Has anyone stayed at the Hilton Waikaloa on the big island? If so, is it worth it? Pros? Cons?

Hi, Scott. In summer 97 we were in a condo perhaps a 1/4 mile from the Hilton, and spend a bit of time there. The complex is beautiful, and I had arranged ahead of time for our then-8 year old to "swim with the dolphins". We ate dinner there 3 times as I recall; especially loved the "nicest" of their restaurants (can't recall name, but it would be easy to locate) where we had arranged a table about 7 feet from the Pacific to watch the sunset. Marvelous!
As it turned out, we so loved the pool and lagoon area that we rented a "day pass" which meant that, altho we didn't spend the night, we had a room at our disposal for showers etc. It was ground level, and as I recall fairly small but I am sure it was their lowest end room for that usage.
We truly loved that part of the island since it's easy to head to different other directions for day trips, but the Waikoloa was almost a destination in itself! Don't know how many/ages/etc in your party, but I think you'd love it there.

We stayed there on our honeymoon five years ago and loved it! It is big and sprawling, although there is a monorail and boat on a mini-canal to take you to your rooms around the complex. As I recall, the beach along the ocean was rocky and not much to lay out on, although there is a lagoon there with a beach. Several pools with slides, restaurants and shops. While on the island, we visited Volcanoes National Park (the other side of the island) and saw lava coming out of the volcano. It was wonderful! The hotel is absolutely amazing!

I did not stay there but spent quite of bit of time at hotel this past summer. The event I was attending had people at numerous hotels (I was at Hapuna Prince) but most of the meetings,etc took place at the Waikaloa. Anyway, here's the pros and cons as I experienced them:
Cons:
1.The pool and slides are way over rated
2. The place is very crowded and not easy all that easy to get around
3. The lagoon is nice but there's no beach
4. Dolphin Quest is ok but not nearly as cool as I'd read or heard (my opinion)
5. Food is ok
6. Even the locals call it the Disney Land hotel (that ought to tell you something)

Pros:
1. Lagoon is ok (for kids)

If you have kids with you it's great. They'll love the train and boats, dolphin thing, etc. Otherwise for the money I'd investigate the Mauna Lani a little farther up the road. The Canoe House restaurant at the Mauna Lani is impossibly romantic.