Hale Kona Kai Condominiums

AVOID Unit 413 - Beware Booking Short-Term Rentals via Casago Kona Booked into Hale Kona Kai December 2023 for 10 nights, condo unit 413 with its oceanfront higher-cost wrap-around lanai as a treat. Upon arrival it became clear I’d been had … by truly deceptive marketing -- condo’s interior is rather dumpy-dilapidated, my heart sank, my mood soured, and my vacation was quite ruined. The photos of this condo on Casago Kona’s website must be at least 20 years old -- nearly every interior surface is extremely worn/faded (cracked tile floors; stained/dirty carpet; old deteriorating cabinetry; old/dull lighting in kitchen; ‘popcorn’ ceiling peeling and flaking off; when was the last time the unit saw fresh paint?; worn/dirty-stained bathtub; as a health concern, ventilation cover in bathroom tub/shower area looks disgustingly corroded and dirty, and vent cover in ceiling above bathroom sink full of dust/dirt; damaged/defective glass in a bedroom window pane so ‘cloudy’ you can’t see through it). This condo unit is just tired and run down, suffering from lack of ownership pride and associated maintenance/upkeep. Given the rather ‘upscale’ marketing approach of Casago, am surprised there’s not more professionalism and higher standards for units managed/represented. Casago Kona should be ashamed of its complicity with the unit owner’s short-term rental income greed through inflated marketing utilizing extremely outdated photos of the condo and deceitful text included on the Casago Kona’s website, e.g., “Updated kitchen and updated bathroom …” and “… chaise on the lanai” (yes, there’s a vinyl-strap chaise -- albeit deteriorating and with a dangerous-to-use broken middle support crosspiece … and no cushion for it; not what’s shown in its website image). Website includes a photo of a BBQ grill and text, “… you will find … a barbeque at the south end of the complex”, but the condo unit itself doesn’t possess any grilling utensils (not even a long-handled metal spatula); ridiculous. Hale Kona Kai has been a favorite condo complex for our Hawaii vacations since 2009 where we stayed numerous times in the same unit and thoroughly enjoyed it -- always exceptionally well maintained, updated and cared for, and extremely well provisioned all-around (e.g., kitchen items, cleaning supplies) for weeklong+ stays. That unit no longer appears in the short-term rental inventory. As this current stay was intended as a special celebration of my 65th birthday, thought we’d $plurge a bit and ‘upgrade’ our stay to a corner unit with wrap-around lanai, and selected unit 413 from the Casago Kona website based on its pictures … imagine being so utterly disappointed. And the audacity of a member of your staff contacting us our first day on-site with, “We hope you find Hale Kona Kai 413 suitable for your five-star stay here in Kona!” … adding insult to injury, as condo unit at most garners a 2-star rating. Imagine being misled and spending thousands of dollars on a speci

Unit 403 is the best in the Complex. Beautifully appointed with everything you will need. Best location as you can walk into town and the unit is literally right on the ocean. We loved our stay. The unit is totally renovated and the sunsets from the lanai were amazing

We last stayed at the HKK in 2017 or 2018 -- I wrote a review as "VictoriaCoffee..." At the time, the HKK was the go-to spot for staying on Kona... Average price for a nightly stay was $240(USD) a day... Reading the 2022 and 2023 reviews, I am astounded by the change - the daily price has almost doubled and the units are desperate for TLC? The A/C used to be one of the best (and most necessary) features of the HKK -- but the Central A/C has been offline for going on 8 months or more. I have to ask: What the heck happened? If you have had a bad experience there, send me an e-mail -- with maybe a suggestion for a better place to stay. You can send me an e-mail: rnewell AT shaw DOT ca -- many thanks!

This unit definitely needs an overhaul as you can see by the pictures. Furniture was broken, fan in kitchen is filthy, bathtub needed a refinish always looks dirty, sink in bathroom is a mess, knob missing on stove, cheap plastic furniture on patio. Bed too hard and ac units were haphazardly setup as their entire ac in building has been down for 6+ months. Only thing we liked was the view. Dust buster didn’t work and they never brought it back with new batteries..plus they never came back to fix the icemaker … we asked several times never happened. I would not recommend this place.

