Resort Review: A Week at Rosewood Kona Village, Hawaii (3 Michelin Keys)

Considering this popular honeymoon spot? What we loved, what surprised us, and what I wish I had known to ask before we booked.

For the first time in years, I kept my phone on airplane mode for a whole week because… I was in Hawaii.

I’ve always wanted to visit Hawaii and finally had the opportunity to visit Kona Village on the Big Island with my sister for our annual sister trip and to celebrate some good news. Now, from the title, you might be thinking: “Didn’t you say honeymoon… you went to a honeymoon spot for your sister trip?”

And the answer is yes!

Last year, we went to Etéreo Auberge in Riviera Maya, Mexico (Two Michelin Keys), and that was also an idyllic honeymoon or babymoon spot. What we are most after on these trips is quality time, great food, and solid rest in peaceful yet lush surroundings. We thought that trip was near perfect and so sought a similar experience in a place that’s new for us both. While my sister has been to Maui before, Kona would be new and she’d heard great things about Kona Village specifically—a destination resort aka where people book to experience the resort rather than as a base to explore the surrounding area.

So, did Kona Village live up to its Three Michelin Keys reputation?

TL;DR: Mostly yes, there is a lot to love! There was one thing that left a sour taste though. Skip to the end to learn what to watch out for to ensure a great experience. If you book, wishing you a lovely trip and let me know how you find it!

In the heart of the resort

About Kona Village

Kona Village isn’t your average ‘new’ resort. While its current iteration is fairly new, reopening in 2023 after closing in 2011 due to tsunami damage, the resort has been around since 1965 and has a barefoot-luxe vibe. It was famously a repeat favourite of Steve Jobs (and his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs had a hand in the redevelopment), and guests, including Jobs, once had to adhere to the resort’s unplugged rule with no wifi, TV, clocks, even in-room phones!

That policy has gone away now that the resort is managed by Rosewood, though there are still no TVs (you can request one for $200), but its “this is a special place” reputation is still intact. Since 2024, Kona Village has been awarded Three Michelin Keys, the hotel equivalent of Michelin’s highest restaurant distinction.

Here’s how the ranking works:

• One Key: A very special stay. A true gem with personality, where service goes the extra mile.

• Two Keys: An exceptional stay. A hotel that is unique in every way, where a memorable experience is always a guarantee.

• Three Keys: An extraordinary stay. The ultimate in comfort and service, style and elegance—a destination for the trip of a lifetime.

Naturally guests come with high expectations! Were ours met?

The stunning lava rock, all around the resort

First Up, Let’s Chat About Kona

Compared with other popular Hawaiian destinations, the Kona Coast on Big Island is known for a few things that make it feel distinctly different.

Black Lava Rock

Unlike older islands like Maui or Kauai, Big Island has fields of jet-black lava rock which give it an otherworldly feel. Couple this with luxurious resort finishings and it’s a sight to behold.

Calm Coastlines

While we were at Kona Village, there was a hurricane warning, which was worrying, but staff taught us that the Kona Coast is known for almost always being calm and clear vs. the rest of Big Island’s coast line which is rugged and prone to fierce currents. And indeed, we were spared—it barely rained!

A Royal’s Favourite

King Kamehameha the Great is famous for successfully conquering and uniting the Hawaiian islands into a single sovereign kingdom. He was raised on the Kona Coast and chose to spend his final years there.

And, of course, Kona is also home to the IRONMAN World Championship, held every October.

About Rosewood Kona Village

Kona Village is about a 10 minute drive from Kona International Airport. (Tip: the airport is almost entirely open air, so dress accordingly!) While the hotel offers a pickup service, an Uber is easy to get.

Now remove any thoughts you might have about Kona Village being a multi-story hotel. It’s actually a resort made up of 150 hales (ha-lays), or ‘homes’, spread across 81 acres. This ensures privacy, of course, and also a unique vibe. It’s too large to walk everywhere but also too inconvenient to call a golf cart every time you want to get around, so almost everyone bikes across the resort.

