I just returned from a week in Hawaii. While in Hawaii, I stayed 4 nights at the Hapuna Prince on the Big Island. I shopped this property for a couple of weeks on Hotwire, when it dipped to $158 a night, I made the reservation. I was extremely pleased with the resort and the rate I paid. All rooms have atleast a partial ocean view. We were upgraded to an ocean view. The rooms were large....a little sparse.... with huge bathrooms and nice a sized lanai. Service was very good. Room service was good, but we thought the breakfast buffet was not that great. I believe the price was $24 per person. Supposedly, the hotel was at full capacity, but you would never have guessed by walking around the property. The beach was incredible! By far the best I've seen in Hawaii. Palm trees, tan/white powdery sand, clear water and great snorkeling (we saw all sorts of tropical fish, several sea turtles and an octopus). We also used the beach at the Mauna Kea resort, which was also a nice beach. Overall, we were not that impressed with the Mauna Kea and were glad we stayed at the Hapuna. By the way, we ate at the clam-bake at the Mauna Kea on Saturday night. The price was $74 per person and neither of us thought the food was that good.

FYI...enjoyed dinner at Roy's and Merrimans!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your time. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the HP but also thought the food was a bit steep.

mjz: Thanks for your post. How does hotwire work? I just visited the site and am a bit confused. How were you able to pick the Hapuna Prince? Any help would be appreciated.
thanks.

mjz: I, too, would like to know how Hotwire works and how you were able to pick the resort.
I also have a couple of questions for you. This is one of the hotels that I am thinking of for my honeymoon since it seems to have great deals on its website under Hot Deals. You said the beach is the best you've seen in Hawaii -- have you been to other islands? Are there plenty of chairs and space on the beach -- is it swimmable? How is the pool there -- is it big? Did you take any day trips (i.e. the active volcao), and if so, how long was the drive? Were there good restaurants/shopping within a close driving distance? And what did you mean by the rooms being sparse? Sorry for all the questions! Thanks!

Our experience was a bit different - a whale beached, died and began attracting sharks during our visit - we moved to the Waiakoloa and had no problems...we do prefer Kauai to the big island and the big island to Mauai (too commercial). Next stop - Lanai

Augustlily,
Visit betterbidding.com, click on Hawaii and you can see a list of Hawaii hotels by region...ex. Hilo, Kohala Coast and Kona. The Hapuna Prince is the 5 star resort on the Kohala Coast and the Marriot is the 4 1/2 star resort on the Kohala Coast. The beach was ideal for swimming while we were there with an abundance of beach chairs and umbrellas. The rooms were large and clean, but simple in decor...it did not bother me as little time was spent there. The infinity pool is nice and large with lots of chairs, bar and food service as well as a hot tub. I don't like to shop and try to avoid it all costs. We were in Hilo for 1 night/day, so we did tour the volcano via helicopter and hiking. I really needed to relax, so I was not into taking a lot of day trips. Spent most of my time on the beach getting some sun and rest. I have been to Oahu and Maui and felt that Hapuna beach was one of the better in Hawaii....however, I've seen better in the Carribean.