendly enough. The trams don't run often enough. It's a long walk to the parking area. Parking costs too much. Food is expensive. Quite honestly I wasn't sure what to expect when we arrived at the resort....what I found was absolutely wonderful.
I started wondering about where the disconnect was coming from and I honestly feel like maybe if people knew what to expect from this resort before they booked they may have a better experience. Or perhaps in some cases, once some travelers know what to expect, they would find that booking a different resort would suit their needs better. So, given that idea, I have decided to give my view of the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort so that perhaps it will help travelers better decide what they can expect from a stay here and hopefully enjoy that stay more.
"The Resort is too big."
This is a very large resort. You can spend a lot of time just walking around the resort. It took us several days to even get to some of the areas that were furthest from our room. Now given that it is a large resort, I am not sure what the hotel is supposed to do about the amount of property that they have. The resort is the resort. It is a fixed quantity.
Now given that the resort is large, there are several ways to get around or to adapt your stay to cut down on the walking. There are three towers that comprise the resort. The Lagoon Tower, The Palace Tower and the Ocean Tower. The Lagoon Tower is located nearest the lobby area. If you have a disability or just don't want to have to deal with the walk, I would suggest that you request or choose a room in the Lagoon Tower. It is also closest to the Kona Pool (Which is the main pool area) as well as the KPC (the resort's signature restaurant), the Legends of Hawaii Luau that is held onsite, the spa, the tennis courts, and the Dolphin Adventure. So if you are looking for convenience and a shortened walk, choose the Lagoon Tower.
The Palace Tower is the nearest tower to the lobby heading the opposite direction of the Lagoon Tower. This is followed by the Ocean Tower which has the longest walk to and from the lobby and parking areas. We stayed in the Ocean Tower in a Deluxe Ocean View Room. The view was absolutely amazing and well worth the walk as far as we were concerned. I would estimate the walk to the Palace Tower to be about 10 minutes and the Ocean Tower about 15 minutes. This is an average time so depending on how quickly or slowly you walk, this could vary.
The resort does provide a tram that runs to and from all of the towers and the lobby all day/night. There are stops right outside each of the buildings and the tram is handicap accessible for any guests who may require a wheelchair or scooter. There is also a boat that runs during the evening hours and also makes stops at each of the buildings. There is sometimes a bit of a wait for the tram depending on how recently they left the building that you are departing from but we found that the wait was never more than 5 minutes. Often times we walked to the next stop and were able to catch the tram there. It's all in how much you want to walk during your stay. Transportation is provided....just realize that you may have a little wait time.
"It Reminds me too Much of Disneyland"
Now anyone who knows me...knows that this is much more of a PLUS than a minus since I LOVE all things Disney! However I believe that the reviewers who wrote this must have thought of it as a negative for the resort.
When guests make this statement, the only thing that I can think of is is that they are speaking again of the largeness of the resort coupled with the tram (similar to a monorail) that guests ride around from building to building. They could also mean that it is very kid friendly....lots of pools, lots of activities for kids to participate in. Some of these activities, such as ukelele lessons and hula dancing lessons are free of charge to resort guests while others such as special photos with the birds or a special photo session are additional charges.
Again, I love Disney and am used to the additional charges for "special" things. Yes sometimes children want to see the birds and it may feel as though you have to purchase a photo. However I was taking photos of the birds and not one photographer that was employed by the resort ever gave me a problem. Now I didn't hold the bird or take photos with the bird on my head but I was welcome to snap as many photos of the actual bird that I wanted. As long as your expectation is realistic, I have a hard time seeing where this is a negative. Some guests may want photo opportunities while others do not. Simply say no thank you. There is no pressure to purchase.
There is also an additional charge for the Dolphin Adventure. If you want to swim with the Dolphins, there is a fee for this. If you want to watch other guests swim with the dolphins or watch the trainers interact with the dolphins or take photos of the dolphins, there is no charge for this. We were able to stand on the walkways as long as wanted and watch and photograph the dolphins.
There are also fees for the "toys" at the lagoon. Paddle boards, snorkeling equipment, boats that you pedal around the lagoon, all are available for an hourly charge ( or part of an hour). While this can add up if you are renting toys every day, it is not unusual for a hotel in Hawaii to charge for the use of these items. We have stayed at hotels on Oahu and Maui and there has always been a charge to use these types of things. There are plenty of other water activities that can be enjoyed that don't require an extra charge.
Hawaii in general is an expensive place. Things cost a little more than on the mainland....activities cost a little more. To me it's just part of planning the budget for Hawaii....very similar to the way that I plan a budget to go to Disney World or Land. So yes, there are similarities to a Disney experience but you as a traveler have to decide if that is a positive or negative for you.
