Waikoloa Beach Resort
The Gathering Place of the Kohala Coast
July/August 2017
In Keeping with the Times: “Right-Sizing” at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa was the first hotel built at Waikoloa Beach Resort. When it opened in 1981 as the Sheraton Royal Waikoloan — the same year the Beach Golf Course opened — it signaled the beginnings of the grand master plan that would play out at Waikoloa over the ensuing four decades. The 555-room hotel, with frontage right along the beach at Anaeho`omalu Bay, was managed by Sheraton back then, operating jointly with local company Royal Resorts. It has always been hailed as a welcoming place as much for locals as for visitors, and prided itself on being more
Enhancements Afoot
Nowadays, big changes are underway at the iconic property, with 246 hotel rooms being converted into 112 one- and two-bedroom suites under the Marriott Vacation Club moniker, with 10,000 square feet of meeting space converted into a sales gallery for the new product. In concert with the suites, a brand new arrival experience awaits guests, with handsome, Maui-built tiki panels having been installed at the porte cochere, and a new front desk area set against a lobby garden that sports colors of the islands, along with native plants and lava rocks. A glance west from the lobby reveals enticing
Hotel Guests Benefit Too
Even as the Vacation Club guests will begin to arrive and enjoy the new look and feel of the property, so too will hotel guests benefit. In addition to the refreshed guest rooms and common areas, a new lobby level restaurant called Aku Ula (Red Sunset) is expected to open mid-July. It will serve specialty coffees, pastries, and grab-and-go food during the day; and a farmto- table menu at dinner. Overseen by longtime executive chef Jayson Kanekoa — whose family has been farming on the island for generations — the new menu will focus on smaller plates served pupu style, and ingredients such
Beachfront Improvements
One of the main draws for the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is its proximity to Anaeho`omalu Bay and the historic fishponds that front it. It was here that the ancient Hawaiians created a fishing village, the remains of which can still be seen on the ocean side of the hotel.
A tidal surge from a March 2011 tsunami damaged a major portion of the beach and rock wall that protected the fishponds, leaving the them vulnerable to sand surges and ocean water. A magnificent row of coconut palms was lost too.
Happily, in 2016, Waikoloa Beach Resort completed a major rebuilding of
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