The Mauna Lani is a wonderful, laid back resort. The beach cabanas are the perfect place to unwind. You absolutely cannot beat the staff for friendliness. As repeat visitors I must admit things have gone a little south from last year. One restuarant is now closed at night and you can no longer order food at the Hula lounge area. This further limits your dinner choices. It's either a very expensive meal at the Canoe House (great but not really an option for every night), the Honu Bar (which we didn't really care for), or room service. The room service was quite good by the way. You can leave the property and travel a couple miles down the road to the Kings Shops where there is plenty of dining and shopping choices.
Another thing we noticed is that the bottled Fiji water is now a $5 charge instead of complimentary as it was last year.
However, they have updated their rooms, the staff is still outstanding and the property itself is as beautiful as ever. I don't think the negatives are enough to deter our returning. I just think that maybe the resort is still suffering from the slump in tourism. It's a shame. This resort is really a special place to visit. It is very user friendly. The pool and beach are so easy to access, especially if you stay ocean front. Running from room to beach and back is just a matter of a few steps and a couple of minutes. You don't get that at very many places. It's about as beach front as you can get. We love it and think it's low key style is just what we are looking for in a vacation.
The rooms are fairly expensive, but you get what you pay for. It has an unquestionable appeal in its simplicity and beauty.
The beach is man-made, protected by reef and lava. It is always calm and shallow. Great for children and anyone who prefers no waves. The snorkeling there is great and the equipment is free. The sea turtles are there every day feeding and sunning on the shoreline. Our favorite thing is to buy a cheap blowup raft and float our troubles away! The hammocks are plentiful. The sunsets are gorgeous, especially when enjoyed in a cabana sipping a Lava Flow! (Cabana's are free, however we always tip the attendant for setting them up)
We really like the pool. It is nothing fancy but large enough with plenty of chairs. We highly recommend going from pool to hot tub to pool. Envigorating!
I think one of the best things are the cats! Don't feel sorry for them, I think they are probably the best fed cats in Hawaii!!
All in all, you could do alot worse than the Mauna Lani. It's not the Four Seasons, but for some of us that is actually a plus! I have never had a bad experience at the Lani. I highly recommend giving it a try. You may find that this is all the paradise you will ever need!!

We just finished a two night stay in conjunction with a conference and we loved it. The friendly considerate staff made it so.

Due to strange flight arrangements we arrived at 7 a.m. I expected to be told there would be no room for us for hours. The desk clerk went to work in the computer and found us a lovely room. At check-in we were served two fresh orange juices.

The room was well equipted and comfortable.

We loved the pools with sharks and sea turtles.

The food was excellent. Perhaps, as others have noted, not totally perfection (and a bit pricey--but it's a resort in Hawaii) , but we enjoyed it very much.

We would gladly return! The staff makes it a warm comfortable experience.

The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel in Kona Hawaii is supposedly a 5-star property, but I must say that I cannot disagree more with that rating. I have stayed at many 5-star hotels in Hawaii (Hapuna Prince, Mauna Kea and Fairmont Orchid in Kona; Grand Hyatt in Kauai)- the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel is NOT one of them.

The hotel is old-fashioned, outdated and very much in need of some serious upgrades. The flooring throughout the hotel is all basic beige ceramic tile, the rooms are quite ordinary and the furniture looks like it belonged in your grandmother's home. Old-fashioned could be quaint; old is just... old. The service was also surprising- certainly below a 5-star property's standards. The wait staff at the poolside restuarant was unattentive and inexperienced. When I ordered room service one evening at 7pm, I was told they were out of what I wanted, and many other items on their already minimal menu. The maid service was also lacking as evidenced by the discovery of someone else's toenail clippings on the floor. The air conditioner, though working, was old and ineffective. The light in the toilet stall came on after about 3 minutes of flipping the switch on and off.

Look, I love vacations and I always make the best of every experience. Despite my complaints of the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, I still had a fabulous time at the beautiful beach and the restaurants in Waimea. My experience at that hotel was not terrible; I believe they can be a better property than they are, but they certainnly do not deserve a 5-star rating at this time.

My husband and I stayed at Mauna Lani Bay from Oct. 26th - 29th for our Honeymoon. This was the most incredible hotel I've ever stayed at and I've stayed at some very nice hotels. When we landed in Kona someone at the airport came over to us and asked if we were Mr and Mrs Mayo and we said yes. She welcome us to the island and went and got our bags off the luggage area and market them for Mauna Lani Bay and told us where to go. From the moment we came in to the hotel all the staff was so nice and professional and ready to bend over backwards to serve us. We were there at 12 and check in is at 4 but our room was ready. We were upgraded to an ocean front room on the top floor and the room and the view were out of this world. We had breakfast included in our package and the food was just delicous. The staff were all so friendly and filled with the Aloha spirit. I almost cried when it was time to leave. The grounds, the pool and the beach are breathtaking. We were so sorry we didn't make this our last stop of the honeymoon because we were so spoiled that in Maui we did not like our hotel at all and wanted to go back to Mauni Lani Bay. We plan to go back in a few years and will definitely come back here.