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Hotel Review: Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (Big Island of Hawaii)

REVIEW OVERVIEW

Location
Amenities
Room
Service

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This hotel is likely the type you think of when you think of a resort in Hawaii. It's right near the beach, has an outdoor breakfast patio, big pool, and lots of amenities. While our room was quite standard, we loved the service here. I would go back for sure.
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Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Links in this post may provide us with a commission.

Hotel Review: Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (Big Island of Hawaii)

Hotel Review: Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (Big Island of Hawaii)

My wife and I recently visited Hawaii and spent 2 nights at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. This hotel is located on the Big Island of Hawaii, near Kona. How was it? Here’s a detailed look at the property and our experiences during the stay.

Booking Process

The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is a category 6 property in Marriott Bonvoy. During our stay, a standard room cost 40,000 points per night. This is above the value of 35,000-point free night awards that you get with most Marriott credit cards. If interested, you can add points to your free night awards, in order to pay the difference.

For us, I had two free night awards that I used:

Cash prices during our stay were $578 for a standard “resort room, 1 king balcony”. We were upgraded to an “oceanfront, 1 king balcony”, which ran $713/night during our stay.

We paid a resort fee of $30 per night at this property. Unfortunately, Marriott doesn’t waive these on award bookings. The $558 per night we saved with a 40,000-point booking gave us a redemption value of 1.4¢ per point. That’s well above the 2/3¢ average value of Marriott points.

RELATED: Resort Fees On Award Stays – Which Hotels Charge Them? 

Location

Photo of entrance to Waikoloa Beach Resort area

The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is located near Waikoloa on The Big Island of Hawaii. (Just in case you aren’t aware, the island is called “Hawaii” in the state of Hawaii, so that can get confusing, and everyone just says “the Big Island”) The hotel is about 25 minutes’ drive north of the Kona Airport (KOA) and 35 minutes from the center of Kailua-Kona, the city.

Other properties in the Waikoloa Beach Resort area include a Hilton Hotel, Hilton Grand Vacations, a Marriott Vacation Club and the Lava Lava Beach Club. There are also two shopping areas: The King’s Shops and The Queen’s Marketplace.

Prior to Arrival

Nine days before our arrival, I received an email from the Pre-Arrival Ambassador. The email was warm and friendly and indicated that the front desk staff had given her my email requesting a “Congratulations on your new job” note in the room for my wife. Celebrating this was the reason for our trip to Hawaii, after all.

The email also noted that the hotel was quite full but that the ambassador would monitor inventory for upgrade availability on our arrival. She even asked for time of arrival, in case we were arriving early, so she could ensure a room was ready for us.

Lastly, the email noted my welcome benefit options: 750 points per day or continental breakfast for two each day. I asked what was included in the breakfast, since my wife and I are both vegan. The Ambassador went above and beyond here. Since the continental breakfast would be some fruit, pastries, and juice, the chef would provide us a daily scramble of some sort–far beyond what I would consider part of a continental breakfast.

Arrival

Photo of main entrance to Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

After driving through the Waikoloa Beach Resort area, we arrived at the entrance to the Marriott property near the end of the road. There is a large parking lot to the right and a circular drive that leads up to the main entrance (above).

Next to this, there is a conference center.

Photo of conference center building at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

The bellhops informed us that valet parking wasn’t available at the time, due to Covid-19 restrictions. That was fine, since I wasn’t planning on using it. We didn’t have a lot of stuff and were already finished unloading by the time they came to talk to us, anyway.

We left the car sitting off to the side while going inside to check in. There is also a large, covered waiting area just inside the entrance but before you go into the building.

Photo shows small tables and sofas inside a covered waiting area

Inside the door is the main lobby area, with the reception desk on the right.

Photo of open lobby with a few people waiting in line at the reception desk at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

The lobby is spacious and has a nice, breezy feeling, due to the open layout and lack of doors & windows.

