Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa — Hotel in Hawaii

We stayed with friends for a few days before arriving at the Waikōloa Marriott resort. We checked in about 1pm. The property is dated. It needs an interior paint job and deep clean. Our shower had pieces falling off. It was an ocean view but so tucked back in the U shape of the property that it might as well be a resort view. We headed for lunch after checkin. This was the most disappointing. A “farm salad” consisted of a small bowl of arugula and three cherry tomatoes for $14. The turkey wrap was deli slices of cheese and turkey rolled to make it look bigger and fuller than what it was for $18. These dishes go for half the price in NYC. Each was barely edible. We proceeded to the pool and discovered there was very little shade. There are two pools. Neither are respectively designated adults vs kids. This impacted our stay immensely. After experiencing the lunch we chose to have dinner at a local restaurant on the beach, Lava Lava Beach Club. It was far superior with great service. Having Marriott platinum status we opted for the complimentary breakfast. On arrival we learned it was only complimentary for the cold dish items. Eggs, bacon, etc would be $42 per person for the buffet. The cold item buffet is $24 which was comped. It was quite the bait and switch. It’s hard to tell which items are for which plan. $42 for some eggs and bacon is ridiculously over priced especially when you see the selections. We suffered with some fruit and tiny yoghurts. By 9AM we were headed to the pool. Once again there is vey little shade. To increase the frustration most chairs were “reserved” by guests using towels despite signs explicitly saying it’s not allowed. There is no enforcement of the resorts own rules. We inquired about the day beds and were informed they are $100 a day to rent. We wandered to the beach hoping for better luck. Again chairs with cushions and awnings at the beach at $135 a day. We finally found a space back at the pool. If there were portable umbrellas or enforced reserving rules it would have made for a better experience at the pool or beach. The poolside service is strained. We opted to order at the cabana bar. After a few beers I opted to request a margarita from the menu. Unfortunately it was not drinkable containing mostly thick sugar syrup and a red died powder pretending to be salt on the rim. Midway through the day the infinity pool was closed due to a child pooping it. This left one pool which became the kids playground leaving no water to relax by or in. Also a note there are quite a few flies which may keep you from a relaxing nap. We called it a day at that point and pack it up back to the room for a nap. I reached out to inquire about a 4pm checkout as that is offered for Platinum members. I was informed I would have to check the day of. Highly unusual as the resort should know all comings and goings of guests plenty of time in advance. I expressed our disappointment through the Marriott app. The manager attempted to reach me and I them a few times disturbing rests. The app is there with a chat easily used to communicate. The shower caps were fixed as we were at dinner using mismatched caps. At least they no longer fall off. Also noting a few security concerns. We placed the privacy sign on our door. On our return the room was cleaned. I would expect that sign to be respected. Secondly I requested a mobile key after check in. I was notified to stop by with ID. I appreciate that level of security. Unfortunately a few moments later the mobile key was issued. While with friends we visited 3 other resort properties. All of them superior in culinary experience to this resort. If you are all about letting your kids run wild and you don’t have a palate this place will be fine. Otherwise I highly recommend reconsidering plans to book here. There are alternative restaurants in walking distance should you desire real food and drinks. They also reported many guests coming to them for meals over the resort. After finally connecting with the manager over chat we were comped our food...

We spent six nights at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, and while there were a few areas that showed signs of age upon close scrutiny, the overall maintenance was impressive, allowing us to fully enjoy the resort experience.

The check-in process was seamless, located conveniently in the lobby. They emphasized the availability of ice/water stations across the property and on each floor, though bottled water was not provided. As a welcome gesture, two reusable water bottles were given at check-in for use with the ice/water machines. Note: may be just the one on my floor, but the sensors with the machines aren't great.

A minor issue during check-in was promptly resolved by the attentive room director, Jesse, who consistently followed up to ensure everything was addressed--a commendable level of service.

They didn't offer valet parking, with self-parking being the only option, and a placard is given to you to place on the dashboard. The entrance, immediately to the right upon turning into the resort, required your room key card for access. The parking lot layout was a bit chaotic, for those that don't like to walk, to park close to the resort, drive all the way and around and turn right into the little alcove with additional parking before the road to the exit. Be warned the parking spaces are pretty tight, so most people offset their cars a bit from neighboring cars. There seems to be a side door into the hotel near the tennis court, but while we stayed there, there's a sign saying it's temporarily closed, so we always go through the main lobby.

