Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay

Their prices are crazy high and we had some bug issues. Service is decent, shout out to john from the hertz onsite for helping me out on super short notice. Upon arrival, they charge your card for the amenities during your stay. $ 30 each day. we are staying for 9, so our card was charged $ 281 before we could unpack the bags. that sucked. They have very tasty food and their location is central to a lot of great stuff but if I could do it over, I’d stay at an air bnb. one of the wedding guests is staying 3 miles down the street for a week for only $ 500 with full amenities to include kitchen access and private room and WiFi. We spent 3x that… first time travelers so lesson learned.

This local family wants to give a major mahalo and shout out to Marvin, who went that extra mile to show us some aloha. It’s nice to know that even though we’re not mainland tourists, we are treated with the same respect & courtesy. That being said, we loved this property and will be back for the next few months! Incredible hotel and so relaxing!
UPDATE: This hotel is still the BOMB and Marvin is still the property’s #1 customer service representative! We are back for our second stay in two weeks and will probably do one more before summer ends. Just thoroughly impressed with this hotel and well worth it! We’ve traveled a lot so appreciate the quality service!

We stayed a single night here after a flight from another island to take a helicopter tour. The staff is super friendly and accommodating. The hotel was built in 1972 and the exterior has that old, kind of Jetsons appearance. For the most part, they have kept up with upgrading the interior. I understand that the last updating was done in 2012. We stayed in an ocean front room and it was just fine.
Great pool. Beautiful grounds. A lot of history is documented on the grounds which was interesting and worth noting.
We ate at the poolside bar and it was ok. Later that evening, we ate at the coffee shop since Stinger Rays was closed due to the conflict with the luau. At least that’s what we were told. This was pretty good. Reasonably priced. Giant sandwiches and really good sweet potato fries.
We’d certainly stay here again.

This resort property is absolutely beautiful! The location is great, they have a farmers market during the week that’s just outside and it’s extremely close to SeaQuest for any snorkeling or boat adventures. My only issues are that the pool closes really early, we’re used to pools being open until 10−11pm, etc but even the hot tub «closes» at 10pm. Also, there isn’t much here for food. You’ve got a breakfast buffet which is okay at best, our service was excellent, but it’s just your basic breakfast buffet. We did happen to eat at the little café by the pool — excellent! I was disappointed we didn’t try it until the last day! Rays on The Bay is just okay and you can’t see any manta rays from the restaurant, or we couldn’t the 4 nights we went. You can walk around on the patio even if you aren’t dining though to check it out.
Also, renting a cabana was absolutely pointless. We went to rent one and saw that no other cabanas had been rented but the one we wanted was full of people. So we rented another one instead, they never told the other people to move off the cabanas, and our server was supposed to bring us water and food and after 2 hours had not shown up even though they were walking around. She finally came over and said she had no idea anyone had rented a cabana today… Even though people are on them. They were supposed to give us a refund for the rental but never did.

My high school had prom here and that was a fun experience as always. We got a room with one of my friends grandmas and she was out of the room when we got back. When we got to the room ourselves, we put the key in and it wouldn’t work. We took it down to the lobby and they took our key and said they would send security up.
We waited outside the room for 20 minutes plus. When the security got there they told us that they couldn’t let us in because it wasn’t registered under our name which is understandable for safety reasons. We were going to wait it out and find her grandmother (however after five hours of dancing we clearly weren’t the happiest).
The main concern was that one of the girls that was staying in our room has severe anxiety. She started to get really nervous and break down. We went down to the lobby and tried to explain that. All of our items were in the room we could explain in detail everything in there, we had a key card that they took, and the girl had her medicine in our room, in her bag, with her name on the bottle that matched her permit (state identification) that was also in the room. They still refused and said that her permit was not proper identification. It has her name, signature, and the state seal. What could be more proper? The entire thing was definitely a long event that someday I’ll tell to my kids.
In other news, I’m still upset that they wouldn’t let my friend have her medicine even when she had proof that it was our room. It was very dangerous and hurtful. Denying someone there medicine is absolutely awful. We have already booked our prom elsewhere for next year. Let’s hope we don’t get locked out again.

It’s run down like a lot of hotels in Hawaii now. No ROOM SERVICE ANYMORE. Are you kidding me!