Check-In

When we arrived, the line already had four families. Thus, it took a while to check in. However, the woman helping us was excellent. She was really friendly and warm, even before she knew our names or saw that I had any kind of status. She just treated everyone well.

The woman noted our upgrade to the “oceanfront, 1 king balcony” room and that the reservation was an award booking. She explained that she would waive our daily parking fees, due to my Titanium Elite status. She also mentioned there were notes from the Pre-Arrival Ambassador in the computer about breakfast, and the way she said this come off as a big hint to me like “oh yeah…and the note about the welcome note, but I don’t want to give away the surprise for your wife”.

Explaining the Resort Fee

After explaining the parking, the breakfast, and the facilities, the woman explained the resort fee amenities to us. We got the following:

  • Welcome gift – this included water bottles and a welcome drink
  • Daily activities
    • Beach yoga
    • Pool fitness classes
    • Cultural activity classes
    • Use of tennis court with rackets and balls included
  • Shell lei
  • Nightly storytelling with mocktails
  • 50% discount on snorkel equipment rentals

As mentioned, we also got a welcome drink each.

Photo of welcome drink tickets and options

There was also a packet of information about activities included in the resort fee.

As you can see, this also included a letter explaining hours for the different amenities and even a map of where to find everything.

You can also get a glimpse of what’s included in your resort fee prior to arrival at tons of hotels by checking ResortFeeChecker.com. I will say that we didn’t get our money’s worth from this resort fee, given that we didn’t take any of the classes. We kept the water bottles and shell leis, plus we had the welcome drinks and the nightly mocktails. However, if we hadn’t received these, it wouldn’t have affected our trip. We just used them “since we paid for them already” / “to get our money’s worth”. However, I considered these a trade-off for the fact I got free parking each day, so it came out even in the end during our trip.

Public Facilities at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

While not the biggest place I’ve ever stayed, this is a large property, and there’s a lot going on.

Lobby Area

Photo of lobby area and activities desk at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

To the left of the entrance, there is an activities desk. They can help you book activities, rent a car, or even give recommendations on places to eat.

To the front, past the reception desk, there is a seating area and open balcony facing west, towards the beach.

This is a great place for watching the sunset. There’s also a map of the grounds here.

Photo of map of the grounds at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa, map is located near the lobby bar

From this balcony, you are on the ground floor–where you enter. You can look down over the pool and the restaurant on the lower level.

View looking down at a restaurant and tables from a balcony above it

This upstairs area is also where the “nightly storytelling with mocktails” is located. This area also has a coffee shop akin to a small Starbucks.

Gym

Photo of the gym at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

At the end of the balcony from the upstairs lounge/bar area, going down the stairs puts you next to the gym. It was small but had a decent number of options.

Pool

Hotel Review: Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (Big Island of Hawaii)

The pool area is huge. Leaving the gym and passing the restaurant, you’ll enter the pool area. There are 3 separate pools. On the far right (closer to the hotel rooms), there is an infinity pool. Between the pools and the building, there are a lot of lounge chairs available.

Empty lounge chairs sit in the grass in the foreground with the hotel building in the background

There are water aerobics classes in the infinity pool daily, plus multiple people used this area for swimming laps, since it’s the longest pool at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa.

Photo of infinity pool at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa with lounge chairs and umbrellas next to them

The smallest, shallowest pool also has a water slide. This was really popular with kids.

Photo of a water slide coming down from some rocks into a pool below

Past the last pool and before you go onto the path to the beach, there is a towel hut.

 

Spread around the outdoor area and near the pool, directional signs are located on rocks, which I thought was a nice touch. It’s much more attractive than just a big sign staked into the ground.

Photo of a metal plaque engraved in a rock giving directions

Ponds Between Pools and Beach

Photo of ponds with wooden walkway crossing over

Between the hotel and the beach, there are some large, natural ponds. This was a nice area to walk around. We also saw people fishing here a few times. At the far end of this photo, beyond the trees, you will arrive at the Lava Lava Beach Club.

