Marriott’s Waikoloa Ocean Club

ok

Great location.

This is an age-old hotel. And you can see that. No wall and no ceiling and no floor is even remotely straight. Everything is bent out of shape. But they made the best of it and did a lot of renovations. The common spaces are beautifully appointed and the rooms, albeit a bit tired here and there, are nice. Cleanliness s is very good. This is a solid choice on the Big Island and miles ahead of the Hilton property across the street.

Average at best. Walls are paper thin. Clientele does care about screaming kids. Loud TVs. Rooms are dark. No overhead light. Ice machines that crank out chipped ice are awesome. Still using keycards instead of wrist bands like other resorts. Standard Marriott breakfasts and restaurants. Nothing special. Gift shop is big with lots of stuff, snacks and open late. Close to Kings shops and Queens marketplace.

Only used points but would not use my own money to book here unless I got a killer deal. Better to rent condo elsewhere.

This is not a paid or sponsorship review. Honest and from my heart given my 10 day stay.
I was terrified to book this resort for my 35th wedding anniversary. The reviews were mixed and some pretty bad. Yes, our room is smaller than most resorts and there is no oven - so microwave pizza only. But the complaints about the politeness of staff - I have not experienced. Everyone has been extremely helpful and welcoming. The pool has plenty of towels - no shortage and there are 2 ladies taking pool orders for food and drinks. I travel a lot
For business and have found the rooms and main areas to be well appointed. Is it
Luxury like high end Marriotts
Or home - No. But I do not
Feel uncomfortable or in lower class surroundings. Overall, the resort is very nice and comfortable. Our mattress could be a little firmer but that is a personal preference. I believe you will be more than satisfied with your stay. We found it peaceful and well appointed. Oh, the spa could use a lift but the service was great! I would love to have more than a steam room and semi-relaxation room. But again, the services were really good!

Excellent service and beautiful property!

We just had an amazing stay here, and we would love to come again. We were in a 2 bedroom unit. We had a king bed in the master and two queens in the second bedroom. Both have nice bathrooms. There's a pull-out sofa in the living area. The AC worked great. Unlike other MVC resorts, this one doesn't have a full kitchen (we heard they're not allowed to due to some regulation). There's a full-size fridge, sink, small dishwasher, a huge kitchen table. They seemed to have a lot of appliances to make up for the lack of oven and stove--they had an instant pot, rice cooker, blender, toaster. We didn't cook much, but you could have figured out a way to cook some things. Everything seemed well maintained and in good working order. Staff was very friendly and helpful.

There's a really lovely white sand beach. We swam there multiple times and even saw a sea turtle our last morning. The pools are beautiful and didn't seem overly crowded. The Kings and Queens Marketplaces are very close by. The Island Gourmet store is our favorite--we had breakfast there each morning, and bought local produce, etc. (The coffee shop in the lobby seemed to have a nice menu and reasonable prices for breakfast sandwiches, too.) You could get by without a car, but the parking here is FREE! That seems to never be the case at resorts in Hawaii.

I wish they had more restaurants and valet parking.

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.

I've been here 3 nights now and every night my bed has been short sheeted. I've called down and talked to numerous managers and the problem hasn't been fixed. The staff is nice but the hotel definitely needs an overhaul. I've fixed the problem myself by double sheeting, but is this what I'm paying resort fees for? Check your beds people.

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.

This property is a little strange because half of it is a beach resort hotel with a lot of conference facilities. Then another tower is a timeshare - Marriott Ocean Club. Our one-bedroom unit was very well equipped and newly renovated. BUT there is no oven or cooktop; not allowed by the local authorities. But they do have a lovely outdoor grill area that we used a few times. Only one restaurant plus a coffee place. Three different pool areas, plus the ocean. Very convenient to have two little shopping/restaurant malls next door and right across the street. You definitely need a car to get here, though. It's about a half hour north of the Kona airport.
Staff and management were impressive. We had one little issue with our room, and they immediately took care of it. Very well run property.

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

Even dealing with potential hurricane weather events, our stay was great! Staff is friendly, and helpful. The site is very convenient for shopping good and fun!

I have been wanting to come back to Waikoloa for 20 years and we finally made it back. It is a beautiful older resort. Loved the refurbished rooms. We had a pool view room but were pleasantly surprised with a pool/oceanview room. Love A-Bay beach and how secluded it is. Thought we could snorkel but it was pretty murky. We felt the history of the kings ponds and loved the trail by the queens shops. Definitely will be back!

Food
- breakfast buffet - underwelming. Salad, fruits, and pastries for continental. Add omelet and same warm options- 45 USD pp. not worth the price.
- lunch- one option at resort. Mediocre food, limited options.
- dinner - one option.

Room
Tiny.
It worked for 2 adults and one child. But, wow, so small. Had to rearrange move tv just to be able to fit our suitcases

Stayed 2 weeks- so we felt the small space.

The balcony had 1 small table that was really not usable for anything.

Positive/ beautiful location. Beautiful beach. Calm water - atleast in July .
Not best visibility for snorkeling, but great for swimming. Short drive to some other nice beaches and hikes

We stopped in the restaurant because there was “live music” but the music was above the restaurant and advertised incorrectly. It said listen to live music with dinner. We could not hear the music at all, and the dinner was not worth it. The menu was blah and way over priced. The space and amenities were gorgeous. People were kind, but not worth is to go to that restaurant and spend that kind of money.

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.