Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

We had a great family session with Cynthia! From the very beginning, she made us feel completely at ease, which is no small feat when you’re wrangling a toddler. She was incredibly patient, flexible, and genuinely warm, taking the time to connect with everyone including our little one instead of rushing through the session. What really stood out was their ability to capture natural, candid moments. Nothing felt forced or overly posed, and somehow she managed to bring out everyone’s personality—especially our toddler’s. The final photos were absolutely beautiful—bright, emotional, and full of life. You can tell there’s a real talent not just for photography, but for working with families. These are the kinds of images we’ll treasure for years. Highly recommend to any family, especially those with young children. It was truly a stress-free and enjoyable experience from start to finish.

We had a fantastic time at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. We have been there many times before and we were excited to see all of the renovations which were finally completed. Mauna Kea did an amazing job of renovating the hotel while keeping it's old historical charm. The many changes blended in seamlessly into the classic Mauna Kea style. We felt the staff was invigorated and were even more focused on making our experience the best possible. The beach remains one of the best on the island. The dining experience was great starting with a breakfast buffet and ending with a delicious dinner. We had an ocean facing room and watched the sunset very night. The rooms were spacious and had all of the amenities you would need.

This has to be one of the most overpriced hotels I have seen in quite some time. When you walk in, it looks like you're at a hotel in Thailand with gold statues and an abundance of outdated non-Hawaiian themed decor. While the beach is nice, the lounge chair situation is horrible. One day, we were fortunate enough to find two empty lounge chairs so we put our items down only to be confronted by a resort employee saying he was saving these for another family. I asked if I was correct in that the rules for the beach loungers are first come first served. He said yes that's correct but he was reserving these for someone else. I told him but you just said there were no reservations allowed. His only defense was he had just found these two chairs and was just going back to tell the family. Totally confrontational and ridiculous as we ended up sitting nearby and no one came to those chairs for 3 hours!!!! The beach restaurant was a joke. Had a 45 min wait at 11:30 am (whatever) but it took us over 90 minutes to order and just get our food! Who wants to dedicate that much time for a burger and fries lunch in the middle of the day? At the more formal Copper Bar for dinner, we saw multiple cockroaches on the floor of what is considered an upscale restaurant. While I recognize this is Hawaii and an outdoor restaurant, there is no way this is ok for a restaurant. Bottom line, stay at the Westin down the coast. They don't try to be as swanky as this place so you get better value. This place just seemed soooo dated (except for the gym which is superb). I wouldn't pay more than $300/night to stay here. It has to be the most overpriced hotel I have seen in a long time. You come here for luxury and there is very very little (if any) of that. Even the valet service was horrible. Valet began driving away with my car before I realized he hadn't even given me a claim ticket. Just not good service, overpriced and not where you should be spending your money.

While the valet and restaurant staff are absolutely outstanding, the rooms remain very overpriced for what they are even with some updating. However, it is all about supply and demand this time of year, people will gladly pay double almost triple normal prices to get out of the cold and into the warm, parking will be valet only, and that is so overcrowded cars are parked all over the lawn. While you will be told the grounds are for guests and members only you’ll find out it is very overcrowded due to the guests of the members and the guests of the Residence. Be prepared for lines and rude guests who think they are the only ones at the hotel. The nice thing is if you forget something, they have enough variety in their on-site stores that you don’t have to drive 30+ miles back to town to get something. One of the best things at the hotel is the seaside staff do not allow towels to hold chairs if they see towels and no personal belongings, they remove the towels. This does allow for those who want to enjoy a chair & an umbrella to be able to and I do give three cheers for this! Had a rather odd exchange with the on-site jeweler as I walked up and said hello still standing outside, sounded to me as if he said something to the effect of don’t waste his time. I’m a bit hard of hearing but that don’t waste -My time- was very clear and you can be sure I will not waste his time. The few jewelers that remain downtown are very happy to have your business and with the storm damage it means a lot to do business with them.

Here’s a clean, paste‑ready follow‑up review with restrained sarcasm and a consistent 1‑star tone, written as if it stands on its own but clearly follows your original post: Follow‑Up Review Unfortunately, our experience managed to get even worse on day two. Our morning began shortly after 7:00 AM with the unmistakable sound of power tools and active construction — less than 50 yards from our room. Nothing says “relaxing vacation” quite like being jolted awake by industrial noise. I ultimately decided to lean into it and get up early on my vacation, since sleep clearly wasn’t on the agenda. We went downstairs for the coffee service, which is advertised as running until 8:00 AM. At approximately 7:45 AM, we found a young staff member actively removing the coffee station. When I politely asked if I could please have a cup of coffee, she appeared visibly annoyed and put out that she had to put the coffee back out. Every step of the interaction felt inconvenient to her, as though providing basic service was an unreasonable request. Between the early‑morning construction noise and consistently poor, indifferent service, it has become clear that guest experience is simply not a priority here. The lack of care, urgency, or accountability from staff has been striking. This follow‑up is sadly consistent with our first review — the service remains terrible, and the overall experience continues to disappoint.