Sunset Luau

Photo of people eating at large banquet tables in a grassy area of the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa, waiting for the sunset luauOn the day we arrived, we passed the start of the sunset luau. While we didn’t attend, we could hear the music from our room later on. The location for the luau is in a grassy opening near the ponds.

Beach

The beach area was nice but not anything impressive. Waves here are pretty calm, which is nice. The sand is pretty rough on your feet, though. During the day, this area is really busy. There are also boats coming in and out during the day for snorkeling tours, whale watching, etc. You can sign up for these at the hut by the beach, plus rent snorkel gear, buy snacks, and get souvenirs.

Photo looking back toward the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa from the entrance to the beach

Looking back toward the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa from the ponds area, you get a feel for how big the grounds are.

Shop

Photo of entrance to shop on the ground floor of Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

Not far from the lobby and very close to the elevators to our room, there is a large shop. It sells everything from clothes and beach gear to snacks and souvenirs. Prices weren’t horrible–just decent.

Guest Areas

There are two areas for hotel guests that I want to highlight before giving a detailed look at our room.

Na Hale Building

Photo of Na Hale building at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

The Na Hale building is located away from the main hotel building and much closer to the ocean. It sits at the edge of the ponds. This is where the deluxe rooms and suites are located, with some facing the property and some (more expensive, obviously) facing the ocean.

When we checked in, I specifically asked if any rooms were available here for upgrades. The only room available was a 2-full beds room facing into the property. We opted for the room they had scheduled for us: a king bed and view of the ocean.

Elevators

The first picture above shows the waiting area for the elevators on the main floor, near the shop and coming from the lobby. The wood paneling is nice. In the second picture, you see the waiting area for the elevators on our guest floor: 5th floor of the Kamehameha Wing.

Photo of wood paneling inside softly-lit elevator

The interior of the elevators had soft lighting, wood and cloth panels, and no signs or posters. It was nice to ride in an elevator that wasn’t throwing advertising at us. Elevators were medium-sized–standard for what you would expect at a hotel.

Photo of directional sign to find your room on the 5th floor of Kamehameha Wing at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

We came out of the elevator and found our room from the sign.

Photo of an empty hallway well lit at a hotel, with doors along the corridor

I will note that right above my head while taking this picture was a huge A/C vent. This one vent was meant to provide cool air for the whole hallway, so it was on BLAST at all times. We typically ran past it, because that part of the hallway was incredibly cold.

A lamp sits on the wall next to the sign "5262" and the white door to enter the hotel room

We stayed in room 5262.

Guest Room at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa

A hotel room photo shows a bed on the lower left, sofa and table on the upper left, and dresser along the wall on the right. Curtains and doors lead to a balcony on the far side.

Room

Room 5262 at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort Spa is an “oceanfront, 1 king balcony” room. While not large, it wasn’t cramped and had everything you would want.

Along the wall on the right, there is a wooden desk-dresser combination that had 6 drawers and then a chair for the desk side. On top, there’s a lamp and a TV. We found it odd how the TV covers half of the painting behind it. Next to the desk is a trash can and recycling bins.

Photo of a nightstand with notepad and phone on it

Next to the bed, there is a nightstand with a phone and a notepad. On the wall above this, there are switches for the lights in the room. A nice touch, so you don’t have to get out of bed to turn them off/on.

Along the wall on the left and next to the doors to the balcony, there’s a sofa and coffee table. We were surprised to see that the sofa folds out into a bed.

Photo of a bed with white sheets and pillows on it, plus two flower leis in the shape of hearts

The bed was very comfortable, even if the pillows were pretty useless. We slept well.

Welcome Note from Hotel

On top of the bed, we found two flower leis in the shape of hearts. They were fresh and smelled excellent.

Between the leis, there was a card with my wife’s name on it. Inside, a handwritten note from the Pre-Arrival Ambassador congratulated her on her new job. There was also a voucher for 2 glasses of champagne at the lounge.

