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8968 reviews
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Apr 22, 2025Grand Wailea - still an amazing slice of paradise, but with a few improvements needed
Before I write my review, just FYI we went to Grand Wailea over our daughter's spring break from March 29 - April 4, and we have been long time Hilton Diamond Members who have stayed at Grand Wailea over 5 times in the last 8 years. We also used to be Elite members that cancelled due to rising membership costs and deduction of the benefit discount. THE GOOD: Grand Wailea is still an amazing resort. Beautiful grounds, excellently appointed and remodeled rooms on the inside, amazing pools and friendly staff. It is still a slice of paradise perfectly located next to the Wailea shops and well connected to neighboring resorts via beach path. We used Hilton points to book our stay, and from experience we knew that weren't going to get to Ocean View through any kind of free Diamond upgrade, so we emailed the in house reservations when we booked the base level room to ask about upgrades. For $120 per night extra we were able to upgrade to regular Ocean View, and then a few days before our trip we got most likely, the Diamond Upgrade to Deluxe Ocean View which is the higher floors and better views. After years of staying in the Wailea Wing we chose to try to Molokini Wing and we were very happy we did. This is a little closer to the pools and beach, MUCH closer to Loulu the grab and go breakfast/lunch/dinner/coffee shop downstairs and overall had a very nice different angled view of the ocean from the balcony. The chat feature within the Hilton app is fantastic and you can always get someone to help with anything you need usually within a few minutes. Our digital key worked flawlessly as well in addition to our room keys. THE "NEEDS IMPROVEMENT": Several things over the past few years have slightly soured our visits, and they seem to be pretty consistent with what most people are saying. Overall, it does seem like Grand Wailea is "nickel and diming" guests to the point where you feel like nothing is included except your bed, water and electricity. We are of course extremely grateful to have saved enough points to stay here for "free" but we are still using years of saved points as well as spending quite a bit of money on extras. CHECK IN: What happened to flower leis upon arrival? If it is specifically due to being wasteful with precious island resources I respect that, but they just disappeared in the last few years without any signs or notice. VALET: $65 a day with no other choice, but they no longer allow you to call to get your car brought up, so we had to bring our whole family down and wait 5-10 min each time, or have parents separate to come down ahead of the family to get it pulled up. BOTERO - Lobby Bar/Restaurant: Great live music every night, and excellent place to have a drink. Fully understanding that the sushi menu had to go away with the introduction of NOBU, however once again Grand Wailea introduced a new menu without direct Kids options (same thing happened when we went to Olivine and paid $40 for kids spaghetti and meatballs). Four Seasons next door does an excellent job of kids menus for a very fair value, and with Grand Wailea being especially kid friendly I'm very surprised that there are no kids menus in the majority of restaurants we visited. We paid around $200 for 2 adults and a child for a casual lobby bar dinner and 2 alcoholic drinks, with just OK food. I know this is a new concept and hopefully it is improved soon with feedback. Also, not sure if it was just an off night but it was spring break week and there were only 2 servers attending to about 20-30 tables the one night we went. We waited about 20-30 minutes to order and receive a drink, and another 40-50 to order and receive our food. It did seem like other nights we walked past were much better staffed. BEACH SETUP: This was a massive downside for us. After years and years of coming here and enjoying lounge chairs and an umbrella on the beach for the price of a tip to the guys setting it up, GW is now charging $75 for a half day, and $150 for a full day. On top of that, the full day is reservable online, and for those of us with a napping child in the early afternoon who only want a few hours of beach shade in the morning, $75 is a huge disappointment. Tommy Bahama folding chairs (without umbrellas) are available first come first serve, but only until 3:30 and the supply is limited. We did the full paid rental once, then drove down the street to a snorkel rental place to get a basic umbrella rental for several days for $20. POOLS: The pools are kept quite clean, it was nice to see people tending to the sand pool and cleaning the pools early in the morning. The ropes drop at 7am for people to begin reserve lounge chairs. I completely understand that if one person was to go ask for 10 towels they could reserve way more chairs than they need and it wouldn't be fair to everyone else. I also understand it takes time to stock up on the clean towels. However, Grand Wailea should have something on the computer to tell them how many people are in your family/room staying there when handing out towels. As we have a young child who most days wouldn't be fully ready at 7am to go down to the pool yet, however will absolutely need a shaded chair, it isn't fair to make two adults and a 4 year old get 3 towels together at 7am just to reserve their 3 chairs. I was often only able to get 1 or maybe 2 towels at a time unless other members of my family were with me, which was a bit of a pain. POOL FOOD/DRINKS: Don't open until 11am. Again, this is a family focused resort with kids that have been up since 5-6am most days, getting to the pool at 7am, and are ready for food and/or drinks well before 11am. Several days we walked over to the Beach Cart at Four Seasons to get some fruit or a drink. That's money that went out the door from GW to another resort and I'm sure many people do the same. It is a long walk back up the path to Loulu which is the only place open to grab stuff in the morning. Additionally, not sure if it was just the day/week we tried, but the qr code ordering to the chairs that used to work in previous years did not allow us to order anything before or after 11am. We had a great server within a few minutes of 11am, but it was a nice perk to be able to order at your leisure to the chairs. Hope this is fixed or added back. These are all minor inconveniences within an amazingly well run place, but they do add up and leave a lasting impression in an expensive week's vacation. I still highly recommend Grand Wailea to friends and family, however I now feel the need to caveat to them a lot of the nuances that have changed and most of my restaurant recommendations involve leaving the property. Hopefully the introduction of NOBU (opened right after we left) will be a massive new win.
