Waikoloa Beach Sunset Luau — Restaurant in Hawaii

What a big disappointment this luau was! We have been to quite a few on this and other islands. We have also been to this one several years back with a much better and very different experience.

Luau is about food, drink, entertainment, and organization. Secondarily it is about how well they accommodate special requests. While everyone was nice, they basically failed us on all accounts except entertainment which was just okay and particularly hard to enjoy with the low stage that can only be clearly viewed from a few seats.

The food lacked flavor and seasoning. It lacked the richness and depth and variety we have experienced elsewhere.

The drink making station would do anything you wanted but offered little in the unique or delicious and the bartenders, while working diligent and hard, exhibited little friendliness and eagerness.

The entertainment was underwhelming, offering little in the way of skill, uniqueness, beauty, care — either they were not trained well or they did not care or they simply don’t know what good looks like. And the stage is so low and small, it can’t really deliver much of a show.

The organization was chaotic. The seating was haphazard and some tables were being set up while we were being seated. They did not account for aggressive wind and strong sun, which are common in that area of the island, so things were flying all over the place including drinks, cups, plates and so on.

Lastly re a special accommodation request of vegetarian food which they accommodated beautifully seven years ago: omg. Not only did they not seem to understand or expect the request. They looked at each other with confusion and started asking each other how to handle it without escalation or paying much attention. Finally they gave us a form that said to take it to the chef for accommodation. We were met with blank stares when we presented the form and asked to get in line with the rest of the folks. That’d be fine anywhere anytime except they specifically said over the phone they’d accommodate.

My six year old enjoyed the show as it was his first exposure.

Other than that. We won’t be coming back and we’ll be recommending against it until they get their act together once again.

Too bad. They used to be...

Went to this luau last week. This was my second luau, went to one in Honolulu years ago. This was smaller, not sure if due to covid or just smaller in general. Therefore, not that many dancers. Also, it rained a bit. They got dinner in and then the rain started just before the show. They gave ponchos to everyone. We had seen that rain was a possibility and had our rain jackets. It wasn't a hard rain and eventually let up so they improvised and continued the show. The emcee was pretty honest initially and said they weren't sure what they were going to do with regards to the show but they waited a while and as I said, it wasn't too bad so they started the show. I thought it was pretty brief, not sure if they scaled it back due to the weather or not. The fire dancer was cool as always. My daughters, who had never been to a luau and were excited for the show were pleased. The food was good. Yes, its mass produced but it had good flavor and there was a good amount of food. You are served salad and bread at your table. Also some "appetizers" of lomi lomi, poi, and poke are served to the table. For the main plate you stand in line and get a fully prepared plate that had pork, beef, fish, chicken, potato, rice, bok choy. (I preferred that to waiting on a serve yourself buffet). Then they bring out a dessert platter to the table. Of course there was an open bar, the drinks were strong enough but was cheaper brands of liqour. All in all, we had a good time, despite the rain. Was it worth it for the price? Depends on you, I knew it was going to be mass produced food and cheap drinks and questionable show quality and that is was going to be expensive. Not to say I had low expectations, but I knew what I was getting into. I think this luau exceeded my expectations, I had a lovely time, and my kids enjoyed it, so in my book, it...

Was super excited for this, but what a let down. Food was mediocre, the entertainment was meh. I’ll give it to the fire dance guy, he was great. They make you stand in line until opening instead of just seating as you came, lots of older people forced to wait to sit. They need to rethink this as everything was obviously set up and ready to go well before the 430 opening time. Lucky it was cloudy because there is NO shade. Bar/drinks were mediocre at best. The price is way too much for what you get. They have a photographer on hand and charge $40 for a single photo. What a joke, this photo should be included for the price of what you’re paying per person, should be given one photo per family.

I highly recommend going to a different luau as this one was not that great, I have been to several and can’t recommend this one to anyone. From the time it started, the entertainment was really nothing special, it was SO slow moving the entire night. They have these giant light poles that will block your view if you’re seated on the sides. There was really nothing that made this special or gave it a wow factor until the fire dance. The sunset in the distance was probably the best...