Hapuna Beach Prince/Westin Hotel – Kohala Coast luxury for less

2019 Update: Here’s our updated review of the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort.

2018 Update: This resort has undergone a major renovation with newly designed rooms and the addition of an adults-only infinity pool. The resort has been rebranded to Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. See their website for updated photos and amenities.

The following information is based on our stay in 2015. Though some of the information is outdated, you will still get a feel for this excellent beach location.

On our recent visit to Hawaii Island, we split our stay between the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and their sister hotel, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Both were outstanding. We have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending both. Learn more about our Mauna Kea Beach Hotel stay here.

Location, location, location….YES!

We love the white sand beaches  along the pristine Kohala Coast of Hawaii, the Big Island. We just can’t get enough of it. The Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel sits on the edge of one of the Kohala Coast’s best beaches — Hapuna Beach. In fact, beach expert, Dr. Beach once named it the best beach in America.

Rooms

If you are like us, when you travel so far to get to Hawaii, you want to be able to see the ocean as much as possible. One of the great features of Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel is that every room has at least a partial ocean view. When we opened the door to our oceanfront room, we were immediately drawn to the view. I couldn’t stop myself from taking a brief (14-second) video from the lanai to share on Facebook. Not only did we enjoy the ocean views, but also the sound of the waves crashing on the shoreline was oh, so, very relaxing.

The rooms are nicely sized. We had plenty of room to spread out all our things. Some of the room features that we particularly liked:

– Spacious lanai with a chaise lounge, table and two chairs. We’d spend our mornings sipping coffee while enjoying the sights and sounds of the ocean.

– The refreshment center was stocked with a kettle, coffee maker, Kona-blend coffee, a selection of teas and a mini-refrigerator.

– The oversized safe in the closet was easy to access and could easily accommodate multiple laptops and more.

– The closet was stocked with two, cotton waffle robes. We had read that slippers are also provided, but we didn’t see any in our room. Perhaps it was an oversight. Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal to us.

– The bathrooms were generously sized to include double vanities, a large bathtub, a separate walk-in shower, hamper and water closet.

– The towels were fluffy and soft. (I know towels are such a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but I do love a thick towel. They feel so decadently luxurious.)

– The toiletries were very generously sized and tropically scented with fragrances of honey mango and maile lavender.

Amenities and Services

The Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel offers an impressive list of amenities. Here are some of the notable ones to highlight:

• Lovely lagoon-shaped pool.
• Complimentary use of lounge chairs and umbrellas at the beach.
• Charging privileges and evening shuttle service to the nearby sister hotel, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.
• Access to the Seaside Tennis Club. We’ve never played tennis in a more beautiful club than this one!
• Beautiful golf course. Though we don’t golf, we did enjoy the views of the course as we drove in and out of the resort.
• Nice selection of restaurants onsite – from fine dining to beach bar with live Hawaiian entertainment most nights to a friendly little carryout cafe and more. Their high-end restaurant offers tremendous service, delicious dinner and an outstanding sunset view.
• Good selection of shops to pick up snacks, a souvenir, new resort wear or postcards.

Resort Charge Note

It seems that resort charges are very commonplace now throughout Hawaii with very, very few exceptions. Hapuna Beach Prince Resort does charge a resort fee. Here’s the current statement from their booking engine that details the resort charge:

The RESORT CHARGE of $31.25 USD (inclusive of tax) is a daily charge per room and includes: Self-parking for 1 vehicle, Unlimited In room Internet connections, Two Bottles of Water, One hour of Snorkel equipment for two, 1 Bucket of range balls, 10% discount off spa service at Hapuna Spa, 10% off golf merchandise at pro shop (Hapuna Golf Course) per person. Also includes 1 Eco Shopping Bag per room per stay. Resort Charge and included Amenities subject to change.

Video & Photos

We created this brief (1 minute 10 second) video overview of Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel.

See more of our photos of the hotel and grounds.

Final Thoughts

We’d return to Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel in a heartbeat. It’s a superb four-star hotel with loads of luxurious touches, but with a much more affordable price tag. Out of curiously, I just checked a hotel booking engine for Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel for some dates in February for the peak of humpback whale watching. I found rates from $235 per night. Costco is another great place to find good deals on vacation packages. They currently have “buyer’s choice” package for the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel for roughly $326 per night that includes upgrade to ocean-view room, breakfast for two (with five night or more stay), full-size rental car and $50 resort credit.

For more reviews of Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, see TripAdvisor.