What are the DOWNSIDES to staying at Aulani?

[crisi]

Give me an absolute break.

Kamehameha the Great was a warlord who united the Hawaiian islands through conquest and genocide. He practiced chattel slavery, rape, subjugation of women, and ritual HUMAN SACRIFICE.

So yeah the Hawaiian culture presented at Aulani is "sanitized" and it has nothing to do with colonialism or whatever neo-marxist ******** you want to come up with. It's because resort hotels aren't the place to talk about rape and genocide, even if the hotel had been built by 100% native Hawaiians.

You can (and should) visit museums and historic sites to learn about those things. They have no place in a family resort no matter who owns and operates the place.

Your cute little theory that everyone was beautiful and peaceful in the South Pacific until Europeans showed up to exploit the locals with their *gasp* capitalism might play well on Tumblr or a freshman seminar at Brown, but it doesn't hold up to even the slightest bit of historical scrutiny. "Real Hawaii" was a literal warzone.

Yes, as did Europeans throughout history. What exactly is your point? Some people are made uncomfortable by the commercialization of other people's cultures - not the sanitization - the commercialization. Other people are not. If you are the first, Aulani may not be the best vacation spot. If you are the second, you won't even notice it

 

[PetePanMan]

For us, it would be nice to have more walkable food / restaurant options. It is also important to have a car to enjoy other parts of the island, particularly if there for a week or more. Finally, although the reduced wave action is great for smaller kids, I definitely prefer a more natural beach rather than man made lagoons. Having said all this, we absolutely love Aulani.

 

[Lewisc]

People often talk about why to stay here. Sometimes it’s helpful to understand why NOT to stay somewhere. Let’s ignore cost and void on the resort. Talk me out of it!

This is a Disney fan forum. I'd expect the consensus would be pro Disney.

A few years ago I went to Hawaii; Maui, Aulani and Wakiki.

Aulani didn't really feel like being in Hawaii. It felt more like a Hawaiian themed Disney resort. You're on a man made lagoon. Water views, most of the resort aren't great. You have a somewhat long car ride to get to many destinations. Do you want to snorkel at Aulani or..Hamm..Bay? (spell check is evil)

I was a cash guest. Members using their points look at it differently.

 

[peder]

Ok finishing a stay and I have a few:

Everything opens late and closes early.

• It’s silly that you can’t get a pool or beach adult drink until 10 or after 5.
• Its silly that the tube slide closes at 6
• It’s even sillier that the bridge across the slide area closes at 6 adding several minutes to a walk to Off the Hook from half the pool area.
• It’s silly that the last kids club for the day starts at noon
• It’s really, really silly that the little kids area and snorkeling are only available for 5 hours a day
• It’s silly that only Uma Uma way in the corner of the property has a drink station available after 8.
• It’s silly that the main towel stand closes several hours before the pools

The food is mid and overpriced

The character breakfast is really poorly executed from top to bottom

there’s not enough blankets in a 1 bedroom for all of the beds, requiring a call and a tip

If the refillable soap / shampoo dispensers run out you have to call for more requiring a call and a tip

All of the ocean views are really partial ocean views

There’s a huge amount of undocumented or poorly documented things:

• signs to restaurants that haven’t existed in years View attachment 959274
• Activities listed in the app in the wrong spot (pretty much every free activity listed as community room was actually at aunty’s beach house)
• No documentation of any ability to cancel things online (turns out you can just reply to the confirmation email but that isn’t documented anywhere)
• Launa lounge no longer is reservation based despite what it says on the website.
• I could go on on this topic for pages. There’s so little documented and I had to google so many things that should just be on the website or in the app.

Overall Aulani is a 9/10 (at least) and I don’t want to pretend it isn’t, but you asked for negatives.

Good summary of the issues at Aulani, and also still giving a 9/10. We love the Ko Olina bubble, we love Aulani, we love the pools and the lagoon, we love the shops nearby, we love the food even if some items were hit or miss. But we really don't understand the operating hours at Aulani. The kids club especially is just bizarre, with 1.5 hr blocks. You can't even go to the spa for an overpriced massage because 1.5 hrs isn't enough turnaround time. Like, who thought it was a smart business idea to hurt your high-margin spa business by doing 90 min blocks instead of 120 min blocks at Aunty's? Just little things like that don't make any sense to me. But still, we stayed once and I immediately bought resale there, so....

