Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

My husband has been visiting this hotel for over 30 years, and we’ve been coming annually since 2012. We absolutely adore this property, the location, and everyone who works at the resort. We skipped 2024 due to the construction and renovation of the main tower rooms. We just arrived on 5/15/2025 and plan to stay through 5/25/2025. We were excited to see the room renovations—we usually stay in a premium ocean view room. The new interior updates are very nice except for one major issue: the bathroom. The shower’s mosaic floor tile, white tile back wall and the horribly old drain cover remain unchanged, and unfortunately, they’re still filled with mildew and grime. I don’t know about you, but when I feel the need to wear flip-flops in an upscale hotel shower, that’s a serious red flag! Why, oh why, was the shower not upgraded? This is such an important space. I work in high-end real estate, and it’s common sense that a primary space like the bathroom must be immaculate—especially after a major renovation. Additionally, the walk-in closet flooring has stains all over it. Why isn’t maintenance handling these issues. PLEASE- PLEASE MAUNA KEA - WE LOVE YOU BUT YOU MEED TO STEP UP THE LEVEL OF QUALITY. It the least you can do for those patrons who love to visit.

This review is specifically for our experience with pacific dream photography. My family and I did a family photo shoot and a Luau photo shoot with the pacific dream photography team member April, and I wanted to give her a big hug, she was amazing!! April was so incredibly patient and kind throughout the inevitable child shenanigans and stressors during the shoots. Would absolutely book a session with her again. Thank you. April!

My family just came back from staying at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. We had a fabulous time. It is a very special place. The views are breathtaking, the beach is gorgeous and management and staff do an amazing job making us feel relaxed and at home. Special thanks to Emmy and Greg who were so kind and friendly and made our stay so memorable. We have stayed at the Mauna Kea before and we will be returning. Forget about Disneyland...Mauna Kea Beach Hotel is the happiest place on earth!!

We had the best stay we’ve ever had at a hotel at the Mauna Kea. Emmy was great at check-in with a big smile and was incredibly helpful in making this an incredible stay for our 51st wedding anniversary. Doug and Ledia were just as helpful when Emmy wasn’t there in making our stay incredibly special. everybody else on staff was also wonderful, friendly, and kind. The hotel is finishing up a remodel and it’s terrific. The beach is fabulous and the facilities are in great condition. We can’t say enough good things about the hotel and everybody that we had the opportunity to meet. Housekeeping and maintenance were on top of everything as well and we’re very friendly.

Overall, this was a very nice and relaxing stay. I would definitely stay here again with hopes that a few changes will be made once the construction is completed. THE POSITIVES: THE LOCATION: The beach here is really one of a kind. It is a beautiful setting; the water is stunning, and the bay is sandy – no rocks or coral to deal with. The water is perfect for all ages as it is a shallow bay to start, and one needs to walk a bit to get into deeper water. The staff: Everyone at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel that we interacted with was very nice, helpful, and welcoming. THE ROOM: Our room was an ocean front room in the main tower (the beach front rooms were undergoing renovations). This was a very nice room and the view from the lanai was amazing. Reusable water bottles: They give you a reusable stainless steel water bottle to use while here and to take with you when you leave. There are water filling stations in each of the rooms as well as around the resort. This is a fantastic way to reduce single use plastic bottles and protect the environment. Having the water filling station in the room is very convenient. THE CONSTRUCTION: We were a bit unsure of what to expect booking here during the construction, but it really didn’t impact us at all. We are not “pool” people but if you are, you should wait until the construction is completed as there isn’t a pool during the construction. We were told that the construction will be ongoing until sometime in October 2025. PICKLE BALL COURTS: There are 8 courts that are specific for pickle ball. This is a nice change from trying to play on tennis courts and adjusting the size for pickle ball. It is $25 per person per hour. However, if no one shows up to play the next hour, you may play on. AREAS WHERE THERE IS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: THE BEACH SHACK: I am hoping that this will improve after the renovation is completed. We booked the complimentary canoe paddle and was told to check back at 7 am the next morning to see if it was running. An improvement would be to have them call the hotel guest to either confirm or cancel the paddle. I realize that this is weather dependent and won’t go out with high wind but them letting us know via a call would be much better than getting up and heading down to the beach shack to find out it was cancelled. On the positive side, we had no problem getting beach chairs anytime we went down to the beach. I think this was due to the fact that the hotel was not at capacity. THE FOOD: The food here is not what I would expect of a resort of this caliper. The hotel really needs to up its food game. Breakfast was decent. They have all of the things you would expect, an omelet station, fresh fruit, pastries, etc. As a Titanium member for life on Marriott, I was able to get the buffet included. For dinner our first night we ate at the Copper Bar, and I ordered grilled fish on my salad. The fish was raw and when I mentioned it to the server, she said yes it was “pan seared”. This was not ahi, and my expectation was that it would be cooked. She didn’t offer to have it cooked or to get me anything else. Needless to say, I did not eat it. My dinner and the server’s response were disappointing to say the least. The next day, we ate lunch at the Hau Tree (their outdoor bar) and I ordered a beet salad. This was possibly the worst beet salad I have ever had. It had a few pieces of arugula, and the beets were overcooked to the point of being dehydrated. We did not even try Manta Ray for dinner after these two experiences but ate outside of the resort each evening we were here. So, the opportunities exist to really improve the food offerings to align with what one would expect from a resort of this caliper. The beach bar could use some appetizers such as wings, potato skins, fried calamari, hummus and veggies, etc. And the opportunity to improve dining at the Copper Bar, offer fresh grilled fish and a salad these items are not hard to make. I am really hoping that positive changes will be made to your food lineup once the construction is completed. THE DRINKS: The Hau bar drink game was pretty weak. If I wanted a spicy margarita, I had one choice, and it was going with a no name tequila that had been infused with jalapeño and cilantro. I would personally have liked to have had a specific tequila for this drink as well as have had some fresh jalapeños. The lady next to me at the bar ordered a mojito and it didn’t have any mint in it. How is that a mojito? I think it is fine if you just want a beer or low-end wine but that isn’t what I would have expected from this resort.