We stayed at Aston Kona by the Sea for three nights during a recent trip to Hawaii. This is a condo complex situated right on the shoreline, in southern Kailua-Kona, about 3 miles from the center of town. The location is particularly good if you want to be somewhat away from the bustle of downtown and don't mind having to drive there or to go swimming. The complex has an outdoor pool and jacuzzi, and a little sitting area at the shore with some BBQ grills. The shoreline like in many places on the Big Island is rocky and swimming right at the hotel is not recommened. There is a parking garage available.

A grocery store is located about 2 miles away, there is a farmers market at the Outrigger, about a mile south on Alii Drive, it is about the same distance to the closest swimming/snorkeling spots. Go there to buy fruit, or go to a fuit stand. There is a deli a couple of properties over which is within walking distance, and may be useful in a pinch.

We stayed in unit 215, which had partial ocean view from the balcony and was a roomy 2-bedroom unit. The master bedroom and kitchen were in good shape, and the kitchen fully equipped. The smaller bedroom did have some older shower implements in its bathroom and could do with an update. The unit we were in also had a stacked washer/dier.

Sleep quality was reasonable, we did hear the people upstairs from us in the early evening, which was a bit annoying as we were all on PST schedule and wanted to go to sleep early.

The internet access in our unit was highly flaky, and if you have to rely on working internet to stay in touch you will find this to be a source of frustration just as it was for us.

One big plus is that there is a local Expedia expert on site, who we found very helpful and picking smaller things to do with the children. A free orientation/continental breakfast is available on the first day after arriving.

The condo we stayed at was room 219. It was not updated, but the rooms were clean & Rhoda did a great job with housekeeping. The front desk staff were helpful when wifi did not work the 1st day for us. Laura and her team at Expedia were extremely helpful. Laura suggested the glass bottom boat for our 2 year old and the Hapuna beach. Overall it was a very pleasant experience for us. We loved the view from our lanai and there was really nothing to complain about. Thanks to everyone at the hotel, it is a vacation to remember.

What you see is what you get. The Aston Kona by the Sea is NOT the Fairmont, Hilton or Ritz. This is a average condominium complex, so don't expect it to be something it is not. Otherwise it is a great complex. Here's my two cents...

Staff - The entire staff at the KBTS was awesome. I have high standards for my customer service and the hotel staff as well as the Expedia Local Help desk did not disappoint! Make sure to take advantage of the Expedia desk, they did not let us down and took care of ALL our excursions as well as great meal recommendations.

Pool - Pool area was nice, it is showing its age a little but was clean. They started to redo the grill area with an awesome lava/granite counter top so it is nice to see them updating their facilities.

Sandy Beach area - was a great place to have a quick meal or just read a book.

Tide pool - Between the sea wall and the ocean are some great tide pools with fish, urchins, etc. bring water shoes as that area is VERY slippery.

Location - ON the water! Views from every room. Cant walk to Kona but it is only about 5 minutes to town which is very nice in my opinion.

Parking - plenty of spaces, no issues there.

$10/day amenity fee - I personally don't have a problem with this, it covers the safe, internet, DVD Now rentals, etc. The DVD NOW box is great, if you watch movies, we were there to explore and relax so we only rented one kids movie but it had a lot of new movies in the box and I think the $10/day fee was justified. The internet was Ethernet cable connected to start, but on 8/12 they upgraded to wifi... Thank GOD! ; ) Now I can work on the lanai.

Rooms - We stayed in room 106, great view and room features. The room was more then fine for my family of four plus my 76-year old mom. Kitchen was nicely furnished with everything we needed, towels were replaced each day, overall really good. Only negative comment would be about the beds and pillows. Pillows were horrible, bed was cheap. If I could have them update one thing it would be the beds. The pull out couch was a typical pull out couch and about as comfortable as you expect. That's it, very minor issue there.

Overall - Great condo, close to town, CLEAN. I would not hesitate to book another trip to Aston Kona by the Sea. Mahalo to Rosie, Sarah (front desk) and Megan, Amy & Laura (Expeida)!

By far for us the best thing here was the view-it is spectacular. We stayed in a 2 bed, 2 bath for 2 nights when we Island hopped over from Oahu. We have never stayed in a Condo before so I have nothing else to compare to but a hotel room. Hotels are getting pricey for us as we have 3- virtually adult children now.
Parking was easy- and close. We were on the 1st floor of rooms (2nd floor). Our unit was decorated very nicely, appliances were a little rusty but not too bad, but the smell- ugh. I thought, probably just from being closed up so we opened the windows, got some air moving etc.
After 24 hrs the main room was tolerable, but the bathrooms and 2nd bedroom - it never went away. Unfortunately we were only there for 2 days so I can't say if it's something that would have dissipated with more time. Could be that the unit had not been occupied in a very long time or maybe this is more of a normal thing and after a couple of days-no problem. Outside of that- make sure you hit the store down the street for what you need as there is not one here or within walking distance. The place is really beautiful, quiet and a few more days would not have been a bad thing.