What are the DOWNSIDES to staying at Aulani?

[Noodlez]

Getting real disappointed hearing all the complaints. I always wanted to go but it doesn't sound worth it.

Perhaps you're reading the wrong thread?
I have only been to Hawaii 3 times. The first time I had never heard of Aulani. The second I stayed there for the majority of my stay (in fact all of my land based stay). The third time I stayed for 4 nights, but spent the majority in other hotels. If I go back I will 100% try to stay at Aulani, but I will also not stay there for 100% of the time. Someone was asking for the actual downsides to staying there. People aren't complaining, they're giving an honest answer to the question asked. Hopefully this will let people make a balanced judgement and not feel any disappointment if they do decide to go.

 

[jimmymc]

Getting real disappointed hearing all the complaints. I always wanted to go but it doesn't sound worth it.

People will always find reasons to complain. If you get a good price, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives.

 

[J-Dog]

People will always find reasons to complain. If you get a good price, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Also, IMO most of these complaints are fairly petty/minor. If multiple people complained about dirty rooms, rundown pools, food poisoning, etc., then it might be an issue.

Maybe it's just me, but whether or not the shave ice is pre-made is not going to make me give up on Aulani.

 

[IndyToThere]

Makahiki a Disappointment: Perhaps it was better when it was a buffet, but my family's prix fixe dinner there was unremarkable at best. The food was just bland. We enjoyed sitting on the patio, but beyond that the meal was a letdown. We had a much better time having small plates and tasty drinks on the patio at the 'Olelo Room (which I love).

Just got back from a 4-night stay at Aulani / 4-night stay on Kauai split-Hawaii trip. I agree about Makahiki - it was the only disappointing item for us. It probably didn't help that we just had dinner at Ama'Ama the night before (so our expectations were a bit higher), but Makahiki is not worth it at the $80/person fixed price level. You get one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert per person. Our food was just 'ok' and service was mediocre. I had the Ahi tuna, and it was cooked all the way through (not what I was expecting). Like you said, we could have ate at Olelo room next door for half the cost and had just as good if not better experience (which we did on our first night).

But other than that, I enjoyed the resort and would stay there again if at Oahu. While there are a lot of kids, you can at least get away and lounge at the adult pool - not all resorts on Hawaii have this. We were at Koloa Landing on Kauai, which had a lot of kids as well and sadly no adult-only pool.

As for the beach - yeah, it's a manufactured lagoon. Nice for the small kids. While a proper beach would be more fun, not all water-front resorts even have beaches (our place on Kauai just had rocks), so be thankful you get a beach at Aulani. That said, you can always drive to a nice public beach if you want something different.

 

[Carl Wegner]

I think Aulani shares the same pros and cons as all of the other Ko Olina resorts. Once you settle on Ko Olina as your destination, is there a specific downside to Aulani?

To me, the only real downside specific to Aulani is the aggressive, hoarding, FOMO, intensity of that one particular segment of the Disney fan base which can turn a real chill aloha vibe into something unnecessarily intense really quickly.