I booked this stay as an awards stay using my Hilton Honors points. As we don't have kids at home any more, I didn't even think about SPRING BREAK. Booking this stay for Easter Week was a big mistake. This place was a zoo. From the crowds to the noise to lack of service, I could kick myself for not planning properly.

Checking in on Easter evening after a total of 13 hours on airplanes I was more than a little cranky. Having on two people at the front desk with a line 6 people long did not help my disposition. We just wanted to get to the room and order some food.
Well that turned out to a challenge also as I could not get anyone to answer the room service phone. When I called the front desk to ask for a duty manager, I was assured the Manager of the Day would return my call. I am still waiting.
Additionally, some issues with the room were: The door did not close properly so you had to make sure every time you left that the horrendous noise it made from being out of alignment was actually being closed and locked. Reported this, no action taken.
The refrigerator in the room was not working. Reported this, no action taken. The icemaker on the floor we were on was not working. Reported this. No action taken.
Good stuff: A dolphin calf was born while we were there. Really neat to see the baby swimming with momma. The lagoon bar was good but pricey and there was always a place to sit and watch the dolphins. The ground our very nice and we got a good deal of exercise walking each day.
Resturants were marginal at best and quite pricey although, I know, this is Hawaii and a resort.
So, overall, I don't know how much these issues had to do with the week I picked to stay or if this is what to expect from this resort.
I am however, disappointed that as a Hilton Honors VIP for the past 10 years, this was the best I could do with my points used.
Hilton really needs to pay more attention to their best customers.

I've read alot of reviews on this report and tend to agree with aspects of most. First off, this is a Beautiful resort. It's incredible with just about everything - massive pools, a salt water lagoon with fish and turtles that you can swim in, lots of restaurants and tremendous views of the Pacific Ocean. The sunsets were awesome. The whole dolphin experience is really cool. Even if you don't choose to pay the $200+ for the Dolphin Quest experience, you can watch for free. A baby dolphin was born during our stay. On the flip side, it is expensive with charges for just about everything. The restaurants are particularly high. Here's my advice. When you fly into Kona, don't go to the hotel right away. Head south on Highway 19 into Kona, about 10 minutes. That's where you'll find the grocery stores, Costco, Walmart. There are no real grocery stores in the Waikoloa area. Pick up snacks, drinks, bottled water, milk, OJ, coffee, filters, alcohol, etc. There is a small fridge in the hotel room. Also, if you're planning on doing some snorkeling (it's great), stop at a place like Snorkel Bob's in Kona and rent the equipment for the week - also has boogie boards. The weekly rate is less than a one day rental at the resort. Also, skip the luau at the resort - expensive and not that great. The resort is great for a 3-4 day stay. If you're going for a week or more, rent a condo in Waikoloa and just visit the hotel property. Having said all this, the property is beautiful and worth a visit.

We stayed 5 nights with our 3 and 8 yr old children. Our room had 1 king bed and a pull out couch (small - twin bed size). We stayed in the Palace Tower. The pools were wonderful. Only down side-no separate, shallow pool just for toddlers. I think the best room with kids would be in the Lagoon Tower, pool/ocean side (close to the big pool and view of the dolphin lagoon). The resort is very secluded and food is quite expensive. Our room had a tiny fridge. Go to the grocery store in Waikoloa (~ 5 miles away) and stock up on food. Possibly rent a microwave if you really want to save $ on food. The kids loved the tram and boat "taxis" throughout the property.

My 14 year old daughter and I booked a last minute trip during Spring Break. The hotel is huge - over 75 acres. While there are trams and boats to get you around the property, on many occassions they were only running one tram and we ended up walking where we needed to go. Not fun when you are checking out and carrying luggage!

Compared to staying in Hawaii at other resorts, we did not receive a personal welcome, no lai etc. We also found everything to be ridiculously expensive. We renamed the resort to ' The Nickle and Dime You to Death' resort.

We asked for a place to get a less expensive meal for dinner one night around 5:00 p.m. and were told where we could get a burger (a $15 burger!) and we took the tram only to find out this place was closed. We were directed to another restaurant on the property only to find out that it was also closed. It seemed that the staff should know what time the restaurants were open but it they didn't. Very frustrating! We were so exhausted and hungry running around trying to find a burger only to find all the 'cheaper' restaurants were closed. Be prepared...you will be forced to eat at the 'other' restaurants. We found ourselves at the Japanese restaurant and spent $105 plus tip for a meal for myself and my daughter (no drinks).

There is no sand beach at the resort other than the man-made lagoon. If you want a beach you have to take a shuttle to the Marriott hotel (15 minute walk). Here they have water toys, snorkeling equipment etc. You can rent snorkel gear and snorkel right from the beach there. That was nice.

There is shopping across from the Marriott. You have to take a shuttle ($1 each way per person) which was a bit frustrating. Why charge anything?? When I asked about the charge, I was told that the shuttle service wasn't owned by the hotel. In the shopping center is a small grocery-type store. The hotel says no coolers by the pool but I saw many people bring them anyway. Get a cooler at the store and drinks. Although the 'snacks' at the store are very expensive too, they are cheaper than what you can get in the hotel. We bought virgin pina coladas by the pool and paid $9/each.

There is also a charge for wired internet service in the room (+/- $15/day) and if you wanted to 'jog' to the main lobby, you could get wireless for $5.95/day. Again, a charge for everything! I found a business center that had internet and charged by the minute! I also asked about that and was again told that they were not operated by the hotel.

Just be prepared to pay for EVERYTHING!

One nice thing was the birth of a dolphin while we were there. That was a 'once in a lifetime' experience for us. Back to the price...should you want to swim with the dolphins, be prepared to take spend over $200/person. You have to put your name in a lottery to be picked. Once picked, be prepared to pay.

We previously stayed at the Four Seasons in Maui and paid a bit more for the room but overall I think we spent less money than with the Hilton because they didn't nickle and dime you to death! Also, the Four Seasons gave very personalized service. When you called the front desk or anywhere else, you were greated by your name - nice thing that doesn't cost the resort anything. You don't get that at the Hilton. We were also greated with a beautiful lei at the Four Seasons - not the Hilton. If you want a lei, you need to jog to the store and buy one for yourself!

Nice place but remember to take out a loan before you get there!