Kona Village A Rosewood Resort

Positives: The property and villas are stunning. Beautifully manicured gardens, spacious, well designed villas and sweeping ocean views. The hotel also has a fantastic story. Founded in the 60’s, it was decimated by the tsunami in 2011. It was then rebuilt and opened in 2023. We spoke with a number of hotel guests who visited the hotel prior to the tsunami and regularly came back. That’s a testament the charm of the hotel. The service was impeccable. Every server / bar tender was top draw. One clear highlight was the Roots dinner which they do every couple of weeks. If you have the chance to attend, I would highly recommend it. It’s a perfectly designed communal dinner with outstanding food and a stunning setting. It’s also relatively affordable at around $200 per person (that includes unlimited food and drink). Ship wreck bar is one of the most unique and memorable bars I’ve ever visited. Great spot. The restaurant food was good (not spectacular, but good). Despite all the positives, we definitely saw some issues you wouldn’t expect from a resort charging almost $2,000 per night. The pool service was super slow and you could rarely get a drink unless you actively flagged down a member of staff. The drinks were often wrong (mistakes happen) but the servers would take off and it would be 20 mins until we could get the correct ones. The golf cart service was slow and super unreliable. We were told we’d be picked up at 5:50pm for the roots dinner. After multiple calls to the concierge, they eventually turned up at 6:10pm so we were 15 mins late to the dinner. We then tried to get a cart home after one of our dinners as it was raining. We waited 15 mins at the restaurant, when they told us it would be ANOTHER 15 mins until a cart would be available. In the end, we walked home in the pouring rain, ruining our shoes on the dirt road. The bikes are janky at best as the saddles and handle bars kept moving. We definitely enjoyed our stay and the hotel is beautiful. We did expect slightly better though for the hefty price tag.