Comments on: Review: The Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii

By: John P.

John P. — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:11:34 +0000

The review was posted three years ago. I’d welcome an updated review here on the blog if anyone would do as thorough of a job as I did originally.

John

By: palermoseeker

palermoseeker — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 02:14:19 +0000

This review is outdated. Gold/Plats get $10 certs now, not free breakfast (which is better) and the place has been much improved.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:10:25 +0000

My sister, her husband, and her kids are taking me for my college break 2 this hotel. We heard great things, but now reading the review, is it to late to cancel the reservation? i read the pools were really cold, and the staff was so unfriendly, and the food was terrible. Is it really that bad? We r going 2 go soon, so I really need help….thnx :)

vikki <3! :D

By: Giana Connors

Giana Connors — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:29:07 +0000

Dear John – thank you for a very informative blog. We are going to Kona for 8 days during Thanksgiving. We are staying at the Hapuna Prince Hotel for 4 days and at the Sheraton Kona for 3 days. We typically stay at Turtle Bay on Oahu so we are not afraid of the solitude and lack of nightlife many people complain about Hapuna Prince. We also have a 10 year old daughter. I do like the Hilton because there is so much to do but don’t like it to be a Disneyland type experience. This is our first time to go to Kona. We are from LA and are looking to relax but have a good and unique experience. Would you recommend we switch to the Hilton instead of Hapuna Prince? If we stay at the Prince, can we visit and swim at the Hilton just for the day to see what the much talked about lagoon is all about? I really appreciate your input. Thanks a lot.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:40:35 +0000

We just had a mishap [understatement] with Hilton. We had booked a Disney hotel on Disney property when Hilton called with an offer to stay with them at this hotel which was “on” Disney property since that was our requirement. They promised a two-bedroom suite with complimentary breakfast each day. We were told we had to visit one of the Hilton time-share properties in the Orlando area during our stay to take advantage of their offer. My wife spent almost two hours on the phone with them and even put them on hold to call the Disney hotel we already had a reservation with to cancel it to take advantage of what seemed like a good deal. We were given a confirmation number and told that within five days we’d receive a letter and a phone call confirming our visit. Two weeks went by and no one contacted us so my wife called them. They told her they could not honor our reservation because what we were promised they had no authority to sell us. And apparently that piece of information wasn’t something they thought should be communicated to their customer! They behaved unscrupulously and rude, accepting no responsibility for their “mistake.” They offered to refund our money. What about the plane tickets? Our planned vacation they ruined? They offered to put us in a hotel 10 miles away and give us a rental car. When they originally called we said we wanted to be on Disney property and would not take advantage of their offer unless they could provide us with accommodations on property. I guess, even after two hours on the phone, no one really listened or cared what we asked for, they just wanted to make a sale, even if they had no authority to sell what they sold. Seems to me it’s as if the sales staff “stole” rooms from this hotel in order to get closer to a possible time share sale. Hilton ought to rethink their customer service values. Part of me can’t help but think this all wasn’t a “mistake” but they train their sales staff to offer anything a customer requests and then just never contacts them and do a “bait and switch” when they arrive at the hotel. What’s unfortunate is that we recently had a great stay at the Hilton Torrey Pines, but now won’t ever trust Hilton again.

By: Murali Divi

Murali Divi — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:54:44 +0000

John, i really appreciate your review. I am planning for my vacation at Hilton. Certainly you gave me very good idea about this place, which did not find in any other reviews. Now i know what to expect out this hotel.

Thanks
Murali

By: John P.

John P. — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:10:22 +0000

Guy,

When we were there the place was not very busy, so I don’t think you’ll have any problem with the pools, etc. But you will probably want to swim in their beach area and the water is reasonable, but not warm.

As far as the bus is concerned, I don’t think that it’s going to go to Waikoloa, and even if it did I don’t think that it’s going to get you where you want to be. The Big Island is so spread out and things are very far apart (several miles apart at least) that you can’t just walk from place to place. If you are going to be there for a whole week I think you are going to find that after a few days at Waikoloa it’s going to get a little old. I HIGHLY recommend that you rent a car for the week while you are there, and then go to see some of the other sights.

For example, drive over to Akaka Falls, and go see the Wind Generation farm, and the sanctuary areas… Exploring the Big Island is one of the greatest memories I have. But you can’t stay at Waikoloa the whole time and do that, so bite the bullet and get out and about!

Cheers,

John

By: Guy Langman

Guy Langman — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:11:02 +0000

My girlfriend is a Diamond member and we are going on January 3rd. We ended up getting 7 nights for free with her points. Hopefully the fact we aren’t paying for the room will make our stay better than average. Do you have any commments on the pools? too cold? Too hot? Too crowded? Also, do you know if “The Bus” runs thru the area so that we may visit a few miles south of the hotel. Thanks for all your info and Happy holidays!