There were a couple of nights where we walked to dinner (5 mins) and other times where we asked for a golf cart to take us to the Four Seasons Hualalai or the Ka`uluola Cultural Center (would have been a 15-20 min walk), but otherwise we biked everywhere and wore everything from cover-ups at breakfast to nice dresses at dinner while riding the bikes and were totally fine.

Rosewood Kona Village vs. the Four Seasons Hualalai

When you research either hotel, lots of reviews come up comparing these two side-by-side properties. We went over to the Four Seasons Hualalai (Two Michelin Keys) one afternoon to do a little shopping and there’s no comparison: the shopping at the Four Seasons is far superior! Bigger shops, wider selections, and deeper sales. I found Citizen of Humanity denim shorts and my sister grabbed a Missioni one-piece and a Posse dress, and everything was 60-75% off.

That said, the hardware is significantly older (30 years though of course some renovations have been done) and feels more like a classic Hawaiian resort hotel. So for hardware alone, I’d definitely pick Kona Village. We heard service at The Four Seasons is way smoother though.

While we didn’t have a chance to try any of the restaurants, we met at least three couples staying at Kona Village who had great things to say about ‘ULU (the Four Seasons’ Japanese restaurant).

When you get to the main area of the resort, almost everything is open air. Other than the gift shop, spa, and gym, not much else has walls!

B at Moana Pool

In this central area, you’ll find things like:

• Moana Pool: The kids’ pool though there were few kids. In our opinion, this pool has the nicest, most unobstructed views. It’s also where they have complimentary shaved ice on certain days.

• Moana Restaurant: Kona Village’s most formal restaurant. It’s where most have breakfast, is the location for lei making, and also a popular spot for dinner.

• Talk Story: Beachfront bar and the location for activities like Coconut Postcards.

• Island Copra: Gift shop with local brands like HIE Jewelry, international brands like Gigi Hadid’s Guest in Residence, and some house-brand merch and unique merch like their Clare V x Kona Village collection (we picked up a crewneck).

• Post Office: Send cute Kona Village postcards to your loved ones—free!

• Kilo Kai: Home for everything from sunrise canoe outings to paddle boarding, snorkelling, and more.

• Shipwreck Bar: Made from the salvaged timbers of New Moon, Kona Village’s original founders’ boat.

• Shipwreck Pool: The adult pool. Loads of cabanas and the best option if you want to lounge in one for hours. Great hot tub also.

• Kahuwai Cookhouse: Elegant yet casual toes-in-the-sand dining, with the best sunset views, from the talented and affable Chef Junior Ulep.

Our Hale

Main room + part of the very large bathroom

Award-winning SF designer NICOLEHOLLIS is behind the gorgeous interiors both in the hales and in the main areas. She used native woods, Douglas fir framing, regional colour schemes, and custom basalt rock furnishings with the goal of blurring the boundaries between the indoor space and the outdoor lanai (balcony) and shower.

Bathtub and outdoor shower

We had hale #23 which I’d recommend. It was about a five minutes walk from the main area and steps from the spa—including the sauna, steam room, and cold plunge—and the gym, while still feeling private. It also faced east, so we watched the most gorgeous sunrises from the bed and/or the couch on our lanai.

Sunrise, sunrise

If you’re a history buff, there are five “Legacy” hales that remain on the original foundations of the pre-tsunami Kona Village, and they all have views of Kahuwai Bay. It could be a cool experience to stay in one of these and have a little piece of the original Kona Village, but they’re more in the thick of the action, so it might not be worth the privacy trade-off.

Outside Kilo Kai

The Activities

I loved that each week had its own schedule filled with various activities (included in the daily resort fee), including sunrise canoe paddles, guided snorkel trips and Kahuwai Bay swims, fishing, lei making, shaved ice, and more.

Usually we like to be really spontaneous on vacation and become “let’s see what we feel like on the day” personalities. But this time, we wanted to enjoy all Kona Village had to offer, so we made sure to sign up for activities in advance and got it into our heads that this trip would be more active.

Here are the activities we enjoyed the most.