This review is for Sheraton Kona restaurants:
We were renting a private condo near the Sheraton, and walked there twice for a meal out: dinner at Ray’s On The Bay, and the other time lunch at the poolside restaurant. Ray’s food was mediocre (no desire to return), but the food served at the poolside restaurant was sub-​par. My husband ordered an appetizer of wings, and they looked gray and appeared to be warmed up left-​overs from at least 2 days prior. We barely ate any of our entrees. We didn’t complain to the waitress, but she could tell we didn’t like our food, so she took the appetizers off the bill.
There aren’t restaurants within less than a mile of this hotel, so guests have no choice but to eat at the hotel, unless they have a car or take the trolley to an off-​site restaurant.

My husband and I stayed at the Sheraton Kona Resort for 6 Days 5 Nights while visiting the Big Island. The hotel is located about 20 – 30 min south of the Kona Airport and about 15 min south of all the tourist spots/​town area where are the restaurants/​shops are in Kailua-​Kona.
Located in the beautiful Keahou Bay the hotel itself upon entry has a beautiful view. The lobby is beautiful with its spectacular view of the bay and the staff very friendly. We were able to check-​in about an hour early. There is a daily $ 30 resort fee which is kind of annoying but the pool area is quite nice. I guess it must pay for the free parking and your «2 free bottles of water daily»
The rooms were clean unfortunately we just had a view of the mountains instead of the ocean which was still beautiful. The bathrooms a bit dated and kind of had a weird body odor smell which was tolerable but still clean and definitely a lot of outdoor patio seating if you just want to lounge around outside to relax and enjoy the view.
I wanted to order room service and so I was looking all over the room for a menu but there was none available and so I called to have a menu delivered to us but it never came. I guess I could have tried to call again but instead just drove out of the hotel to the Keahou shopping plaza which is just a few minutes away. There were also no paper or pens in the room to jot anything down?
I appreciate the fact that at the hotel they would post daily activities such a lei making classes, manta ray talks, yoga and hula classes and more. I mean there were quite a number of things to do while staying here at the Sheraton. It is definitely not walking distance to any restaurants or shops unless you really want to go for a nice long stroll. They do offer a free trolley service which is also a plus.
I did go to their gym which was very nice and included water, towels, cool towels and a number of cardio machines, weights and more. We did hang out at the pool a lot which was nice and the husband loved the water slide.
Our stay here was nice and very relaxing but it was just really quite a distance from stores and restaurants. Definitely need a car from the hotel unless you don’t mind taking the trolley around!

Really disappointing. Staff «clueless». Cold food on Room
Service wrong items too.
Understaffed. Does not work as a relaxing hotel. Suggest you try others here in Kona which are better, at lower cost. I will not be back.

After having stayed at a competitor on Hawaii’s Kona cost, I was able to make some comparisons. The Sheraton is a beautiful property. The room was well appointed. I loved the toiletries! The bathroom had a spacious bathtub which was comfortable for relaxing. The balcony off the room had bar seating and a bar height table, which was great for people watching and enjoying the general scenery. I did notice that there was some attention to detail missing that was more on point at the competition’s resort. My room service order was missing a few items. I did address it, and it was remedied. Also, I believe that there was an error in the menu pricing for the breakfast buffet. On the digital board in the lobby (which was really very helpful) the price was listed differently than the amount I was charged in the restaurant. I did not make the opportunity to address the issue, as it was only a couple of dollars. I also had to ask for the 15% discount on my meal that I’m offered as an SPG Gold member.
Meal pricing was competitive, however. I did enjoy my stay at the Sheraton, and I would stay there again. Aloha!

First time in Hawaii I was very skeptical of where I was staying. My travel agent assisted me with giving me a few options. She advised me that her experience at the Sheraton was fantastic so her being my travel agent, I trusted her. And man was she right!
This place is fantastic for the price. Very private and secluded from everyone who isn’t staying the Sheraton. Privacy was a big issue for me before getting a room.
When you first check in there is a window at the lobby, the moment you look through that window is a breath of fresh air and the best welcoming view you can imagine!
The resort is beautiful and the pool is great! They let us swim in the pool at 1am in the morning which was very romantic! The little tiki fires were on, no one else was in the pool, view of the dark ocean and dim lights in the pool with perfectly warm water.
I would definitely come back again and again and again!!! Recommend to ANYONE who is looking for a non crowded place, BIG resort where you can even step out of your room and walk around the property and not be bothered. Loved it here.

