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Fairmont Orchid Hawaii Review

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Fairmont Orchid Hawaii

Member Rating: *** 2.5 | Rate It
  • Address: 1 N. Kaniku Dr., Kohala Coast, HI, 96743 | Map It
  • Phone: 808/885-2000; 800/845-9905
  • www.fairmont.com
  • Price range: $$$$
  • Location: Kohala

Fodor's Review:

The Fairmont is a mega-resort in every sense of the word—huge, crowded, expensive, with grand staircases, domed ceilings, chandeliers, and marble everywhere. If you're looking for a unique, intimate experience, this is not your hotel, but with its antiques and 32 acres of beachfront gardens the Orchid provides the perfect old-school hotel experience for some. Its restaurants are also among the best on the island, with a large variety of options ranging from sushi to modern Hawaiian cuisine to an upscale steak house. A one-time $40 activity pass good for your entire stay gets you access to all sorts of classes, equipment rentals, and various other amenities. The resort also offers 2½-hour voyages aboard an authentic Polynesian double-hull sailing canoe, the Hahalua Lele, or "Flying Manta Ray." The "Gold Floor" of the hotel includes free breakfast and a daily wine and hors doeuvres hour, a deal that is useful if you can't start your day without a big breakfast—there's nearly always a wait for a table at the restaurant in the morning. Pros: oceanfront location, great restaurants. Cons: mammoth resort lacks personal feel, outdated room decor.

  • Hotel Details: 486 rooms, 54 suites
  • In-room: safe, Internet.
  • In-hotel: 4 restaurants, golf courses, tennis courts, bars, children's programs (ages 5-12), pool, gym, spa, beachfront, water sports, no-smoking rooms.
  • Credit Cards: AE, D, DC, MC, V
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Member Reviews & Ratings:

Nice Grounds, Good Food, but Poor Service and Rooms

Posted by JoniC from San Diego, CA, USA on 5/7/07
I usually find Fodorites to be accurate and truthful, and despite their bad comments regarding this hotel, for some reason I chose to ignore them. What a mistake. The hotel grounds were beautiful, and the Brown's Restaurant was fantastic, but this did not make up for the incredibly poor service from the disgruntled staff and the decrepid shape of the rooms. (eg., Leaking toilet, clogged shower which overflowed into the bathroom when you tried to use it, peeling wallpaper, etc). You definitely do not get what you pay for at this hotel. The new owners seem interested in charging as much as possible to get as much money out of their customers before they go running off to the bank. You know its bad when you overhear several of the staff complaining about what an awful place it is to work. Stay away from here!

Room: 3.0 Atmosphere: 3.0 Service: 1.0 Value: 1.0 RATING: 2.2

am I in tucson?

Posted by hullo from New York City on 1/25/07
If a 450 room hotel with ethan allen furniture is your thing, this is the place to go and spend $1200 a night -- the cost of a one bedroom suite. Breakfast was good, the staff was unfailingly nice but it's a huge impersonal hotel swarming with people. It's one of those places where the chairs by the pool or on their tiny "beach" are all taken by 8am. We could have been in Florida or the Caribbean or Arizona. The service in all of the restaurants was ridiculously slow and the food while edible was nothing special. This is the place for the McMansion people.

Room: 3.0 Atmosphere: 3.0 Service: 3.0 Value: 2.0 RATING: 2.8

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