Hapuna Beach Westin Resort, Waimea, Big Island of Hawaii [Master Thread]
 

Moderator note :
This property was reflagged to become a Westin in 2018. Pre-2018 (and therefore SPG-era) reviews and discussion can be found in this thread :
Hapuna Beach Resort, Waimea, Hawaii [to become a Westin Spring 2018 after renovation] - FlyerTalk Forums

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While self-parking is included in resort fee I opted for the $6 valet parking. So much easier. Speaking of the resort fee, the resort fee also includes internet access and telephone calls. I complained because these are supposed to be complimentary because of elite status. The hotel said they would provide a replacement amenity of additional points to compensate. So, keep this in mind. In my experience, this is how other legacy SPG hotels in Hawaii handled resort fees. The leaked new Marriott terms also indicate properties that charge a resort fee for something otherwise complimentary have to provide an additional (complimentary) amenity.

Excellent breakfast buffet, though at $33-ish you could order off the menu for less money. My rate included the buffet so I didn't see if the complimentary elite breakfast is something different. Plenty of local daily newspapers in lobby and at restaurant, including a daily summary of The New York Times.

Rooms are nicely done, but some idiot decided to have beach house-style wooden blinds instead of curtains. So, there isn't a good way to blackout the rooms at night if you want absolute darkness. Also, the closet has a light that stays on if the doors aren't closed all the way. Another design flaw. Room has the nice new 55-inch LG TVs that are standard with Marriott hotels now. Everything else is legacy Starwood, including robes. No slippers, sadly. No dental or shaving kits, either. My balcony had a sliding door as well as a sliding door screen, which could be nice if you want to sleep with the door open and hear the ocean but not worry about bugs or animals. Hotel website advertises microwaves, but there are no microwaves. There is a fridge, but it isn't stocked. So you probably want to stop at Walmart after landing at the airport for cheap drinks. Only one small bottle of Dasani water is complimentary.

Apparently, there are a lot of wild cats nearby. The hotel even has signs warning guests. public spaces are also nicely done. Basically brand new, although the hotel went cheap and didn't replace the elevators, which are pretty beat up (especially the control panel consoles).

Front desk is horrible. 1 person working; it took 45 minutes for the front desk to check 9 people into their rooms at 8 p.m. Front desk lied about upgrade availability, claiming the suites weren't "clean." After complaining, a manager came out and "upgraded" myself and a colleague to a room with a "deluxe" view. I doubt it was an upgrade because pretty much all the rooms have the same view of the beach and ocean. The manager did say that many of the suites are on the ground floor, which struck me as unusual. No thanks or recognition of SPG status. No amenities sent to the room. Concierge works at front desk, which is weird.

There is a small gift shop hidden away down a corridor. No signage telling you it is there. There is also a massive sales office for Mauna Kea timeshares.

Restaurants close at 9 p.m., which means the only food is room service. Also one of the restaurants, the nicest, isn't open Tuesday and Wednesday. Room service prices aren't that expensive. The lobby bar is open until 11 p.m., but it was completely empty at 8 p.m. Breakfast doesn't start until 6:30 a.m., which is odd. 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. seems more logical than 6:30 a.m.

The fitness center is keycard accessible 24 hours even though signage and materials say 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fitness room/gym is nicely equipped but struck me as very small with only 5-6 treadmills. Beach and pool are gorgeous.

The two big issues:

1) The hotel is done but construction continues at outer buildings that have been sold off for timeshare residences. The noise begins around 8 a.m. and is horrible. You can hear it everywhere from the rooms to the beach and the ocean.

2) The bar is at the kid/family pool, not the adult only pool. Also, there is no drink service on the beach.

Hockeyinsider - thank you for the review. Did they give any indication of when the construction for the timeshare residences will be done?

They said December, but I imagine it could be longer. The hotel claims it is out of their power, but they are the ones who sold the building. The construction should have been done when the entire hotel was under renovation.

I can put up with a little noise, but they actually put three SPG platinums next to the construction while colleagues of mine with zero status were given rooms at the complete opposite end of the hotel as far from the noise as possible. You want to be on the Mauna Kea volcano side of the hotel to avoid the noise. I also don't like front desks that lie to elites about upgrades.

