We had a great visit in December 2020 at Mauna Kea. It was my first time at this resort and I was a bit hesitant about one pool on property- needless to say, we never even visited the one pool! Definitely a beach resort and the nicest beach in Hawaii.
All COVID protocols were in place. We had to be tested before we went and again when we landed in Kona. This made me feel safer and the resort did an excellent job as well.
We had breakfast at Manta every morning and two wonderful dinners there as well. You cannot beat the view and the food here.
Copper Bar was lovely and had great live music and drinks for our dinner there. We also enjoyed the Hau tree on the beach every day for lunch and cocktails- Jacques was our favorite!
We had an ocean view deluxe room and you truly cannot beat the view. When you walk in the only thing you can see is the ocean! We had a huge balcony and loved sitting out there for sunset. The room itself was a bit smaller than I would have expected but the rest of the trip made up for it. Concierge was also great with booking taxis and all of our reservations on and off property. Can't wait to come back!

This historic hotel had been shutdown during the pandemic and has just recently re-opened. We've missed being here and returning here has brought back fond memories.

Due to pandemic, the hotel has made some safety changes and really, it's for the good for all.

During our stay, the stay seemed to be in re-training mode and are working very hard to bring back their standards as best as they can. The ALOHA spirit is still there with every employee. You are greeted with an "Aloha" upon arrival and that spirit permeates through out your stay.

The beach is as beautiful as ever and being able to obtain drinks and food at the beach is still a luxury. And being able lay down in a beach chair with umbrella over you is heavenly.

My husband and I stayed at the Mauna Kea in November, arriving on Thanksgiving Day 2020 and departing December 1. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay there as it was a perfect getaway at a much needed time. Here are the pros and cons as I viewed them (for reference, I am an Ambassador member):

Pros:
- Location! You are a very short walk to the beach from your room. Just walk out of the hotel and you're basically there. Plus, the views from the oceanfront rooms are perfect!
- You don't have to pay for lounge chairs on the beach. Tip though - we learned quickly people head down first thing in the morning to reserve a chair (throwing a towel/shoes on it). Go down early if you want a closer chair to the beach and in the front row.
- The food at Manta and Copper was pretty good. We had free breakfast in the morning at Manta with my status which was totally worth it. And we basically found ourselves eating at Copper every evening as there isn't much else in the area. Luckily, the food was great, as was the ambience with having the beach right there and Hawaiian live music.
- The staff was, for the most part, friendly, welcoming, and helpful.

Cons:
- Rooms are a little outdated. While spacious, there were key touches that prevented me from giving it a 5. For example, the carpeting in the closet was ragged and old (luckily they provided slippers as I didn't want to touch it barefoot). The vanity areas were older and the caulking was sloppy (it looked like someone hurriedly either added it or tried to fix a leak, but it stuck out badly). For how much rooms are each night, it should be much more up to date.
- There were often long waits at Manta in the morning (even when there wasn't a crowd). I totally get staff is probably stretched a bit more and are juggling more tables which we were sympathetic to...but Management should probably be aware that it's affecting service. On our first morning, we were sat at the table but no one came to wait on us for 15 minutes (I timed it, giving them the benefit of a doubt!). I finally had to go say something and the woman at the front seemed like she couldn't have cared less. There were a couple other days where there were longer waits to get in because no one was at the front and the hostess wasn't too apologetic when she did return to the front. Our servers, on the other hand, were all great and friendly. Like I said, I'm sure this goes hand-in-hand with the various shortages and restrictions, but something to be aware of.
- Not so much a con, but something to be aware of - you'll definitely need a car, as there isn't much around the hotel. And if you want to do a tour somewhere, or go to a grocery store or restaurant, you can't rely on public transportation. Given that, there is onsite parking with a fee.
- My Suite Night Upgrade was fine - I'm happy I got an ocean view room. But we were on the lowest floor (5). I would have hoped to be a bit higher given my status.

In the end, I'm happy we stayed here and am glad we could support the tourism industry during a much needed time. If we went back to Kona, I would definitely consider staying here again, largely for the location and amenities!