Hotel Review: Westin Hapuna Beach Resort

The Westin Hapuna Beach, located on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, sits adjacent to one of the best beaches in all of Hawaii, the white sand Hapuna Beach and is one of the best places to stay on the Big Island.

The resort features all ocean facing guest rooms, 18-hole championship golf, great dining options and amazing on-site amenities.  

The hotel sits adjacent to Hapuna Beach, the number one ranked beach in the United States and number thirteen ranked beach in the entire world, as rated by TripAdvisor for 2022.  In addition to the spectacular beach, the hotel offers a family pool, adults-only pool and a nice selection of dining options on-site.

Resort Overview

The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort is situated on thirty-two oceanfront acres on the sunnier and less rainy Northwest side of the Big Island.

The Westin Hapuna Beach is located within the larger footprint of the 1,839 acres planned resort community of the Mauna Kea Resort, originally imagined and built by Laurance Rockefeller.

The other luxury resort within this footprint is the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, which is now a part of the Marriott Autograph Collection.  Guests staying at either location have access to the amenities of the sister hotel including beaches, dining, golf, the spa and a variety of resort activities. 

The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort is perfect for couples and families alike - there truly is something for everyone here with a lot amenities, beaches and dining to enjoy.

Resort Amenities here include:

• Hapuna Beach: An award-winning white sand beach perfect for swimming in and enjoying ocean activities

• Hapuna Golf Course, designed by Arnold Palmer & Ed Seay
• Guests at The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort have access to two world-class golf courses, the Hapuna Golf Course and the Mauna Kea Golf Course at its nearby sister property.
• Two swimming pools located on different tiers of the resort, as shown below
• Adult-only infinity pool

• Family Pool overlooking Hapuna Beach 

• Hapuna Spa by Mandara
• WestinWorkout and Crossfit Studio
• Reciprocal signing privileges at sister property, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, with complimentary evening dining shuttle
• Westin Kids Club Program

Note that there is a daily resort fee of $37.00 (up from $31.25 when we last stayed in 2019) which includes internet access, self-parking for one vehicle, one hour of snorkel gear rental daily, reusable water bottles, discounts on spa services and more.

Accommodations

The rooms at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort feature an understated Hawaiian ambiance with a light and airy decor.  The room decor features tropical woods and wicker along with Polynesian-inspired fabrics and traditional kapa print artwork.

All rooms here feel spacious, starting at 600 square feet, and all rooms face the ocean, with room views ranging from Partial Ocean View, Ocean View and Premier Ocean View rooms.  

All rooms and suites have a fully furnished lanai and also feature Westin Heavenly beds.

For our Spring break stay, we were upgraded to a Premier Ocean View with Two Queens that offered ample space for our family of four and an awe-inspiring view of Hapuna Beach from the balcony.  

Dining

The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort has four on-site dining options (as well as access to the restaurants at the sister resort, Mauna Kea)

• Meridia is the signature, more upscale restaurant here and features island inspired dishes, overlooking the resort and beach.

• Ikena Landing overlooks Hapuna Beach and the ocean set in a casual, open-air restaurant setting.  Breakfast buffet is served here daily, as well as an extensive a la carte menu.

• Piko Coffee & Bar features Kona Coffee and elevated grab and go selections in the morning and in the afternoon and evenings, is the place to connect, lounge or relax with an island beverage while enjoying panoramic views.
• Naupaka Beach Grill is located poolside and features everything from burgers and pizza to more island dishes

During the course of our stay, we dined at each of the restaurants, as well as enjoying dinner one night at the Mauna Kea and another night we had dinner at the luau.  

For breakfast every morning, we enjoyed complimentary continental breakfast thanks to our Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status that consisted of fresh assorted pastries and fruit, and for a small charge could upgrade to the full breakfast buffet offered at Ikena Landing.  This was a small change from our previous stay back in 2019, where the entire breakfast buffet was included as the Marriott breakfast benefit.

Overall Impression

The Hapuna Beach Resort is truly a resort we can definitely see ourselves coming back to in the future again and again.  Hapuna Beach is one of my favorites beaches in all of Hawaii featuring soft white sand and calm water to swim in.  We spent most of our days lounging around beachside, but did mix in some pool time as well.

We enjoyed a wonderful five-night stay at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, before heading over to Maui for another week.  We loved experiencing all of the great things the resort has to offer; from its amazing beach, pools and dining choices.  And not to mention being able to find award availability and having generous Marriott Bonvoy benefits makes it an easy choice for points redemptions for us.     

It is worth noting that if you do stay here (and for most other resorts on the Big Island), you should rent a car to explore the island and if you want to have more off-property dining options, as there isn't anything within walking/shuttle distance, other than the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, which also has some great restaurants.

Read more here on our Big Island Family Travel Itinerary on the things we did and where we ate across the island.