This would be a phenomenal property if construction was complete and some attention was paid to the details. For example, there is no turndown service. At the same time, they offer complimentary shoe shine service. Really? Who gets their shoes shined at a resort in Hawaii? You'd think turndown service would be a better offering. There are no fresh berries on the buffet, which is otherwise very good. They keep the legacy SPG standard of Starbucks coffee in the room even though this is Kona and almost every legacy SPG or legacy Marriott property in Hawaii has Kona or Kona blend coffee, despite national or international hotel brand standards.nAnd despite the hotel owners (Prince) being Japanese, they don't have the wonderful Toto toilets. Instead, they have installed a (presumably) cheaper Brondell contraption.

@hockeyinsider, Thank you for your stay report.

Still curios about platinum breakfast amenity (not includedin my rate).

Also no slippers provided is a bit turn off.

When I asked for slippers they were brought, but they aren't stocked in the rooms. I also thought it was odd that a Japanese-owned hotel, in a market with a large number of Japanese tourists, didn't stock the amenity or dental kits that are common in the Asia-Pacific region.

HockeyInsider - in this article it says "Construction is hoped to be completed by fall 2019, Matsumoto said."
Brand new: The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort debuts - West Hawaii Today

With your info and this article, I called the hotel and they said middle 2019 is when they will be finished. I was thinking about staying sometime in summer 2019, but wasn't sure if it would be a gamble by then. I would like to think that the heavy construction now would be done by then and by the summer they'd be doing quiet things -- painting, etc.

What got me hooked on SPG was how they treated me on my hawaii vacations when I used to travel every week. I would stay at some crappy Starwood hotels just to build status/points, knowing it would pay off when I went to Hawaii. I guess we will all see how things change with Marriott.

To be clear, 100% of the hotel construction is finished. This is a former hotel building that was sold for timeshares to a developer. Construction only recently started on it -- the noise is pretty bad -- and as of Monday the front desk manager said construction should be finished in December. Maybe he meant exterior construction. Not sure. I'm considering a return in December, but won't come back if the construction isn't finished.

The breakfast buffet here is better than any Marriott or legacy SPG hotel on Oahu. I just don't like getting lied to by the front desk regarding upgrades. The lack of a lounge, considering other legacy SPG properties in Hawaii have done, is disappointing. Also, other legacy SPG properties like the Westin Moana Surfrider have turndown service. This property doesn't.

What I will say is this is a weird property because some of the staff wear "Mauna Kea, Autograph Collection" uniforms and all of the stuff -- shirts, towels, cupholders, etc. -- sold in the gift shop all says "Mauna Kea, Autograph Collection." Only the employee name tags say Westin. It's almost like an annex of the Mauna Kea.

Still feels impossible to get an accurate view of construction. Some reviews say it's deafening and you can't be outside due to jackhammers, others say it's a light noise that you only hear from time to time. Hotel insists it's not bad at all. Going in early October (booked before any construction notices were posted), and trying to figure out if worth cancelling and booking somewhere else.

There is no construction on the weekends; Monday–Friday only.

The jackhammers started up again a week ago, according to management. You can hear them from anywhere by the pools and anywhere on the beach. If you're in the opposite wing the noise is almost nonexistent.

For what it's worth, one platinum, two platinum premiers, one platinum premier ambassador, and myself (a platinum premier ambassador) requested a late checkout at the Hapuna Beach Westin. Only two of us -- one platinum premier, one platinum premier ambassador -- received it. The others -- one platinum premier ambassador, one platinum premier and one platinum -- were denied it.

Were all five late checkout requests on the same day? :confused: Were any of them in suites?

All requests were made at check-in and re-asked 24 hours prior to departure. On the morning of departure, the hotel informed the various individuals which ones would get the late checkout. None were in suites.

Something weird about this thread. Why is review of a Japanese hotel here? :confused:

this is weird ! OP and discussion don't match title

Back open for business. I think I split the thread correctly. :)