We reserved a one-bedroom ocean front condo at the Papakea based on the rave reviews I saw on another website (rhymes with Rip Ladvisor). Overall the resort was OK, but ultimately I felt like I did not get what was advertised on the Aston website. Be warned that many of the condos look NOTHING like the photos on the Aston website. The ones on their website are all deluxe corner units. The one we got didn't have as many windows and the kitchen was totally USED UP -- looked like it was last updated in the 1970s. At the advice of many other reviewers, I'd asked for a "renovated" unit. When we checked in at the front desk, the woman said we had indeed been placed in a renovated unit. But that was clearly not the case once we finally got to our room.
The next morning, I went down to the front desk and asked if we could switch to an actual renovated unit. There was a VERY rude and defensive blonde woman there who said they were sold out and there was nothing she could do -- and when I asked to speak to a manager, she said the managers were all "in meetings" for the next two days (not even reachable by phone) and that I could try checking with them on Wednesday -- already almost halfway through my vacation. This was the week before Christmas -- supposedly one of the busiest times for Hawaii -- and the managers are all "in meetings" and unavailable, even by phone, for two full business days???? That seems pretty ridiculous.
I should also note that I posted this review on that other site and the manager posted a response, where he said he was "perplexed" by my comments about the front desk telling me there were no managers available for three days. Well, that is what the front desk girl truly said. I have no reason to make it up. AND she was telling a guy right in front of me the same thing as I waited to speak to her. He stomped away pretty unhappy, too.
The manager also said in his response that he would "follow up with me directly" to discuss my review, but a week has gone by and I have not heard from him or anyone else from Aston. I also filled out their "how did we do?" questionnaire that they sent when I got home, and mentioned all the same things I'm talking about here, and no one has responded to me from that, either.
Anyhoo....On Christmas Eve, there was a power outage (I think much of the area was affected, not just the Papakea). However, they have NO BACKUP LIGHTS ANYWHERE. It was literally pitch black throughout the entire facility, including all the stairwells. My husband happened to be over at the main building and actually fell into some of the landscaping trying to make his way back to the condo. I can't imagine the fire marshall would be OK with the fact that there is no emergency backup lighting at all. This is a huge condo development, with several buildings, all of which are four stories.
OK -- I do have some positive things to say. They have two pools, which are kind of small but totally fine. We always were able to find a chaise lounge to sit on. There are lots of families and "regulars" there and it had a nice community vibe about it. The condo itself was pretty clean (although the floors were all really sticky when we arrived ... we cleaned them ourselves and then it was ok).
If you go to this complex, I highly recommend using vrbo instead of booking directly with Aston. If we'd done that, we could have saved a bundle of money. Also then you would be able to see photos of the exact unit you'll be in, and know whether you'd be in a totally outdated, used-up unit or not. I see the benefit of booking directly with the resort to be that if you have an issue with your room, you can switch, but since that wasn't gonna happen, I wish I would have booked directly from an owner. I could have stayed in a comparable unit if I'd booked through vrbo for about half the price I paid booking directly through Aston. read more