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Big Island Adventure 2009
"humuhumunuknukupuahah yeahh b****!" -forgetting…
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ALOHA!
Oh, the places I went while on my Summer 2008 trip…
Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa
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78-128 Ehukai St
Big Island, HI 96740
(808) 930-4900
Big Island, HI 96740
(808) 930-4900
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14 reviews for Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa
This is a 3 1/2 rating...the rooms are a bit outdated but we got upgraded to an ocean / pool view which was really breathtaking. I think if the rooms were a bit more updated and less 70's then they'd have a 4 stars for sure.
The Sheraton also gave us a complimentary bottle of champagne for our anniversary which was a nice touch!
The lobby was really nice looking. The pool and the water slide was fun. The manta ray viewing at night was unique and sooo cool! We saw a whole bunch of them on our first night at this hotel. So beautiful and majestic.
We didn't eat or drink here so I don't have any comments about those areas. They do give you free waters as a preferred guest and then get discounts on food and drink during your stay.
Well, I stayed here for a solid week with my girlfriend and rest of my family. My girl and I had our own room, on the same floor as the spa and actually about 50 feet away from the spa and we were on the "main" floor or floor that was level to the bar and restaurants. Our room had a private balcony looking at the backside of the water slide.
The water slide is a short and quick ride and nice to try a few times while you are here. Back to the room.....I expected more from a Sheraton. In the corner of our room, inside the closet, it smelled like urine.
Now, I am not a urine specialist....I just know what urine smells like...even if it is not piss. Well, I very kindly and professionally mentioned this to the front desk and they said they would send someone to clean it up with some sort of wet vacuum or chemicals. When we came back from a day of shopping and site seeing, I went straight towards where the smell used to be....and the smell was still there. Only this time all our luggage and clothing had been moved, as to clearly show that someone had been in there.
This time, I went to the front desk again and told a different young lady about the smell of urine in the room. This front desk individual, had the audacity to tell me that the smell could be caused from actual cleaning chemicals they use in the hotel. Okay...again, I am not a specialist in hotels or cleaning chemicals...but if one uses cleaning supplies in hotel chain that smells like urine......they should probably stop doing so and switch to something more pleasant to the nose.
I ended up dowsing the corner of our room with my Sean Jean cologne....at least it smelled like urine and a decent cologne.
It was a good trip, we had a issues but the staff had a very "hands off" attitude and so I had to low my expectations when it came to service. Look for the places that are 5 star hotels if you want real luxury and top service.
Just wrapping up a ten day stay here at the Sheraton. Overall this was a positive experience and certainly one I'd consider doing again. I just wish the dining options were a little better.
The ambiance is a bit lacking, as this place looks like a refurbished mega WWII machine gun bunker. I have never seen so much concrete in one place! But the grounds are well kept, and it's possible to have a nice stroll around the property. Unfortunately that stroll will keep winding you back through the concrete jungle taking away some of the beauty.
Nonetheless, the oceanfront room we paid a little extra for is very nice. A splendid view of the ocean with a comfortable lanai that leaves most of the concrete bunker behind.
The staff here has been amazing. To a person they are friendly, not pushy, and always quickly respond to guest needs. We were especially fond of Sarah who serves food and beverages poolside.
While the staff is great, this Sheraton unfortunately takes a page out of the other Hawaii Sheratons by offering bland food at ridiculous prices.
Just to give an example, the breakfast buffet at the "Kai" restaurant is $20 per person complete with runny eggs and a very limited variety of breakfast food. And the best they can do for coffee is a Kona blend. With so many coffee plantations nearby they couldn't swing for the real stuff?
Still, the Keauhou Bay Sheraton is a great value and in a great location. Just be sure to rent a car and have your meals at some of the tasty and more affordable dining locations around the island.
This place was beautiful...i mean, we are in Kona, so the view was what I had expected. Architecture is really nice and grand when you enter. Our room had a nice view of the water and sunset.... The rooms were decent (but I think for the price, it could be a little bit more updated). Food and alcohol was way tooo overpriced. Pool side drink orders take foooreeeever.....and the drinks are just okay. WE had the chance to compare with the Hilton, and the Hilton, hands down makes this place looks like a 3 star, which is why I gave it a 3 star.
I heard this is one of the best places to stay in Kona. We didn't start out staying here. We were supposed to stay in a hotel at the opposite end of the strip. We had reservations over one month in advance and they had overbooked and sent us to the Sheraton. From there, we never looked back. This hotel has a great book and okay service. The lobby bathrooms are well kept and the pools are well attended to. The views are breathtaking. The kids will enjoy the waterslide and pool.
We had breakfast in the restaurant on the lower level. We recommend the breakfast buffet. It offered a wide selection and attentive service.
