Kona Coast Resort Reviews & Ratings

Lovely grounds. Sunset Terrace restaurant on site with good food and great staff. Walking distance to grocery and farmer's markets. Comfortable beds and clean units.

Beautiful location off of Ali'i Drive. Quiet and peaceful grounds, close to all. Plenty of space, gorgeous pool onsite with bar/restaurant for ease of use. Units vary, but we saw no bad locations. Kona Coast Resort has a great team onsite. Loved the ease of a full kitchen, lanai, family room, private bedrooms, W/D in the unit. Can't wait to go back!

Kona Coast Resort is simply amazing! It is a GREAT resort, and there is SO much to do on the Big Island! If you've never been, you must go.

Kona Coast Resort is perfectly located to access the events of the Ironman World Championship. It is bordered by the Kona Country Club golf course, and within a short walk to the beach, harbor, Keahou Bay snorkeling and shopping center. The resort rooms are comfortable, air conditioned and there is a restaurant - bar on site.

Kona Coast Resort is absolutely ideal for family vacations, romantic getaways, and golf vacations to the Big Island. Enjoy two swimming pools (one family pool with a children's pool and one quiet spa pool), three Jacuzzis, sauna, playground, tennis courts, volleyball, ocean view fitness center, and on-site activities like hula lessons and dive instruction.

Spacious Phase I layout, we loved it! Kitchen counters & cabinets have been renovated since our stay two years ago. We enjoyed the "Quiet" pool near this older Phase I of the resort. Great snorkeling and shopping are an easy drive from resort.

Spent 9 nites in Feb. 2009. Units are redone, good size and very comfortable. I was in least desirable area near maintenance bldg. But place was quiet and clean.

I just returned from a two week visit to my two bedroom two bath unit (9- 201) at KCR I and my family and I had a grand visit there from December 13- 27. I am an owner and I had rented an additional week. The unit has been upgraded, redecorated, and is very well maintained. The staff is very pleasant and accommodating.

We plan a return visit in a similar timeframe in two years.

KC1 and KC2 share the same property but have distinctly different units. Redweek did not see fit to separate the listings (despite prompting) until recently. This may be related to KC1 recently being downgraded to Silver Crown by RCI and Select (one grade below Premier) in II's new rating system (while KC2 maintains its top ratings). That still makes KC1 a pretty nice resort, with a great location and good amenities.

A refurbishment was recently completed at KC2. Owners are generally pleased with the results, although some feel the large units are overfilled with furniture and the color scheme is too dark and contrasts with the light colored kitchens (not refurbished). Shell Vacations is now proceeding with a refurbishment of KC1, however, they have not stated how many units will be included or what the timetable is. Until then, many prospective owners, renters and exchangers will be in a crap shoot regarding what quality level they will get. This is the reason for the 2 star rating. A refurbished unit would likely merit 4 or 5 stars.

stayed in 1st floor unit in building 12 - entire building other than our unit was being worked on. Jack-hammer noise began at 7:30 am and continued to 4 pm. Bed worst one ever slept on...Bed itself was 18" below the top of the bedside table that was next to it and not quite level with the BOTTOM of the headboard. called 1st day arrived Saturday and asked for help on bed - "sorry, nothing they could do, but member services will be in Monday, would I like to leave a voice mail for them?" Maid service sent over a TWIN-sized egg crate (bed was a King) that could not be used under the sheets because the sheets were too tight. Called member services first thing Monday morning and told "hewas on jury duty that day". Begged front desk to care for somehow. Finally, extra padding added to bed. Maid said she would report the condition of the mattress. Said several in the resort need to be replaced. Also, during stay, Lost from unit 14 kt gold earrings. Reported to front desk. They said they would notify security. I was never contacted by security--no follow-up with me ever done. Large cock-roaches in kitchen probably because all the doors in the building were left open all day while the rest of the units being worked on.

My husband and I just returned from a 7 night vacation at the Kona Coast Resort. The accomodations were ok. The furniture very uncomfortable and they charged an extra $8 or $9 per day to get a "key" to turn on the A/C which was badly needed. You got 2 pool towels for the entire stay, so you had to wash and dry them on a daily basis if used. The check-in procedure was long and arduous, standing in line after a long travel day. The resort is fronted by a golf course and not directly on the ocean. Most units DO NOT have an Ocean View, so you are always looking into other units while dining or sitting on the Lanai. If you wanted to turn on the news at night, the televisions are located on the floor inset into the kitchen bar so you're constantly looking over the coffee table to see it. And, it's a long drive to get to anything. Very disappointing. Glad our second week was on the Kohala Coast.

