Grand Naniloa review: July 2017

1   Not Recommended
July 22, 2017 by

 Map | 5 Reviews | 80% Recommended
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Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo - a DoubleTree by Hilton
 Map | 5 Reviews | 80% Recommended

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There are two previous reviews and for the most part our room and such was the same, so this post will consist of adding information that was unique or interesting about our stay.

 

Check In

The check-in area consists of three desks in an open-air space when arriving at the hotel. We found this area to be frequently congested. Furthermore, it's right next to a bar area where there is live music playing, so when we arrived in the early evening, it was difficult to hear the workers since we had to shout over the band. When we arrived around 6:00 PM we were told that our room was not ready -- it had been cleaned but not verified. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a supervisor to verify our room before we were given keys. All in all, after a full day of driving around the island, sitting in the hotel lobby was not all that enjoyable.

We were given 2 waters and 4 breakfast vouchers (more on this later), and 1 parking pass (more on this later).

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Room

We reserved (via points) an oceanfront room and that's what we got. There are 12 floors in the hotel and we were given a room on the 4th floor. The room had what is probably one of the best views in the facility. The sliding glass door opened to a lanai that had 2 chairs. Unfortunately there was no screen door, and there were bugs that made their way in when it was open, so we couldn't leave the door open overnight to hear the surf or smell the sea breezes.

The beds, microwave, TV, etc., were mostly as pictured in the other reviews. I found it interesting that our shower/tub combination *only* had a showerhead. So while it may have been possible to take a bath, you would have needed to fill it via the shower. Also, the bathroom "door" was a sliding wooden panel, with a tiny thumb-hole, and ours was not properly on the track and was therefore incredibly difficult to slide.

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Dining

This breakfast buffet was a pretty weak, and at times disgusting, offering. As a diamond I was issued 2 vouchers per room per night, which had no information on them other than an expiration date. The "continental" section consisted of two kinds of fruit, bread with toaster, and a very limited supply of pastries. Hot food was breakfast potatoes (which were mushy even after a new tray was brought), scrambled eggs (which in some cases still had powder), bacon (which was tough and inedible), rice, and sausage. There was a waffle/pancake station with one waffle iron, which was unattended, and the warmer meant to contain pancakes/waffles was empty. My wife's comment summed it up well: "I hope we don't get sick from this."

Upon conclusion of the meal we were informed that the vouchers were only good for the continental and that there was a $6 per person up-charge. On our way out, we handed off our remaining vouchers to other diners and sought alternate breakfast arrangements for the remainder of our stay.

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Location

The location of the property is on Banyan Drive. Our "virtual tour guide" app pointed out the small signs next to the banyan trees of various celebrities that planted the trees mostly in the 1930s. Among the trees present are Amelia Earhart and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The hotel is also within walking distance of the Liliʻuokalani Gardens which is also worth a visit. (Aside: we highly recommend the "GyPSy" driving tour apps on iOS - even at their $5-10 price point, very much worth it.)

With this said, Hilo is one of the rainiest places around, so chances are that it will be raining for parts of your stay. This is especially troublesome given the parking situation. The overflow parking for the hotel is across the street, and a good 5 minute walk from the front entrance. We found that the main hotel parking was generally full by 6:00 PM or so. The overflow parking lot is an inadequately lit, gravel surface shared with the golf course, and the only lights are the ones from the golf course building -- there are no lights in the parking lot itself. My wife twisted her ankle on a stray rock over there.

My camera is excellent in low light so this photo looks quite a bit brighter than it actually was:

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Wifi

The wifi registered an impressive 45.77 down, 18.24 up.

The hotel seemed to use its own wifi infrastructure (the SSID was "WIFI@NAN" or some such, not the usual "hhonors" / "attwifi"). I wish more Hilton properties would do this...

Overall

Overall, while the stay was mostly pleasant. However, the breakfast was low quality (and adding insult to injury, accompanied with an undisclosed $6 upcharge) and the parking situation was annoying bordering on unsafe. It's by no means the Bates motel, but as compared to other Hiltons and DoubleTrees, I do not recommend this hotel.

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