"The Birds are too Loud"
This is probably the most common complaint that you will find when you read reviews of the Hilton Waikoloa Village. I had read so many of these comments I was really concerned that we wouldn't be able to sleep at all since the Ocean Tower seemed to be the focus of most of the negative comments. I read that the birds are so loud that you just can't sleep. Some people even had to stuff towels in front of their doors to block the noise.
What we found: Yes there are birds at the resort. Yes those birds do congregate in the outside courtyard of the Ocean Tower right around sunset and sunrise each day. The Ocean Tower is round with a courtyard in the middle so the sound does tend to bounce off the building and echo so it can get loud. However, we found during our 10 night stay that the noise was really concentrated just at sunset and sunrise....it didn't continue all night long. The rooms are set up so that the door faces the courtyard area. As you walk in there is a bathroom area and a short hallway before you get to the bedroom area. So there is a buffer zone between the doorway and bed. We also found that if you open the sliding glass door to the lanai and listen to the sound of the waves crashing against the coastline you can't hear the birds at all! I can honestly say that the birds did not bother us at all. We are not light sleepers so I am sure that helped. Also since there was a 5 hour time difference between Ohio and Hawaii, we were usually awake or close to being awake by the time the birds started to chirp. To be honest with the winter we were having, it was actually very nice to hear birds! We have stayed in a hotel in Half Moon Bay that the fog horn went off every few minutes 24 hours a day as well as a hotel in West Point where the train went by every few minutes 24 hours a day (the hotel even had to provide guests with ear plugs.) Both of these hotels were far more annoying to us than we found the bird noise to be.
I would recommend if you are a light sleeper, that you request a room in the Palace Tower perhaps as the rooms are indoors rather than opening into an outside hallway surrounded by a courtyard. We noticed that there were birds near the Lagoon tower as well that chirp. Reviewers don't seem to be as bothered in this area even though their rooms open up to the outdoors. Perhaps because that building is not circular it doesn't echo quite as badly. Either way, if you think that the noise would bother you, simply ask when booking your reservation about what your best option would be.
"There is no real Beach"
This is true, there isn't a "real" beach" at this resort. If you are looking for that pristine, white sand beach that you see on postcards of Hawaii, you will not find it at this resort. In fact, you may not just be at the wrong resort but on the wrong Island! A little research ahead of time, will tell you that there aren't a whole lot of white sand beaches on the Big Island. The Big Island is a "young" Island compared to the other Hawaiian Islands. With the active volcano still creating land, there is more lava and black sand beaches than pristine white beaches. There is even a rare green sand beach on this island!
The resort sits near the ocean. You have wonderful ocean views from many areas of the resort and beautiful sunset dining at the KPC on the cliffs above the ocean. You sit or walk near the ocean and watch the whales swimming and breaching if you are there during whale season. There are three pools available to guests. The Kona Pool, which is the largest and has a large water slide. The Kohala River Pool which is several small pools connected by water slides. And the Ocean Tower Pool which is an adult only pool. There is also a huge Lagoon in the center of the resort that is full of fish and eels and sea turtles. As I mentioned above, you can rent "toys" and play in the lagoon.
If you really want a white sand beach, there is one nearby. Perhaps a 5 minute drive will take to the nearby Waikoloa Beach. No it is not right on the property but if you must have a beach it is definitely doable. If views with rocks and turquoise waters are ok with you, you will be fine with what the resort has to offer.
"The Resort Fees are too High"
This is another common complaint among reviewers. If you travel around the west coast of the mainland at all you will be very familiar with "resort fees". The Hilton Waikoloa Village is not the only hotel that charges a "resort fee" to cover certain amenities like Wifi (which by the way is very good and accessible all over this huge resort) or DVD rentals. While you may not use all of the resort amenities, it is not uncommon to see this charge added to your bill. Personally I think if Hilton could do one thing, it would be to simply add the charge into it's room charges. It would eliminate a whole lot of complaints and the cost of the room is still competitive with other resorts in the area.I am not sure people realize that they can get a room at this resort for as little as $199.00 a night. Even adding in the resort fee this is far less than room costs at many of the other resorts on the Big Island and comparable to those on Oahu. It is FAR less than a resort cost on Maui. Again, Hawaii in general is more expensive than the mainland so we actually found this resort to be a great value. The Four Seasons probably offers a little more but their cost is around $1,000.00 a night. Even with the resort fee added in you are no where close to that amount for a stay at the Hilton Waikoloa.
I would just recommend that guests make themselves aware that there is a resort fee and again plan it into your vacation budget.
"The Service is Bad and Employees aren't Friendly"
I am not sure what people are talking about with this complaint but I will try to address what we found.