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We stayed at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort this past weekend, and completely enjoyed ourselves! The first night, we ate a scrumptious dinner at the hotel restaurant called Kai; we had the poke tower, I had the seafood bouillabaisse, and my boyfriend had fish over garlic mashed potatoes. We completely enjoyed our meal, along with the great service!
For the next three days and nights, we were like little kids playing and swimming in the pool, flying down the gigantic pool slide and mini slide, catching a movie during family movie night, watching the manta rays coming to feed under the hotel flood lights in the evening completely mesmerized, scarfing down the breakfast buffet (loved the miso soup with tofu and green onions the best!), renting "Journey to the Center of the Earth" ($12 - ouch! But the movie was good and quite worth it as we could enjoy it in the comfort of our room instead of paying $30+ at a regular movie theater) attending a recipe contest at the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival in the hotel convention center, tasting the contest entry dishes and desserts, and riding the white cable car-looking shuttle to the Keauhou Shopping Center and down Alii Drive.
The resort is in a great location close to my family in Captain Cook, the Manago Hotel restaurant, the Kona Pacific Coffee Cooperative, Kailua and the airport. The ocean views right there by the hotel are stunning and lovely in themselves! Hopefully, we'll be back soon!
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For the manta ray viewing:
We came to check out what all the fuss was about. The Sheraton turns on bright lights to attract plankton, which in turn attracts the mantas. You can indeed, see mantas from this location, but they are far away. Later, we had the pleasure of doing a manta ray night dive with some locals we met on the trip and it was AMAZING, nothing like just being up in the hotel, sipping your martini, watching whackos illegally jump from the dangerous rocks to swim with the mantas. Yes, we saw a total of 3 fools enter the water from the rocks, and I dare call them fools because they knew nothing about what they were doing. They had boogie boards and clearly did not even know how to swim, and there's nothing like a crashing wave sending you to your death at the rocks. Everyone else at the hotel was watching the 3 idiots rather than watching the 1 lone manta ray playing around. Come at night, obviously, and preferably later, like 10p, because that's when the tour boats leave. The tour boats bring their own giant light, probably distracting the mantas from the Sheraton's lights.
For what we spent for a beachfront Kona hotel (a mere $199 a night), this place was incredibly nice. There were comfy beds, an enormous private lanai, a huge in-room safe, crisp air conditioning, an awesome coffee bar, pool bar, and lounge, an ENORMOUS pool with rivers and streams leading from one area to another to another (complete with a 200-foot water slide, a few smaller slides, basketball hoops and a sand-bottomed wading pool).
This Sheraton had a whole ton of outdoor areas for guests to hang... like a big patio where they showed movies on a theater-sized screen and a "manta viewing deck" (FYI, we saw no mantas from there, though we DID swim with them on this trip).
Nice staff, no complaints. Minus one star because the pool bar and water slide close at 5PM. Are you kidding me? That's when I'm just getting started.
I really enjoyed my week-long stay at this Sheraton. The staff was super friendly and, at every turn, went above and beyond to make our visit more comfortable. Everyone smiles and says hello as you pass in the halls or the lobby, the bartenders at Manta Ray seem to actually care what your reply is to "How are you?" and the room service deliverywoman was insanely chipper for 7am.
The location is great with breathtaking views everywhere you look. I really enjoyed our "partial oceanview" room's balcony with cozy chairs and bistro table. It made for really enjoyable meals in and afternoon cocktails.
Two things could've been much better. First, I really wish our internet access would've worked. Given, I was on vacation and shouldn't be checking email and farting around online, but I had to pay $1.00 to call my banks 800#. Weak. Second, they seeeeeriously need thicker walls between rooms. What's up with vacationing families with kids who wake up at the crack of dawn making all kinds of racket and mothers shouting at them to use indoor voices?! There were two separate and very loud families, often arguing, in our shared-wall neighboring room. BUMMER.
I'll probably stay up on the Kohala Coast if I visit the Big Island again, but I definitely recommend the Sheraton Keauhou Bay!
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We just arrived, I will be updating over the week.
The good so far: Really nice staff. Very helpful. The room is comfortable, and has a fridge. We will see why this is important in a minute.
The bad so far: We are being nickel-and-dimed TO DEATH and we've been here less than 12 hours. Daily charges for parking and wireless, who knows what else? You will.
We ate at the main restaurant last night, Kai. Very expensive, totally mediocre. The lobster bisque was almost inedible. Room service is an insane $14 for a continental breakfast. Hence fridge: hitting a grocery store tomorrow.
