Sheraton Kona at Keauhou Bay, Kailua Kona

The luau is terrific. The food and entertainment were very good. The restaurants are good and the prices were reasonable. Location is very pretty. The area and grounds are peaceful. Not crawling with touristy types like the nearby big name hotel.

It is so peacefull and relaxing and the people are just great!! Fabulious room service and veiws!! Cozy and quiet!! Waking up feeling energized and free!!

Not only were the beds great, the food, and the atmosphere were spectacular. This is also the only hotel who has wild manta rays trained with huge spotlights in the ocean. They take you out on a boat, watch the sunset and then you either go snorkling or scuba diving in the night with the manta rays.

The hotel overlooks a small scenic cove, a 10 minute drive outside of town. Our kids liked the the long waterslide, and the tasty breakfast buffet. Our room was nice, but not especially so. In the evening one can watch large manta rays in the water, illuminated by bright spotlights.

Terribly high prices....rude staff....poor service....average food with expensive prices...would never return Loud music keeps you awake...no help from the front desk or MOD.....bugs in the bed

First, let me say that I know a lot of people say that this hotel is a great place to stay. I hope I can give you an idea from this post of why I think this hotel is just average and I probably won't return - although I didn't hate the place - I just think there are better places to stay in Hawaii. Our stay was generally pleasant, and the staff was friendly and did everything they could to make our stay comfortable. The property is noticeably older though, and really could use some renovations to room interiors and the grounds in general. The pool area is pretty nice, but it closes at 8pm, a little early in my opinion. The waterslide is ok, but really not too exciting. My 8 year old had a good time going up and down for a while. The restaurants at the hotel are ok, but there isn't enough choice. There is a bar with live music in the evenings, a pool bar for lunch by the pool and a fancy breakfast/dinner restaurant that was, in my opinion, overpriced for dinner. The breakfast buffet was ok and priced at around $18 - about average. I think the Outrigger down the road, which is a slightly less expensive hotel, has a $15 breakfast buffet. There's also a coffee shop that was always out of certain pastries, beverages, and even something as simple as plastic knives and forks. The workers there were very nice though and searched the back room to dig up a bagel for us on a couple of the mornings. Any one of these types of things would not be too critical, but together they made me feel that the hotel is just average. The hotel is in a nice location, and close to Kona, but far enough out of town to be a little more relaxed. There is a drug store, a grocery and an urgent care clinic within about a mile of the hotel. As you read in other posts, the hotel has no beach as it sits on a rocky part of costline. This is not necessarily bad and the waves crashing against the rocks in the evening is very nice to sit and watch or listen to. The Manta Ray viewing is, again in my opinion, over-hyped. We watched for a few evenings and at most saw 3 or 4 manta rays swimming around in the water near the hotel. Mabye there are more at times, or it is more interesting at times, but while we were there it wasn't much to look at. From the stuff I read on the web site, I expected more. If you do plan to visit the volcanoes, keep in mind that it can take between 2 and 3 hours to get there - even though it's only about 80 miles or so - due to the winding roads, traffic and towns you must go through. If you have small children, you should know this ahead of time, and I would recommend making a day trip of it and stopping at some of the towns, beaches and sites along the way. It's just not something you can do in a hurry. All in all, I'm not unhappy we stayed here, however I'm anxious to compare it to the Sheraton Kauai - where we plan to visit next. If you're intersted in other places to stay, I would recommend the Wailea and Kapalua areas on Maui and the Poipu area on Kauai. I have also learned to check as much as possible into construction in the area you plan to visit - especially on Maui - as I don't like to be vacationing next to construction sites and there is a lot of new construction going on in Hawaii these days.

Pros: Very nice grounds to this hotel. Cons: Pool was not heated, temp to pool was around 63 (however our stay was in Febuary). The room was clean (compare it to motel 6 in cleaness). Was told in advance that late check out would be possible (with a fee) to 5:pm. However, when we asked the day of check out they would only offer it to 1:pm for $ 150 fee. When we complained the hotel really didnt care and remained with a strick 1:pm late check out. Also, if you are SPG platinum dont try ask for an upgrade, they will tell you "no". The part ocean view room will be of the parking lot, so if you cant get ocean front get a garden view. The parking lot produce alot of noise at night. If you complain they will not move you. If you expect a motel for a resort price this hotel is for you!

I travel quite a bit. I have visited some of the grandest hotels in the world. This is not one of them. The hotel, rooms, service & amenities are mediocre at best. If you are looking for a "Brady Bunch" type hotel/vacation defined by overpriced mediocracy, stay at the Sheraton. I would HIGHLY discourage anyone from staying at this hotel. Bryan Joseph | President

Staff was very fiendly. Had ocean view room, and the view was terrific. Hotel was close to the many restaraunts and shops in Kona. The breakfast buffet was very good, and the evening Mai Tai's were also great, after which you could watch the manta rays feed.

We went to Kona to get married in June '05 and the Sheraton took great care of us. We were upgraded to an ocean view room which was amazing and the bed was a comfortable pillow top. The staff was friendly and very helpful. They recommended us to a restaurant for our wedding night and even made the reservation. At 10PM the night before the ceremony we still hadn't found flowers so they called their on-site florist to make a beautiful bouquet by the next day. Their buffet breakfast was great and the best part of the day was sitting on the deck in the evening sipping cocktails while listening to the band play and the ocean crash. THey also have a lit area where manatees swim at night. Since we were there to get married we were given free breakfast and a $20 drink credit every day. THeir pool is two connecting pools with a waterslide and a waterfall which we also enjoyed. THe only downfalls to this hotel were that it is a few miles south of downtown Kona so you need to drive a few minutes to get somewhere but it is worth the trip. The staff was very helpful in recommending places and giving directions. We never ate at the restaurant there as we were not impressed with the menu or the prices. They offer wedding site and services there, however, they are also very pricey so we chose to go somewhere else. We had a great time at the Sheraton and can't wait to go back again.