Some posters here mentioning how far from Waikiki the resort is, and I think that's an advantage. We had very little desire to go into Honolulu. We stuck to the north side of the island or near Ko Olina (Electric Beach just north of there was fun for the kids, and Foodland in Kapolei had great fresh produce of all sorts that we don't get in the Plains states). We went down to Waikiki just once on our last trip, and I didn't see the advantage of the beach over the private lagoon at Aulani.

 

[petrola]

I don't know if I'd say there is a "downside" to staying at Aulani. My family and I loved staying at the resort -and can't wait to return this summer- however it wasn't the only resort we stayed at while we visited Hawaii. We like to explore and experience different places - so we also stayed in Waikiki Beach then over to Kauai. It's a far trip for us (we live on the East coast) so when we go - it's usually 12-15 days. I think if we opted to stay at Aulani the entire time, I guess that would be a "downside" to me - as there is so much to explore and see.

As far as the people with coolers - yes I've seen that and it's really odd to me. I'm not on vacation to do a full week's grocery shopping then cook and pack my own meals to eat at the pool. To each their own I guess.

The one downside was the amount of towels left on chairs after people left the pool or beach area. Is it too much effort to toss a used towel into the "used towel bin"? This way people won't have to wonder if they can use that chair or if someone is returning. And while I'm at it - please throw your used drink cup in the trash instead of leaving it poolside or under your beach chair. whew! I said it!

 

[peder]

Yes, as did Europeans throughout history. What exactly is your point? Some people are made uncomfortable by the commercialization of other people's cultures - not the sanitization - the commercialization. Other people are not. If you are the first, Aulani may not be the best vacation spot. If you are the second, you won't even notice it

Absolutely nobody cares that there's a fake Stave Church from Norway at Epcot (it's arguably blasphemous). Selectively caring about commercialization just reveals more about the person making the complaint.

 

[WinterSolider]

Aulani didn't really feel like being in Hawaii. It felt more like a Hawaiian themed Disney resort.

I would like to know where people are staying that they think feels more like "real" Hawaii. I'm talking the resort/hotel/lodging itself.

Because I've stayed in Volcano Village and Waikoloa and Kailua-Kona and Poipu and Waikiki and those hotels and homes all felt like hotels and homes. There's nothing especially "Hawaii" about hotels and homes. The Hawaii-ish stuff is what you do OUTSIDE of your lodging, wherever you happen to be staying.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Some posters here mentioning how far from Waikiki the resort is, and I think that's an advantage. We had very little desire to go into Honolulu. We stuck to the north side of the island or near Ko Olina (Electric Beach just north of there was fun for the kids, and Foodland in Kapolei had great fresh produce of all sorts that we don't get in the Plains states). We went down to Waikiki just once on our last trip, and I didn't see the advantage of the beach over the private lagoon at Aulani.

Yeah Waikiki is a hot mess imo. Glad to not go back there on my next trip.

Well this will probably offend someone but here it goes...

I think when people say Aulani doesnt feel "hawaii" are thinking of what they see in ads? It is very possible that other islands are what they think of when they think of Hawaii... I can say South Oahu is not nice. Ko Olina is nice. Oahu has a crime problem and has for a very long time. My mom was robbed at gun point walking home from work near Ala Moana when she lived there. Give me the man made lagoon and Mickey Mouse and the clean laid back vibe of Ko Olina any day over Waikiki, to me that feels more Hawaii than graffiti and locking my car doors and not leaving valuables inside because it will likely get broken into. When I told my mom Aulani was in Oahu she was rather shocked actually. Maybe the north shore is better just like any other place its possible north shore where its safer and cleaner.

My mom raves about Kauai maybe thats the Hawaii people are looking for, I cant say because I have never been. TBH before Aulani I had zero desire to visit Hawaii.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I am pretty sure I added my downside way back but I will add one since thats what OP wanted.

They really need to figure out a way to get a handle on the pool chair situation. (this didnt impact me as much as others since we prefer late day in the pool)