Ihilani Resort & Spa At Ko Olina

Yelp 365 Challenge x 2 #174/365

Each year, our church will recognize (not even sure if that is the correct term to use) the widows and widowers especially because it is during the holidays and usually it's around this time that its difficult because holidays are mostly about family gathering and traditions.

Anyhow, in years past, these breakfast or luncheons were held at Sizzler's or other restaurants but for 2012, it was held at the Ihilani for their breakfast buffet.

I love breakfast... If you give me little Belgian waffles, bacon and coffee, I'll be a happy person the rest of the day.

If you throw in fruits, I'll be a happy and well-fed lady.

If you also add in a egg white omelette with fresh veggies, I will swoon and love you foreva and foreva!

And Ihilani gave me all that with a touch of aloha, first class service and never-ending coffee as well as validating our parking.

Oh! Oh! And the best? The buffet price is REASONABLE!

Now how can you beat that in Hawaii? Great breakfast, beautiful view of the ocean and fabulous service?

I've always liked Ihilani ever since I had a staycation there few years ago and to stand there gazing at the sea on a bright sunny day, it seems as if you are on a less "urbanized" island until you hear the beating drums and high-powered entertainment of the Aulani entertaining the kids. Then, it shoots you back to reality you are on the island of Oahu.

Overall experience:

Restaurant: Five Stars *Bonus: Ihilani also has other restaurants for guests and residents to experience

Hotel: Beautiful (It also makes you think of the certain scenes in Blue Crush)

Price: (Restaurant) Reasonable

Recommend: Highly

Exceptional hotel. This property is beyond gorgeous. Rented a mountain-view room for $249/night through Expedia for two nights. That's expensive for me but that is a great deal for this hotel and I was getting married that weekend at the Hawaii Prince Golf Course and wanted somewhere all of my bridesmaids could get ready.

Arrived at the hotel and was blown away. It is simply elegant. Check in was easy. The front desk upgraded my room to an ocean-view at no charge! Awesome service! My hubby and I had cocktails and pupus at the small bar in the hotel which was excellent. My girlfriends then arrived and we had cocktails and pupus at the gorgeous pool and jacuzzi. The property and customer service is just outstanding.

The regular room is huge. Almost 700 SF with a huge lanai. The bathrooms are awesome.

Got my wedding hair done at the salon in the hotel and was more than satisfied. My look stayed in place the entire night.

I do hope that they keep the original character of the hotel after new management steps in 2015. I would hate to see it torn down. Regardless, if it's a 4 Seasons, I could not afford to stay there anyhow.

We had a really great time here. It's located on the West shore of Oahu, away from the madness that is Waikiki (I would never stay there - its like Vegas!! Too much city and crowds, not enough island).

This hotel is pretty secluded so it's good to have a rental car if you stay here, that way you can drive the 30 minutes to Waikiki or the 30 minutes to the North Shore. There are 4 manmade coves behind the hotel that is relatively empty and secluded... really nice to just layout if you want to.

Our room was overlooking the ocean and the view was magnificent. Like others said, the restaurant prices here are on the high side, and we did order room service (Hawaiian pizza and steak) and I didn't think the food was very good. But sometimes, its nice just to stay in and watch a movie while having food delivered to you.

Other things I should mention:
- There's some hammerhead sharks in the hotel that you can watch.
- There's a nice spa and gym.
- Internet is about $13/day.
- All the excursions we booked thru this hotel were 5 star worthy! We did the Paradise Cove Luau (walking distance from hotel) and the Ko Olina Cat Snorkeling excursion.

This was a great place to stay for my first time on this side of the Island. My room was very spacious, and had a beautiful view of the ocean. The outdoor pool was very nice and well kept with plenty of staff coming by frequently to check if more drinks were needed. Although it did get very crowded and loud in the afternoon with children jumping in and running around the pool, the evening has a totally different adult like atmosphere.

Their restaurant is a great place to start the day with their breakfast, It's a buffet with a wide range of choices that offers Japanese, American, and Local Hawaiian dishes. I highly recommend that every one try POG. It's a juice that is made from fresh Pineapples, Oranges and Guava, hence the name P.O.G.

If you are renting a car, there are many local stores in the area, I ended up driving to a local strip mall and about 15 min away, and being the tourist that I'am, I went and bought a whole lot of Hawaiian shirts for really cheap.

