Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

I’ve always loved the beach at the Mauna Kea but never stayed before this 9-day trip in late July 2026, shortly after the hotel’s major renovation. It was excellent. The rooms were comfortable and thoughtfully appointed. The restaurants were all good, including the breakfast buffet and high-end dinner option at Manta, and the great casual Mexican options at Hua Tree (try the Ono fish tacos). The new fitness center overlooks the ocean and is gorgeous, and the adult-only infinity pool there is nice as well. The same goes for the new spa, where the treatments were great. Snorkeling at either end of the beach is good, and it’s also cool to see manta rays at night from the shore. There’s also a cool hiking trail that takes you to the sister property at Hapuna beach. The hotel itself is a cool example of mid-century architecture, and the renovation embraces that vibe. I also appreciated how—unlike a lot of resorts—there was not music pumping at all the restaurants and comment spaces. It made the whole experience more peaceful and relaxing. Highly recommended.

This was our third time at this resort, and we absolutely love it here. The beach is fantastic and we are glad to see that beach equipment is now included with a stay here. The employees are extremely friendly and hospitable. We also took advantage of the complimentary photo session with Pacific Dream Photography and the images turned out great! We are already looking forward to our next visit.

We booked a beautiful stay at the residences to celebrate a 70th birthday. We had the pleasure of working with Cynthia Buckles for a family photo shoot. Her photos are amazing and we had a hard time narrowing it down. Cynthia is wonderful to work with from the pre planning through the actual photo selection. I would highly recommend getting photos taken here.

Let me start by saying " I love Mauna Kea Hotel", but the changes in food and beverage service since my last visit were disappointing. For a high end hotel the quality did not come close to meeting expectations. One of my fondest memories was sitting on the beach drinking a delicious Pina Colada, well not any more. The drink was so bad I threw part of it in the garbage. Then I tried their "signature" drink and it was just as bad, I didn't bother finishing it. We ate at all three restaurants, and the lowest end dining option was actually the best value and quality for the price. The dinner at Manta was uninspired, had no daily special to offer, portions were small so add ons were recommended and prices were expensive for what was offered. The Copper Bar was okay, but mainly because the daily special was steak and lobster. The highlight of the buffet breakfast was the omelette bar but with only one person at the station the line tended to be long and the filling options were very basic. When we visit again, we will eat at the Manta for breakfast, but will plan to go off site for dinner even though it is much less convenient.

Cynthia did an excellent job! Love how she caught details to make our pictures come out best.