I originally booked a King w/ sofa bed and a rollaway bed because we had one more person coming. They ended not being able to come, so I asked if there were any two queens available to switch to but they didn't have any availabile. Popular resort! The sofa bed is a bit weird where the top is lifted a little bit compared to the bottom. In the room, most everything worked except for the power outlets on the main desk, but we just ended up using other ones. Wi-fi straight up just didn't work for me. Ended up calling guest services, and they were able to provide an access code that we were able to use! Room service was inconsistent with trash removal, I ended up having to bag it up and put it outside the door before someone took it away.

One inconvenience was the unscheduled testing of the sprinkler fire alarm system around 2 pm, disrupting prime nap time without prior notice.

The pools, a highlight of the stay, offered warm water and a variety of options, including an infinity pool, a kid's pool with a "rocky sand" beach, and a pool with a water slide. Each pool had its own jacuzzi hot tub, ensuring a comfortable experience. I've never felt that it was too crowded.

We spent a lot of time in the pools and also order some food (chicken tenders, pizza, etc) and they were actually very good! Although it took a while for the food to come. The gym wasn't large, but I see many people going in to use it.

For the luau, they set up a few tables and buffet trays right behind the towel station next to the water slide. Everything is in plain view though, so anyone walking by can look at the show. For the price you are paying, it's basically for a place to sit and the food. The beach, a short walk away, was decent but featured reefs close to the shore and murky waters, limiting its suitability for snorkeling.

We went to the breakfast at Hawaiian Calls most mornings. The food was pretty decent, good variety. Favorite was the Masalada, the overnight oats, the papaya, omelets, and other hot foods were good too.

The staff's generosity in granting a late checkout enhanced our overall experience, allowing us to savor the resort atmosphere before departing. I enjoyed my stay here. One of the reasons for bookings here initially was because we could get a rollaway bed for the extra person, but considering the beach quality, we may explore other resorts on...

As stated in the title, this Marriott property is showing some signs of aging. They are currently undergoing some renovations/remodeling presumably to modernize and repair some critical factors of the building. We stayed in the top floor, away from the elevators, which is typically the quietest part of the building, but we still noticed construction noises such as hammering and grinding starting as early as 8AM in the morning. Not a huge deal since we were up early to start our day, but there were several families on the same floor with smaller children that might not have as early of a rise as we did.||Usually Marriott will provide you a notice of construction work underway and the hours under which maintenance is expected to be performed so that you can plan to be awake and no longer in your room to notice any inconveniences.||If you want something top end, you could check out the newer Westin property just up the road. We visited there for dinner one night and that building is just a little bit extra for our tastes and the cost of a stay there was double this property at the time of our booking. Don’t get me wrong, this Marriott property was still rather pricey, but since there really are not many Marriott property options on the Big Island and we wanted to collect the points, this was our best shot. Any resort in Hawai’i is going to be on the high end of a hotel stay.||The beach access for this property is pretty incredible, and you will at least want to visit once in the evening for one of those unique Hawaiian sunset photos. If you are up for water activities, I definitely would recommend you stop by Costco and get one of the snorkel sets there or expect to pay around 14 USD for a half-day rental at the beach shack (not operated by Marriott, but they will bill through to your room if you would like) if you plan to explore some of the near-shore coral reefs.||I would have put this property at 4 out of 5 stars.||However, we did 5 of the cultural activities offered by the resort for our last full day and we were pretty blown away by the experience. The activities were led by an older Lady named Pua and assisted by a younger lady named Makalapua. These two are like a dynamic duo of local history and culture. We participated in the Lei Kukui Welcome Ceremony early in the morning outside in the soft grass. Later in the day, the Ti-Leaf Lei Hilo, the ʻOhe Kāpala, Coconut Cup Painting, and the Hula Lesson in the Hale ʻIke area. I would highly recommend all 5 of these activities to get more exposure to local customs and traditions.||This was an unexpected immersive dive into local culture and history we were not really able to find anywhere else on the island and we visited all of the National Park Service sites here. Pua was warm and welcoming to everyone in the group, giving each group some one-on-one attention to get them engaged closely. We learned a lot of history from Makalapua who patiently taught us the traditions/crafts and she even helped correct some of the misinformation we picked up on local history along our journey. Both ladies are a true treasure and passionate about their work and they were very patient with the younger ones, especially those who required some extra help. I hope that the property management recognized both of them both for the unique value they bring to the guest experience. These rare gems elevated an otherwise 4 star hotel experience to a 6 out of 5 star experience and something my family will always remember.||We even got a recommendation for a locally owned place to eat on our way back to the airport, that food was out of this world delicious! Thank you Pua and Makalapua for making our stay such a memorable one!...