Since our original stay at Hapuna Prince Beach Hotel on the beautiful Kohala Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island, the resort as been renovated and rebranded as Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. We were excited to explore the improvements and provide you with our updated photos and thoughts.
Location
The resort may have changed names, but the excellent location remains the same. Hapuna Beach is a wonderful beach. It was once named the best beach in America by Dr. Beach.
Rooms
Prior to the renovations, the rooms were fine. The only thing that really showed age was the 90’s-looking sink stands in the bathroom. With the renovation, the rooms got a fantastic redesign.
The following photo shows our room with a king-size bed.
There’s a seating area.
Rooms include a mini-fridge and a coffee maker along with a kettle.
The lanai’s have a day-bed lounger and counter-height table and chairs.
Here’s another view from the lanai with an ocean view.
We stayed in a “Premiere Ocean” room. You can learn about their room categories here.
The bathrooms got a very nice update. The new cabinet at the sink was not only an aesthetic update, but a new source of storage space for the toiletry and grooming items we brought. Notice that there’s a step-in shower as well as a tub. The bathroom also has a water closet with a door.
Overall, the rooms are spacious and comfortable. The colors and decor of the renovation were very well done.
Pools
Prior to the renovation, the resort only had one pool. The renovation added an adults-only infinity pool and some decorative water features.
We spilt our time between the ocean and the infinity pool. We sure enjoyed both!
Here’s the original pool, which is still quite nice and spacious.
Resort Dining
Our vacation package included buffet breakfast at Ikena Landing, which was a wonderful start to the day. This buffet has a great variety and is really quite nice.
The pool-side restaurant, Naupaka Beach Grill was our favorite option for lunch and casual dinners. We enjoyed several meals at this grill.
The former Coast Grille, which was a favorite our ours, is now a Mediterranean restaurant named Merinda. The setting is lovely, but we didn’t try it as we prefer Hawaii regional cuisine when we’re in Hawaii.
In addition to the restaurants at Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel, guests can dine at the neighboring Mauna Kea Beach Hotel with room charge privileges. Complimentary shuttle service was offered between resorts in the evening.
See this link for more dining information at the Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel.
More notables:
- For more details about this hotel visit the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort website.
- There is a daily resort fee. At the most recent check in October 2019, it was $30.
- For more reviews, see TripAdvisor.
- We booked our stay via Costco Travel and it was a fantastic deal. Actually, we wrote about what a great deal it was and then determined we couldn’t let it pass. I think it may have been especially good as the resort was just reopening and onsite construction was in full swing on weekdays. If you do have a Costco membership, check their current pricing.
- For a return guest to this hotel site, we really missed the oceanfront tower. Sadly, it was sold off to become private residences.
- See more of our photos here.
Overall, we would recommend the Hapuna Beach Westin Hotel. We had friends traveling there at the same time as us. They all loved the resort.
Have you stayed at the Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel? How was your stay?
Sheila Beal
1 comment
We have stayed there twice: 2021 and 2023. As Marriott Platinum members, we enjoyed the amenities of the resort; however, we only received the Continental breakfast, not the full buffet. This could be a post-pandemic change since your review was from 2019. Guests who have any disability or trouble walking for any reason should be aware that even with multi-level elevators, getting to the beach is very difficult. Daily room service is still done at this resort, something that is rare these days. We will likely stay there again as we like the location and either stay there or at the Marriott Waikoloa Beach Resort.