Royal Kona Resort?

[Dopey13]

My wife and I where just notified that we can make a trade to goto the Royal Kona Resort in Hawaii Jan 30-Feb6. It would cost us 252 pts for a 2 bedroom.

1. Has anyone stayed there before?
2. What is there to do and see?
3. How are the resturants?
4. What are some of your likes and dislikes?
5. How is the weather at that time?

We have until 9-22-03 to decide if we want to make the trade.

Thank you for your help?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Dopey13
My wife and I where just notified that we can make a trade to goto the Royal Kona Resort in Hawaii Jan 30-Feb6. It would cost us 252 pts for a 2 bedroom.

1. Has anyone stayed there before?
2. What is there to do and see?
3. How are the resturants?
4. What are some of your likes and dislikes?
5. How is the weather at that time?

We have until 9-22-03 to decide if we want to make the trade.

Thank you for your help?

I assume you are talking about the Kona Coast Resort. I haven't stayed there but have reviewed the ratings and talked to many that have stayed there. It appears to be a great resort. I know there are members on this board that have traded for KCR. While it's a lot of points, I doubt you'll be disappointed. It's rated a 9.1 on TUG with many responses. There are a number of reviews if you want to join TUG to read them.

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by Dopey13
My wife and I where just notified that we can make a trade to goto the Royal Kona Resort in Hawaii Jan 30-Feb6. It would cost us 252 pts for a 2 bedroom.

Please double-check the name of the resort. The Royal Kona Resort is the former Kona Hilton hotel in Kailua-Kona.

I assume that DVC actually offered the Kona Coast I or Kona Coast II resort to you. These resorts are two phases of a large timeshare resort, several miles south of Kailua-Kona.

1. I've stayed at Kona Coast I.

2. There is plenty to see and do on the Big Island of Hawaii. Volcano National Park is the highlight of an all-day trip around the island. Kona Coast I and II are not beachfront resorts, but you can drive to nearby beaches. The Luau at the Royal Kona Resort in Kailua-Kona was wonderful (but it's been many years since we were there).

3.There's a small restaurant next to the pool at Kona Coast II, which serves guests at I and II. There are many restaurants in Kailua-Kona.

3. Dislike: To do anything, you had to drive. Like: Large grocery store, near entrance to Kona Coast, was convenient.

4. The weather is fine all year. I've been to Kona in summer and winter, and it seemed equally warm and sunny.

 

[Dopey13]

Dean and Werner,

The resort we are staying at is the Kona Coast. Thank you for your help.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We did an exchange to the Kona Coast REsort just last year. It is on a lovely golf course and has some beautiful sunset views. We liked walking along the rocky coast in the evenings..There were lots of blow holes etc. there.

You will want a car for the Big Island, because everything you will want to see and do is a drive. We usually spend one day going to Volcanos National park, another for Hilo and area, and another for the Kohala coast area and Parker Ranch.

Be sure to take advantage of the tours available through Kona Coast Resort. We decided to take the timeshare tour, and got some great discounts on the tours. We did a circle island flight that took us over the vocano (small plane, not helicopter), and did a wagon ride into Waipio Valley (WELL worth it!) We also drove to all the other sites we wanted to visit. This was not our first time, so we had good knowledge of what we wanted to do. BE sure to visit the Greenwell farms coffee plantation!

 

[pawurst]

Kona Coast II is a very nice resort. We have owned there since 1995. We have made 4 trips, although we have not been there in the past 4 years. Tough trip with a 4 year old and 18 month. Now it is DVC for the time being.

Many great restaurants on the big island. Enjoy if you decide to make the trip.

 

[TexasAggie]

My FIL owns 2 weeks there and we have been there 3 times. The last time we were there was this past Christmas. It is a nice resort, but it is starting to show its age. The first condo they put us in had many problems, broken fan, broken ac and the kitchen appliances were in poor shape.
Also, he has to pay extra as a owner for the ac to be turned on. I think it is $10 per day. Will you have to pay this for a exchange?

I agree with everyones comments about the Big Island. It is our favorite one to go to and the fishing is suspose to be the best there, but all we every caught was a skip jack tuna!

 

[WDWorld2003]

We were on the Big Island a year ago and loved it! I would recommend the book "Hawaii - The Big Island Revealed" - lots of great information on things to do and places to stay. There are also many great websites.

We stayed up on the Kohala Coast for a few days at the Hapuna Prince Hotel - wonderful!!!! It was a work conference so after the conference was over we then went to the town of Volcano & stayed in a Bed & Breakfast for a few nights (it was a truly Hawaiian experience!) We then went over to Kona and stayed at Kanaloa at Kona (condos). It was a great trip - just not long enough - the island is very large!

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is fascinating - we did a hike through the rain forest, explored the lava tubes, and drove the Chain of Craters Road at night - didn't see the lava flowing but it was a wonderful experience for us and our kids. The town of Volcano is also very unique. Also, on that side of the island are the Hawaii Botanical Gardens and the Mauna Loa Macademia Nut Farm - both worth seeing. The gardens in the town of Hilo are beautiful, too.

We also did a great snorkeling trip out of Kona with Fair Winds (the highlight of the trip) I'd recommend the snack trip instead of lunch as there were not as many people on the boat. Boogie boarding and just hanging out at Hapuna Beach on the Kohala coast is absolutely wonderful!

You could spend a long time on this island before you saw it all. There's so much we missed and can't wait to go back. It's alot like Disney World - don't try and do it all - pick a few areas and concentrate on those - it's all beautiful. Have a great trip!