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| Tram at the Hotel Lobby |
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| One of the boats ferrying the guests at Waikoloa |
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| Beautiful but cold pool at Waikoloa |
I don’t recommend island hopping but we had to hop. Our cheap flight back to the Bay Area left from the Big Island. I did try to find a flight that would get us back to the Big Island from Kauai in time to catch the flight back to the mainland but wasn’t successful. I should have tried connecting through Oahu…well the point is we had to spend two more nights back at the Big Island; two instead of one because one night would mean just sleeping and packing up.
Thinking I would try a different hotel and thus a different experience, I booked two nights at the Hilton Waikoloa through Expedia. It was inexpensive, which was a bonus. It also looked like a crazy place so I thought the kids would get a kick out of it.
The Hilton is a crazy place so I was right on that count. Get this…as you walk into the hotel lobby, there is a tram ‘station’ and a dock for a boat!!! The hotel is so big you could use a ride. As I suspected, the girls loved the hotel transportation. We didn’t really need to ride either the boat or the tram to get to our room (luckily ours was not in the hinterland) but we did…I mean why not? The boat is actually a good looking one. The tram is very modern looking. I was told the tram cost $4M!
The room was a little musty smelling and we had a view of the roofs but also of Mauna Loa. We were also close to the pool, important when you have young kids. I had prepared the rest of the family…the room probably wasn’t going to be great (which it wasn’t) but for the price and two nights stay, we were not going to complain.
We were all excited to explore the hotel so the next morning, we set out for the hotel grounds. First of all, it’s unclear what this hotel is trying to be…to me it could be Disneyland or Vegas. It didn’t matter…either way it doesn’t feel relaxing, it feels very commercial and it is just over the top. The Hilton has animals behind glass on the way to the pool…ne ne birds, the Hawaiian state bird, turtles and flamingos! Why?? What is the point?
As the pool comes into view, we see a hanging rope bridge which looks pretty cool over the pool. There is also a slide which got the girls excited. However, it turns out, the pool is very cold. The girls did not last long at all. After a couple of runs on the slide, the girls find the hot tub and the ping pong table –which is a lot of fun. I find out that the hotel is getting new pool heaters next year. In the meantime, the pool is very cold.
We set out to search for the lagoon but on the way we see the dolphin pool. The Hilton offers a chance to swim and interact with dolphins – Dolphin Quest. We passed on the offer since it would have meant being out of $500 for just the girls to interact with the dolphins. We definitely did not win the popularity contest with our girls.
There is another large body of water on the grounds besides the pool and the dolphin pool. The lagoon is huge and is filled with saltwater. You can rent kayaks and can also go snorkeling. Purportedly, you can see turtles in the lagoon – we didn’t since we didn’t venture too far in. Again, like the pool, the water was so cold!
After a very bad lunch at the Queens' Market Place Food Court near the hotel, we decided we needed to leave the hotel in search of the ‘real’ Hawaii. So we headed to Hapuna Beach and remembered why we came to Hawaii in the first place; soft sandy beaches, warm waters and waves and the refreshing breeze off the ocean. We had had enough of the fake world of Hilton!
Our last two nights on the Big Island, we tried to find new places to eat. The first night back from Kauai, we had dinner at Monstera, a Japanese restaurant located at the Shops at Mauna Lani, next to the Fairmont Orchid. We had heard that the chef was originally the chef at Fairmont’s Japanese restaurant.
First off, the service slow, very slow. I think it was the kitchen not our server. Our server was nice but he didn’t get all our order right…wasn’t a big deal, easily corrected but it shouldn’t happen. The food was just average but then we didn’t order sushi (except for kappa maki for the girls), which seems to be the thing to order, looking at the reviews online. We love sushi but we had spent the first part of the summer in Japan and we have a very good sushi restaurant back home so we didn’t feel compelled to order sushi. I saw some Korean influenced dishes on the menu and the homemade kimchi intrigued me. That was the hook and I ordered a pork dish with kimchi. Kimchi was good but the pork was a bit dry and tough. The lady at the next table ordered a pork dish but not with kimchi and we overheard her complaining about it. She sent her plate back. My husband ordered the misoyaki butterfish which was decent but a little heavy. The girls had kappa maki and udon. Would I recommend it? Not really but try the sushi if you decide to go anyway.
On our last night, we decided to splurge on dinner at Pahu i`a at the Four Seasons. The setting is absolutely amazing. The view is incredible! The food is OK. I expected more from the Four Seasons. I think my older daughter’s chicken noodle soup was the best thing on the menu. I had three appetizers for my meal…all some form of sushi and rolls and that’s because nothing else sounded great. My husband had a fish dish which was average. However, I am glad we went. It was incredibly relaxing and beautiful. The sunset was gorgeous. It was the perfect place to spend our last evening in Hawaii.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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