The Kahala Hotel & Resort

This is the most beautiful resort on the island! The rooms, the hotel, spa, the service, restaurant, food, everything was fabulous! All of the staff were fantastic! They provided excellent service and went above and beyond! The rooms were super clean and housekeeping did an amazing job! The service at the restaurants were top notch! Our son loved the dolphin experience! We had a great time on the sailboat ride! The spa and massage was perfect! The pool is a little smaller than most resorts this size, but we enjoyed the sandy beach and comfortable lounge chairs. The overall experience was absolutely amazing! We hope to go back again soon!

After only being here for one day I can report that I made the right choice in this hotel. There are so many choices in this area and I researched them all. This hotel has met all my requirements for the perfect family vacation spot: Beyond beautiful beach and scenery throughout hotel and grounds. Swimmable beach just steps away from our room, calm enough for blow ups for kids and it even has a floating platform for the older kids to venture out to. Really large beautiful rooms with enormous bathrooms (his and her side each with a closet, stand alone shower, separate tub, and potty room). Large deck off room with comfy chairs for watching the dolphins (we had 2 dolphin lanai rooms for our family with 2 adults and 4 kids). Calm and peaceful oasis. It does not feel crowded at all. It is everything you dream about when you think of Hawaii. Excellent concierge team. Communicated easily and often before arrival. They secured an all day ocean cabana ($165/day) and a private tour of Pearl Harbor for my son and husband. And of course all the activities we planned: shark cage diving for my teenagers (snorkel gear used and less expensive and easier than you would think, THANKS A LOT SHARK WEEK), dolphin swimming, Pearl Harbor tour, etc. how are we going to fit in Hanauma Bay snorkeling, hiking Diamond Head (both near Hotel), shopping in Waikiki, Chinatown food tour, haunted Honolulu tour my teen wanted, spa, Dole plantation, etc? Clearly, I should have planned much more time at this oasis in this really fun island. All my kids are asking why we have to leave after 2 days to go to Maui! Not sure about why there would be negative reviews. It is not sparkling new, but very classic and well maintained. And those fancy toilets were the cause of hours of giggling by my 7 year old daughter who is now the expert at all the functions. Only regret is not staying for a week or at the very least 5 days here. Final tip: booked our stay through Costco travel website. Better prices than any web deal or travel agent I spoke with, and it included a free car as well as free hotel valet parking. Think I saved about $800 at this hotel and about $1500 at our hotel in Maui.

The last leg of our 2 week Hawaiian Island trip was staying at the Kahala. We wanted to get away from the Waikiki buzz and selected this hotel to be at the beach and not too far away from Honololu. The architecture is beautiful, with an open air lobby, stylish and well decorated, indeed it has 2 big buildings with 10 levels and some lower level rooms around the dolphin laguna or at the beach front. The reception was efficient but not overly friendly. We were staying at an Ocean Front Lanai room (8th fl), spacious, nicely decorated but with wall to wall carpet that should not be there in a tropical environment (why not wooden floors for a 5 star hotel: healthier and more style). Must admit the bathroom, however not the latest design, was big and efficient for 2 people. The room had a great view on the ocean with a nicely spaced balcony. The breakfast area had an inside an luckilly also an outside terrace which was the area for evening dinners (Plumeria) aswell. The hotel was at full capacity so you had to wait for breakfast, but the way the breakfast buffet was organized did remember me of some 3 star level hotels where masses of people where looking for food, absolutely not the level of a top hotel (the teams however did their very best to serve you well !). The absolute disaster and reason for rating this hotel only with 3 stars was the beach service or rather the lack of organizing a clean well kept beach: in the early morning you would find beach chairs all over the place with sand and old towels still on from the day before. If you want some shade at the beach you will have to pay which is unforgivable at this resort price level, I would suggest for management to take a trip to Asia or beach clubs in Europe and copy the beach service. So all in all what a shame as the hotel has really potential, the staff are trying their upmost, it has maybe the best location in Oahu but is falling short on a number of important elements justifying its 5 star rating.

This resort is perfect for a peaceful and restoring holiday. It is located 20 minutes outside the crowded Waikiki Beach, but it is easily reachable by free shuttle, the shuttle can also connect with main malls and shopping areas. The hotel is beautiful, mixing lux, Hawaiian tradition and comfort, Rooms are spacious, smart, comfortable, cleaned twice a day with add of ice, water , chocolate every time. Swimming pool and beaches are into the resort, very clean and peaceful, there are also dolphins, fishes and tortues all around. Wifi is working perfectly everywhere , there is a fitness room and yoga class in front of the beach. Three restaurants, Plumeria on the beach, Arancino very good italian and a third very high level one. All people working there show you the real aloha spirit, they are very helpful, kind, full of courtesy for customers. Ok, it is quite expensive but it completely worthy and I suppose in line with Honolulu prices.

Fifteen-plus years ago, Honolulu was our home and the birthplace of our children. We visit the isles (now as tourists) every couple of years. For most of our trips, we have stayed at the Kahala Resort. The hotel is an oasis of calm amidst the growingly hectic nature of Oahu. Over the years, some resort features have thankfully remained the same: elegant and quiet lobby, complimentary morning coffee (in addition to free coffee in the rooms), impeccable service, and long-time, friendly workers at Plumeria Beach café, not to mention the breathtaking beach with gentle waves. A wonderful feature new to us: Pacific Dream Photography offers complimentary photo sessions for guests. We didn't want a "cheesy" photo shoot and certainly didn't want to be pressured into buying anything. So, it took us a few days to think about booking a session. I am so glad we did. Loryn, the Creative Director, was immediately responsive to our inquiries and flexible when we experienced a little rain during our scheduled time. The photo shoot was fun and easy and the images were available for viewing the next day. There was no obligation to purchase anything, but after viewing the frames, we WANTED to do so. Loryn was able to capture our children so beautifully -- every, single frame was a masterpiece. Some frames were better with a touch of editing and Loryn was easily able to take care of it to my liking. This is the first time we have professional images from our Hawaii vacay and they are tasteful and artsy. Really added to our overall Kahala experience!