My wife was floored by this small gesture. I asked all three hotels to leave a note during our trip, and only one (the last one) came through. However, it meant the world to my wife, and she was pumped. I emailed the Ambassador our thanks and sent an email to her boss later on noting the excellent service she gave us with this small gesture.

RELATED: It’s Important to Recognize People Who Make Your Vacation Great

Mini Bar

Between the bedroom and the bathroom, there is a small mini bar area. It had a single-serve coffee and tea machine with all of the supplies needed. Above this, an ice bucket and cups sat on a shelf. I liked the wicker design for these.

Under the mini bar, there is a small safe and a mini fridge (empty).

Closet

The closet sits next to the door and between the door and the bathroom. You access it with a giant, sliding, wooden door that has a huge mirror on it. Interestingly, if you open the door to access the closet, this closes the door over the bathroom. You can’t go into the bathroom and access the closet at the same time, which didn’t matter for us. Just pointing out how it works.

The closet has the standard things you’d expect: luggage rack, hangers, iron and ironing board, and a laundry bag if you want to use this service. On the shelf above, there’s an extra pillow for the fold-out bed. We were surprised to see a flashlight in here, as well.

Bathroom

The bathroom is a good size. The layout maximizes the space so we weren’t bumping into each other, either.

There’s a large mirror behind the sink and a false window between the bathroom and bedroom lets in the light.

Photo of sunset and trees reflected on screen in a false window

The sink and counter weren’t large but did the job well. No complaints here. The toiletries smelled good and matched our expectations.

Next to the sink, there is a night light that glows blue during the night.

A blue nightlight is lit up in a wall socket

Under the sink, there are extra towels, a bath mat, tissues, and a hair dryer.

Image shows towels, rug, and hair dryer located on a shelf under a sink

The toilet was separated from the sink by a partial wall.

Photo of an open toilet

The shower is next to this.

The shower had 2 glass sliding doors and a shower head option plus handheld option. The first time I tried to turn on the shower, I had trouble figuring out the knobs. Water from the handheld option came on and went straight into my face then all over the bathroom. Oops.

Balcony / View

Image shows curtains closed over glass doors with sunshine beyond

Access to our balcony came from sliding glass doors in the room. I was glad we had 2 sets of curtains (day and night), given that the afternoon sun pointed straight into our room. It got warm.

2 wicker chairs and a small table sit on a small balcony

The balcony had 2 wicker chairs and a wicker table. Though the balcony is small, it had the essentials.

A grassy area sits between 2 wings of a hotel, with pool and ocean beyondOur view faced the pool area and the ocean beyond. To the sides, note that other rooms had a small, angled balcony toward the ocean. Thus, our setup was better than this. However, I did find the name of this room including “oceanfront” a bit of a misnomer. I would call it “ocean view” to be clearer. The rooms at the very ends of the hotel wings are what I would consider “oceanfront”.

View looking up at hotel balconies from the groundThis is from the grassy area below, looking up at our balcony.

Final Thoughts on Room 5262

The room has all of the essentials. The bed was good, though the pillows were far too soft. We liked the sofa and were surprised that it folds out into a bed. The bathroom and closet area maximized space well. And we definitely enjoyed the balcony. This is a quality room for a free night award redemption. We were definitely happy.

Breakfast

We had breakfast at the restaurant both days. The restaurant is spacious, and the outdoor patio area is fantastic.

Photo of Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa breakfast voucher for continental breakfast

Since I chose the daily continental breakfast as the welcome gift, we received these vouchers at check-in. The breakfast buffet area has signs indicating that hot foods aren’t included in the continental breakfast. You can pay $8 extra to upgrade, if you want.

I will say that the greeters and the woman at the omelette station were really friendly to everyone. We had the same waitress both days, and she left a lot to be desired.