1. The Service is Bad. - We found the service to be acceptable. There is a Big Island Breakfast served on the resort premises each morning and we did find the service to vary between servers. Some mornings our server was a little more efficient than others. However, we were always seated in a timely manner and were served. We found that things in Hawaii tend to operate on "Hawaii Time". It is more laid back than what most of us are used to on the mainland but isn't that why we booked a trip to Hawaii in the first place? Tip: If you walk to the Big Island Breakfast and time it between tram stops, you will have a far shorter wait time.
The only other thing that we noticed that could possibly be improved upon was the speed at which the valet brought the car around. This was mostly due to the inconsistency in number of employees working. I am not making excuses for the hotel because there were times that we waited for quite a long period of time for our vehicle and yes it was frustrating but it seems like it's probably a difficult area for the hotel to staff. Most airline carriers have one flight a day to Kona so there is a large influx of guests at one time making it hectic and hard to manage all the cars at one time. Between flights it is far less busy and things seem to move a little quicker. Again, this is an area that could use some improvement but it was not such a horrible experience that it would make me never return.
2. The Employees aren't friendly - I really didn't meet any employees that weren't friendly. I was greeted by an Aloha every time that I walked by someone. Housekeeping was efficient and friendly. The front desk employees were wonderful and helpful as was the concierge in the main lobby as well as at the Ocean Tower desk. Just before our visit to the Big Island, we stayed at the Arizona Biltmore which is a Waldorf (also owned by Hilton) property. We paid twice the amount for our room as we paid at the Hilton Waikoloa and NO ONE ever spoke to us there. Not a hello, not a hope you have a nice stay....nothing. This hotel was so different from that experience and I really didn't experience any lack of the Aloha spirit.
"The Trams Don't Run Often Enough"
This is still another complaint that you will run across often in reviews. It is also another area that we just didn't experience a problem. Maybe it was because we were mentally prepared to have a walk to the lobby so it didn't bother us if we missed the tram. Honestly the resort was so beautiful and the weather so perfect that we really didn't mind the walk.
We noticed that there were two trams operating most if not all of the time (I am not sure during the middle of the night). Trams would wait quite awhile at the Ocean Tower (which is one of the end loading zones) allowing guests to make the tram with a semi-brisk walk. (By no means were we running to catch it). If you happened to miss the tram, the next one was usually there within 5-10 minutes. There were benches near the boarding area if you wanted to sit or like I said before, sometimes we just walked along to the next stop and picked it up there.
We never saw a huge group of people waiting for long periods of time to catch a tram.
"The Self-Park Lot is a Long Walk and is Expensive"
This is another area that seems to stick in people's craw. There is a fee of $17.00/day to self park and the lot is a distance away. Add that distance to the walk to your room and you have a pretty long walk every day if you want to take your car out. Again, the fee isn't strange if you have been to any "resort" in California or pretty much anywhere on the west coast. I have paid more than this to park in a normal parking area at a hotel near the airport in San Francisco. So my advice is basically to be aware of the charge and plan it into your lodging budget. You will still be lower even adding this in than many of the other resorts regular room rates.
Personally I believe that the valet parking at $22.00/day is the way to go. For the extra $5.00 a day you can park at the door and have your car brought back to the door when you are ready to go out. Yes there is a tip involved but again, for the difference it just seems well worth the money to me. As I have noted before Hawaii is expensive, you have to just plan on spending money while you are there.
"Food is Expensive and is So-So"
If you have stayed at any hotel anywhere you know that hotel restaurants can be hit or miss. Most of the time they are not going to be the best meal you have ever eaten. That being said, we felt that the quality of food at the Hilton Waikoloa was above average. The Big Island Breakfast was amazing. There were so many things to choose from including: made to order omelets, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, soups, salads, fruits, fish, pastries among other things. This breakfast is on the expensive side at close to $30.00/person. However, you could easily go later in the morning and make a nice "brunch" out of it covering both your breakfast and lunch meals.
The sunset dinner at the KPC was very good. Again it is on the expensive side but the views are amazing and watching the sunset over the ocean is just something that can't be beat.
Tips to help with Food Cost
1. If you are a Hilton HHonors member at higher status levels, you will also receive a $10.00 off coupon per day per person that can be used to help with the cost.
2. If you will be staying for several nights, purchase the dining card. You will receive a percentage off of each meal and it will pay for itself in no time especially if you are planning on attending the luau.
Final Thoughts
I have no association with the Hilton Waikoloa but I just felt that reviews of this property were a bit misleading. I honestly feel like if travelers do a little research before heading to the Big Island and this particular resort their experience will be better because they will know what to expect and will have made an informed decision as to whether this is the right place for you to spend your vacation. I understand that it may not be for everyone but we had a wonderful time and were pleasantly surprised by the resort itself.