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Fridge stocked. I had a massage and manicure at the spa today. The manicure was good, massage was okay. They have massage on the lanai sometimes I think, but mine was in a stuffy little windowless room with a busted cd player. The massage itself was decent. Still, I dropped $200 including tip, and while that's not atypical for a resort, I don't think the quality was quite up to the price point.
$11 per movie on pay per view. Sheesh.
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The concierge was really helpful in booking my husband's scuba trips, and we're enjoying the hot tub in the pool. Nicely designed, great views.
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I have stayed here twice.
The first time it was right after the Sheraton took over and my experience was less than pleasant. Much of the hotel was still having work done.
The second time was much better. We were here for my SO's company sales event. We had some great parties outside including a luau. The luau was lame but most are so I did not judge it just on that. They have a fun slide at the pool. They do not have a beach to go to but much of the Big Island is like this.
It is conveniently located to Kona which I absolutely love the small town Hawaii feel.
We had a nice room with a view (see photo).
I would stay here again for 1 it is a Starwood property and 2 it is close to Kona.
Starwood Category 4
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A 4 for the actual amenities and a 2 for my stay.
This place was just a one night pit stop intended for relaxation purposes before we got into the nitty gritty of hiking and etc. my more adventure inclined bf planned for our stay on the Big Island. I was already fairly exhausted from a packed itinerary on Oahu (again, the bf), and we were hoping Sheraton was the place to help me recuperate.
It started off nice enough. We had room service for dinner and the protabello mushroom appetizer, albeit tiny, was very savory and tasty. My salad was unobjectionable and the bf's sandwich and fries were fine. One point to note, we requested a hard boiled egg on the side and they charged $3. Now, I would understand if they had to boil water and make my egg afresh. But it was cold, clearly been in the refrigerator, and it wasn't even boiled correctly! - meaning the eggshell stuck to the eggwhite when I peeled it myself. $3 for a refrigerated day-old egg? Is this an airport? Nitpicky objections aside though, the actual evening was fine and our oceanfront room was nice - although the bathroom was a bit - motelish?
Next morning, here's where I become a bit fiendish. I can't quite decide when I became a parenting critic but it was probably sometime during this vacation. When did parents become so childcentric and bessoted with their darling babies that they failed to perceive that other adults exist who are not quite so enamored with the frantic screeching of their children? I woke up at 8am to the loud cries of children running up and down the outside corridor. Being not a complete monster, as I understand that children usually make some noise when they go from place to place, I tried to be patient and wait for them to get to their destination. 2 hours later, with even an attempt to try to talk to their parents, I gave up my pretense of understanding. If you find your children too noisy to keep in your own hotel room, WHY do you think it's okay to let them run around in the hallway to the discomfort of other guests?!! There's TONS of places downstairs for the kids to play and it's just plain selfish on the part of these parents to have their kids outside their rooms while they got ready for their day. Long story short, hotel security came up around 10amish just as the family finally made their way down to the pool. Our restful morning? Shot to bits.
Moral of my story. Be careful if you plan your stay here to be restful unless your internal clock coincides with that of young children. There seem to be lots of young families here.
I am now staying at this resort and nothing to boast about. Well, the one up side would be a nice gym with new machines and FREE for resort peep's.
This Sheraton was bought by Sheraton 3 yrs ago and totally needs to up-graded big time. I was told yesterday it was. SHOCK to me! If only I could post up my photos of my room. I feel like I am living in 1981 :-(
Ps . my room is the handicap room *big in size and I feel guilt for staying in this room*. This is my points up-grade room. Nice view of the ocean, but I have a funny feeling this hotel does not have big nice rooms for up-grades.
Self parking is $8.00 and Valet is $14. Since this is off season self parking has been easy. Have not had any food in this hotel. Not so yummy looking. Passed on the spa and went into town for spa treatments..
Over all: If you have kids or are on a budget...this is paradise! If you are looking for true resort comfort...PASS on this place and find another or a condo!
One of the worst Sheraton's I've ever stayed at!!!!
ALOHA
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Stayed here for 5 nights. The amenities of the hotel are pretty nice. A big pool with a big slide and an area set aside at night for the Manta Ray Viewings. We pretty much noticed the manta rays swimming out there each night. The problems with this hotel would include its far location from kona and the $9+tax daily parking. I dreaded that walk from the self-park lot back to the hotel every night because on several occasions i was unfortunate enough to run across huge cockroaches. What also brought the rating down for me was the location of our room. We were located right by the slide and the waterfall that goes into the pool. So everyday around 8 in the morning, the waterfall would start and wake us up. Soon after that, you can hear the little kids running around in the pool area due to our close proximity. The conceirge was not too helpful for us either because when we asked him about the Waipio Valley Wagon Tour, he had no idea what it was and never even heard of it. three stars is actually too high.... if i could, i'd really give it 2.5
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