JW MARRIOTT IHILANI RESORT & SPA - Kapolei HI 92 1001 Olani St. 96707 Hawaii Map

4.0 out of 5 Based on 937 guest reviews, Very Good

Based on 1,071 traveler reviews

Value

Rooms

Cleanliness

Service

Excellent

569

Very Good

308

Average

Poor

Terrible

Most Recent Traveler Reviews:

“Perfect JW Resort (yet again)”

May 19, 2013 Murry08, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Trip type: Couples

This is our third JW Marriott experience (Desert Ridge in Phoenix and Starr Pass in Tucson) and it was spot-on perfect. From the moment you arrive, you truly feel like... more »

“Beautiful setting, but not a 5 star property”

May 18, 2013 livealoha1959, Napa, California | Trip type: Couples

Let me preface by saying that we do stay at Marriott properties quite often and the one thing I have come to expect is friendly and efficient service. Not so... more »

Let me preface by saying that we do stay at Marriott properties quite often and the one thing I have come to expect is friendly and efficient service. Not so much here. The only word I can use is "adequate". There was never a friendly "welcome" and rarely eye contact and a smile from staff. This surprised me on many levels, especially since we received two separate emails before we arrived welcoming us and offering to make any plans/reservations for activities or honor any requests. In the email we received about a week out, they offered an upgrade option for an additional $50 a night. Curious as to what exactly an "upgrade" entailed, I called the phone number that was listed to call for more information. Funny thing is every time I called, I got the answering machine, so I sent my questions via email to the person who had sent the letter only to receive an auto-reply stating that she would be out of the office, her return date would be after our arrival date. (First of all, why send a note inviting correspondence when you are not planning to be on the property or why not find a way to forward a message to someone who is in the office?) Anyway, I called the regular hotel line and spoke to a reservations agent. She explained that the upgrade simply meant a higher floor, better view above the palm trees, etc. After reading several of the reviews, I was leery of the Disney construction and asked if it could guarantee we were not looking at construction. She told me to request a sunset view, so you do not see Disney's property. Check. We arrived late morning, and a room was available, so we went up. I immediately went out onto the balcony to check out the view (Yes, I admit it, I am obsessive about my ocean view!) If you sat on one side of the lanai, you had a lovely view of the lagoon, however, if you sat on the other side, you overlooked a big smokestack and below was a service road. Not okay. I went back down and very politely asked for another option and was then given the condescending speech about 'check in is at 4:00. We have no rooms available now.' I (politely) explained that we were happy to wait, we would have lunch, take a walk, etc., and he said he would call us when a room became available. (The setting is amazing, really beautiful, the lagoon, the pathway, and the landscaping.) When we did get a call a few hours later, I went to the desk to find we were being given the exact same room number only two floors above. Wouldn't I still see the smoke stack and the service road I asked, and he said, yes, but it was two floors higher. Then I explained (politely) that I did not want to see the smokestack or wake up to trucks backing up on the service road in the morning. He referenced that I wanted a sunset view, and at that point I said, it didn't matter, I would just like to face the ocean and not the Disney construction. New room offered and yes, when I went to check out the view, if I looked one direction, I saw was the ocean, if I looked the other way, it was the Disney construction! So, I made a note of the room numbers that would work and went back down. At this point, front desk person is thoroughly annoyed with me. I (politely) asked if there might be a room ending in__ and voila', third times the charm and we had a lovely view for our five nights!! Rooms are large, the shutters rather than drapes were a nice touch for air flow. We appreciated the screens to keep out bugs and the little birds that liked to sit with you on your patio. Bathroom large, nice tub and shower. Bed was okay, but NOT the Marriott signature dream bed we love. Sheets were old and threadbare, lacked that feeling of sleeping in a cloud. Internet service costs extra unless you're Marriott Platinum and not only is it $12.95 a day, but it charges for every device, so when we checked our bill, we were being charged four times a day because we had two iphones and two laptops! Service just never wowed us, certainly not what we expect when staying at a five star resort. We found out on the fourth day that there is a shuttle to take you to local shops, other hotels, etc in the area. This is not listed anywhere or mentioned at all in your check in. A few people were pleasant, but no smile, small talk, just adequate service. Pool is small, but it worked. Only the weekend was a bit overcrowded with lots of local folks who walked up from the beach, No wrist bands which I never really like, but it does solve that problem. We went to the hot tub one night and it was lukewarm at best. A couple told us it had not been hot for three days. As usual, there are people who put stuff on a chair and don't use it all day. Annoying. A little common courtesy would be nice, but that's not the hotel's fault, just people being inconsiderate. Each day the chairs that were by the pool but faced the lagoon were saved and each day, we rarely saw someone sit in them, only to stop for a moment or two before going to other activities. There were ample chairs on the beach, but no umbrellas, so if you can't take full sun, that's out, you need to stay by the pool where there are umbrellas. They do have cabanas to rent, but not ideal for us since I want the sun and my fair haired husband does not! I did yoga a couple of times on the lawn overlooking the water, Perfect setting. It costs extra, everything does which is so different from a Four Seasons where all those little extras are rolled into your cost. We did enjoy our ocean view and our lanai. One issue we had was that the hotel is supposed to be non-smoking, but our neighbors sat on their lanai and smoked all the time. I felt like a tattle tale, but I called at least three times and told the desk, but I highly doubt anything was ever said because our room always smelled like we were in a smoking section. It was kind of disappointing because we do love to sit our and enjoy a glass of wine on the lanai, but the smoke was annoying. We went to the spa and the facilities are lovely. Very clean and very attentive attendants. Yes, 5 star service all the way at the spa. We had sushi one night, room service another, both very good and reasonably priced, relatively speaking. We went across to Monkey pod twice and loved it there, the food, the staff, the atmosphere. The little ABC market has a great selection of wine, snacks, etc and the rooms have a small fridge, and counter to keep some things, so it was nice to have that option. Personally, I like the gentleness of the lagoon, but I can see if you're into the surf feel, it doesn't cut it. No fear of sharks here though! We were there at an ideal time, between spring break travel and summer, so it was peaceful. Looking over at Disney's 500+ beach chairs that were sparsely filled, I can only imagine what a scene it must be at peak times. Pass. Would we stay there again? I think so, especially if we had our girls with us and we hit an off peak week. It's safe, the setting is beautiful and you're in Hawaii. How can one not be happy in Hawaii? « less