Wonderful staff. Will definitely be coming back here my next time I'm back on the Island.

Would have been a 5 star but being that a lot of my time was to be spent in Waikiki, the time a spent in traffic was really bad. If there is no traffic, the distance between this resort and the city is about 20 min. With traffic, it took over an hour a couple of times. Traffic starts to get heavy around 3:30pm around here.

Here's a review from a local's perspective.

ATMOSPHERE:
The main entrance is plain and simple compared to resorts on other islands. The lobby is an old-style enclosed atrium that can result in a long walk around the perimeter to your room. The color scheme throughout is an elegant plain white.

The resort sits on a man-made cove which is perfect for swimming. I'm not sure if the area is normally breezy but it sure was when I was there for 2 days.

The pool is a sad excuse for being in a resort. It's a tiny circle, really nothing more than a big hot tub.

There is a salt water pond that houses sting rays and hammerhead sharks which they offer a feeding activity for.

ROOM:
Our suite was very spacious but felt empty. There's a lack of warm décor and furnishings. There's two flat panel TV's, one facing the bed, the other for the connected living area. The balcony is very spacious. The buttonless telephone was very difficult to operate as you had to use a touchscreen panel in order to make a call. The panel also controls lighting and other room functions.

The bed was firm and comfortable. The pillows were okay (unless it's a contoured pillow, it won't get a high rating from me.) The headboard illuminates which gives the room a bit of a modern feel.

The closet area is a huge open area with nothing in it. This was the part of the room I hated the most because it's such a waste of space. It connects to the long lengthwise bathroom with separate soaking tub and glass shower. There are two sinks but are on opposite ends of the bathroom and a separate water closet.

RESTAURANTS:
I have reviews for Naupaka Terrace and Hokulea on their dedicated Yelp pages.

SERVICE:
I checked in at 3am and the lone female front desk clerk was friendly and professional. The valet staff were great. All the housekeepers I passed by all greeted me with aloha.

OVERALL:
Nice place if you absolutely need to stay away from crowded Waikiki.

Ihilani Ko Olina JW Marriott has the best bays for family fun in Hawaii. I love the fact they allow "Hawaiians" to enjoy the bays. My husband and I recently spent three days there with our Hawaiian relatives. The bay was perfect for fun in the sun with our 2 year old nephew and the whole family. We did "crash" a wedding and I noticed the sound system was incredibly poor for the wedding family. (I know they spent $40k+) Sound is an easy fix if someone cares.

My suggestions: Have a breakfast that is not only buffet. People want a la carte' and something not made for the masses, but specialities by the chef. I saw lots of people disappointed with buffet only. I recommend this hotel, but unless they change the breakfast, go offsite. Our last day we drove to Longhee's in Honolulu (closer to the airport) and had an amazing view of the ocean and a beautiful breakfast.

Ihilani translates into Heavenly Splendor. And while you can't expect every experience to be perfect, every time I have been here it has been Heavenly Splendor to me.

To lay it out there, this property has extreme sentimental value to me. My mother opened this hotel before it became a Marriott when it was still Japanese owned. Every Mother's Day, family celebration, out of town guests around etc....majority of it was spent here. Even when the staff didn't know I was a relative, the service was always outstanding. That's important to know and feel when you're a guest.

My grandparents 50th anniversary was celebrated on this property and so was my 21st birthday, the last celebration I had with my father before he passed. The staff ensured that every last detail was on point and helped in making all these moments memorable.

The spa services were like none other. The massages would take you to a place of ultimate bliss and the the mani/pedis were meticulously executed with an amazing pineapple scrub that left your skin oh-so soft. Yes, pricey, but this is a flagship property. That's to be expected. And the food- from the melt in your mouth lemon ricotta pancakes at Naupaka Terrace to the amazing brunch with lobster bisque shooters at Azul to a simple Marriott burger and onion rings poolside. Everything was always consistent and delicious.

Because of all the changes and staff leaving upon the announcement of the closure, we decided to stay at the beach villas, but we dined at Ihilani every night and walked the property each morning. Every experience even into the final weeks was positive.

Although the property will come back as a reputable Four Seasons, it will never replace the memories built while it was the Ihilani.

I'm so thankful to the staff for their dedication and years of service and wish them all the best going forward whether they are taken on with Four Seasons or still looking for other opportunities. For me, the Ihilani was a magical place when there was only time for a staycation.