Stayed in Hale Kona Kai 312 from 1/24/2022 to 2/2/2022. Originally reserved this unit a year ago form Kona Now for 1/24/2022 thru 2/7/2022. The owner of 312 switched management companies in late December to Kona Beach Properties. Kona Now never informed me of the management change which resulted in me loosing almost a week of my year long reservation which I had paid a deposit on. After a couple weeks of worrying and arguing I ended up with 9 days in 312 and 5 days in 402. I had to pay 2 cleaning fees and negotiate the prices down in 402 for a last minute rental. Then to find out the central AC was not working. Of the 39 property owners in this complex the owner of 312 was one of two owners too cheap to purchase a portable AC unit and I was offered a 15% discount, not the 20% discount that was published. for the lack of the AC not working. BTW the AC has been out for several months. I have stayed in this unit before and it is a nice unit. The fact that the management companies could not get on the same page. In fact, I had to pay the higher rate for 312 to stay in 402. Almost $50 per night !You will find the you MUST check out at 11:00 AM and you cant Check in to you relocation unit until 4:00 PM!!! That's a big issue when you have luggage and a fridge full of food. Unite 212, 312 and 412 by far have the best views of the ocean. That's why I booked one a year in advance. To be displaced 2/3 of the way through our vacation is totally unacceptable. I have never met the owner of 312 but I can tell you they are only interested in profits. When you reserve a condo 1 year in advance and pay $4300.00 you expect to get the unit you reserve. I am very disappointed with this and will NEVER deal with Kona Now ever again. Steer clear of them because they are loosing units under management in ths comples rapidly because they suck.

This was the third time we stayed in #304. The outstanding location to downtown Kona, the views of the ocean and tide pools, the friendliness we encountered from the property management staff were all what we have come to expect of Hale Kona Kai. Unit 304 was functional, with one major exception described below. However, the maintenance and cleanliness of the Unit have been neglected, and there appear to be communication problems in the property management team that exacerbate the neglect. Sliding glass door: After arrival and unpacking on Friday, Dec. 30, we closed and locked the doors as we headed to dinner. On returning and after a long travel day, we simply retired for the evening. The next morning, Dec. 31, the sliding door would not unlock, denying us access to the lanai. After talking to the on-call managers, a trip to Lowes for WD40, and a visit from Jackie, it was clear that the locking mechanism would not respond. Jackie arranged for a maintenance tech to fix the door. He arrived by 4 pm. In the end the locking mechanism would not release, and he was forced to remove the door handle and screws holding the locking mechanism to the door, which then allowed the door to slide and the locking mechanism to be removed from the jamb. For the rest of our stay, the door remained in this state. I could slide the door but there was no handle and no way to lock it. On Thursday, Jan. 5 we discussed this with the property office manager. She was unaware of the problem or the current condition of the door. She was also unaware of a broken lanai chair, which had been mentioned in a review written in April 2022, i.e. the broken chair has remained in place for more than 8 months. Misc. Items: There are a number of additional items that need attention. 1) Clean and repaint the louvered entry door. The paint has peeled away leaving bare wood. No other door on the second floor looks like this. 2) Replace the rusty shower curtain rings. 3) Caulk and clean the tub. 4) Clean the air vents. 5) Replace the hair dryer. 6) Provide grilling tools. A plastic spatula will melt if used to turn burgers on the grill. We bought and left a metal spatula. The wooden salad bowl we bought ten years ago is still in the kitchen. 7) The coffee pot heating plate is rusted and burns the coffee. Replace it with one that turns off automatically, to avoid the fire hazard of leaving a nearly empty pot on the heater. 8) The bed sheets are very worn.

