Hilton Grand Vacations Club Ocean Tower Waikoloa Village

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

735 reviews

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  Filthy. Room reeked, crumbs in bed, hair in shower, dust everywhere. Front desk useless. Bed wrecked my back.

  Literally the worst hotel I have ever been at in my entire life. The hotel room smelled damp and like an abandoned building. The bathroom smells like cigarettes. The windows look like someone rubbed lotion on their hands and smeared them everywhere. Thank goodness I’m not allergic to dust anymore because there was so much dust everywhere. Front desk never answers the phone. I went to the front desk to ask for extra towels and no one knocked on the door to let me know they were in a trash bag outside of my room. I ordered tacos that felt and tasted like they came right out of the bag, uncooked. After sleeping on the bed I feel like I have the worst back pain in my entire life. Also there were crumbs in the bed. And hair all over the shower floor which makes me worried of how well they cleaned anything, especially the toilet. I would come back if my life depended on it or if someone even tried to treat me to this hotel.

  Jul 29, 2025
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  Disappointing Experience at Hilton Grand Vacations (Waikoloa Village)

  After more than 30 years, I decided to revisit this hotel, initially booking two nights through a travel agency, followed by an additional four nights as part of a Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare promotion in a “Luxury Suite.” Unfortunately, compared to my previous stay, I was deeply disappointed to find that the hotel has noticeably declined in several key areas. ⸻ The Negatives: 1. Ground Transportation & Accessibility: Previously, the resort offered convenient transportation options like boat services and a monorail to get around the large property. The boat service has been discontinued, which makes navigating the resort a real challenge, especially for older guests or families with young children. The walk from the main lobby to the Ocean Tower is about 850 meters, which is far from ideal, especially with luggage or shopping. The hotel has done nothing to address this issue. 2. Lack of Shade at the Pools: None of the pool areas offer adequate shade—no umbrellas or trees for coverage. Young children were playing in the sun, which is not only uncomfortable but also dangerous, increasing the risk of sunburn or heatstroke. In other Hilton properties, I’ve seen at least the option to rent an umbrella (though it tends to be pricey), but here, the only shade comes from a few expensive cabanas. 3. Organizational Issues: I had multiple instances where I couldn’t access my room because of issues with the key cards, either due to programming errors or technical faults. Housekeeping was also problematic: despite staying in a “Luxury Suite,” I was told that cleaning only happens every four days, with no prior notice of this policy. It was certainly frustrating. 4. Unjustified Pricing: The resort’s pricing feels excessively high for the quality provided: • $38 for a basic pizza • $48 per day for parking These prices are difficult to justify, considering the overall guest experience. ⸻ The Positives: • Beautiful Resort Grounds: The landscaping, pools, and lagoon areas are stunning and well-maintained. For a property of this size, it’s a rare find, and definitely the highlight of our stay. • Customer Service During Timeshare Presentation: Due to my wife’s illness, I had to attend the timeshare presentation alone. Although the policy required both partners to attend, the staff kindly made an exception. I really appreciated this flexibility. ⸻ Conclusion: Despite its fantastic location, my stay at Hilton Grand Vacations was disappointing. The service and quality have clearly deteriorated over the years, and it seems like the focus is more on selling timeshares than on providing an enjoyable guest experience. If you’re traveling with children or elderly guests, I’d caution against staying here due to the long distances and lack of convenient transportation. After leaving Hilton, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt on Kauai, and the difference was striking. The warmth and friendliness there made all the difference. Sadly, at Hilton, we never felt like valued guests.

  Jul 28, 2025
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  Badly Designed Property, and Even More Badly Managed!

