Negative reviews

[CaliAdventurer]

As a side note to the food- the food in Hawaii in general isn't close to a foodie haven metro like Portland etc. Ive been to Hawaii a few times without staying at Aulani on a couple islands and the food was always disappointing even when tracking down the restuarants with the buzz. So, we went into Aulani assuming the food would be a detraction and figured we'd go to costco and cook our own. Going into it with low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised by the food there. Breakfast at Ama AMA we do almost everyday with Makahiki once or twice. The breakfast buffet is lovely with TONS of fruits which is our favorite and always expensive especially in Hawaii so we get our money's worth for sure! The din with Auntie going around is almost unbearable though. Try not to be seated under a speaker or you may claw your ears out. Makahiki for dinner is just ok and expensive as is the dinner at Ama Ama but Ama Ama has an the view you were dreaming of when you planned. Roys across the street was also a good surprise much better than the Roys that no longer belong to Roy here stateside. Monkey Pod is fine. There happy hour is probably the best reason to go there. The four seasons restaurants are also good not great but again, grading on a curve they are worth going to. The chili dogs/rice and summer rolls at Aulani are excellent! Fill in with some sammys in the room and we have a wonderful vacay with no complaints about the food.

The chairs suck but its way better than the chair situation at Poly. I was just at Poly and was so mad that I couldn't enjoy the pool. A woman was guarding 9 chairs and her family didnt even come until 1pm. Folks kept asking her and she said nope. Others grabbed one of the few tables with shade AND three of four sunny deck chairs for when they felt like it. All the "cabana space" was reserved but empty ALL day. So that put Aulani in prospective for me. So much better!

 

[happymommy]

I actually LOVE the food on Oahu! I lived there, and go to local places where the food is not only delicious, but very inexpensive. In Kailua, we go to Willow Tree Korean restaurant. In Kapolei, our favorite it Sushi Bay. We love most of the Korean BBQ places (there are a ton) where you can get plate lunches for about $12 or so. We spend less on our vacations to Hawaii than we do at Disney. I also tend to eat out at lunch, and grill dinner, or grill lunch and have something simple in the villa at dinner (at the Marriott, the grills, and there are 3 groups of them, are always available). We get fresh fish at Costco, bring marinades, and grill & make a salad, or make chicken teriyaki on the grill. It's part of the fun to me: meeting other owners at the grills and sharing recipes! But we go for at least 2 weeks, next month I leave to spend a month there.

I agree, Roy's is good (but overpriced). He sold the mainland locations to the company that owns Applebee's. Yuck. They suck here now, sadly, but used to be good.

When we lived in Kailua, we used to go to Waikiki almost every weekend. We had so many favorite spots that were amazing - good food and drinks. One place that we had regular locals that we met with all the time was Sunday afternoon at the Moana, listening to music and having drinks and pupu's. At least half the crowd was local, so you know it's good.

 

[buffettgirl]

Honolulu has an amazing food scene. I'm not sure when you were here last - CaliAdventurer. The food at Aulani, IMO, is just standard resort food. It's not really all that fantastic. Venture into honolulu and there are absolutely amazing places to eat. Yeah, a lot of it is asian fusion, but there are also amazing food trucks everywhere, local hole in the wall places, and even the poke at Foodland is something to write home about.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

Honolulu has an amazing food scene. I'm not sure when you were here last - CaliAdventurer. The food at Aulani, IMO, is just standard resort food. It's not really all that fantastic. Venture into honolulu and there are absolutely amazing places to eat. Yeah, a lot of it is asian fusion, but there are also amazing food trucks everywhere, local hole in the wall places, and even the poke at Foodland is something to write home about.

It's been about 2 years now and I know things change a lot. I stayed on the East side and in the city with transplant locals. Some of the places we went to were small and had lines and of course we went to the famed cinnamons. Didn't have too much Asian food which I'm sure there are some great places but just like anything how do you find what's good? Hype is usually jut that or maybe it messes with your expectations. Either way, it was a good thing because we are quite satisfied with Aulani. The dinners are so so but the views cant be beat!

 

[Halefamilyof6]

We went in 2014 and are hoping to go again in 2018. We spent 2 weeks at Aulani. The pool chair situation was frustrating, especially because we are a family of 6 and it was impossible to find six chairs together. At best, we could snag 3. We made it work. I didn't like that we couldn't bring our own soft ice chest with snacks and drinks, but we rolled with that too.

The food - eh. Wasn't impressed. We liked monkey pod, and my kids LOVED to order pool side. We tried to dissuade them for a bit, then decided what the heck, it made them happy and we set limits of one order per day, lol. We made it work. The buffet was okay...nothing spectacular. We'll do it again only because my kids LOVE buffets.

Customer service was nothing short of spectacular for us. in 14 days we encountered a lot of cast members, Aunies beach house, etc. Nothing but excellent service.

Room was spectacular, we could hear a bit, not much....nothing that stood out to us.

We did buy some of our own food for the kitchen to keep costs down so we didn't have to eat out all the time. But, when we did go out, we did venture away as we had a rental car. So, we'd ask some of the belhops where good cheap eats were...and off we went.

I think some of it is expectation level and ability to adjust on the fly. We did pretty good readjusting expectations and our entire family has nothing but good to say.

 

[Iamaplanner]

I didn't like that we couldn't bring our own soft ice chest with snacks and drinks

No outside food/drink permitted at pool areas??

