Hilton Grand Vacations Club Ocean Tower Waikoloa Village

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

725 reviews

• 

  Never again

  All the locations inside the hotel are badly connected to each other. To get in our room we had to walk that endless museum-walk which felt like a 20 min hike. There is a „train“ available that takes you to certain stops but it is ridiculously and unnecessarily slow. The a/c in that train is also terribly loud. There is only one parking area and that‘s also the only place where you are allowed to park your car. They charge you 48 USD (!!!) per day. That‘s just rude but they do it because they can! Also that parking space was quite far away. With all the luggage it was the first bad experience when we arrived. Then we asked for memory foam pillows but they just gave us different kind of standard pillows. For a pricey place like this, you would expect more. We left our room for several hours and our room was not serviced at all. There is an adult pool near the room we stayed but it closes at 8pm. Just why?! It‘s an adult pool. There is an Italian restaurant near the room we stayed but it is ridiculously overpriced. We wanted to do a sunset-catamaran-tour. A board said „2 for 50 USD“. When you read the information below (printed in small letters) then you only get this price when you attend a room-sharing-advertising campaign. Without that, you pay like 250 USD. What’s on the good side? Well, I enjoyed the coffee machine in the room. The mattress we had, wasn‘t the baddest one we had yet. So if you decide to stay at this hotel, be aware that you will do a loooooot of walking. The layout of this hotel is really badly done. Oh one more thing: while we sat inside our room with the backdoor open, a gardener did weed-whacking nearby and my partner got hit by a small rock. The gardener was really oblivious about his job.

  Feb 20, 2025
• 

  An Unexpected Treat

  We often drive through the Hilton mega-resort at Waikoloa on our way from our second home to shops and restaurants but I never thought I would have an opportunity to review any of it. That changed when, as our return from our latest trip approached, the mainland weather was preparing to throw in the proverbial monkey wrench. When we woke up on the morning of our planned departure, the forecast light snow showers had turned into 40 knot gusts with snow, snow pellets and freezing rain, the worst of it forecast for our arrival time. After quickly bumping our flight forward a day, it became necessary to find someplace to spend the extra night (our place then being occupied by rental guests.) What we had in mind was something simple, straightforward and, above all, cheap so we were surprised when our google search turned up at the top of the chart the Grand and Glorious Hilton Ocean Towers (or words to that effect) for just over $200 for the night. For another pittance, we could upgrade to a “junior suite”. For comparative purposes, a few entries down the list, we were invited to try the Four Seasons just down the coast for a price starting at (I am not kidding) ten times that amount. We couldn’t click on the “book” button fast enough. A lot of the reviews of this property are lukewarm at best and the price we were quoted tended to suggest that the mediocre reviews might be accurate. We arrived expecting a place that had seen better days, that was not in the best of shape and that managed to survive on past glory and a generous allotment of captive guests in timeshare programs. We found instead a property that seemed to us to be high quality, well taken care of and in excellent repair. Our room was spacious, tastefully decorated, in pristine condition and equipped with both major (a full-size refrigerator) and minor (goop bottles in the shower with labels that could be read without glasses) amenities that reflected the fact that a good deal of thought, to say nothing of expense, had gone into their design and execution. We would have been pleasantly surprised at twice the price we were paying. At the rate we were charged the deal was nothing less than spectacular. The staff were efficient, effective and friendly, something we have come to expect on the island, which leads us to believe that at least some of the complaints one hears about staff at this and other properties in the area are self-inflicted. The property has some idiosyncrasies. To begin with, the place is huge and built generally along the lines of the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. From the parking lot at one end to the Towers section at the other is a solid twenty-minute hike. Like DFW, the various elements are connected by a shuttle train that goes even slower than the hikers but at least you can sit down. There are two of these trains; the first one we took had notices apologizing for the lack of air-conditioning and we slowly sweated our way from one end of the property to the other wondering if we would not have been better off on foot. Not to worry, though. The other train made up the difference and pumped out frigid air with arctic excess. The property also tends toward extravagance. Most of the high-end hotels on the Kona coast are designed to appeal to a clientele more likely to be impressed by brilliance than by simplicity but the Hilton property is the only one with a fleet of boats that can cruise along the artificial canals that crisscross the property and a pond where you can swim with real (if domesticated) dolphins. Obviously, none of this related to any need of ours but it is a choice that I think can be more appealing to some than to others. In the end, each resort property on the Kona coast offers its particular vision of paradise and it is up to each visitor to decide which vision is most appealing to them. That is a subjective matter about which I think there could be a considerable range of opinions. For those who like what the Hilton has to offer, however, our experience suggests that they will be very happy with choosing it.

