Castle Kona Reef — Hotel in Hawaii

I have written a number of reviews from all over and numerous related to Hawaii since we try to visit each year, but I have to stay I have never seen anything as bad as Castle Kona Reef. I will start by saying do not, ever, stay at this resort. And if this resort is any indication of the “Castle” family, I would avoid them at all cost. ||||Here are the details that go from horrible to mediocre to the start at Castle Kona Reef. ||||Let’s start with the horrible – check in. The area around Kona reminds us a lot of Kihei Maui. A two lane road that goes through a lot of condos, hotels and shops. We finally got to the condo and could not find a place to check in. The only office I could find was closed and seemed to be linked to a time share company. After walking around I finally find a place that says to check in about 1.5 miles down the road at another Castle Resort called Castle Kona Bali Hai. So my wife and I got back in the car and headed down the road to find Bali Hai. ||||We talk to the lady at the check in desk and find we are in room D35 but it was not cleaned yet. She tells us that one of the maids called in sick so they are behind. It would not be ready for about an hour. So she takes my cell phone number and tells me she will call me when the room is ready. We had to ask about how to get into the room since there seemed to be no one at the Kona Reef resort. I find out there is a lock box on the door of our condo, the lady at Bali Hai will call with the number and we can get in after the finish cleaning the room. All our paperwork would be in the condo for our stay. So my wife and I head back to Kona to grab some drinks and a light dinner. We figure the room would be ready around 4:45pm based on the “hour” to finish the room. ||||At 4:50pm I had not heard anything from anyone so I first call the number for Kona Reef on our receipt and I get a recorded greeting to dial my party’s extension or press 00 (Zero Zero) to reach someone. I press 00 and I am sent back to the same message. So I am basically in a loop and cannot reach anyone. ||||I found the Bali Hai number and I call back and ask the lady for an update. She does not have one and she tells me she will check and will call me back. So my wife and I head to the Kona Reef. We get there and I go up to room D35 and it is locked up and no one is around. I walked around the property and could not find anyone there.||||Before I called Bali Hai back, I found a phone at Kona Reef that indicated if you picked up the phone, it would connect you with someone to assist. I picked up the receiver and there was a message “This line has been disconnected.”||||I call the lady back at 5:05pm since we have not heard from her and she is "still trying to get an update” but she tells me she will call me back. So my wife and I sit in the Kona Reef parking lot and after not hearing back from anyone, I call the Bali Hai front desk back at 5:15pm. I am told she believe the condo has not been cleaned and no one is sure when they can get to it. I ask if we can get into the room to put our stuff away and the lady at Bali Hai does not want to let us in until the room is ready. But she gives me "Steven's" name who is on site at the properly so I can get an update. This is where I am handed off to Steven. The lady at Bali Hai seems to have given up. ||||Steve turns out to be a rock star. Steven did not know we are in the condo parking lot so I call him and he tells me he will check on the room. I walked to the room as Steven got there to check. He opens the door and there are towels on the floor. No one has been in the room. The room did not look like anyone had really been there, but it needed towels, toilet paper and soap. No one had used the bed and all the kitchen items were clean.||||Steven opens the lock box, gives me the key, brings us clean towels and all the other items and gets us setup. It is now after 6:00pm. We were able to unload the car is and we can sit down. The funny thing, Steven is the maint person for the condo. He was very apologetic and was very helpful. If not for Steven, I am not sure we would have ever gotten into the room. ||||My wife and I actually washed our own sheets, made the bed and swept up the room to make sure the room as clean enough for us to stay in the room for a few days. We never did hear from the cleaning staff. It was after 8:00pm when my wife and I were finally able to relax. ||||The condo (room D35) was on the top floor and right on the ocean, but the furniture was dated. We realized the bed had a slight slope from left to right and I have seen pancakes with more fluff to them than the pillows in the condo. ||||We thought about sleeping on the sofa couch, but when we tried to pull it out, we found it was broken. When I finally got the couch pulled out, the right top of the bed was about 4 inches lower than the right because of the broken frame. ||||Half of the remotes in the condo had dead batteries and there was a clock in the kitchen that was only right twice a day. It reminded us of someone who owned the condo but did not put any money into the furniture. ||||So we spent our 3 days in the condo and we were so happy to leave. Later as I was walking around I noticed a condo that said “Manager’s Apartment”. Not sure what this manager does, but he\she did nothing for us and no one ever called this person to help. ||||We also found the condo did not have any place to print boarding passes and did not have a gym. The pool was small but clean and they had BBQs for people to use. No restaurant onsite. ||||I noticed Castle has condos all over but I will never use them again. If it had not been for Steven, I am not sure what we would have done. The resort and room were not up to par, but...