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Apr 21, 2025Worst honeymoon experience ever.
If I could give Zero stars I would. As a Diamond Hilton member, I’ve stayed at many properties and have always received excellent service, but my experience at the Grand Wailea, Waldorf Astoria was an absolute nightmare. My wife and I came here for our honeymoon, expecting a luxurious, stress-free vacation, but instead, we were treated extremely poorly. This place completely ruined what should have been a special time for us. First off, no flower lei. We arrived in Hawaii, excited for the traditional welcome, but nope—no lei. We were expecting that classic gesture of hospitality, but apparently, it was too much to ask for. This should’ve been the first sign that things were going to go downhill fast. When we checked in, we weren’t greeted in any special way, not even a "Congratulations" for our honeymoon. No mention of any upgrades, perks, or even a warm welcome. As a Diamond member, I’m used to a certain level of recognition, but here? Nothing. The room was another disaster. The air conditioning didn’t work properly—it never went below 70°F, so we spent the entire stay sweating through the night. I called maintenance, and they “fixed” it, but it still wasn’t cool enough. We couldn't get comfortable. And speaking of uncomfortable—the beds were awful. They were so soft that we sank right into them. I woke up with a sore back every day. Not exactly the restful, romantic stay we were hoping for. We weren’t offered any room upgrade, despite my Diamond status. It felt like they didn’t care one bit about us as loyal Hilton members. Honestly, we might as well have been regular tourists who booked through a third-party website. The service was atrocious. We tried to request an extended checkout, and they quoted us a staggering $500 for the privilege. As a Diamond member, I’ve always received extended checkout as a courtesy at other properties, but here, it was treated like a cash grab. Another disappointing factor about the hotel was we tried to call down for our car to be pulled up and they told me they don’t do that anymore and you’ll have to come down, it’s a first come first served. Mind you this is a 5 star hotel… and they can’t even pull your car around. We had a snorkeling excursion, and were almost late to it because it took 30 minutes to get our car, and we came down ahead of time. Needless to say, I was very disappointed in my stay here. For the amount of money you pay to travel and stay here, you’d think it would be a better experience. Avoid this hotel and take your money elsewhere. I won’t be coming back here instead I will be going next-door to four seasons where I’m sure we will get better service. They should be embarrassed to have the Waldorf Astoria on this hotel. Nothing 5 star here.
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Apr 21, 2025
The only reason to stay here is the pools and they're broken much of the time.
Another disappointing visit to the Grand Wailea. We paid approximately $1,250 per night for a "deluxe ocean" view. Prior to arrival, an email directed us to check in via the app, which I suppose avoids a potential line in the lobby, but which also means you miss any personal touch, along with the lei greeting (is there even one now?). They keep taking away benefits. My daughter is usually offered a Grand Passport with a carved wood necklace gift, but this time they apparently "ran out" and nobody bothered to get something else. The kid's game room was "closed for a private event" the entire time we were there. Beach chairs and an umbrella are now $150? Those were included the last time we were there. We've stayed here 3 times over the past 2 years and only once has the pool been fully operational (oops, except for the water elevator which seems to be permanently closed). 2 of 3 times the canyon lazy river was completely shut down for our entire stay. A hotel this expensive should not have so many operational issues. Why has the giant waterfall at the entrance been dry for so long? Why do the pools close/break down so often? We didn't have quite the same pool chair experience as others have complained about, perhaps because we were at the tail end of the spring break season. There wasn't a line at 7:15AM and as long as you got there before 8:30, there seemed to be chairs. You are stacked on top of one another and they block the ocean views with the overpriced cabanas. And, yes, everyone in your party has to stand in line to get their 2 towel allotment. The $65 a night parking fee on top of a $50 a night pp resort fee is outrageous, especially when it takes so long to get your car from the valet. The hotel is simply too big. Too many people means they can keep cutting corners, taking away previous benefits, and charging for things that were previously free (reminds me of Disneyland). Management doesn't seem to care about any of this. Guess the money keeps rolling in, so who cares, right?