By: Marc Sims

Marc Sims — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:46:01 +0000

The Hilton Waikoloa Village looks really nice. I’m going this summer but won’t be staying at a plush resort like that. I’m sure i couldn’t afford it. I enjoyed the article on it though. I can still dream. Lol

By: Terrie Ventrelli

Terrie Ventrelli — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:06:01 +0000

Thanks for all your hard work. My husband likes the disney affect with lots to do. We want to visit Hawaii for our 15th aniversary and were considering this property. I noticed in your blog that you visited the property in 2007. Any update on your likes/dislikes? I really appreciate having the heads up as money is an issue for us, this is a once only/dream trip for me and I am trying to keep hubby happy with lots of activities. I would prefer an ocean view, any other hotel recommendations that would make us both happy?

By: Sandi

Sandi — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:56:45 +0000

I stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village about 1 1/2 years ago and loved it. It is large, but using the trains and the boats are really quite fun.
I thought the rooms were really comfortable and plenty big enough.
The Dophins are amazing! You’re right, watching them is just plain fun!
The vacation club (timeshare) stuff is just annoying! I did it one time to get tickets to the Jim Nabors show in Honolulu, but never again.
Kids absolutely LOVE the Hilton Waikoloa Village….the water slides, the swinging bridge, the lazy river…all fun.

By: leslie

leslie — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:58:44 +0000

Thanks for all the tips. Do you really get held hostage to the time share pitch for 5-6 hours? We are going on a “free” hotel stay if we do the sales pitch. We have the option of extending to 6 days from 4 for another 200 dollars. From your blog we are thinking of doing only 4 and staying somewhere else for 3. What is the low season- we are going the second week in March. How crowded do you think it will be? Are there refrigerators in the room? What is your suggestion for breakfast? Buy food and eat in your room? Thanks for all the great information.

Leslie

By: John P.

John P. — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:51:22 +0000

First of all, do you see how much freaking documentation there is in the article above? Do you really think that someone who would write this much after the fact would fail to do their homework beforehand? Think!

Secondly, price is not the issue here (clearly you didn’t read my bio). I listed quite a few things about the property that I liked. But no matter how you look at it, there were some significant issues. The bird infestation at breakfast was completely unacceptable. As was the fact that the trains were not working 50% of the time.

I’d go back to visit the property, but I’d never stay there again.

John

By: T. Norberto

T. Norberto — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:31:21 +0000

Regarding the “Blog”:
Before going on vacation and spending the kind of money you seemed to have put out (unless this is a free trip), spend some time researching. Check the rooms, check the activities, the prices, the freebies, the blogs (?), A few minutes of proactivity…………….?
Take charge, acting like a victim and whining does no good. Want a cheap vacation? There are lots of places: Mexico, Novato, Plains, Nicaragua, Brazil, Bahamas, New Orleans, San Juan Island, and more.
Want something worthwhile? Spend some money.

tnq

By: JM

JM — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:14:51 +0000

Don’t waste your time going to a Hilton Grand sales pitch.They will lie to you to get you to sign the timeshare documents since their is a high turnover of sales people from the mainland who move back . They will hold you hostage for 5 to 6 hrs by talking you into their presentation shuttle and drive you away from the hotel to a timeshare property far from the hotel. You are held hostage listening to them because you have no other way back to the hotel. Believe it.They will write VIP price just to make you feel good but the sales person will erase it when they turn in your application . You can’t even give the timeshare away if you decide to sell it later because it does not appreciate like a vacation home would. Research it. They will promise you the world so you sign to take out the timeshare loan. You can get the same timeshare units at any discount timeshare place for 65% less with the same points and RCI privileges. Check the Timeshare discount place on Alii in Kona first. The Japanese fall for timeshares sales the most because they don’t read or understand English fully.

By: Doug Price

Doug Price — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:33:55 +0000

We spent the night a few weeks ago and would not recommend it to anyone. It is very expensive yet poorly maintained. The planters outside our room had dead plants and rotting fruit. The buffet cost us $30 apiece and the food was cold and tasted bad. After staying five nights in volcano and eating in some good and reasonably priced restaurants the Wailkoloa was like staying in a high priced slum. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place.

By: John P.

John P. — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:01:01 +0000

Oh yeah… sorry about that. I learned that the edit script had a memory leak or something and it was taking my server down during Diggs! I had to remove it. :-(

If anyone finds a good WordPress plugin that allows users to edit their post for a period of time please let me know and I’ll put it up!

John

By: TheDane

TheDane — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:52:54 +0000

The editing function doesnt seem to work for me any more… I just see a thin black line where the edit bar was before…

Kim:)

By: TheDane

TheDane — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:51:40 +0000

Parking $9 a day and Internet $16 a day…

Only Free Breakfast if you are a gold member…

How much do they charge for the rooms?

It sounds expensive and with all these issues it did not sound like a place you would ever go back to…

Kim:)

By: John P.

John P. — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:53:53 +0000

Wayne,

I know what you mean. That’s kind of why I posted that particular detail about this Hilton… I think some people seem to have a higher level of tolerance for putting up with these sales pitches, but personally I feel insulted that they can’t be content with the money I’m already giving them! Why do they have to try to extract more before they even deliver value on what they’ve got?

It’s just bad business in my opinion.

Now, if they wanted to follow up after my vacation and make sure I was happy with it and then try to sell me another it would be different. But to begin hitting me up at registration is absurd.

Take care, and keep on truckin! ;-)

John