Kahuwai Bay, beautiful from every angle

Sunrise Canoe

These 45-minute experiences out on Kahuwai Bay are bliss! Usually it’s one guide and five guests paddling along calm, crystal-clear water. We saw a bunch of fish and a sea turtle, but I hear sometimes you see a pod of dolphins! We booked in advance but found a lot of people seem to cancel so we were able to get on some rides last minute and did three trips in total. Every Kilo Kai staff member we encountered was great.

Have never swam so far out :) Mauna Kea in the background

Kahuwai Bay Guided Snorkel

I like swimming, as long as I have a life jacket, but obv I’m not what you’d call experienced. Our guide, Kam, was great with all levels and I felt safe to participate in the whole experience with the group as Kahuwai Bay really is very calm. Never have I snorkelled that far out before or seen such amazing sea creatures.

Caught my first fish ever, a tilapia

Kaʻūpūlehu Fishing

Fun fact: The land Kona Village is on is originally a fishing village called Kaʻūpūlehu so they wanted to honour this history by offering guests a chance to fish on property. We caught some tilapia.

Always time for a lil photo shoot when you’re with your sister am I right

Pickleball

Gorgeous courts for both pickleball and tennis. All the equipment and refreshments you could need. No need to book just head over.

Coconut Postcards

Kona Village orders these dried-out coconuts for guests to decorate, and then they’re sent out to be glazed and mailed! A fun memento.

Block Printing Workshop

At the Ka`uluola Cultural Center, we learned ʻOhe Kāpala or bamboo stamp printing and decorated some tote bags. The staff are super sweet.

The Food & Beverage Options

A selection of a la carte items at Moana

Breakfast

Our room rate came with a $150 breakfast credit each morning, which was enough for us to both have the buffet or share three items from the à la carte menu at Moana. We like to head out to breakfast but you can also use the credit for room service.

Some complain that the breakfast buffet is too Western, which I get. But that said, everything—from the Eggs Benedict to thick-cut bacon to mango chia seed pudding to mochi pancakes to tropical fruit—is super high quality and well prepared.

From the à la carte menu, we tried the crispy burrito, macadamia nut French toast with crème anglaise (like a macadamia nut croissant—a must order!), the smoked salmon, the hash browns, the fruit platter, and vegetable fried rice. The crispy burrito was a bit bland for my liking but I’d order everything else again right now! Ask for the chilli crunch and try some of the local hot sauces.

We also used some of our credit to get white chocolate macadamia nut cookies (near daily), almond croissants, and specialty coffees at Kahuwai Market and would say that place is surprisingly excellent. The pastries we tried were 10/10 good.

An outdoor table at sunset is the way to go

Moana Restaurant

We did one dinner at Moana and would highly recommend the XO scallops and any of their fish dishes.

Kahuwai Cookhouse

My favourite spot on site, though, was definitely Kahuwai Cookhouse.

We ate in the restaurant for our first meal and enjoyed the ahi tuna “loaded” poke nachos, which came with an insane amount of poke, and Baja style fish tacos.

Our second meal was shoyu poke on rice (portion was much bigger than it looks) and a ginger short rib and grilled cabbage with corn tortillas.

And our final meal included lemon butter oysters and a Hawaiian feast of roast pork, bacon fried rice, coconut ulu (breadfruit), and three scoops of ice cream/gelato. The mango will near change your life—the texture is almost syrupy with how much mango is in there.

Chef Junior and team are incredibly personable and work so hard. Not only was the food all seriously delicious, approachable but refined, but we’re left with sweet memories of our time dining there.

We booked our final dinner on a night where there was live music and listening to Hawaiian songs on the ukulele while watching the pink-purple sunset and eating this delicious food with amazing service… a memory to remember. Definitely give it a try whether you’re staying at Kona Village or nearby.

Head to Talk Story around 5:15pm and enjoy

Talk Story

Talk Story is hands-down my favourite bar on the resort. It’s the epitome of barefoot luxury. We went early to grab one of the chairs facing the water and, with shoes off and toes in the sand, listened to live Hawaiian music while drinking excellent cocktails / mocktails (virgin starfruit mojito for me) and watched the sunset. You’re probably getting a sense for how we like to spend our time haha. But if this is your thing too, you’ll love Talk Story.