First time in Hawaii and this place looked amazing on the website. I have a friend who works for Starwood so she got me a slightly discounted rate. Seemed like a no brainer.
When we checked in, I was impressed by the beautiful lobby. It really is nice, and the view is great. Good start. Checking in, the person manning the desk gave us a hard time because the reservation was under my name but my boyfriend was paying with his credit card. Apparently everything MUST match or you’ll be shamed for 5 minutes until they agree to take your money. K.
We had a partial ocean view room on the 6^th floor which did have exactly that, a partial ocean view. I was pleased with the view although the rest of it was the roof of the hotel which is an eyesore. But again, the ocean view was very nice.
Rooms are dated. Bathroom is not nice. Whatever, we hardly spent any time there, although it would’ve been nice to have a shower that was better.
Pool feels like spring break and not in a good way. We went the first day and didn’t go back because we were horrified. You’re treated like a criminal — you must have a wristband (whose color changes daily) to be in the pool area and you have to sign out towels with the threat of being charged $ 25 per towel that doesn’t come back. I asked the employee who put the wristband on me if they really have that big of a problem with people who aren’t staying here sneaking in or towels disappearing. She said «Not really.» K.
In case you didn’t do your research, there is literally nothing to do here if you are an adult not looking to drink yourself into oblivion at the pool bar. Rent a car or you’ll be marooned on this island of 80s decorating and bad tattoos.
The nicest thing about this hotel was that every day when we came back to our room after a long day of hiking, snorkeling, etc the bed was made, new towels, etc. Except one day we came back about 5 pm and our room hadn’t been cleaned. When I called guest services I got no apology, just an offer to send up fresh towels so we could get ready for dinner. K.
Stars are for the lobby and the lovely people who run the activities — yoga, lei making, ukulele lessons. You da real MVP.
In summary, next time I come to the big island I’ll find an Airbnb or a hostel. This place simply wasn’t worth it.

We were there in late August of last year. Nice resort, but really outdated. I was really afraid after reading all the horrific reviews, but lucky for us, we found no bugs or roaches in our room. we were given an ocean front view, and not some lame ocean view they try to pass off as ocean front. Our room was situated right in front of the area where the manta rays come to visit so there were lots of boats out there every night, but we weren’t able to see the rays unless we were actually out there on the shore.
This hotel does not have a swimmable beach because of all the lava rocks, but it’s got a huge pool which extends around the bar and the water was nice and warm even at 9am which we took serious advantage of.
The food is not very good here. We tried Rays and the main dining room where they have the breakfast buffet, very pricey and nothing stood out. I recommend driving into town for more reasonable price and better food. we enjoyed our stay overall, close to town and airport.

Most importantly, the rooms were clean and the staff was full of aloha. Those two items along with the fact that it’s conveniently located off of Ali’i Drive made our two days a 4 star stay.
With that said, the property itself is old and it shows. It’s a very 70s-​80sesque design with too much concrete and not enough greenery. My biggest suggestion to this place is to invest some money in bringing in plants/​flowers/​trees. The abundance of concrete makes the resort feel kind of stale. Greenery would greatly enhance the experience for guests.
I will say though, the pool area is impressive. It has a massive waterslide for kids, and it’s situated along the shoreline so you can relax while listening to waves crash, assuming kids aren’t screaming.
Overall, we were pleased with our two night stay (Just under $ 200/​night). Definitely pay the extra $ 7/​day and get valet, because like others have mentioned the self park lot is a hike
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A couple of notes about some of the other complaints, and I mean no disrespect to the poster:
Every resort I’ve stayed at in Hawaii has wristbands for the pool. They do this to keep non-​guests from using them. This is trickier than it sounds, because the beaches (N/​A here per se) are public and non-​guests are given access by law. The wristbands keep tabs on who has paid to use the hotel amenities.
As far as the check-​in/​out towel situation, I’ve never stayed at a resort that didn’t have a system for monitoring towel usage.