  I traveled constantly for work for 23 years - staying in hotels over 200 night per year. Our stay at the Hilton Ocean Tower might be the most disappointing hotel experience I have ever had. The problems with this property are almost too numerous to mention. WEAR HIKING BOOTS: The Ocean Tower is 1/2 mile from the main lobby and even further from the parking lot. There is no way to drop off a family member close to the hotel. Injured? Disabled? Kids? Groceries? Bags? Tough luck -- you are on your own. There are supposed to be trams and boats to take you to the Ocean Tower. If they are working, they are as slow as the lava flows upon which the hotel is built. But, these options were NEVER operating at full capacity. And, at times NONE of them were operational because of break downs. So, the only "reliable" option? WALK IT! We had to plan at least an extra hour before every activity because the tram and/or the walk took so long -- and the tram was unreliable. To be charged $48 per night for parking that requires 30-45 minutes of walking / waiting / tram / etc. EACH WAY - that's an outright insult. They should pay the guests for the inconvenience. INCONSIDERATE: And, when the tram broke down, the management did virtually nothing. Definitely no apologies. Not even a sign to warn you -- other guests had to tell you that they thought the tram was broken. And, when I mentioned that this was unacceptable for my wife who has bad knees -- the response from staff was "We know it's bad! We have to walk it also!" This is the management's fault -- NO back-up plan. No golf carts, no staff to help carry things, no directions, no information -- the guests are on their own. And, when a service agent was asked if a guest could borrow a trolly -- we were told, it would be a liability problem to let a guest have a cart. I wonder what the 1000's of other hotels in the world that have lots of carts available for their guests are doing for liability. (Including, by the way, Hilton's own Hampton Inn brand!) Truly...a stupid answer. RESTUARANTS? NOT REALLY: There are no restaurants in the Ocean Tower -- just a coffee shop. So, nearly 7/10 of a mile if you wanted a cooked breakfast. NOT a luxury hotel. We had no breakfast the first morning, and then just bagels thereafter. Really special! :( POOR BAR AVAILABILITY: Even the bar service was lacking. The bar by the pool at the Ocean Tower didn't open till 11:00. And, when they did open, they often couldn't serve their menu because they were waiting for some other restaurant to deliver it pre-made. TRASH NOT PICKED UP: Ove r the weekend, trash bins by the pool were overflowing with garbage from the day before -- and by 2:00 PM had not been removed. TOWELS UNAVAILABLE: At times, there were no towels in the towel machines. So guests were pulling dirty towels out of the hamper an re-using them. Yuck. SLOW CHECK-IN: After we arrived -- we had to drag our bags 1/2 mile in the heat to the Ocean Tower to check-in. Then, with 2 other guests in line, it took more than 45 minutes to check-in. They could have hand-written a sign-in document and cut a new key in that time. And, then after traveling 14 hours, dragging bags for 45 minutes, waiting in line, etc....we had to wait for the "VIP Concierge" to give us our keys. Which was really just a tactic to try and get us to take a tour for the time share program. Really? I had seen enough! This property was so bad that it cast a shadow -- every day -- over our vacation that we had planned for a year. Every time we wanted something to eat...or we wanted to go somewhere...or we even wanted to shop AT THE HILTON...it was an hour-long endeavor and a journey of uncertainty. Badly designed property. Badly managed property. Stay somewhere else if you want a vacation in paradise rather than a trip that feels like you are in a refugee camp for people who have lost their homes in a flood or some other disaster.

  Jul 22, 2025
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  The Ocean Tower is great if you want to exercise every time you leave and return.

  We got sucked into this trip to the Ocean Tower on the main island of Hawai'i by paying a discounted price for the opportunity for Hilton to try and sell us a time share. We said no, of course, because timeshare is mostly a scam. We were told by our booking agent we'd have a suite with kitchenette which was great since we were bringing our teens and they could crash on the sofabed. What we got was a room with 2 double beds, popcorn ceilings, a mini fridge that buzzed 24/7 and had to be unplugged at night so we could sleep. An outlet behind our desk was not completely working and was never fixed in spite of a complaint about it to guest services. The AC unit, which worked well for cooling seemed to click on and off every 5 mins. The room is a 10-15 min walk from valet unless you're lucky enough to catch the tram that goes back and forth. Though, if you miss the tram it's faster just to walk and there's no "running back to the room" if you forgot something...parking was $55/day for valet and $48 for self park which is ridiculous. They knickle and dime you for everything. We would not stay again, even at a discounted rate. Hard pass.

  Jul 05, 2025
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  Outdated resort with a beautiful view of the waters

  Outdated resort with popcorn ceilings & worn carpets. Switched from 1st floor rooms to 2nd floor, where rooms were a bit better with newer textured carpets. Room conditions did not bother us as much until we found a few cockroaches crawling in bathroom and desk. Otherwise, would’ve been a nice resort location wise where it is right by the waters.

  Apr 04, 2025