Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii

We recently stayed at The Fairmont Orchid for a graduation celebration for my son. We had been planning to go for years and this celebration gave us a great reason. We stayed in Fairmont Gold and from the minute we arrived to our departure, the accommodations and service were wonderful in every way. Thank you to Joey who helped us make our reservations and for the beautiful room. Josiah, our valet helped us into the hotel and escorted us to the Gold level. He was polite and professional. He was a great first experience. We met Juliana, our concierge and she welcomed us and helped get us acclimated with all the resort amminties. She signed us up for several complimentary activities at the hotel such as learning about the endangered sea turtles, a walk around the property learning about the food grown on property as well as native plants, bracelet making, heart shaped baskets making, and snorkeling. She later helped us with massage appointments. While we were visiting, we received some very sad news from back home and Juliana, Shawn, and Sam, went out of their way to make our visit comfortable and a little less sad. Our housekeeper Aida was so sweet and joyful every time we saw her and remembered our names. In fact, everyone remembered our names which made the trip even more special. Elijah and the staff at the Beach Shack were great answering our questions and giving us what we needed for each activity. The pool was beautiful and not crowded. The beach was beautiful throughout the day. Snorkeling is best first thing in the morning so the water is clear and there are fewer people. We had dinner at Brown's Beach House one night. The food was delicious and Chelsi our waitperson was prompt, friendly, and provided excellent service. We also dined at the Orchid Court for breakfast each morning and it was pleasant and yummy. Sherry and Susan stood out as friendly with great service. Mary at the Fairmont Store was very friendly and knowledgeable about the products as well as island information. Lastly, our two massage therapist, Julie and Ekela, were exceptional. Instead of waiting with luggage, at check out, for your late flight, schedule that massage. It set us up go success getting to the airport more relaxed. We will absolutely travel to the Big Island again! It is our favorite island! We rented a car and drove all over the island seeing as much as we could. We fell in love with the island and with the Fairmont Orchid and their exceptional staff! Thank you! See you soon, Karen

The hotel grounds are stunning but the best part of this visit was the available guest experiences. We did the Turtle Talk and Cultural Walk with Elijah (sp?) and cannot recommend it highly enough. He was absolutely amazing. My wife also did the hula lesson and had a wonderful experience with her instructor. The food quality is sub-par for the price you are paying, but the scenery helps make up for it.

I went on a mother daughter trip to the Fairmont and we had a wonderful time. We had an issue with our room (technical / air conditioning) the night manager Rose was absolutely amazing, she took care of the issue for us and checked in with us the next day to make sure everything was ok, which it was. Samson, one of the rec organizers at the beach and pool was great. He told us about things we could do, answered all our questions and checked in on us during our stay. The shuttle drivers were great and were always available to give us a lift. The staff by far went above and beyond to make our stay extra special. The only things we felt could use some improvement was the food, it really was not great. We ended up going off site for most of our meals. The resort also needs some TLC in regard to wear and tear. There were torn lounge cushions, a couple of our pillow cases had holes, no deal breakers as we would definitely go back.

Fairmont Orchid is over priced and in serious need of updating. Last visit was 2013 and not much has changed. The rooms are shabby. The pool cushions are disgusting and the food was overpriced. $65 buffet breakfast and $300 dinner for two and you have to grab a burger afterwards because portion size was so small.

This resort far exceeded my expectations! And I’m so sad we did not book a longer stay. Rooms were clean and our view from building 2 was stunning!! Service and food were both fantastic. Our favorite part was snorkeling right in front of the resort. Would definitely recommend and we will be back to stay again.