Hapuna Beach Prince Resort – Hotel Review - Big Island Hawaii
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Best Hawaii Travel Book and Guide
We cannot more highly recommend the book Hawaii - The Big Island Revealed. The authors have a book for each island, and these are the only books we take with us when we visit.
They go into an incredible amount of detail, for example discussing their experiences with just about every single scuba tour on the island. It is only around $11 at Amazon, and it has tons and tons of good reviews.
This Hapuna Beach Prince Resort review details my wife’s and my experiences and includes some of our pictures. The Hapuna Beach Prince Resort is located in the Kohala Coast region on the Big Island of Hawaii. Read on for our review of the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort.
- Intro
- Hapuna Beach Prince Resort
- First Impressions – Hapuna Beach Prince Resort
- Hotel Comparisons
- Cost-cutting Tip – Dining
- Conclusion – Hapuna Beach Prince Resort
- Best Hawaii Travel Book and Guide
On our honeymoon we drove to Hapuna Beach from Kailua Kona because we heard what a great beach it was, and we liked the beach so much that on our next visit to the Big Island we decided to stay right there at the resort located on the north end of Hapuna Beach.
At the bottom of this article are links to our other Big Island and Hawaii articles and reviews; there will be more coming. Our article on the different hotel regions of the Big Island might be good starting point if you just started researching the island.
 | This is the absolute best travel book for the Big Island. It is the only book we take when we go back. Amazon Price: $10.50 List Price: $16.95 |
Hapuna Beach Prince Resort
The Hapuna Beach resort is located on the Kohala Coast in the area north of the airport. This region of the Big Island is flush with luxury resorts, and it may be difficult to decide between them.
The key reason we decided to stay at this resort is the beach. Hapuna beach is one of the best beaches in the world. The resort itself is definitely luxurious, and we rank it as the probably the best hotel we ever stayed in.
First Impressions
As soon as you walk into the lobby you realize you are in a top class resort. The lobby and associated areas are composed of several floors, none of which have a back wall. They are all open to allow the best views to the ocean and the tropical grounds of the resort.
You are greeted with a cold, fruity drink at check-in, and in the matter of moments of walking in the door you have a tropical drink in hand and are admiring the incredible views.
Hotel Comparisons
The Hapuna Beach Prince Resort has all the amenities one would expect from luxury resort, including a golf course, fine dining, spa treatments, and awesome, friendly customer service. We even had a phone in the bathroom.
It was not too full when we were there, and I would describe the overall feel of the resort as “zen-like”. The design of the main building and grounds provided many spots to meditate or just hang out and chill.
One thing that we do not remember seeing that some of the other Kohala resorts advertise were boat trips leaving the grounds for sight-seeing or scuba, nor do we remember there being much in watercraft rentals there on the grounds. It did however, have a little lagoon next to the beach that made a good spot to snorkel.
The main drawbacks to the this hotel are shared by most of the Kohala Coast resorts. They are pricey, and you have to drive a ways to do anything off-resort as the Kohala resorts tend to be self-contained little communities twenty to forty minutes or so out of town.
One advantage the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort and the Mauna Kea Prince Resort have is that they have a shuttle between the two so that they can share restaurants and other amenities, so there are more options without having to drive yourself.
Cost-cutting Tip - Dining
There are also a few things you can do to keep costs down a little. While there are several restaurant choices, especially when you consider the shuttle to Mauna Kea, one option to consider is room service.
There were several moderately priced entrees on the room service menu, and we had a candle light dinner on our lanai (balconey) over looking the ocean. We got the wine and beer earlier at the gift shop where it was priced lower than anyplace else at the resort.
We saw many room service carts while we were there, so apparently this was a popular practice at this hotel.
Links
Our other articles so far:
- Big Island Hotel and Resorts - Which Area to Stay?
- Hotel Review - Royal Kona Resort - Big Island Hawaii
-
Place of Refuge - Pu’uhonua o Honaunau – Big Island Attractions
Other Links:
- Compare Rates at Major Travel Sites
- Hapuna Beach Prince Resort - Official Site
- Go Hawaii - Official Tourist Site
- Trip Adviser Reviews
- Yahoo Travel Reviews
- Hawaii Island Vacation Information and Reviews (links to all of our reviews)
Conclusion
The Hapuna Beach Prince Resort is an awesome hotel with an awesome beach. The problem in choosing is that most of the resorts in Kohala are just as awesome, though the Hapuna Prince Beach Resort edges out most in terms of beach.Much of the decision will come down to personal taste and what is important. If the beach is the number one priority, you cannot go wrong at the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort.
(All photos in this article are my own and are protected by copyright as is the text.)
sy 2 years ago
We stayed at this hotel at the end of our honeymoon just a few weeks ago. I definitely do not agree with it's high rating. The perks are that it's on the beach - a really nice beach and the waves are generally calm. So it's advantageous to stay there if you want to lounge around on the beach and not have to drive to one. The other thing is the pool is really pretty and looks out on the beach. Other than that, they really shouldn't call themselves a "resort." It's not a resort except that it has a spa. The rooms are outdated, they charge you for every little thing, like parking ($15/day, $20/day for valet) and even to "deliver" spoons or bowls to your room(empty ones - no food in them!) from room service. You have to unstack and move your own chair at the beach.
They don't have lei's for you when you arrive, which is just another way they are cheap with service.
They just don't go above and beyond for you the way a resort should.
When we arrived, I was disappointed w/ the room. The furniture is out dated and there were stains on the floor and furniture and soap scum on the shower door and tub. Also, found hairs in the sink and in my bed (not mine). Gross! I went to complain and they were very rude. They let me remain unhappy about my room until I finally spoke with the hotel manager who changed our room for us.
Is it me or shouldn't a hotel go out of their way to make sure you're happy? I wasn't asking for much - just a clean room. Skip it and stay someplace else if you're looking to be treated well. If you're just looking for a room by the beach, it'll do.