The Service

So there was a lot to love at Kona Village! But nothing is perfect, not even at a Three Michelin Keys resort. Here are some things you may want to consider ahead of booking to manage your expectations or put some safeguards in place.

Housekeeping

When it comes to housekeeping, there are many reviews online talking about how housekeeping is slow with rooms not cleaned until 3:30pm and then only if you call and follow-up.

More than that, we found that some basic things weren’t done even once housekeeping was completed. The first thing was that coffee pods weren’t refilled from the last guests (when you notice this as soon as you step into your hale, makes you wonder what else hasn’t been done). Then towels and water weren’t replaced during turndown, leaving me to dry myself with a hand towel one night. And why? You take a towel, you replace a towel. You clear six water bottles, you replace six water bottles, no…? We also had a broken shelf that wasn’t fixed when they said it would be… anyway, eventually this was sorted and our housekeeping service was great.

Bell Hosts

Kona Village has a lovely welcome routine, with guests given a lei (usually an orchid lei for women and a kukui nut lei for men) and a welcome drink. But when you leave? The Bell Host simply watched the Uber driver load our luggage, us we opened our own car doors, and then gave us a nod… when there were no other guests there. At a hotel with a Three Michelin Keys ranking, this lack of basic service was disappointing.

The One Thing I Wish I Knew Before Booking

In our opinion, the thing that was most disappointing was that the resort booked a large corporate event and didn’t notify the guests—or many of the staff. There were no texts or signs, and restaurant staff were booking and then cancelling reservations as they weren’t told when restaurants were fully reserved by the corporate group.

Kona Village is a destination resort and popular honeymoon spot when guests pay four figures a night for a special experience. We met nearly a dozen couples who were there on their honeymoon, and otherwise saw pairs of friends or small groups enjoying time together, politely chatting with other guests here and there but mostly respecting each other’s space. For most of our trip, the atmosphere was exactly what we had hoped for—quiet, private, and relaxing. We are so grateful to have experienced paradise this way.

You can imagine how this changes when a corporate group of 175 arrives, which is a buy-out of basically half the resort. As Kona Village has two restaurants and three bars, it gets crowded fast.

In their defence, they, or their company, are also paying top dollar to experience the resort—and socialize with their partners and colleagues. This is normal and not their fault. But when the Kona Village team knows many of their guests are there to celebrate a special milestone, having the peaceful vibe turn into a mid-tier resort party vibe (with the corporate group even telling other guests “There are 175 of us… we’re going to be everywhere!”)… it’s disappointing, to say the least.

A member of guest services asked us how we were doing by the pool one day. We looked at each other, as we’d been deciding whether to say anything or just try and ignore it, and then mentioned how the large corporate group booking was a surprise, and she basically just said, “Good point, we’ll look into this so future guests aren’t disturbed.”

And… then.

The next night, this corporate group had booked out the main restaurant. And since none of the restaurants or bars on the resort have walls, for the next three hours as they were shouting out prize winners and inside jokes on the sound system, the noise blared throughout all the other venues… no one could hide.

Before, during, and after, there was no acknowledgement of the inconvenience.

We did learn though that they only have corporate events a few times a year. Different staff said different things but it sounds like they have one roughly every couple of months as they admitted they’re not really set up for it.

And so…

Beautiful Kona sunsets

Would We Go Back?

Honestly, probably! Kona Village is a very special property and if it had remained peaceful and lovely, it would be a no brainer. However, before booking again, I would absolutely check if there was a large corporate group partial buy out during our stay. And if so, I’d choose another week. Again, this is not your average big box hotel where corporate events are common. Kona Village is supposed to be a Three Michelin Keys resort that, in Michelin’s words, is:

• An extraordinary stay. The ultimate in comfort and service, style and elegance—a destination for the trip of a lifetime.

For a resort at this price point, peace and privacy are a huge part of what you pay for—and when Kona Village gets that part right, it really is an extraordinary stay. When it doesn’t, you may regret not choosing somewhere else.

Kona Village, 72-300 Maheawalu Drive, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740, United States