After our stays at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, we moved on to experience the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The Mauna Kea Beach is also located along the white-sand beach of Kohala Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. This property is part of the Autograph Collection under the Marriott Bonvoy program. It will go a long way if you hold Marriott Platinum Elite status and above while staying at this property. You will enjoy the complimentary room upgrade and daily breakfast buffet for two. These alone can really yield a significant amount of savings. After all, Hawaii is an expensive destination.
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel is classified as a 5 stars hotel on Hawaii’s Big Island. We listed this property as one of the Best Marriott Bonvoy Category 6 and Category 7 Off-Peak Hotels & Resorts in Hawaii For Your Marriott Free Night Certificate.
Marriott Points Booking & Free Night Certificate
Mauna Kea Beach hotel is now a category 7 Marriott Bonvoy property. The category has been increased since our last redemption. The standard redemption now requires 60,000 Marriott points per night, 50,000 Marriott points per night during off-peak and 70,000 Marriott points per night during peak period. If you have a Marriott free night certificate that is worth up to 50,000 Marriott points per night, you can redeem for one free night stay at the Mauna Kea on an off-peak date. Although Marriott does impose resort fees on award stays, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel does not have resort fees which is nice. Keep in mind also that when it comes to award night stays with Marriott, you receive the 5th night free.
The Chase Ritz-Carlton and Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant credit cards, each offers one annual Marriott free night certificate that’s worth up to 50,000 Marriott points per night property.
Deluxe Oceanfront King Room Upgrade
Standard award room type is the Golf Visa king bed or 2 double beds guest room that’s located in the main tower with a Golf view balcony. We put a note in our reservation prior to arrival asking for a complimentary upgrade to an unobstructed ocean view if available on the day of check-in. When we arrived to check in, the friendly male agent informed us that because of my Platinum Elite status, our room was complimentary upgraded to the Deluxe Oceanfront King Room. We were offered the welcome drinks along with some information on the resort and our points/breakfast choice, etc. The Deluxe Oceanfront King Room is simply beautiful. In fact, it is one of the most beautiful Hawaiian rooms that we’ve ever stayed at. The balcony provides an unobstructed panoramic ocean view. The decor of the room and amenities inside the room were just wonderful. It was hard to make a decision whether to stay in the room or go down to the beach. That was a”good” problem to have!
Resort Fees & Parking
As previously mentioned, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel does not have resort fees. $25 self-parking or $30 valet parking.
Beach and Swimming Pool
I’d like to quickly talk about the beach and swimming pool at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The swimming pool is not that great for an expensive hotel like Mauna Kea Beach. The pool is small and doesn’t look very inviting at all. Compared to the pools at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, Mauna Kea Beach is not a match! The beach area at the Mauna Kea, on the other hand, is nice and is more or less comparable to the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort. The white-sandy beach along the Kohala coast of the Big Island of Hawaii is nice. The beach chairs and umbrellas are adequate to allow guests to enjoy the beach on the sunny day. Our only one complaint is the fact that Mauna Kea Beach seems to have more crowds than the Westin Hapuna Beach. I wonder if that is because of the timeshares. All in all though in our honest opinion, we enjoyed the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort better.
Complimentary Breakfast
Marriott Platinum Elite members and above can either receive points during the entire stay or complimentary daily breakfast for two. The points offered are worthless. So we gladly took the breakfast option without any hesitations. Breakfast is a buffet style with so many options to choose from. There’s no breakfast voucher, you simply let the person at the restaurant’s front desk know your room number before seated. The only thing that is annoying about the breakfast at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel is that there are no self-served drinks. You have to ask your waiter or waitress to go get the drink for you.
The regular prices for the breakfast buffet is $39 per person, so thanks to the Platinum Elite status, we were able to save a total of $78 for two adults before taxes. Here are some photos of the breakfast. There are so many varieties and they all taste excellent.
Other Platinum Elite Benefits:
- 50% Bonus Points on stays.
- Late Check-out.
