FlyinHawaiian

I used my CAT4 certs at this property last week and thought it was very nice to be able to redeem them at a waterfront property in Hawaii. I stayed at the King Kamehameha many (over 20) years ago and was very suprised and pleased on how the property had been maintained after the recent rebranding as a Courtyard.

The property has a prime location for the town of Kailua-Kona, at the start of Ali`i Drive and it's hard to miss. Parking is $12 a day, which I thought was reasonable. Budget-minded people might be tempted to park at the adjacent shopping center across Kuakini Highway. The hotel lot is very large and open spaces are easy to find, even when the property is full and a luau is going on.

The lobby suffered flooding from the tsunami in 2011 so everything is recently rennovated. There is a large exhibit of Hawaiian art from local artist Herb Kane and a large koa outrigger canoe on display. There are also three computer terminals with a laser printer for guest use adjacent to check in.

Upon check-in, I was informed that it was the hotel's policy to offer Gold and Platinum Elites a complimentary upgrade to a Partial Ocean View room; however, there were none available with king beds, only twins. I declined the upgrade for the first night and we were placed into a room on the second floor of the West Tower next to the ice machine and overlooking the parking lot. My feeling on this room was that it was something a Priceline guest would normally get. The room itself was fine, with fresh and clean furnishings, but I was glad to move to a Partial Ocean View the next day when one became available. The new room was in the East Tower on the fourth floor and faced Ali`i Drive; there was a bit of road noise with the lanai door open, but it didn't bother us when the door was closed at night. I liked to have the door open in the early morning and watch the sun rise over Hualalai.

Pluses of the rooms, other than the furnishings, was the mini-fridge for keeping drinks and snacks cool and the free wireless internet. Each room also has a sofa with a hide-away twin bed. One thing that was semi-annoying was that the a/c seems to be fixed at a central temperature and you can only control how hard the fan blows. The West Tower room was set around 74 degrees and the East Tower room was closer to 64, which was way too cold. We ended up leaving the a/c off at night and the lanai door open during the day when we were in the room. We stopped at the nearby Safeway to pick up some sodas and water and also bought papayas for breakfast from the farmers' market. The restaurant was happy to give me a breadknife and some spoons from their tableware and the front desk had a supply of paper plates that we made frequent use of.

Another plus is the large ABC convenience store on the ground floor, which is convenient for sundry and souvenir shopping.

We did try Honu's, the restaurant on property, for dinner one night and while it was somewhat pricey ($50 per person), the food and service was very well done and the beachside location is hard to beat. It was a very impressive offering for a Courtyard, IMO. We found it very convenient to walk to some other places to eat; I recommend the Kona Brewing Company and Splashers Grill, both across the street (KBC is a little further). There are a multitude of other restaurants within walking distance.

We found the staff at the hotel to be very friendly and full of aloha spirit which made our stay very pleasant. I'd be happy to redeem CAT4 certs here in the future and would also consider it for a revenue stay as the location makes it a very convenient base of operations for all the sights on the Big Island.