 

[Elima2015]

No outside food/drink permitted at pool areas??

They allow outside food/drink, just not coolers. We always brought down a tote bag with snack cups, fruit, boxes of raisins, crackers, and a small insulated pouch (like the kind that fit two baby bottles) that held my youngest child's cup of milk. We traveled with a group and they brought down a Costco size box of the small bags of chips to share with everyone. One morning a group next to us had boxes of Leonard's malasadas. Nobody ever said anything about the food the entire time we were there, so I'm sure the restriction is on the actual cooler.

 

[swooshbear]

We don't go to the Aulani for the food. We have tried the different restaurants and it's pretty standard resort food. We always rent a car and hit up our favorite local spots:

Mitsu-Ken (garlic chicken)
Bubbies (Mochi ice cream but the only location left is now on the other side of the island in Hawaii Kai)
South Shore Grill (fish tacos)
Elena's Home of Finest Filipino Food (roast pork fried rice omelette)
Liliha Bakery (butter rolls and cream puffs)
Side Street Inn (fried pork chops, fried rice)

We are going back during Labor Day weekend and hopefully Ayesha Curry's International Smoke at the International Marketplace will be open.

I know some people might not have rental cars but Honolulu has some of the best food in Hawaii and we are always debating on how much time we spend at the pool vs trying to eat our way around the island.

 

[squeezle]

We don't go to the Aulani for the food. We have tried the different restaurants and it's pretty standard resort food. We always rent a car and hit up our favorite local spots:

Mitsu-Ken (garlic chicken)
Bubbies (Mochi ice cream but the only location left is now on the other side of the island in Hawaii Kai)
South Shore Grill (fish tacos)
Elena's Home of Finest Filipino Food (roast pork fried rice omelette)
Liliha Bakery (butter rolls and cream puffs)
Side Street Inn (fried pork chops, fried rice)

We are going back during Labor Day weekend and hopefully Ayesha Curry's International Smoke at the International Marketplace will be open.

I know some people might not have rental cars but Honolulu has some of the best food in Hawaii and we are always debating on how much time we spend at the pool vs trying to eat our way around the island.

We love the Side Street Inn, too! We go for the Boneless Kalbi and the fried rice. Have you tried Sweet E's for breakfast? The Kalua Pig Eggs Benedict is worth the trip.

 

[swooshbear]

We love the Side Street Inn, too! We go for the Boneless Kalbi and the fried rice. Have you tried Sweet E's for breakfast? The Kalua Pig Eggs Benedict is worth the trip.

Adding this to our list of things to try. Now we just have to choose between getting a lounge chair by the pool or breakfast!

 

[PattiPB]

We don't go to the Aulani for the food. We have tried the different restaurants and it's pretty standard resort food. We always rent a car and hit up our favorite local spots:

Mitsu-Ken (garlic chicken)
Bubbies (Mochi ice cream but the only location left is now on the other side of the island in Hawaii Kai)
South Shore Grill (fish tacos)
Elena's Home of Finest Filipino Food (roast pork fried rice omelette)
Liliha Bakery (butter rolls and cream puffs)
Side Street Inn (fried pork chops, fried rice)

Are you saying these places are LOCAL to Aulani or Waikiki? Trying to get a handle on some of our food choices for our upcoming trip! Thanks~

 

[happymommy]

I didn't like that we couldn't bring our own soft ice chest with snacks and drinks, but we rolled with that too.

Wait, at Aulani you can't bring a little soft side cooler to the pool? That is crazy! We do that everywhere! We often make snacks and bring either bottled water or beer (in cans) or juice boxes to the pool at the Marriott. We always do it at Disney too! I have my favorite one I bought in Kapolei at the super Walmart 3 years ago that folds up and goes on all my trips now, and we bring it to the pool at the Marriott next door. Sometimes we have wine but put it in plastic.

 

[Psymonds]

Adding this to our list of things to try. Now we just have to choose between getting a lounge chair by the pool or breakfast!

this is not unique to Aulani... we go every few years with the in laws to a resort on Kauai (and are going there after Aulani) they have free chairs for guests on the lawn, but only enough for about half of the guests. I remember my father in law going out with his morning coffee to check out two chairs for the day, every day at 7:00 when the beach hut opened. I never bothered because we usually were able to get chairs but he knew he wanted a chair, so he made it a priority.

 

[swooshbear]

Are you saying these places are LOCAL to Aulani or Waikiki? Trying to get a handle on some of our food choices for our upcoming trip! Thanks~

There really aren't any local food spots near the Aulani. There are some places in Waipahu like Elena's but it's still a 20 minute drive. If you have a car, I would recommend spending the day at Aulani and going out for dinner in the Waikiki area. Traffic can be bad in the afternoon though.

I didn't even have Leonard's malasadas on the list either, Portuguese donuts!

 

[happymommy]

There are places that locals go to near Aulani in Kapolei, totally! How could there not be?

Waikiki is more touristy. Honolulu has local spots. So do all towns, like Pearl City.

Trust me, I used to live there. Local spots are plentiful in Kapolei.

 

[oakleycat]

Wait, at Aulani you can't bring a little soft side cooler to the pool?

We brought a soft-sided cooler (built into my beach bag) to the pool every day and no one ever said anything. Everyone around us also had outside food and drink and it was not a problem.