Intro

After the Four Seasons Hualalai, we continued our Hawaiian adventure at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. We thought it would be a great addition because of it’s beautiful beach (something the Four Seasons didn’t have) and it’s easy snorkeling for our 7 year old son. This hotel is a 1960s architectural gem…i.e. it’s well maintained but very dated. Particularly the lobby and the motel-like corridors. But the hotel has so much else to offer and some parts of it, like the Manta restaurant, are really beautiful.

We made our Virtuoso reservation through DavidO.

Beautiful Beach

1960s Design

Flower

Ocean Front Deluxe Room

A suite at at this property would have been well over $2000 a night, so we opted for an Ocean Front Deluxe Room. At 880 square feet and with multiple enclosed spaces (foyer, walk in closet, bedroom, large dressing area, and bathroom) this room perfectly met our needs. It was located in the tower of the hotel with lofty views to the beach below not only from the bedroom but from the shower and deep soaking tub as well. We were able to fit the rollaway bed fully into the walk in closet. And the room boasted two verandas.

Ocean Front Deluxe Bedroom

Ocean Front Deluxe Details

Ocean Front Deluxe Balcony View

Service

The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel delivered lots of welcome treats to our room, including beach toys for our little boy. And the staff members were very kind and helpful.

But there were a few things that made the property seem more 4 Star than 5. Service wasn’t as proactive as it could have been. For instance one of the towel attendants intended to just hand us towels, but when we asked her to help us find and set up chairs, she happily complied. Another example was when the hotel had run out of flower leis as we checked in. Rather than offering to have one delivered to our room later, the front desk staff advised us to keep checking back. The room also had thin scratchy towels (a personal pet peeve of mine) and the beach had old school vinyl loungers.

Welcome Treats

Activities

The little 4 Star quibbles noted above were completely made up for by our beach and snorkeling experience. The soft sand, the calm turquoise water and some gentle snorkeling for our little boy were everything we had hoped for. There were reefs on either side of the crescent beach with some pretty (though bleached) coral and lots and lots of fish in varieties we hadn’t seen before. FYI, the employees recommended the reef on the right side of the beach since it started closer to shore and was larger than the one on the left.

We also loved the resident Manta Rays at the Mauna Kea. After dinner one night, we attended a 20 minute talk about them and watched as the powerful light was turned on and they arrived to feed on the plankton. Our son was amazed by their “loop-d-loops”. The more adventurous could sign up to snorkel with these gentle giants.

Beautiful Beach

Snorkeling

Snorkeling

Dining

The restaurants here were very good, especially Manta which had dozens of tables with full length views over the amazing beach. We enjoyed the banana bread at breakfast each morning and the excellent mahi mahi and other seafood served later in the day. The restaurant was beautifully lit each night.

We were also lucky enough to attend Mauna Kea’s highly regarded oceanfront luau. Yes, it’s a little touristy, but it was great fun especially for our 7 year old. We opted for the preferred seating, which put us at a front table. The evening began with a viewing of the underground oven (pork and turkey) and a tasty buffet. The performance featured the history of the Hawaiian islands, as well as some beautiful hula and fire dancing.

Manta (right side of photo)

Manta Bar Seating

Luau

Luau

Summary

Sure, the The FS Hualalai was a better overall experience…the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel wasn’t as luxurious. But this hotel gave us some wonderful experiences we’re unlikely to get elsewhere and we’re glad we included it in our itinerary!  Aloha!

Mai Tai