We just spent a week at KCR 1 and consider the 1 BR unit we were in one of the nicest we've seen in 15 years of vacations in timeshares. We were in a building which has a golf course/ocean view. The unit was beautifully updated. We've stayed in (and own) in more luxurious resorts, but think the units here are first class. No fancy restaurants and smallish ordinary pools, but the grounds are well maintained and attractive. We knew about the need to pay a daily $8 fee for AC and were happy to pay it. The first night the thermostat didn't work properly but maintenance came over immediately and replaced it. We had no problems other than a surprise that we had to get pool towels before 5pm as no one was available to hand them out after that even though the pool was open until 10pm.

One thing that might be of interest to some of you is that our unit's second bathroom was fully handicap accessible with a walk-in (roll-in) shower.

We did have a few bugs in the kitchen (which we quickly determined came out of the sink drain and solved that by keeping the drain cover closed. Overall, we were very pleased with our experience here.

We really liked the location of the resort, but it's not walking distance to town if you want that. One of the best snorkeling beaches is about a mile away and a nice shopping center across the street. We are looking forward to returning and are considering a purchase from one of those list on this site.

just returned from 2 weeks at Kona Coast Resort.We stayed in phase11 which has been completely redone. Beautiful master-suite w/door leading to patio. Beautiful marble flooring and shower w/large soaking tub in the master. Good size 2nd bedroom and another full bath w/large shower. 3 television sets. Full washer & dryer. Large living room/dining room and kitchen combo with a large deck. Safe is located in unit free of charge..the only thing that disappointed me was a charge perday for air conditioning, but at least it is available if you want it. 2 beautiful pools and 3 jacuzzis also a nice restaurant and work out facility on the grounds. Can't wait to go back next fall.

Returned from a week at Kona Coast Resort Phase II. It was fantastic!! The one bedroom unit was large and clean and totally bug free with two full bathrooms.

The full renovation of Phase II is also just about complete. We had an updated unit and everything is brand new. The beds, kitchen, the washer, the carpets, furniture and paint, everything is new. The only thing that puzzled us was their choice to install brand new TV/VCR combos. Who uses video tapes anymore? Even the video rental store across the street only rents DVD's.

The clubhouse and pools were all great. Being directly across from the islands largest outdoor mall with a video rental store, movie theater, pharmacy, full grocery store, etc was wonderful.

Costco is a short drive away and a great way to save a bundle on food and they have the cheapest gas on the island.

Coffee plantations are a short drive and the volcano park isn't that far and makes a great day trip.

Now that I've stayed here I may actually want to own!!

We stayed in a two bedroom unit here in June. I'll give it credit for being the largest two bedroom timeshare we have ever seen. It was nicely decorated, but old and worn. The seventies toilet broke, and the drier did not work. The bathroom and kitchen cabinets were falling apart. The unit was infested with the largest cockroaches we have ever seen. We enjoyed having a restaurant and bar next to the pool. If it had been kept up more we would given the unit a higher rating.

We, a family of 4, stayed at the Kona Coast Resort Phase I (building 9, unit 201) from August 12-19, 2006 on an RCI exchange. We had a very spacious 2 bedroom unit. The trees in front of the balcony were pruned shortly after we arrived, so we had a distant view of the ocean. The decor was outdated, but I was told that the units would be updated in the near future. The grounds were well manicured, but with so many things to do in Kona, we didn’t spend much time at the resort. The location of the resort can’t be beat. Kahalu’u Beach, excellent for snorkelling, was about 1 mile away, and the Keahou Shopping Centre, with grocery store, drug store, and restaurants was just across the street.

During our stay, we went to the timeshare presentation for Shell Vacations Club and had a tour of a Phase 2 unit. The Phase 2 units had just been beautifully redecorated (especially compared to the Phase 1 unit we had) and many of the Phase 2 units were situated along the outskirts of the golf course and had nicer ocean views. Our 2 bdrm Phase 1 unit was, however, considerably larger than the 2 bdrm Phase 2 unit we toured during the presentation.

The resort offers an Island Orientation. The true purpose of this orientation is to sign people up for timeshare presentations. If you are interested in obtaining information on the island, don’t bother attending the orientation ... the presentation on things to do and see was very brief and uninformative. However, if you are interested in discounts on activities, then consider attending a timeshare presentation and getting a Diamond Card which gives you substantial savings on various activities.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the Kona Coast Phase 1.

