TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We brought our entire family - grand children included. Booked 2 ocean view suites. Rooms were fabulous! Very expensive!! Everything we needed! Great kitchen! But….check in is a Disaster!!!! Do Not arrive early!! Our rooms were not ready until 4:00 pm and the resort is Not set up for waiting!!’ It was so crowded- no chairs to sit on , the “refreshing room” had very few chairs… grand children, parents and grandfather were having major meltdowns!!! There are not enough outside lounge chairs for the number of guests!!! If you are not up by 8:00 am hunting for a chair forget it!!! This resort has few restaurant options. Also does Not have room service. ..Which would have made it easier with small children. After figuring out how to survive in this crowded noisy non relaxing resort the kids were able to have a great time. I wish I had read more reviews and wish the resort had made more of an effort to better inform guests about what to expect upon check in.

We stayed here two nights in a DVC deluxe studio. We were lucky to have the points gifted to us by my in-laws, and we'd spent the previous 5 nights in Honolulu. It was interesting to contrast Aulani with the hubbub of Waikiki. It's very peaceful out in Ko Olina, and there isn't much around - a few resorts, a golf course, a little shopping center. We checked in around 1 but our room wasn't ready until 3:30 or so, so we stored our bags at Bell Services and explored. I would say between about 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. is the busiest time around the pool areas - but there are lots of seating areas, some near pools, others looking out to the ocean or just around the interior. It wasn't too hard to find a spot. Almost everything is outside or open to the exterior - all of the restaurants/quick serve places, bars, pools, most activities. Bring LOTS of sunscreen and be generous about using it. Food is good, but definitely expensive, though that shouldn't be a shock for both Disney and Hawaii. Be prepared for dinner to easily cost $100 for two people. The pools are expansive and never felt horribly crowded, though we did encounter some teenagers using the adults-only hot tub as a place to practice handstands. We enjoyed the lazy river and my husband went down the slides. The beach is also pretty spacious and the water is crystal-clear and beautiful. Our room was very comfortable; the view was basically of the conference center but who cares - from the lobby or outside the views are amazing. Loved the rainhead shower and that the water closet wasn't too cramped. One weird note is that the bed seemed very high - I couldn't touch the ground while sitting on the side and I'm a pretty average height. Staff was lovely overall and even helped my husband with a solution when I needed a large ice pack after throwing my back out (laundry bag, full of ice from the machine!). The property is beautiful and I really like that it doesn't SCREAM Disney - they did a great job of integrating local culture and design and it feels respectful. Also, note, across the road from the Aulani entrance there's a small shopping center -- go to the ABC Store (Island Country Market) for coffee, pastries and any basics you might need, it'll be cheaper than at the resort. There's also a great little Mexican place we tried and some awesome ice cream.

So far not great! Our room is a garden view $1750 a night this is a special vacation with my 2 grands for their birthdays. We were told our room was a standard room, geez when booking we booked a villa, which was not standard but okay like no big deal you are just a number attitude. And I was in management as a DOC in the luxury hotel industry in Chicago, so I am not clueless and this is not cheap even with today's prices! The room smells musty and the bathroom has dust in the vent along with white gross stuff in the wet shower (was it cleaned?) so tired just let it be! I will post pictures! We dropped our bags with the valet and was told they would have the bell staff get our bags up to the room and our very quick. The front desk clerk called for our bags since we had a less than professional experience with the transportation getting they recommended (tell you that lastly). No bags we waited and finally called because after a 9 hour flight and a long wait to get to the hotel then waiting at the front desk only to be ignored, seriously NOT one of the 5 open clerks would even made eye contact with us, terrible. Then a man walks up and they take him and ignore us...bizarre. A young woman at the front desk approached us and was very nice and checked us in we were trying to be polite and not pushy, okay pushy works and gets attention not what I want my kids doing. Called the bell stand and was told by the woman rep it would be best if we cam down and got our own bags since they were busy! Well, I am hoping for better! Oh and what happened after our 9 hour flight hoping to have a smooth transition to the hotel...A woman with an Alumni sign tells us we are waiting for another person, so we wait and we wait and the baggage claim area is NOW empty ONLY to be told the service left without us and those people we so politely waited for was on the van! So me and my two well behaved pre-teens waited and waited for another service to get us to the resort. Not sure how that happened and our van driver was a nice polite and well informed driver, what a start to our vacation again hoping we see better from Disney!

This was our second visit to Aulani within the last two years. The first being Dec. 2022. This time we traveled in summer and with friends for a "graduation vacation." We booked a 2 bedroom villa for 4 nights because there were 8 of us and we all wanted to stay together. We are not DVC, but you are able to book these rooms. Our friends were blown away by the service and amenities at the resort. Villas: Great if you are staying for a week and want to save some money with your own food and drink. There is an oven, stove, microwave and fridge. Also a washer & dryer (so you can pack less and wash!). However, we were not able to get the 25% off on this villa. So if you want to save some money, just get a standard room. They still have mini fridges you can keep some food in. Disney - please put makeup mirrors in your bathrooms in the villas. My eyebrows were a mess because there was nowhere to focus in. Really the only negative this trip was that the Freestyle Coke machines were broken a lot. At Ulu cafe, one was down our entire stay. Then the last day, a second went down. The one near Ama Ama was down. Ice kept running out of ice machines. I know those Freestyle machines are touchy. But come on. Folks pay a lot for those cups. Also, we were not able to get a cabana when I called on the day we were allowed to book. Found that odd since it worked for us last time. However, we went to The Reef the day we wanted one and were able to get one someone else canceled. So there's a tip and get to The Reef about 45 mins before they open. Again, if you go to Hawaii and only stay at Aulani, you are missing out. I also highly recommend doing excursions on your own by renting a car. The ones through Aulani are very pricey. Also went to Monkeypod across the street for the second time and it was amazing as was last visit. Also ate lunch one day at 808 Craft House and loved it. Wasn't there last time we visited.

Kids had fun, but it was so so so busy. Line ups for slides meant kids over two days only had approx 6 rides each. They close the “slower” slide (the only one my kids would ride) at 6pm and leave the fast one open. All the additional experiences were all booked out so didn’t get to experience any of those. Everything was crazy experience. The room was nice, however our bed was broken - it sunk in the middle and very uncomfortable. This hotel was a complete disappointment for the price. I would t stay again - I’d book another resort with a nice pool for the kids.