A review of the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort: My family and I recently completed a vacation stay at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. Overall, the resort is wonderful with a few rough edges. The resort is located on the west side of the Big Island, about 30 miles north of the airport -- with ”island traffic” plan on 30-45 minutes if you need to travel down into Kona. This resort takes full advantage of its beach location, which is consistently rated one of world's best. Hapuna Beach is an amazing long crescent-shaped beach great for swimming and snorkeling (near the coral at the edges of the beach. We saw turtles, octopus, and a wide variety of fish). The beach is perfect for families with children, though the water can get a little rough if the trade winds are blowing. Check-in was smooth and efficient. My elite membership was recognized as well as my birthday during our visit. We were offered points of elite breakfast credit, which included continental breakfast for two in Ikena Landing. Upon arriving to our room, we were greeted with a lovely bottle of wine and assorted goodies for our celebration. Our room was clean and well-appointed. We were staying on a points redemption, so no SNA option. We had a ”partial” ocean view room but I suspect we were given an ocean view room because we had a wonderful view of the ocean and resort grounds. According to front desk personnel, the resort did have a handful of ”lanai” rooms near the ground level with no view whatsoever, including a small number of no-view suites. We had a spacious bathroom with shower and tub; also a wonderful lanai with a table & chairs along with a comfortable outdoor couch perfect for lounging in the evening with a beverage while watching the sunset. All service requests through the chat function were promptly met and taken care of throughout our visit. Note, this resort also had a free guest laundry facility with detergent and other supplies -- perfect if you pack light or just want to clean off your swimsuits before you head home. Our main gripe relates to the food & beverage offerings and service. The resort's dinner restaurant, Meridia, takes full advantage of the resort views and location. Unfortunately, that's about all it has going for it. For the price point, the food was marginal and service was lacking. For a similar price point, I'd suggest heading up-country to Merriman's for terrific farm-to-table food and great service. As I mentioned, we received elite continental breakfast for two at Ikena Landing, each morning. Upgrade to the full buffet was offered for an additional $25 per person. Prices were steep for breakfast. Servers were friendly but took a while to get food out at times. I would recommend, particularly families working within a budget, to try Piko Coffee Bar. Piko has much better coffee options throughout the day and also offers a variety of hot/cold grab-and-go options (at breakfast, eggs, hash browns and breakfast meats, pas
- Guest User
We had an absolutely amazing visit here in June. I was a little nervous reading some of the mixed reviews leading up to our trip. Hopefully I can help others rest easy and book with confidence. Every employee we interacted with was incredibly kind and helpful--even when enduring the only rudeness we DID witness (from a couple of entitled guests--looking at you, lady who would just pick the table she wanted at breakfast regardless of where the host led her). Everyone from Ginger and Shirley at breakfast, the friendly shuttle driver to the Mauna Kea, Healani leading the sunrise chant and lei making, Dominga in housekeeping, the guys at the beach rental hut, the valet folks...EVERYONE we encountered truly went above and beyond! The view from our room was stunning, although I asked for a room in the South Tower to avoid our view being blocked by the new residences. While it meant a little less of the beach could be seen, I'd rather look at just greenery and ocean than the roofs of the new residences in front of my nicer beach view. I think they painted the roof of the new residences tan so that it would blend in with the sand, but this was a mistake--it's not subtle and it truly does take away from the view. They could totally solve the view issue for the North Tower rooms by adding a rooftop garden or LIVING ROOF to these residences, which would also get them some more sustainability points. We LOVED the option to use the locking wooden shutter front door and the balcony screen doors so that we could enjoy the ocean breeze blowing through our room without sacrificing privacy. Daily housekeeping is back, and we requested turndown service a few nights when we'd made a mess of our room transitioning from the beach to an evening out. We appreciated how quick and thorough both services were. It was so nice to stop by the room after an early breakfast and snorkel to find that it had already been fixed up. We did the breakfast buffet most mornings, and found it to be a great and hearty start to our days. We appreciated that they opened at 6:30 so we could get out and snorkel while the water was still calm. They do serve a plate of breads and pastries and a plate of fruits directly to your table so the birds aren't tempted to hang out at the buffet, but we were very happy with the selection and quality--each day we had something a little more exotic like rambutan, dragon fruit, papaya, etc. in addition to more basic offerings like pineapple. The beach is absolutely stunning, and we didn't have any issues getting chairs. There's some nice snorkeling along the rocks to the right if you go out in the morning before the waves pick up, and then in the afternoon it's fun to body surf or relax and jump over the big waves out just past where they're breaking. Five years ago, we stayed at the Mauna Kea, and were nervous that Hapuna would feel like a step down. We actually enjoyed the grounds, service, and beach much more--and with the dining sh
- Guest User