I have written a number of reviews from all over and numerous related to Hawaii since we try to visit each year, but I have to stay I have never seen anything as bad as Castle Kona Reef. I will start by saying do not, ever, stay at this resort. And if this resort is any indication of the “Castle” family, I would avoid them at all cost. ||||Here are the details that go from horrible to mediocre to the start at Castle Kona Reef. ||||Let’s start with the horrible – check in. The area around Kona reminds us a lot of Kihei Maui. A two lane road that goes through a lot of condos, hotels and shops. We finally got to the condo and could not find a place to check in. The only office I could find was closed and seemed to be linked to a time share company. After walking around I finally find a place that says to check in about 1.5 miles down the road at another Castle Resort called Castle Kona Bali Hai. So my wife and I got back in the car and headed down the road to find Bali Hai. ||||We talk to the lady at the check in desk and find we are in room D35 but it was not cleaned yet. She tells us that one of the maids called in sick so they are behind. It would not be ready for about an hour. So she takes my cell phone number and tells me she will call me when the room is ready. We had to ask about how to get into the room since there seemed to be no one at the Kona Reef resort. I find out there is a lock box on the door of our condo, the lady at Bali Hai will call with the number and we can get in after the finish cleaning the room. All our paperwork would be in the condo for our stay. So my wife and I head back to Kona to grab some drinks and a light dinner. We figure the room would be ready around 4:45pm based on the “hour” to finish the room. ||||At 4:50pm I had not heard anything from anyone so I first call the number for Kona Reef on our receipt and I get a recorded greeting to dial my party’s extension or press 00 (Zero Zero) to reach someone. I press 00 and I am sent back to the same message. So I am basically in a loop and cannot reach anyone. ||||I found the Bali Hai number and I call back and ask the lady for an update. She does not have one and she tells me she will check and will call me back. So my wife and I head to the Kona Reef. We get there and I go up to room D35 and it is locked up and no one is around. I walked around the property and could not find anyone there.||||Before I called Bali Hai back, I found a phone at Kona Reef that indicated if you picked up the phone, it would connect you with someone to assist. I picked up the receiver and there was a message “This line has been disconnected.”||||I call the lady back at 5:05pm since we have not heard from her and she is "still trying to get an update” but she tells me she will call me back. So my wife and I sit in the Kona Reef parking lot and after not hearing back from anyone, I call the Bali Hai front desk back at 5:15pm. I am told she believe the condo has not been cleaned and no one is sure when they can get to it. I ask if we can get into the room to put our stuff away and the lady at Bali Hai does not want to let us in until the room is ready. But she gives me "Steven's" name who is on site at the properly so I can get an update. This is where I am handed off to Steven. The lady at Bali Hai seems to have given up. ||||Steve turns out to be a rock star. Steven did not know we are in the condo parking lot so I call him and he tells me he will check on the room. I walked to the room as Steven got there to check. He opens the door and there are towels on the floor. No one has been in the room. The room did not look like anyone had really been there, but it needed towels, toilet paper and soap. No one had used the bed and all the kitchen items were clean.||||Steven opens the lock box, gives me the key, brings us clean towels and all the other items and gets us setup. It is now after 6:00pm. We were able to unload the car is and we can sit down. The funny thing, Steven is the maint person for the condo. He was very apologetic and was very helpful. If not for Steven, I am not sure we would have ever gotten into the room. ||||My wife and I actually washed our own sheets, made the bed and swept up the room to make sure the room as clean enough for us to stay in the room for a few days. We never did hear from the cleaning staff. It was after 8:00pm when my wife and I were finally able to relax. ||||The condo (room D35) was