On short notice we decided to go to Hawaii, and this resort had four nights available. We visited towards the end of September, early October and the spa's heater still was not working. They would turn it on in spurts so as to not boil the guests, then turn it off. It was warmer than the pool but not by much. The pool area was clean and well maintained and close to the rooms. There are BBQs located near the pool. The location is perfect for downtown Kona. Just far enough away to not get trampled by cruise ship travelers. The accommodations were typical Worldmark units with a washer and dryer. This is an older property but respectable and clean. The one really nice thing about this resort is Laura who is the travel advisor with the open office by the pool. She does a high spirited review of things to do on the island and can book your tours right there. We did the Luau at the hotel down the street. That was nice because it was a smaller venue and there were no bad seats. I would not hesitate to stay here again. The Wyndham Kona was right next door. We were softly hounded to do what we call the "Victim Tour." We went on our last day just to see what the upgrades could be. They are pushing everyone to convert to Wyndham points.

I actually booked four nights knowing that we would not arrive until the morning of our 2nd day due to our transfer flight from Honolulu. I did that so we wouldn't have to wait until 4pm to check in. Our room was ready to go and the staff appreciated me letting them know that was what we were doing a few days before we got there.

We ate three meals at Bongo Bens nearby partly because on every receipt there was an offer for a free short stack of pancakes the next day until 2 p.m. Bongo Bens was one of the few places opened late for dinner. We had gone upstairs to Lulu's after a long day of driving around and not one person who worked their bothered to acknowledge us or seat us. We went back downstairs to Bongo Bens and the staff was immediately attentive to our needs. Food was reasonably priced. Try their passion fruit iced tea.

Another good place for happy hour dinner and drinks was Bubba Gumps.

I am not an owner, just a guest but had a nice time at Worldmark. It was walkable distance to the tourist area and to Snorkel Bob's - great place to rent snorkeling gear. The best benefit was the shared beach equipment cupboard - very helpful for items like beach umbrellas, tatami mats and foam noodles - to use at some of the less developed beaches. Tap water was very salty - best to buy bottled for drinking and coffee maker. Helped flavor hugely. The BBQs were very convenient and easy to use, and not terribly busy, at least at this season. The "orientation" was more of a sales talk for tours, but we "won" a 2 for 1 certificate which we used on the "around island tour" - helpful to see what is out there before going back for seconds! The towels, kitchen equipment and furniture were in very decent condition - the building seems a tiny bit run-down but it was perfectly fine. Get the top floor corner units for water views!

Don't get me wrong, this is a totally respectable Worldmark property (imo). The setup is your typical Worldmark, as others have stated, so you should find everything where you think it is if you've stayed in a Worldmark before. This property is maybe not as up to par with others, but when we were there, they were in the process of updating the appliances to white ones (our unit had just been updated recently). It was also said that they are looking at updating the wicker furniture at some point as well. There are only a handful of units that have a view of the ocean from your balcony - these would be the units on the ends (and possibly just in from the ends) of the back building (upper floors). The front building rooms' balconies face toward the pool or back of the property, but upper floors will have something of an ocean view from the front bedroom window.

This is a smaller property, just across the street from the ocean, but you will need to walk a block or so either way to find access to the water. I say access, since you can get to the water, but the shore is rocky here and you may not necessarily want to get in. There are places nearby with small stretches of beach, though, that might be more inviting (just a little further). Our unit was clean and ready ahead of the 3p check-in time, which was nice since we arrived in town around noon. Service was friendly, and we were apprised of the upcoming morning presentation that would tell us about the activities and sights of possible interest we might want to explore during our stay. The property has a concierge service and Expedia Local Expert that has access to various activities and will book them for you. Our expert gave us some good advice and shared her favorite restaurants (which we enjoyed as well).

Note for families:
It's a BIG Island! If you are traveling with small children that will be in carseats and/or get fussy after a an hour or so, I would caution you to consider your plans with that in mind. There are some great beaches on this side of the island, and they are not that far away (15-30min or so). If that is your focus you are good. If you have big plans to hit Hilo, see Waip'io Valley, Hawi, or Volcanoes Nat'l Park, know that it will take a good chunk of the day just driving to and from these things (2+ hours one way sometimes). Sometimes, even a half hour in the car can be hard if little ones are hungry or overly excited.

Elevation:
On any hwy, you can expect elevation shifts (some quite dramatic) as you drive around the island. We avoided the saddle road, due to 2 of us having problems with our ears readjusting so many times in one day.

Back to the Worldmark:
Despite having ceiling fans, we found we often needed to use the A/C units and they were fairly noisy, but worked well. The pool area was clean, and we made use of that on several occasions, as well as the bbq area (I believe there were 4 bbqs). Parking is a little tight, but we had no problem getting a space each night. If it were a more busy time, I would think you could have trouble parking. The quiet hours were generally observed by most, and we only experienced excess noise on one occasion close to 10p.

We had an issue with a support on one of the sofas sticking out (broken), and called maintenance. They came and promptly fixed the problem, as we were concerned for our little one possibly getting hurt. The dishwasher also leaked once, but was fine after that (user error?).

Overall, I gave this place a 3, though it's probably more of a 3.5. No extras, like the on-site activities we've experienced at the Worldmark in Kihei. The shopping district is nice and fairly close (about 1 mile), but a little far to walk with little ones unless you plan to carry them halfway. We chose to drive, but parking can be a problem depending on day and time. This Worldmark is a little scruffy, and in the process of being updated. It is, however, clean, and we saw no cockroaches there (or anywhere else, for that matter). Everything worked, and we had no issues with changing out towels, getting maintenance, or booking activities. I would consider going elsewhere if visiting again to get a nicer pool area, more upgraded accommodations, location closer to/with a sandy beachfront. I realize this would most likely cost us more, but we discovered our preferences when visiting beaches near/at resorts in the north during our visit (Mauna Lani, Waikoloa, etc.).

Last minute plans, we got a 2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom ground floor unit. Comfortable unit with usual WM amenities. King sized bed in MB and 2 twins in second, plus a murphy bed. It was just the two of us so we only needed the MB. Living area furniture a bit overcrowded for the space so if several people staying there, could be a bit crowded, but worked for us, plus I idon't think you go to Hawaii to stay in your condo! Staff were great. They have an Expedia rep there and she was extremely helpful in advising for tours. I know, she is SELLING tours, still, her presentation was excellent and made the process of signing up for tours easy. Only one real problem with the condo. We could hear EVERYTHING that went on upstairs .not words...but sounds. At risk of being too indelicate..we knew more about what was happneing in the bedroom than we wanted to know... otherwise, excellent place. One more thing, no view of ocean, but easy to get to. Pool area one of the best WM we have seen.