Royal Kona Resort – Hotel Review - Big Island Hawaii

This Royal Kona Resort review and our included pictures detail my wife’s and my experiences. The Royal Kona Resort is located in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. Continue reading to see our review of the Royal Kona Resort

• Big Island Tourist Lodging Areas
• Royal Kona Resort
• Royal Kona Resort Versus Other Kailua Kona Hotels
• Where to Find a Beach near the Royal Kona Resort
• Conclusion
  

We stayed at this hotel as part of our Hawaii honeymoon, and then we later visited for vacation again; this review is a composite of those experiences on the Big Island.

Also, at the bottom of this article are links to our hotel reviews and other experiences in Hawaii that might be of interest (more are on the way as well). Our article on the different hotel regions on the Big Island may be a good place to start if you have just began exploring your options for the Big Island.

There are three main areas where tourists often seek lodging on the Big Island. The thing to keep in mind is that is that there are reasons why people stay in these different zones, and the hotels might not compare from one region to another. The main tourist hotels areas are:

• Kailua-Kona – the main town area on the west side of the island. Sometimes also referred to as Kailua Kona, Kailua, or even just Kona.
• Kohala Coast - the area with the top luxury resorts and some incredible beaches
• Volcano – the main attraction on the island is worth an overnight stay

We personally think this resort is one of the best options in Kailua-Kona, though one will see some negative reviews that often result from unrealistic expectations.

If you want to vacation at a 4-star luxury beach resort, you are just not going to find it in Kailua Kona and may have unrealistic expectations about this resort and other hotels in the same area. The Kailua Kona hotels are generally 3-star at best, and there are very few sandy beaches.

The ideal itinerary for a visit to the Big Island involves overnight stays at each of the tourist areas listed above. The main reasons people usually spend at least one night in Kailua-Kona include:

• It has a good tourist strip with many different restaurants, bars, shops, and other entertainment all in easy walking distance from the hotels.
• The hotels (and the town) are more affordable and budget-minded, and provide a good base of operations for doing other activities and exploring the island.
• To experience a better feel for the island instead of being cooped-up in a self-contained resort.

The Royal Kona Resort fits the bill well very for each of these. A room averages about $100 per night, and there are bars and restaurants next door and across the street. The entire main strip in Kailua Kona can be walked end-to-end in about 15-20 minutes or so if you don’t stop.

There are several factors that led us to pick this resort over other Kailua Kona hotels. Among these are:

• It is on the waterfront
• It has a resort design even if it is not a modern luxury resort - oceanfront pool, ocean front bar, tropical grounds, etc…
• It has it own luau on the grounds several times a week
• There are several restaurant bars next door and across the street
  

The only other Kona hotels we really considered inside Kailua-Kona was the King Kamehameha, but for us the edge went to the Royal Kona.

Remember though, while this hotel is on the waterfront, it does not have a sandy beach. The “beach” front is all lava rocks, and swimming would not be safe. There are quite a few locations on the grounds where you can hang out very close to the waves crashing on the rocks, which can be very relaxing. There is an area know as the “boom deck” where you can sit next to some particularly big wave crashes.

The advantage to to staying here is that it does still have a resort mindset even if it is low budget and a little out-dated, and the grounds and amenities make you feel like you are on vacation and not just staying in an economy hotel (this hotel was a top resort in the ‘70s, but it just doesn’t compare to the modern luxury resorts in Kohala even though the rooms have been refurbished.)

We spent a couple of hours relaxing one day having a waitress bring us “Lava Flows” near the open-air bar as waves crashed against rocks right in front of us, and I am not sure that experience could be repeated at any of the other Kona hotels.

Like I said there is not really many sandy beaches in Kailua-Kona, and if you don’t plan on also spending some time at one of the Kohala Coast resorts as part of your stay, you can always drive to one of the same beaches.

Hapuna Beach is one of the best beaches in the world; it has an awesome resort on the north end, but the south end is an open access county park.

The first time we went to Hawaii we stayed in Kona the whole time we were on the Big Island so that we could afford a nicer room in Maui, and for a beach experience we drove to Hapuna Beach.

We loved it so much, that on our next vacation to the Big Island we allocated a few days to that resort on the north end of Hapuna Beach - the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort.

Our other articles so far:

• Big Island Hotel and Resorts - Which Area to Stay?
• Hotel Review - Hapuna Beach Prince Resort - Big Island Hawaii
• Place of Refuge - Pu’uhonua o Honaunau – Big Island Attractions

Other links:

• Compare Rates from Different Travel Sites
  
• Royal Kona Resort - Official Site
• Go Hawaii - Official Tourism Site
• Trip Advisor Reviews
• Yahoo Travel Reviews
• Hawaii Island Vacation Information and Reviews (links to all of our reviews)

Conclusion

The Royal Kona Resort is one of the best options among Kailua Kona hotels for a good, affordable base of operations while you do other activities and still able to provide a taste of resort living on a budget in between those other activities. We liked it so much we chose the Royal Kona Resort as our place in Kailua Kona on our next visit as well, though we also included overnight stays at a Kohala coast resort (the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort) and at the volcano. We really like the Royal Kona Resort and think it is an important part of a visit to the Big Island.

(All photos in this article are my own and are protected by copyright as is the text.)