We arrived at Kona April 20th, 2006, and Stayed at the Marriot Waikaloa for a couple days before going to KCR. The Marriot is undergoing construction, which we didn’t know. If you need to stay in a place before or after try the Sheraton at Keauhou which is right down the street from KCR and has a beautiful location. We went down there one night for martinis and watched the luau for free. Go figure. Anyway, at KCR Saturday the 22nd, we tried to check in early but no go. AAMOF we couldn’t check in until 430pm which is late IMHO. It was busy, but they were moving things along as best as two people could. There are a lot of units and it’s a busy place on the weekends. There unit, building 20, third floor was in fine shape. We got the AC option which I’m glad of because building 20 faces the sunset and it gets hot in the afternoon. I specifically ask for this building because a map I had said it faced the ocean and golf course, but this is not true. The view is OK, but it’s mostly parking lot. Next time I’d try for buildings 23-26 which have nothing in between them and the golf course and ocean view. The ocean is on the far side of the golf course. I saw people walking on the GC down to the water, but there are no-trespassing signs so if the Kona CC wants to they could boot you, especially if you’re interfering with one of the $100 rounds of golf. We played golf a few times. The best courses for hacks like me are the upcountry courses (Big Island CC) where it’s cool and not too busy. Kona CC is not busy, but it will set you back $100 even with the TeeTimesHawaii golf discount card (highly recommended for golfers in HI). We used the main pool and it had the usual infestation of kids (when will parents learn that not everyone thinks there kids are cute? I don’t get it). It seems the weekend that people were using the pool that weren’t staying there – just a guess (owners, do you know this???), because during the week it was much less crowded. There area has easy access and plenty of places to eat and shop. The mail across the street has everything you need to stock the fridge. The beer at Drysdales is not cold; lunch is good, but no luck for dinner. The food at the resort is OK is you don’t expect fine dining. It’s a pub and that’s what you get. Staff is very helpful, friendly, etc, etc. The best place to eat is Roy’s up in Waikaloa. They have an Outback, Denny’s. The weather was perfect. All in all well worth the trip.

My family of 4 stayed here for one week in late August 2005, using an exchange through Interval International. We had a one bedroom unit on the second floor of building 18, in Phase II overlooking the golf course. Overall a very nice and well maintained complex.

Our one bedroom was very large, with plenty of space. The unit was clean and well-stocked with towels and cooking gear. The TVs were OK, but there was no DVD player in the unit. Does anyone use a VCR any more? Full size washer and dryer in the unit. Other furnishings were quite good for a time share. We had the standard mid-week cleaning service. The resort has a small but nice pool, a kiddie pool, and jacuzzi within the pool area. The kiddie pool was particularly nice for us given that we had two preschoolers. There was a second smaller pool in Phase I that we did not visit. There is also a kids playground area. There is a short walking path that is really only good for short strolls, but is a great place to take pictures of the sunset. The staff was friendly and helpful. They had a welcome party on Monday that was not fancy, but was a nice gesture. It included some island music and hula dancers, finger food, and a fire dancer. Not the quality that you would get at a luau, but it was free and the kids thought it was fun. Overall, we give the place four stars based on cleanliness, location, furnishings, amenities, and friendliness of the staff. This is four stars for a time share, not a four star hotel—some reviewers tend to confuse the two. We highly recommend the Kona Coast Resort, and would stay there again if we go back to Kona.

Some other positives: Very friendly staff. Full size W/D. Nice balcony overlooking golf course, and a distant ocean view. Location near Kona but in a quiet area. Friendly staff. Pool/ beach toy rental on site (boogie boards, snorkels, beach chairs, etc). Free pool towels. A small amount of wildlife on site to entertain the kids—mongooses (?), geckos, birds. The resort gives you a restaurant card that gets you discounts at some places in Kona (you can get additional discounts if you sit through a time share sales pitch, which we did not). Less than half a mile from a shopping center with supermarket, restaurants, and movie theater. An activities desk to help you find and plan things to do and places to see. The resort let us rent at a reasonable rate an extra night in the same unit, which we needed because of our flights. The grounds are very well landscaped and maintained. Our daughter enjoyed the lei making class.

Some other negatives: The on site restaurant—the service was rude and slow, and the food was mediocre and overpriced. Don’t waste your money, but go into town or the nearby shopping center instead. The resort charges 6 bucks per day for air conditioning—its August in Hawaii for gods sake. The pull out sofa bed would not be acceptable for an adult, but was OK for our two preschoolers. Resort is not actually on the ocean, if that is important to you, but the ocean is always nearby in Hawaii.

Just returned from Christmas week at Kona Coast Resort Phase II (which we exchanged into). It was fabulous! Units large and clean and the one bedroom really does have two full bathrooms (so it worked fine for myself and two daughters). We were lucky to get a 2nd floor unit overlooking golf course and with ocean view. They had told me "only 10% of the units have an ocean view". No DVD, but everything else was clean, well kept, and attractive. Pool was excelent;poolside cafe nice, if a bit expensive. No beach access at all, but it's a great place to hang out. Shopping center right across the street - we walked to it almost every day.