Marriott’s Waikoloa Ocean Club

I really don't understand the negative reviews. We had a great stay. Our room was great -- we got the 1 BR, ocean view, clean, everything was in working condition, bed was comfortable, staff were friendly and helpful. Our room has no full kitchen --- but why do major cooking chore when on vacation?! It does have microwave, full size refrigerator, instapot, kettle, toaster, etc. There's a nice in-house restaurant and some great restaurants across the street at Kings Shops. And if on a budget, Queens Marketplace is a short walk from the resort. The Waikola Beach is a short walk from the hotel premises, is in a cove and kept the water calm even on windy days. Water is not that clear though during my visit, but we spotted some turtles while snorkeling. A great beach to watch the sunset. There's a petroglyph reserve also within walking distance. It's a great base to explore the Kona side of the Big Island. Now if you want to explore the Hilo side of the island, you may need to plan more time; there was a reason this was called the Big Island.

Beautiful sunsets. Attractive and well maintained resort. Staff were consistently helpful and friendly, they were just nice people. In particular we recall Jonacee at the front desk and Kaieme & Roxanne at breakfast. There service reflects well on them individually but also on whoever is doing the hiring and training.

Had two two-night stays back to back… last minute reservation… the room renovations are very noticeable and they did a great job…the amenities at the resort are top- notch, parking remains horrible- spaces are two narrow, double-spaces,front to back are not helpful, so a minivan effectively takes up 4 spaces…it was explained to me that the lot was at one time a “valet lot” and only had experts parking the vehicles- the lines painted are the responsibility of the hotel-resort, NOT THE VACATION CLUB… the resort manager Mr Nourollahi cares deeply about each owner… his staff, including Kanani Abe, were extremely helpful during our stay…will certainly return again next fall…

We are long time Marriott. Vacation Club members at the Chairman level as well as Titanium Elite Bonvoy members. This facility, as many other Marriotts is a commercial hotel and a vacation club. The problem here is that there are two separate departments being managed by one entity. Check in for both hotel and vacation handled by hotel. Requests for late check out (plane leaves at 1030pm) not handled by vacation club, but hotel, who wants to sell you use of a day room for $299 for 6 hours and price varies daily. The price of the day room is higher for vacation club members than hotel guests! There is no vacation club lounge, so you are on your own with your luggage for 6-10 hrs before your plane leaves. (The Kauai Marriott has a comfortable lounge). Most planes heading to mainland leave late due to 3 hr time difference. Couples can manage this but is terribly inconvenient for people with children. The only choice would be to spend points and book an extra day IF they have the availability and next time book the extra day when you originally book. Also be advised there is NO shuttle from hotel to airport. Too bad the checkout experience leaves such a bad taste to an otherwise nice week. We will likely not be back because of this.

We have owned a Marriott Vacation Club Timeshare since 2008 and have been very pleased with the services provided at many Marriott facilities worldwide. However, we just returned from a 10-day trip to Marriott’s Waikoloa Ocean Club on the Big Island of Hawaii that changed that perspective. We booked the trip in January 2024 and received confirmation from Marriott that stated in the Summary of Charges that: • 10 nights at $0.0 USD per night per room (using 4.050 Destination points) • Taxes $ Fees (per night per room and Estimated Government Taxes & Fees INCLUDED On September 1, 2024 (ten days before we were to arrive in Hawaii), we received an email from Marriott saying that there would be a daily charge of $23.60 for Hawaii State Occupancy Tax—a total of $236.00 for our stay, and that many of Marriott’s Bonvoy benefits would NOT apply--classic BAIT and SWITCH! As Marriott Rules and Regulations concerning trip cancelation within 60 days of arrival puts a severe restriction on re-using the points (in this case 4,050 points) allocated for the stay, changing our minds was not an option given that we would have to use the points before the end of 2024! On our arrival at Marriott’s Waikoloa Ocean Club, I contacted the Resort Manager to inform him how upset we were with this chain of communications. His response was that it was out of his control--he did give us a $50 resort credit! My response was that I would be cancelling the 2025 family trip to his resort for 10 members of our family that I had just booked! While we have visited Hawaii many times, and I actually lived and worked in Hawaii for ten years, we hadn’t been to Hawaii since before Covid. It was a shock to find that a Happy Hour Pina Colada at the Marriott runs $19 plus tip, making it approximately a $25 drink (with very little alcohol). The property itself has seen better days and food and service in the restaurant was mediocre. We will not return

We stayed for 2 weeks at Marriott Waikoloa on the timeshare side. We had a wonderful visit!! I know there was recently construction, but the lobby, grounds and rooms were beautiful and very well maintained. We have traveled extensively and been to the MVC in Maui, Kauai, and at Ko Olina and many other properties. This a smaller property, very well maintained and the staff was phenomenal- so kind and helpful with whatever we needed! The pools were great, the beach was gorgeous, and loved walking through the ancient fish ponds. Very nice and convenient to have the king and queens shops just a few minutes walk from the resort. We loved, loved our stay, a few things that could be improved: -Pool food menu was lackluster, nachos were not good. -My kids loved the activities, a few more activities would have been great! -We loved the Buffet, a few days they were out of yogurt and some cereals. Things you need to think of when coming to the big island: -It’s very, very laidback. This is a place to chill, it’s not a party place at all, you come here to relax and see the amazing things on the island. -You are on an island- everything is expensive. Come here knowing that! Remember workers have to live in the island- it’s expensive for them too! -things are far. When you leave Waikoloa or go from A to B anywhere on the island it’s a bit of a drive, but the drives are interesting, easy and beautiful! -All beaches are public- no resort owns the beach. I saw complaints about not enough chairs at the beach- they are lucky they can have any! Had a great stay and hope to come back one day!