Kohala Suites or The Bay Club?

[TravellingCub]

New resale owner here (through listings on this site, so thanks!).

A quick question - we're travelling this August (4 Adults, 1 Teenager) and the availability for our dates currently shows Kohala Suites or The Bay Club. Does anyone have experience / preferences between the two and can give us some pointers as to which one to book?

TIA!

 

[GT75]

[ 2017 ] Help me pick my Waikoloa location

We are planning to visit HGVC Waikoloa in June as part of their intro package. Our plan is to visit in mid June, 2018 and stay in a 2 bedroom unit. It looks like there are several buildings on site and I'm wondering which I should request? We're not golfers, and more interested in having a...

tugbbs.com

 

[HuskerATL]

Bay Club villas.. Very big and car port at your unit so if you plan to explore the island, the car is right there. On the other hand, Kahola gets access to the Hilton pool and, I think, the Kingsland pool so it depends on what you plan to do while there. Look at the resort info in the stickies. There is a good description of the properties and the units at BC. The villas are floor plan E / F

 

[HuskerATL]

BTW, here is the upper floor unit of the BC villas....they are about 2k sq ft and less points than similar units at the other properties. We had 2 couples and a teenager. The two couples had the bedrooms and the teen had the couch...worked well for 5.

 

[geist1223]

We stayed at the Bay Club for 3 weeks in 2024. We were on the 2nd floor and our Patio View was the Golf Course. Units are hugh. We greatly enjoyed it. We were in Building 1. So it was a walk to the Pools and Reception. There was no covered Carport.

 

[HuskerATL]

We stayed at the Bay Club for 3 weeks in 2024. We were on the 2nd floor and our Patio View was the Golf Course. Units are hugh. We greatly enjoyed it. We were in Building 1. So it was a walk to the Pools and Reception. There was no covered Carport.

I think only the villas have car ports

 

[Luanne]

We have stayed at both. Prefer the Bay Club. Units are larger. As I remember you can use either the pool at the Bay Club or at Kohala Suites, whichever place you stay. The advantage to Kohala Suites is that I think you have access to the Hilton pools. We didn't even use that free access when we stayed at Kohala Suites.

 

[zentraveler]

Another vote for Bay Club. Units originally built as condos. Lovely floor plans, large closets and very large units as many have commented on. We had a unit at the far end of the area and could walk to the Hilton. The Asian art there is a real must and a lovely walk in the hotel.

 

[mountainboy]

*Also HUGE & lovely Lanais (balconies/patios) at Bay Club... Loved our stay...
As EP, we had access to KL pools & loved their pools
BC pools are small & meh.
If driving to A-bay beach close by & no need for pools, then BC good.
If need access to lovely Hilton Waikoloa pools, then Kohala (or stay at KL with the best pools although smaller units & more points for same unit than BC)
Mahalo!

 

[Luanne]

We are not pool people, had one at home, prefer to go to the beach. We would drive up to Hapuna Beach.

 

[HuskerATL]

We are not pool people, had one at home, prefer to go to the beach. We would drive up to Hapuna Beach.

We are the same. We drove to several beaches, Hilo, Volcanos National Park, coffee tour, cocoa tour, hikes, etc....

 

[muscae]

Please stay at Kohala. The Bay Club units are much too large. They'll swallow you. Ill volunteer to stay at Bay Club when you are at Kohala so the units don't go unused. I've not stayed at Kohala but have done more than 20 checkins at Bay Club.

 

[mountainboy]

We are not pool people, had one at home, prefer to go to the beach. We would drive up to Hapuna Beach.

Hapuna Beach is nice but a bit of a drive + charges $10 per car + $5 per person per day...
A-Bay is free & fairly decent & right next to Hilton Waikoloa complex.
Been there to both & encourage folks to try both!

 

[Luanne]

Hapuna Beach is nice but a bit of a drive + charges $10 per car + $5 per person per day...
A-Bay is free & fairly decent & right next to Hilton Waikoloa complex.
Been there to both & encourage folks to try both!

The last time we were on the Big Island Hapuna was charging $5 a car and half the time the machines were broken. To me there is no comparison between Hapuna and A Bay.

 

[mountainboy]

The last time we were on the Big Island Hapuna was charging $5 a car and half the time the machines were broken. To me there is no comparison between Hapuna and A Bay.

There were folks facilitating payment every time we went to Hapuna Bay; which is a very nice beach & highly recommended...
We were there for 2 weeks at BC & could go every day (morning/daytime/afternoon) to A-bay next door...
Doing Hapuna beach is nice but unlikely to be a frequent/daily thing (with driving & entrance cost) for many but different strokes for different folks: all good !