Day 1

When she brought coffee, we asked if they had anything non-dairy. This seemed like a big chore to her, and it was obvious that she didn’t like requests that took effort. Then, I knew I was in for a rough time when I mentioned the “daily scramble” that the Ambassador had coordinated for us. The woman started giving us a lecture about what the continental breakfast doesn’t include. I asked her to go inquire, because we had been told this was coordinated before our arrival and mentioned the Ambassador by name. I offered to show her my emails, if she doubted me.

The woman disappeared with a huff and later returned with the plates the chef had concocted: a scramble of tofu and veggies that was large and super filling. Not knowing what to expect, we had already eaten lots of fruits and bagels from the buffet. We ate the whole scramble regardless, in order to not waste this gift.

Prior to our arrival, I had understood the continental breakfast to not be a buffet. It sounded like “you get a plate of fruits, pastry, and coffee or tea”. That’s what led to the discussion and the eventual scramble plate. Given that the setup was a buffet, we had more than we needed.

Day 2

Since we were more than full on the first day, and we had the same gruff waitress on day 2, we didn’t ask for the scramble. We just ate bagels and fruits from the buffet and were satisfied. The waitress again grunted at us when we asked for soy milk for the coffee. Calling her “not friendly” is the only thing professional I can say about this waitress.

Internet

When connected, the internet worked well throughout the property. “When connected” is the key part of this. We had to re-join the internet quite often. If your screen turned off, you need to re-join the wifi about 50% of the time after this.

Prices for the internet at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa are barbaric. The wifi is included in the resort fee, and elites can use the premium connection. If you’re not staying at the hotel and just visiting the pool for the day, those internet prices for non-guests are ridiculous. $14.95 per day for the standard connection and $18.95 for the enhanced connection. Wow.

Check-Out

Photo of design on room key at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
The room key design at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa

Since we had a credit card on file and the hotel had charged the daily resort fee automatically, we had nothing to pay at check-out. I had half-expected the gruff waitress to put a charge for “upgrade to hot breakfast” on our account from the first day, but apparently she had sorted this out.

The man at the desk was friendly and thanked us for our stay. He asked if I wanted a printed receipt, and since I didn’t we were on our way quickly.

Check-out was efficient and quick while also being really friendly.

Final Thoughts

My wife and I really enjoyed our stay at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Hawaii. The gruff waitress was the sole low point in otherwise excellent service. The hotel offered us a late check-out of 4 p.m., which was great. We had a 10:30 p.m. flight back to California.

The behind-the-scenes efforts prior to our arrival made for a great stay. Without these, the hotel is still really nice. The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is a great hotel if you can book it on an award stay. The service we got from the Pre-Arrival Ambassador elevated our stay from “nice hotel” to “great experience”. I would definitely go back.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith
Travel hacker in 2-player mode, intent on visiting every country in the world, and can say "hello" or "how much does this cost?" in a bunch of different languages.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Great review. Booked a week here using topped off 50k certs for next summer. I am confident it’ll be a good time. Seems like a solid redemption for such certs, even post devaluation. Had to top off with 8-10k points per night. We used to go to Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, but with the devaluation both, it and the Westin Hapuna are too expensive for an award stay.

  2. We stayed here last April for 8 days and it was beyond outstanding. The staff were very nice and helpful throughout and all the amenities and services were as good as possible under the conditions and circumstances at that time. Any shortcomings (and there were a couple of minor issues) were understandable and housekeeping staff also serviced our room well. I highly recommend this hotel.

  3. Very nice review! I stayed there several years ago. I just remember my mom being upset at the nude sunbathers we encountered walking along the beach. I hope you ate at Roy’s and or Merrimans. The resort fees are just ridiculous. And too bad about the waitress, that seemed very unpleasant.

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This hotel is likely the type you think of when you think of a resort in Hawaii. It's right near the beach, has an outdoor breakfast patio, big pool, and lots of amenities. While our room was quite standard, we loved the service here. I would go back for sure.Hotel Review: Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (Big Island of Hawaii)