on the top floor and right on the ocean, but the furniture was dated. We realized the bed had a slight slope from left to right and I have seen pancakes with more fluff to them than the pillows in the condo. ||||We thought about sleeping on the sofa couch, but when we tried to pull it out, we found it was broken. When I finally got the couch pulled out, the right top of the bed was about 4 inches lower than the right because of the broken frame. ||||Half of the remotes in the condo had dead batteries and there was a clock in the kitchen that was only right twice a day. It reminded us of someone who owned the condo but did not put any money into the furniture. ||||So we spent our 3 days in the condo and we were so happy to leave. Later as I was walking around I noticed a condo that said “Manager’s Apartment”. Not sure what this manager does, but he\she did nothing for us and no one ever called this person to help. ||||We also found the condo did not have any place to print boarding passes and did not have a gym. The pool was small but clean and they had BBQs for people to use. No restaurant onsite. ||||I noticed Castle has condos all over but I will never use them again. If it had not been for Steven, I am not sure what we would have done. The resort and room were not up to par, but...

• Check in-out process||o Checking in to Castle Kona Reef is awkward as you must drive 1.7 miles from this resort to Castle Kona Bali Kai to check in from 3:00-5:00. After hours you must call the security phone number to get information on checking in.||o FYI: Castle Resorts only manage about 20 of the approximately 129 condos at Castle Kona Reef. There is an office located at Castle Kona Reef called Kona Reef Raintree Vacation Club but mostly services the other units on the property. We booked through Hotels.com so I’m not sure what booking sites use Castle Kona Reef –vs- Kona Reef Raintree.||o There will be a Destination Fee (?) and a cleaning fee you will be required to pay upon arrival.||o We opted for the late checkout, which allowed us to stay in the condo until 6 pm since out flight was at 8:45 pm. The fee was $60 plus tax but it was a comfortable option for us.||• Unit D-1||o This is a nice 1-bedroom ground floor unit that has been upgraded. It has a comfortable king bed and a sofa sleeper and two bathrooms. The kitchen has stainless appliances and granite counter tops.||o As this is an oceanfront condo, the view is exceptional. You are incredibly close to the ocean.||o Cleanliness of the condo was pretty good. However, there was an empty water & pill bottle under the bed so you know they don’t clean there. Also, the hall bathroom fan was very dirty.||o There is A/C in the living room that keep the living, dining and kitchen cool but not the bedroom. It can be uncomfortably warm in there but they have provided a ceiling fan and a floor fan that helped.||o Since this unit is on the ground floor, the sliding glass door and window have been secured with a piece on plastic pipe in the slider for additional security, which was appreciated. ||o Castle Kona Reef is centrally located to Kailua-Kona, which means you can walk to most restaurants and shops.||o Although this property is dated, the oceanfront view cannot be beat and we would consider coming back to this property.||• Nice to haves||o Room safe||o Room darkening shades in the bedroom. The side of the bedroom faces the pool area and at night there are several lights that are kept on. It illuminates the room quite a bit, so it would be nice to have the room a bit darker for sleeping.||• Homeless population in Kona||o As with most cities, Kailua-Kona has their share of homeless. Many of the homeless stay in the downtown area and pretty much keep to themselves and are not a problem.||o However, on our last day at the resort, there was a homeless man sleeping on one of the lawn chairs outside of the pool area. Later, when we got back from lunch, he parked himself right in front of our condo. He was lying on the grass and it did not make for a comfortable experience when we sat out on the ground floor lanai. I asked the Raintree office what the rules were for the homeless being on resort property and they basically said he could be there. And, if that is truly the case, I think it is wise to let potential guests know what they might encounter. There are surfers that do pass by the property to access Honl’s Beach and that is does not seem to...