 

[Monkeyboy]

There were folks facilitating payment every time we went to Hapuna Bay; which is a very nice beach & highly recommended...
We were there for 2 weeks at BC & could go every day (morning/daytime/afternoon) to A-bay next door...
Doing Hapuna beach is nice but unlikely to be a frequent/daily thing (with driving & entrance cost) for many but different strokes for different folks: all good !

View attachment 123992

For us Hapuna is a must, we like the other beaches also at the next turn past Waikoloa. Black sand beach is beach 49 I believe. It was free last year but limited parking and they give you a pass to get in. Several other beaches on that turn off for the other hotels we accessed them through the parks, we always enjoy walking through the fish ponds.

 

[TravellingCub]

Thank you for the replies, it's much appreciated.

Would anyone say that the pools / facilities at the Hilton are worth staying at Kohala for? I don't really understand what else there is there that is covered in said pass?

 

[HuskerATL]

Thank you for the replies, it's much appreciated.

Would anyone say that the pools / facilities at the Hilton are worth staying at Kohala for? I don't really understand what else there is there that is covered in said pass?

It is a pool....we didn't use it just went there and looked around. Depends on what you like. If you want to hang out at the pool, it probably wouldn't be bad but you can buy a day pass at BC for it.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Thank you for the replies, it's much appreciated.

Would anyone say that the pools / facilities at the Hilton are worth staying at Kohala for? I don't really understand what else there is there that is covered in said pass?

The pool is really the only thing that is restricted at the Hilton Hotel. We can eat or drink at any of the hotel restaurants or bars and even charge them back to your room at any of the HGV timeshares. You can ride the tram or watch the dolphins for free. I am pretty sure you can even book a dolphin swim without being a hotel guest.

We have not stayed at Bay Club yet, but are doing that later this year. We have done Kings Land, Kohala Suites and Ocean Tower, and usually go with Kings Land as we like their pools the best.

 

[SmithOp]

Thank you for the replies, it's much appreciated.

Would anyone say that the pools / facilities at the Hilton are worth staying at Kohala for? I don't really understand what else there is there that is covered in said pass?

Here is a web site that sells passes to the hotel, you can review the offering.

Hilton Waikoloa Village: Pool & Spa Day Pass Kailua-Kona | ResortPass

Swim, play, splash or escape at this tropical water-lovers’ paradise. Enjoy magnificent pools, towering waterfalls, activities, and a white sandy beach, sprawling across 62 luscious acres.

www.resortpass.com

I've been going to Waikoloa for 30 years now, stayed at all the timeshares, Ocean Tower, Bay Club, Kohala, King's Land. I'd say young kids would enjoy the hotel pool complex the most, but King's Land pools provide a lot of kids options. Bay Club and Kohala are just standard hotel style pool offerings.

King's Land would be a better choice to include the hotel pool complex IMO, the best 2 pools in the Waikoloa resort.

 

[Monkeyboy]

Thank you for the replies, it's much appreciated.

Would anyone say that the pools / facilities at the Hilton are worth staying at Kohala for? I don't really understand what else there is there that is covered in said pass?

For me there are three main benefits for the Ocean tower pools, its size, its near the ocean and has a nice Water slide.

You can walk around the hotel ride the tram and boat (assuming it’s working) and swim in the lagoon regardless of where you stay. The grounds are better at Ocean Tower and it’s worth spending a day there.

I would say that Kingsland has the best pool, but the bayclub rooms are much better and for us feels slower paced.

 

[muscae]

If you have elite status, bay club guests can use the kings land pool.

Hapuna beach is free for hawaii residents. You cant compare it to A Bay, but I'll try. If hapuna is a private jet, then a bay is a skateboard that's missing a wheel.

 

[chosshaul]

Does max status cover the kingsland pools now that elite isn’t such a thing anymore for those in max? Also can bay club guests use the pools at Waikaloa village?

I’ll be going back to big island at some point and still deciding where to stay. I’ll probably just stay at Kingsland since I like the pool there

 

[brp]

I would say that Kingsland has the best pool, but the bayclub rooms are much better and for us feels slower paced.

We have shifted exclusively to Kingsland after staying at both Bay Club (mostly) and Kohala (a few times). We get a room in the Phase I portion. This is Buildings
1-4, near the Serenity Pool. To us, this feels considerably lower key and slower paced than even the Bay Club since the lanai overlooks the quiet pool and waterfall
(Buildings 3 & 4). We use that pool/spa quite a bit more than the main complex.

Cheers,

 

[Monkeyboy]

We have shifted exclusively to Kingsland after staying at both Bay Club (mostly) and Kohala (a few times). We get a room in the Phase I portion. This is Buildings
1-4, near the Serenity Pool. To us, this feels considerably lower key and slower paced than even the Bay Club since the lanai overlooks the quiet pool and waterfall
(Buildings 3 & 4). We use that pool/spa quite a bit more than the main complex.

Cheers,

We were in building 4 last July it is nice.