Inconsistent, but overall, a relaxing honeymoon
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 03/05/07
My wife and I stayed 7 nights at Ihilani. We stayed on Marriott Rewards points. The resort was hosting an LPGA Tournament, meaning 2 things: the guests were rarely seenbecause they were watching golf, and the resort was stem to stern crawling with butch women. The week prior, they hosted the NFL Pro Bowl. It seems they like hosting big events, so as a guest, check to see who you will be sharing the hotel with.
Facility/Location-The location of the resort is both positive and negative. We were looking for a remote resort, given the occasion for our stay. If you are looking for easy access to shopping, night life, Waikiki, or convenience stores, dont stay at Ihilani. Unless you rent a car (which we did), you are trapped.
The pool is small for a resort this size and the water was freezing. The lagoons were probably our favorite amenity. They are clean/inviting. We spent most of our time on Lagoon 2. We pretty much had the whole lagoon to ourselves, so I advise spending time at Lagoons 2/3 to avoid large crowds.
We stayed in a Deluxe Ocean View room. The accommodations were the best part. Our room was spacious, with a great balcony and awesome views of the ocean. The bathroom was also spacious with a 2-person shower, double marble sink, and large bath tub. The bed was comfortable. No ice machines, if you want ice, you have to call room service.
Service-What I found odd was how unpredictable the service was. Some staff members were trained in how to treat guests, and others acted like it was a motel. The wait staffs at the restaurants were the bottom of the ladder. They seemed to care less about providing great service. There were some exceptions, but for the most part, poor. The housekeeping staff was above average, but got rude with me on one occasion when I asked her to please come back later to clean the room. Some staff went out of their way; others didnt want to be bothered.
Food-The food varied in quality. The breakfast buffet was really tasty. Had our room not come with breakfast included, I might have had second thoughts about eating there each day ($26/person). If you are looking for something quick and cheap for breakfast, the coffee bar is great. They have tasty complimentary coffee for guests, and a wallet friendly menu consisting of pastries, fruit, and espresso drinks.
Azul was our favorite restaurant. A little pricey, but the service was good and the food/presentation was exceptional. The other restaurants are poor. Room Service was exceptional. The menu had a great variety, was priced fairly, and the staff was awesome. The tuna fish sandwich was the besta great/cheap lunchtime meal. I do not recommend the Lanai Dining option. It is unbelievably pricey!!! It was $275/person for the 5-course menu, which looked terrible. Instead, I recommend ordering a room service meal, and having the water set it up on the Lanaisame experience, more value.
Value-Ihilani nickel and dimes guests. IMO, guests are already paying a lot of money to stay there, so a lot should be complimentary. However, they realize that they have the guests trapped, so they take advantage of that. Internet is $13/day, food/drinks for the sundry are a rip off, and most meals/drinks are unbelievable. I recommend doing this: We rented a car, and stopped by the grocery store. We picked up basic snacks like nuts, crackers, sodas, bottled waters, cheese, juice, etc. There was a little space in the mini-bar to keep necessary items cold. We also picked up a bottle of vodka, a bottle of rum, and about 5 bottles of wine. We also packed thermoses in which to mix drinks to take with us to the beach, which, despite their sign of No Alcoholic Beverages Allowed at the Beach, saved us considerable cash. Doing this will really enhance your enjoyment of the hotel, because like I said earlier, you really have no options for these basic foods/drinks, unless you want to really open your pocket book.