Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay, HI

We had reserved a Dbl Qn, Ocean View for 1 night. We were sent down the road to a 1Qn “Cabana” with a fold out. Key card didn’t work and this part of the complex resembled Section 8 housing. This was confirmed when the maintenance person who came to fix the key mentioned, unsolicited, to make sure and lock everything “down here”. The cabana was full of furniture and all the outdoor furniture. Had to rearrange the room to fold out the bed and then discover there was only a sheet and two pillows for the fold out. The inside lock was broken off so locking the door as recommended was not an option. We have stayed in the hotel before and were excited to come back. Being shoved down the road into a dodgy cabana was disappointing. The hotel did discount the room at checkout but refused to budge on the parking or resort fee, making the 50% discount and effective 25% discount. This was not an equal value to our experience.

The personnel were almost all very nice, especially the younger maintenance man, all but one of the desk ladies, Curt and a male housekeeper. But overall the quality was the very worst I’ve ever seen during a lifetime of staying in Hiltons, and I’m amazed that Hilton didn’t take down the signs. The ocean is beautiful, but you can’t see it from most of the rooms, most of the pool area or the hot tub, or even from parts of the tiki bar area. I did not think most of the luau acts were very good. The hot tub was cold my first night, and a man went to the desk to tell them. An older maintenance man came out and said he fixed it, but he did not. It got fixed the next day when the young maintenance man came in. During my five days I didn’t see people on the pool because it was so cold. I got in but could not stay even though I am used to cold lakes. The laundry room was hot and dirty, and one of the two washers was out of order. The other had its front off and was dirty or rusty, but working according to the desk, so I put in a medium size amount of clothes. Alas the washer would not drain. The young maintenance man came and tried to drain it, but could not. He finally called for permission to cannibalize the broken washer to get a part he needed. Then it drained. The two dryers were both working, but one dried faster than the other. Except for the ground floor rooms, there are no lanais, and my windows would not open. My view was the other building. We only got a few towels for a four day stay, and I only got two more when I requested more. The room was outdated, but I would have been fine with that if it were not for all the other quality problems. The tiki bar was pleasant, but had limited options, it might be expected. There were no other restaurants on premises except for breakfast, which was good, and the tiki bar. The premises are not great if you have difficulty walking or taking stairs. I would not recommend this hotel unless you just want the location and do not want to spend any more. But I love Kauai!

For the beauty of the area, this hotel was a disappointment (esp. being a 'Hilton"). The resort needs some serious updating...it is looking 'old' and in need of repair. Our room (1st floor) smelled like a wet basement, our ice machine never worked all week and our 'sliding patio door' was broken so we couldn't open it. Staff was wonderful but Hilton needs to invest into this place if they want travelers in the future.

Luau entertainment reverberated through the rooms ....thank goodness it ended at 8pm. The daily parking fee was just another add-on ... why?

I am here right now celebrating my 25th anniversary. I paid extra for an ocean view room. Instead, I was given a room with a tree right in front of the window. I asked for either a new room without a blocked ocean view or to have the extra money I paid for the upgrade be refunded. They refuse to do either. They said because the room is on the ocean side, it’s an ocean view room, even though I look out the window at a tree and it’s difficult to see the ocean. From the outside of the hotel, all other rooms have a clear, direct line of sight to the ocean. The room should have been advertised and sold for less as a partial ocean view. I’ll avoid this hotel from now on and do not recommend them.

Location

Cat crying in the middle of night out in the hall Roaches

Just spent a week at this property to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Asked specifically for a top floor room as we are sensitive to noise. First room they assigned us to was on the ground floor of a 3 story building. Room looked out to a tiny (maybe 12 or 15’ across) pool. We sat down and called front desk….and was told no top floor rooms were available. Well, OK…then we noticed that the carpet was soaking wet near the sliding glass door and there was quite a bit of visible sand next to the couch. Since I’m Hilton Diamond Forever status, I called the Diamond desk at Hilton Corporate and went back to front desk. Both young women at the front desk were positively surly. Then magic happened…..turns out the diamond desk had communicated to the front desk and a top floor room was suddenly available. So off to room #1307 we trotted. Smaller than the first room, but blissfully quiet. This hotel charges both a parking fee and a resort fee - we felt gouged. Breakfast at onsite restaurant appeared to have been pulled off a back room buffet. Powdered eggs, barely warm potatoes and expensive. We didn’t bother to try it a second time. Important to note that when they host the luau, expect a lot of noise. The rest of our visit was uneventful, but we did receive some very pleasant service from both a senior gentleman and one older Hawaiian (+- 60 ish) gal at the front desk. We did enjoy the free hula presentation. Important to note that when temps drop at night - it set off the fire alarm. Upsetting when it hits at 3 am…..we stepped outside the room and Hilton personnel were telling folks everything was OK. We were told the next day that it only affects this particular wing of the hotel.