“Perfect Honeymoon Resort.”

May 17, 2013 Travelbaby23 | Trip type: Couples

We honeymooned this winter at the Ihilani and it was beyond perfect. The staff is friendly, the food is great, the private lagoons are amazing, and our ocean view room... more »

“Excellent End of our Honeymoon”

May 14, 2013 Rietty, Sydney, Australia | Trip type: Couples

Beautiful location, very worth the money spent. Absolutely great experience. Was a very relaxing end of the honeymoon. We didn't feel like going back home. We were starting the day... more »

“PERFECT STAY. WE WILL BE BACK”

May 13, 2013 gomavs2004, Houston | Trip type: Family

I don’t have enough space in this review to express how much we enjoyed this resort. The moment we arrived in KoOlina we knew we were in paradise. It is... more »

I don’t have enough space in this review to express how much we enjoyed this resort. The moment we arrived in KoOlina we knew we were in paradise. It is quite different from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu, and much more of a resort atmosphere. As Platinum members, we were upgraded to top floor ocean view, and it was superb. The resort has easy access to several man-made lagoons; however we never felt the need to go beyond Lagoon 1. It was off season, so it did not seem at all crowded at any point. At night, we comfortably slept with our balcony doors open and the screen closed and the waves put us right to sleep. The balcony is huge and plenty high enough for us to let our five year old run free with no worries. Sometimes you could hear the luau that was going on a few blocks away, but it never was late, and not so loud on the top floor that it bothered us. The room was modern, with a great bathroom, separate tub and shower, his and her sinks, a refrigerator and a small safe. The Starbucks in the lobby was awesome, except they close at 5 pm. The grounds have several ponds with sharks, stingrays and tropical fish, all of which never seemed to get old. The grounds were superbly manicured with plenty of beautiful flowers, tropical plants and soft grass. If you have kids, we STRONGLY recommend the Keiki Marine Experience. Jessica was our guide, and she did not disappoint, allowing us to take our time, feed the fish and stingrays, and hold several sea cucumbers, urchins and stars. We didn’t go to the pool but it looked appealing. The breakfast buffet was decent, and make sure you let them know if you are a Platinum member so you can get the 20% discount. The gym here meets the requirements. It’s not huge, but they have the necessities. Their elliptical machines are a little bit different than those I am used to, but it still worked well. There is a natural lagoon slightly off the hotel grounds, (but there is still a path that leads to it) which has the best snorkeling I found. It’s very rocky, so I wouldn’t recommend it for first timers or children, but if you are a strong swimmer and have aqua shoes, this is definitely the best place to snorkel. The resort allowed us to have a late check-out which was helpful, (only an hour, but it is a JW). « less

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