Right away noticed musty odor. Mgr said it was from recent damp weather and would resolve. it did not. Every time the AC was running it smelled bad even with a new compressor. Debris from the AC blew onto the kitchen counter and cutting board when I was making dinner one night! (see photos) Coqui frogs outside …an evasive species that locals hire professionals to kill, but these are out of hand. They have a shrill voice all night long which prevents enjoyment of the lanai in the evening and necessitated me keeping the doors closed and running AC at night which was less than ideal and maybe unhealthy. This condo faces the Royal Kona Resort so bright lights from the resort shine into the bedroom which has old skimpy drapes that do not block the light. I creatively hung a large sheet from the top of the drape holder which worked ok to darken the room for sleeping, I could hear traffic from Alii Dr even with ear plugs and doors closed. This unit is over the parking lot and closest to Alii. No area rugs. The wood floor was uncomfortable barefoot so I did wear sandals most of the time inside and also used some extra towels near the door to trap sand and other dirt but the floor quickly became sticky and dirty. Tiny bathroom and cheap shower stall…not “updated “ as stated in the description on VRBO. Kitchen was fairly well stocked with dinnerware/cookware but minimal condiments , no herbs oil vinegar etc. They did supply coffee beans and a grinder and coffee machine. Lots of linens including beach towels but some of the towels smelled moldy/musty straight out of the closet. Cooler and beach chairs available. The king bed was very comfortable with nice linens and pillows. Easy walk into town. Pool is not centralized and has sp**** amenities/surroundings. Not a social hub. I may consider other units at this property but would ask a ton more questions and want lots of photos before committing!

We had sky high expectations for our condo at Hale Kona Kai (413) based on the photos and reviews. I am not exactly sure where these people stayed, but it wasn’t in unit 413. The photos for this unit online are at least 15 years old. It is nice to have an assigned parking spot, based on your condo number, although the spaces are a tad tight. We took the elevator up to the 4th floor, and walking down the hallway it seemed kind of run down. The front door was battered, and as soon as I opened it we got smacked in the face with an overpowering stench of mold and mildew. Just to the left was the kitchen, and a large number of floor tiles in the kitchen were cracked/broken and there was a film of oil/grease on the tiles, so much that my gym shoes were skating like on ice. So I wiped them on the little shag rug/mat they had in front of the sink, and that made it worse. The fridge had rust on the outside, and inside the freezer, and black mold all around the door gasket. The top of the fridge had so much dirt on it, it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. There was a very funky sour smell every time we opened the fridge door. Stains on the counter tops rounded out the kitchen. The bathroom was equally as bad, with a broken floor tile, paint peeling off the tub, a constantly leaking faucet, with the cold water handle bent and pulling away from the wall. Black mold was growing on the shower curtain and the liner as well. As for amenities, there was ONE bar of soap the size of a Splenda packet and a roll of toilet paper. That’s it. There was no shampoo, coffee creamer, sugar, or Kleenex. There are left over shampoos under the bathroom sink, along with left over condiments in the kitchen from former guests. The first night I tried to use a mostly full bottle of baby shampoo, and it left such a sticky film residue on me I had to wash it off with that little bar of soap. From that point forward I used nothing that was left over from others. The bedroom has a ceiling fan with a chandelier chain cord running to it, which had dirt/dust hanging off it. The two windows had mold all around them. The family room had the least problems, although the beige carpet had stains everywhere and black traffic patterns. We didn’t walk around bare foot or in our socks. The floor was creaking under the carpet by the wall of windows, which had rust at the base. The balcony does have a great view, but one of the tall chairs was missing a foot, and wobbled, and actually dug a hole into the carpet on the balcony. And one other thing, all of the towels in the linen closet, and the bath mat, were all very damp. So much so that we had to lay them out to dry out. Gross. So we went to Safeway to buy soap, coffee supplies, toilet paper, Kleenex, and a large can of Lysol. I used the entire can, and actually bought a second can which I used almost the entire can to just reduce the mold/mildew smell. I wish that was all the bad I had to say, but on our third day the

This unit was a big disappointment. The musty smell was overpowering. It permeated everything. When we complained, we were told that it was the rainy time of year which made everything smell musty. After checking online for alternate accommodations, we could find nothing in our price range, especially after overpaying for this unit. We were provided with a dehumidifier which we ran for a day. It did nothing. We were told by the desk clerk that she couldn’t smell anything. But there’s a reason that there were air fresheners hanging from the fans in the main area and the bedroom. There were also sachets in the drawers of the chest in the bedroom. The kitchen window was broken so it couldn’t be opened. We had to leave the sliding doors and the bedroom windows open our whole stay. I suffered a major migraine the second night and daily headaches after that. The smoke alarm in the bedroom didn’t show a light so was not working. And the one for the main area sat on a shelf. We had to leave our suitcases outside for days to get the smell out after returning home. The only good thing I can say is that it is such shame because the location of the unit is perfect with the almost 180 degree ocean view.