My husband surprised me on our anniversary with a romantic weekend away at the beautiful, luxurious Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa with a gorgeous suite.

Our suite showcased the most unbelievable ocean view overlooking one of Ko'olina's beautiful, serene private beach coves. We were in awe of the most picturesque view from our balcony and not only slept with the sliding doors and drapes open to fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves, but we were also able to capture the most amazing sunset and beach photographs that weekend.

This is a beautiful high-end, luxurious resort located on the western shore of Oahu, away from all the hustle and bustle of the over-crowded Waikiki. Definitely an expensive weekend between the ultra high room rates, room service, on site restaurants and gift shop for snacks, but with the happiness, peace and relaxation it brought us, worth every penny of our splurge!

I love this hotel and I'm sad that it'll be closed Jan '15 for a year. It's coming back as a Four Seasons!

Restaurants - overpriced and just ok. Breakfast buffet was nice as it had asian and american options. The Japanese restaurant has a buffet that didn't appeal to me. I ordered a la carte and had the best butterfish I had in a long time!

Room service - if you have a room with a balcony, order room service and dine on the balcony! The privacy and views of the lagoon creates a dreamy setting and the food off the menu were really good. Loco Moco, and banana macadamia pancakes were fantastic.

Rooms - Very comfortable, great lighting in bathroom for makeup and variety of light settings available for to create whatever mood. Love that ;-) Comfortable beds. In-room fridge if you need it.

Front Desk - I feel awful that I don't remember names but they really nice. We lost our resort cards, hotel keys, parking issues, and lost our dvd vouchers. They were helpful each and every time. Yup, I was getting embarrassed I kept forgetting things.

Added bonus - Starbucks downstairs.

Small secret- If you're feeling extra pale or perhaps body conscious, there's a lap pool above the spa that's quiet and rarely ever used by the hotel guests. I park myself there away from everyone!! Gosh I miss the hotel.

I stayed here for a night a few years ago for a friend's birthday and really can't recall anything memorable about that stay (except that we all had a fun time drinking in the room!). Luckily for me - I stayed here again this past Labor Day weekend because a friend of mine was getting married at the resort and they offered a special group rate. So I decided to take advantage of the 3 day weekend and make it a little get away for me and my BF.

Valet and self parking are the same price - $35/night, so we just decided to valet the car - especially since we weren't planning on going anywhere far. The valet guys are very nice and fast - always a good first impression!

Our original reservation was for a garden view, but upon check in - we were upgraded to what the front desk clerk referred to as "Ocean View". We got up to our room and we did have an ocean view, but also a view of the Paradise Cove parking lot...which wasn't so bad. I can't complain...it was better than looking at who knows what. Oh yeah, the plants on our huge lanai were all dead and brown - but I didn't really mind...except that fact that all the other lanai had nice green plants from what I could see!!

Our room was very nice - decor was modern with an island vibe, but not tacky with bright colors! OMG the bathroom was the best! His and Her sinks, not on the same counter top, but separate and so much space! Separate tub and shower - which was nice. May I just say: the shower gel and body lotion scent is the best smelling hotel supplied toiletries! Lavender and ylang ylang...so delicious!!

The resort itself was a nice and relaxing - the wedding ceremony area was nicely put together and the reception area was big. The buffet line was outside of the ballroom, which of course made the room bigger. The food was good too!

One thing I was a little miffed about was when we went down to the beach, we stopped by the towel hut thing by the pool and was kind of scolded that we needed to show a "towel card" in order to prove that we were guests in the hotel and therefore entitled to towel privileges. Uhhhh...I'm sorry - I was not aware of a "towel card" to get towels. Anyway, the lady had a list of the guests and their room numbers, so I guess she went on that.

OMG one thing you need to buy while at the Ihilani is their Ihilani Cookie! We discovered it in their sundry store - it's a bit pricey ($3) but it's a huge cookie and it's soooooo delicious! On our last day, we went back down to the store to buy something small to get change for tips, but the cookie jar was empty!! *Insert sad face here* The cashier said they'd be out in about a half hour, which we could have gone back down after checking out, but I guess I had to spare my hips a little...I really indulged that weekend!

This was a great weekend for my BF and me (and my friends - especially the newlyweds!!), and I'm glad I splurged and treated my BF to this! Girls, take note...once in awhile it's good to take care of the bill ~ like every 5 years or so! Haha...just kidding!!