Eeyore, there were LOTS of tropical clothes around the Poly, not only on CM's but on guests! I saw lots of ladies in tropical sundresses and many men in Hawaaian shirts. My Dad wore his personal fave, a bright red Hawaaian-Mickey shirt we bought him last year. You will not be out of place in fun, bright clothes.
We had two adjoining rooms. Mom's room clearly wasn't as cold as ours. We called maintenance and they were at the door within 5 minutes. The nice gentleman fiddled with the A/C unit and within a few minutes the room was freezing. Again, Raratonga had just been re-opened so we anticipated few problems.
We were thrilled with the location. We had a ground floor room with a beautiful view toward the quiet pool. We were steps away from the lobby (and drink refills) and the Volcano pool. The kids loved it. We felt in the middle of everything, yet also peaceful. We had breakfast every morning at Kona Cafe (reasonable) then would tour the property or swim in the afternoon. It was extremely hot when we were there, close to 100 degrees. This actually worked out well as we did nothing but relax, right on grounds. It was truly wonderful. The property is beautiful in the morning and evening. I got lots of great pics. Make time to stroll to the Grand Floridian on the path along the beach. We did this and it was just lovely.
We had a magical stay and feel that the location, grounds and amenities of the Poly make it "practically perfect in every way." Have fun!