  Feb 18, 2025
• 

  You will get some exercise!

  We were very leery to stay here after reading the reviews, but I don’t know why people think it’s so bad. We are currently staying in the Ocean Tower. We have a junior suite that has been renovated with a beautiful view of the golf course and a peekaboo view of the ocean. We get housekeeping every day and you do have to walk to get to the main building (~10 minutes), but the grounds are so beautiful why not enjoy the exercise and the outdoors? The tram is ridiculously slow, so don’t bother waiting for it as you can get where you are going just as fast as you can by taking the tram. My recommendation is don’t stay here if you don’t want to walk. You’ll be frustrated with the tram. We don’t eat dinners at the resort as there is not a lot of selection. We did rent a car and yes, the parking is ridiculously overpriced, but you just budget that into your holiday. Lots of good restaurants nearby, lava lava beach club is a must!

  Feb 16, 2025
• 

  Very polite staff but too many failures.

  Stayed for six days and five nights and encountered an issue every other day, if not more. Upon arrival, I was provided with a single bed instead of two as requested - I had to wait roughly three hours before receiving a studio room with two beds. Two days later, I received a suite with two beds. The thermostat was broken in the suite bedroom, including the front door lock - I had to wait half a day in the room before everything was fixed. The day my family left, the bell service did not load the luggage into the vehicle and I had to pay $80 to have a taxi deliver the luggage to the airport to avoid missing the flight - made the flight with minutes to spare. The cost of self parking was $48 per day. The resort was large with several towers, so the resort offered free rail and boat services to take you to your tower. However, the boats were out of service, and several of the cars for the rail service had a broken A/C. The restaurants available at the resort were good but highly overpriced for a small portion. I'll admit the staff were very pleasant and tried to make the stay welcoming. Even the manager I spoke with was pleasant but was only able to offer so much. The resort is very calming to walk around, and there are many pools and swimming activities - even swimming with dolphins! Overall, with the pleasant staff and large resort, the resort and rooms are outdated and need maintenance and improvement. Even the waterway for the boats needed to be cleaned due to algae being present in the waterway.

  Feb 04, 2025
• 

  Why you will see mixed reviews

  I have noticed mixed reviews for this property and there are practical reasons. This is a Hilton Grand Vacation (timeshare ) property. They have been renovating this building into condo style units for the time share owners. Part of the timeshare approach means that there is no daily housekeeping. You could ask for towels and such and they were helpful. The benefit is that you may have kitchen facilities and a sitting area (depending on your room category). The updated units are very nice. If you are an “owner” you are likely to get one of the updated units. If you are a regular guest - you may end up in a section that has not been renovated yet. The older sections still have great views and access to all the rest. The layout of the building is unusual but you will catch on. The pools are very nice. The grounds are beautiful and well kept - we loved sitting in lounge chairs along the coast in the morning and evening to just watch and listen to the ocean. As for the resort in general - there is a lot of walking and the tram is slow. Relax and slow down - you are on vacation. I did wish there were more food options. I got some groceries and made light meals in our room a few days. For more than one person, it might be cheaper to take an uber to the kings shops or queen’s marketplace since the resort shuttle is $5 each. I didn’t rent a car this time since parking is expensive. I could have rented a car for a day if I wanted and worked around the parking cost. Overall - we had a great vacation relaxing in a beautiful setting. We would absolutely return. I wish I had kept notes about the names of staff. We had no bad experiences and there were a few I wish I could compliment.

  Jan 24, 2025