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Apr 20, 2025The service here is sub par for a three star resort let alone a 5 star resort
Lifetime diamond member who just applied for a Marriott Bonvoy card because this resort has me thinking Hilton lost their focus in service and simply falls short over and over again in meeting our expectations. We started our vacation at a ritz in turtle bay Oahu and had an absolutely incredible experience top to bottom every aspect of our stay was managed by hotel staff perfectly! Then we arrived at the Hilton grand wailea a Waldorf Astoria resort. First we struggled to get our bags delivered to our room then we learned the ac system wasn’t working properly. Maintenance was there for hours it never fully functioned throughout our stay. In addition The bathrooms in all the rooms get to be 100 degrees as there is no fan or air in the bathrooms. Then good luck getting chairs by the pool. The entire thing is an absolute circus. The staff refuse to help in any way and are obnoxious about any requests for assistance. People line up at 7am like rope drop at Disney to get chairs it’s honestly embarrassing at a resort like this. Then if you’re gone for an hour they start seizing stuff so if you do get chairs you have to go back and forth. If you don’t get chairs you’re out of luck unless you want to pay for beach chairs 150 for two chairs for the day. I witnessed multiple couples on their honeymoon complaining about this. My wife and recalled our honeymoon where the staff had Everything set up for us wherever we wanted it each day. You’d have to be insane to honeymoon at this resort and be treated like you’re in a cruise ship fighting for a chair. They also give you cheap nightclub bracelets that you have to leave on and swap out or replace every morning if you lose or take off the old one they won’t let you by the pool the rest of your trip… at the ritz we got digitized bands that we could take off and put back on whenever we wanted. Oh and cabanas are 1700 dollars and they are small and weak in amenities most don’t have tvs our experience at the ritz with the cabana was ten times better at 1/5th the cost service amenities and size. The four seasons down the road has free cabanas for guests. You won’t be treated like garbage there either. Some of the pool amenities were closed throughout our stay some have very limited hours kids were disappointed. Its really a shame because it’s a beautiful property with a beautiful lobby bar and i must say the bartenders both at the pool bar and the lobby bar all of whom have been there for 20 Plus years are outstanding and offer top notch service. The rest of the resort completely fails even the concierge was obnoxious when we asked for help. I’m done with Hilton as I blame the brand for not managing this there’s tons of evidence in the reviews that this has been a problem and they have done nothing. Next time we are in Maui we will be staying at the four seasons or the fairmont.
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Apr 20, 2025Awesome family trip!
After reading a bunch of negative reviews before coming I almost switched to another resort but am so glad we stayed - Grand Wailea was absolutely phenomenal! My husband and I came 10 years ago for a conference and went back this time with our tween-age kids. We primarily came to enjoy the awesome pools and 40-acre botanical wonderland, and GW delivered! All the staff were helpful and lovely. A highlight was the botanical tour with Jim Heid (you cannot come to GW and miss his tour - it gives a whole other level of appreciation for the stunning grounds, variety of plants, and history here). There are something like 12 different pools, 8 waterslides, rapids, Tarzan rope, and lazy river. And the beach/ocean a few steps from the pool too. A few slides were closed for repairs but 4 were still going which was great. We hugely appreciated the timed pool chairs (they flip down unoccupied chair backs every hour, and if you’re gone for the 2nd flip - a 2 hour span - your chair opens back up to the many people waiting). It helps deter the entitled people who block off tons of chairs and only use the pool sparingly. If you DO plan to use the pool all day, just show up between 7-8am and you’ll find available seats. They were accommodating food-wise as one of my kids has Celiac disease. And the rooms themselves were very nice; recently renovated. They upgraded us to an ocean-view room and included a microwave due to the food allergy. Some other reviews said all the pretty fountains on the property were off, and true some were off, but many were running and looked beautiful. For the record, we are not a typical resort-type family (you’re more likely to find us camping than parading around with giant-logo designer outfits) and I genuinely felt like this stay was a great value and so enjoyable.