Originally Posted by
EuropeanPete
The less positives:
- I'm not sure what level of F&B to expect in Hawaii, but overall we felt the food wasn't quite up to the standards we would have liked. The breakfast buffer was fine and we didn't try the fine dining restaurant (Manta), but the bar and beach food would ideally have been better for the cost.
I enjoyed my second stay here a few weeks ago, no upgrade but I did get a decent view from the top floor on the golf view side. If you are all the way over on the northern side on the top floor you get some view over the bay towards Kohala.
I would say the food is the major drawback of staying here, Paying $25 for 2 small mahi-mahi fish tacos and crisps which barely touch sides gets old pretty quickly. We found a few decent food options at the Mauna Lani and up in Waimea, but they are still 15-20 minutes away which is a pain. It's like they know they that and take full advantage. They also did not have any draft beer on tap at the beach bar which was a little disappointing.
I also saw plenty of people "cooler boxing" it at the beach while in the MKBH chairs. The staff will not deliver drinks to the beach chairs, but the bar is not far away. I did not do this, but at $17 + tip for a cocktail I can guess why it's popular.