Such a beautiful hotel! From the beautiful landscaped grounds, views of the ocean going to eternity, and to the lava walls where you can hear the waves crashing on to. My husband and I stayed here two years ago and it’s so nice to come back to this beautiful hotel.
When you first enter the hotel, they have these large open shutters where you can see miles away of a beautiful garden, the ocean and beautiful homes near the property.
The employees are super sweet and very helpful, I love the open floor plan of the actual hotel to their beautiful rooms. When you walk around the exterior of the property, they have a sand volleyball court to a park-​like setting with stationed exercise equipment.
They also have a Keiki cave where my kids would play foosball to ping pong every morning. I won’t even talk about their huge pool with a slide that my kids went on at least 100 times when we were there for only 6 days. I went on the slide at least 50 times because it was so much fun!
With all that said, that is not the best part of this hotel. Oh no… It was the washer and dryer on every other floor that’s $ 1.75 per wash/​per dry. Yes!!! For all the families out there, you can do your laundry at this hotel for just $ 1.75. I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Its in a beautiful spot for a hotel. Someone should replace the company that runs it. I reserved two rooms REQUESTED connecting rooms. I was told at 11am my rooms would be ready, assured they connected. I go back at the said time of 1−2pm, at 3 (full hour later) I have no rooms! I’m asked if they called me (
does take down the number, email address for apparently no reason), which of course why would anyone? «Sorry there’s nothing we can do about that.» So I have eight smaller bags, I go into line a third time dressed in my beach wear because the party of for was changing to go into Kona. They sent us to bell service four hundred feet away. Guess what, bell service said the room was ready! Back in line for the fourth time. Now, my rooms don’t connect! The staff says «sorry there’s nothing we can do about that. » By the way the people in that connecting room, checked in an hour ahead of me!
The room does feature a toilet seat that is crumbling, maybe painted. Night stands with lamps and not enough plugs to use them. And showers tgat have absolutely no pressure. Fifteen minutes for a quick shower! But th e view is great. Go ti Uncle Bill’s. For about 120/​night it can’t be any worse.

We stayed at the Sheraton during our Kona stay for 9 days. Staff is very friendly and accommodating. They have a huge pool with a huge slide, two restaurants, one café and a store inside the resort. You can get to the town center by taking the trolley for free. It starts running at 9 am and last trip is at 7:30 pm. Kind of starts late and ends early but you can always try to get a cab if anything. Rooms are clean. Beautiful landscape. They have farmers market 9 – 3 on Wednesdays for the tourists to get some fresh produce coffee food and jewelry. You can also book your excursions from the concierge at the resort.

They don’t even deserve 1 star. The WORST hotel I’ve stayed at in my life and this was part of my honeymoon stay.
It was extremely filthy, outdated and poorly managed.
They even overbooked the room that they upgraded for us because of the filth of the first room we were checked into.
They false advertise the description of the views of your room. Partial ocean view is the view of the parking lot. You need a ladder to be able to see and piece of the ocean at all.
I would never recommend to stay here.
The Only part that was worth the experience here was the MANTA RAY DIVES that they offer

Sometimes, I like to mix it up with the vacationing mainland tourists.
Sometimes, I like to play in the giant pool that has a stoopid water slide.
Sometimes, I like to pay exorbitant prices for silly cocktails served in plastic cups from the pool bar.
Sometimes, I like to eat at a high-​end resto which is associated with this resort (Rays on the Bay).
Most of the time, I love enjoying life wherever I am on the Big Island.
Mahalo

I have to admit I was petrified about staying here. With an average of 3.5 stars and some really scathing reviews I held my breath. I have to say that that I was very impressed.
The Pros
1. Location location location. This place sits on some beautiful if rocky beachfront. The lava cliffs are magnificent to look at especially with the waves crashing.
2. Really fun pool slide that my kid wore a path through.
3. A lot of free activities such as lei making, hula, and ukulele lessons. The lady running it all, «Aunty Tutu or Aunty Grandma» was so cheerful and enthusiastic.
4. Rooms were clean and the beds comfy.
5. There is a farmers market held just past self parking where you can stock up on local fruits, sweets, breads, and crafts.
6. Every single staff member I crossed path with said hello with a smile.
The Cons
1. The place is pretty old and there was some cosmetic work to be done with cracked paint.
2. The elevators were a nightmare. If, and I do mean if, they were working they were super slow. Thankfully we were only on the fourth floor near the stairs.
3. Self-​parking is a trek which is fine unless it’s 90% humidity at high noon.
4. Unless I missed it, no sandy beach is part of the property though there are several nearby.
5. A medium size latté cost $ 6! That’s robbery! Robbery I say!
All in all, the troops and I had a great time and it set a positive tone for our vacation.
Note: We got into Kona around 10:30 PM about a 30 – 45 minute drive from Kona airport however if you drive like a Californian it’s about 20 – 30 minutes. It is pretty darn dark on some parts so not only use GPS but make sure to get directions from the rental car guys.