Kona Reef Resort — Hotel in Hawaii

DO NOT VISIT HAWAII. And DEFINITELY don't stay at Kona Reef Resorts. I am sorry I have to say that but please read my story and save yourself a world of trouble. I read that Hawaii is a great vacation choice and that if travellers can show they've been tested and cleared of Covid within72 hours of the trip, they'd be exempt from quarantine. That sounded reasonable. I have already been vaccinated as a firefighter, and I got my test at my local pharmacy showing I was Covid free. I was really excited. When I arrived in Hawaii I was told that they would not accept my test results because it wasn't performed by one of their 'trusted partners' (none of which exsist in my small town) and uploaded 24 hrs before my trip. My options were to quarantine for 14 days and do daily checkins, get right back on a plane and leave, or go to jail for up to a year. Im talking complete house arrest. You cant even walk a dog. You cant rent a car. You cant get food. Airline officials told me I must go straight to the hotel I booked. I was able to get in that night because they emailed me the code. The next day when they found out I am told to quarantine they THREW ME OUT ON THE STREETS. Not because I have Covid, mind you. I passed my test. It was because I didnt get my test at Walgreens. Katharina, in management, said "we dont take quarantine guests". She claims the "State made her do it" but when I asked for a refund on my 2 week stay, she outright refused. She decided its ok to keep my money and book that room again. Katharina, you and I are not finished. I have nothing but time to work on this. So there I am, no place to go, a single woman forced to sleep under a tree in a parking lot, afraid of being arrested for breaking quarantine!!! I dodged the police for 36 hours before another flight was available. Treated like a disease and a common criminal... You think this just happened to me? NO. Whole families, young couples, elderly people...30% of the people on my plane were treated like this that day alone. Hundreds of travelers turned away everyday while Hawaii cashes in and keeps their money!! How many more people have been ripped off?? 30% of every plane in from the mainland? The airport screening official told an elderly woman that this is on her for not being able to read the fine print. I don't know where she is, but Im so worried about her. So, if by some miracle, you get everything approved in advance you are safe, right? WRONG. They will test you again at the airport. I asked why they wouldnt just test us all and let us in. NOPE. Those tests are to see who else they can reject even after they were approved before. They were fishing for people to screw over and rob. Once you are there at the airport, its already too late. There are no other options or steps you can take to avoid house arrest. And if your hotelier kicks you out because they dont want to deal with you, you can go to a govt approved facility which, Im guessing, you will also be paying for....2 hotels for a trip you can't even have. Are you willing to risk it?? Hawaii will rob you, shame you, and then treat YOU like the criminal. I knew I should have gone to the Virgin Islands instead. At least there, you can get tested on the island to...

When we arrived we were assigned room E3. This is bottom floor E building next to the pool. A dark little room that shares a common patio with rooms E1 and E2. The room has a view of people sitting at the pool. The room features a king bed in the bedroom, along with a pullman in the living room. The sliding glass door does not have a locking mechanism, just a handle. According to the on site personnel, these rooms are pre-assigned by Raintree and there is no option to move us to a nicer room. |So this glorious hole cost me 2 years of points... Fabulous.|We went to Hilo to stay with friends for the first couple of nights. Interestingly enough, we came back on night 3 to find that someone had started a plumbing project in the kitchen... How I wonder did they figure that we would not return? Back to Hilo we went.|This would have been our 5th stay at the Kona Reef over the last 10 years or so. This it the third occasion where we have booked it through Raintree Vacation Club. Last year we di as well, and we had to leave the first night because the whole room smelled like someone had poured an entire bottle of Clorox in the place... burning eyes, it was bad news. On day 2 we bought cleaning supplies and cleaned it ourselves.|So my point, the Reef is nice... we've rented other rooms there through other companies that have been just fine... but please, DO NOT RESERVE YOUR ROOM AT THE KONA REEF USING RAINTREE VACATION CLUB! You'll be sorry.||Ive posted pictures of the room including the wonderful tub, and the mess the plumbers left...

Great location that's super close to town, just a short walk to shops and restaurants. Older resort and not luxury by any means, but has everything you need and is quite adequate. Our unit had a wonderful partial ocean view and overlooked the adjacent small beach park. This beach park is really wonderful and they have beach yoga every morning @ 8am, pay by donation. You can just walk next door and enjoy the whole day at the shoreline under a tree (too rocky for swimming though).

Staff was very friendly and helpful, although only available 9-5pm except for emergencies. They also provide free beach chairs, umbrellas, boogie boards and snorkeling equipment. This saved us a lot of money! (Note: check your equipment before heading out. My snorkel was defective and I didn't know it until I tried to snorkel!).

Keep in mind that if you are traveling there around the time of my review, they may be renovating some units and it can be noisy. They had a big flood and doing work on the unit right next door to us. Heard sawing and pounding for a couple of days. The beach park is also popular and can be noisy at the end of day and early evening, so be aware of that.

The central pool & BBQ area is well maintained and right next to the ocean. Parking is plentiful and easily accessed. Overall,...