Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club

Moms, trust me, don’t stay here!!!

We are here now and I’m writing this review to hopefully spare someone the heartbreaking disappointment I am experiencing now. Do not ignore the negative reviews, there were 4 others at the desk complaining at checkin too. Packing up 4 kids excited to see HI and coming to this place has been a terrible experience. Please find a lovely air bnb and spare the haggling for a decent room. They will be starting construction in August so I’m sure it will be even worse then. Don’t do it. They allow nonguests at the pool and chairs so your belongings aren’t secure. There’s literally no security at the pool. It’s a crazy zoo! One older man was taking the hose that is intended for guests to spray off sand and shoving it down his pants, front and back for about 15 minutes. Another woman grabbed her 3 year old by the back of his shirt and dragged his across the concrete screaming for about 50 yards until they were out of site. These people are not respectful as you might expect at a resort so watch your children. I’m getting vibes of a discount-Orlando-resort if that helps describe it. Our “oceanfront” room is at the back of the resort, looking at piles of removed tree debris, a restaurant parking lot, and a road, see images. The customer service is the worst! As Platinum Elite members we have been so disappointed. Honestly I would rather go home at this point and we are working out details to book a different location for the rest of our trip. The beaches are so accessible so I would not choose this one just for the location. Any air bnb would work. Hope this saves another mom who will spend days packing her family for a big trip. Trust me, don’t do this one.

Old, Stale room with no swimming access

This is the worst Marriott I have ever stayed in in my life! It is old, stale, and not representative of the brand. The cabinets smell and look like something from the late 1970's. Also, can you not swim at the beach? The alleged beachfront is full of lava rocks, precluding you from swimming. As beach people, we could not swim in the water, a gross misrepresentation of what we were told. When we arrived, the front staff did not say as much as Aloha - no leis, no welcoming spirit. If I never see HI again, it will be fine with me. I am extremely disappointed in the quality of what I paid for and the lack of swimming. We hung out at the Westin - at least they had a view and friendly staff. Checked out 2 nights early.

Caution: rooms can be worse than they appear online

Updated review: Yes this Marriott is old and stale, but since they moved us to a new room we are having a good experience. The property grounds are beautiful on a gorgeous beach with a great walking path. What you should know: If you are not an owner at this resort you will most likely get a bad room - especially if you did a timeshare exchange. Many of the rooms face a parking lot and are just a big disappointment. The rooms in general are in desperate need of refurbishment - the bathrooms and kitchens especially. Other Marriott timeshares have been renovated and feel much more modern and high end than this property. In this resort, the rooms are stuck back in the last century still and need a big reboot. My experience was that the actual rooms are in worse shape than the photos online.

Mid-Winter Escape

The island of Kaua’i, smaller than the city of Phoenix, and with just as much traffic…but what a beautiful island it is! My wife and I stayed as guests of her sister and bro-in-law (owners) and were treated no different. This Marriott location is, by all accounts, is living away from home, but with an outstanding waterfront! Having a full kitchen in our “room” allowed us to eat the healthy foods we’re accustom to and at our time. Just like at home. Getting the groceries…well. That’s a logistical issue in itself. A COSTCO and other shopping is on the way from the airport is in the very congested area of Lihue. It’s best to stop in coming from the airport and stock up for your stay so to avoid the (sometimes) hour-long drive from the resort. The resort does have food at the beach bar ($$) and housekeeping is available when we asked for it. Our requests were quickly answered. This resort is a timeshare! It caters to the paying owners. The low, advertised $493/night rate is for the “island view” rooms which the resort opens to non-owners. The rate the owners pay comes out to be more than double! This Marriott resort has limitations and restrictions and we expect that going in. The flip-side to that is the place is b-e-a-utiful and we made the best of it! I took more than 400 photos and videos of our stay just to bring it all back to the desert. Mahalo.

Avoid this bare bones, DIY hotel!

Avoid this property at all cost! When we checked in we were told because we were not actual Waiohai owners, nor elite high status Marriott Bonvoy members that we would be given an “island view” room. Our “island view” was a view of the parking lot and a construction dump pile. Let’s be clear, we paid the exact same amount as all other guests staying there that week. We did not receive any kind of discounted rate for our dump view room. Other disappointments included: NO housekeeping service for our entire 8 day stay. NO food service available before 11 am, we were told to “buy groceries”and use our kitchen. NO ice maker available to guests (our freezer ice maker barely worked)—Ice is rationed by the front desk at 1 serving per room per day. Balcony overlooking the dump pile was flanked by 2 active wasp nests making it unsafe to use. Glass shower door was so coated in limescale you could barely see through it. Mattress was so old there was a high center point and deep troughs on either side. This is a bare bones, DIY hotel vacation. Do yourself a favor and stay next door at either the Grand Hyatt or Sheraton. At those resorts you will be guaranteed room type before check in and will receive the services you expect at any halfway decent resort.

Host double booked and cancelled on us

This is timeshare property and they double booked and cancelled on us just a few hours before check-in time on the day. We almost got stranded on the island with no place to stay. There was no help given. The practice is almost criminal.