Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations

Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations is on the amazing big island of Hawaii. It is located at 69-699 Waikōloa Beach Dr, Waimea, HI 96743. A dream location in anyone’s mind. When you go to Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations you are setting yourself up for the vacation of a lifetime.

Video by  Art Derla

Day One Travel & Arrival at Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations

Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations is the second location of Hilton I have stayed at on this trip. I was fortunate to be traveling from one resort to another on this trip. I could have walked from the last resort to Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations. For the majority of non-travel writers, you will be coming on your plane for vacation. This does make the first sites of Hawaii even more special because you are so happy to see the ground again and be out of the plane. It is like Eddie Murphy talking about how good saltines taste when you are really hungry. That hunger or desire for the land amplifies your immediate love of the islands.

You can just imagine how powerful that experience would be after weeks of travel on sailing boats instead of 12 hours on a plane. We might be concerned about air travel, but sailors hundreds of years ago are really worried about their survival. When they too reached these shores, it was a feeling of relief for certain every time. The average nautical miles for a boat trip from California to Hawaii is about 2,500 miles. It takes between 2-3 weeks to sail from Los Angeles to Hawaii. If your sailboat averaged 4 knots average speed, it would take a full 14 days for the journey. That is a long time on the water and a high chance for at least a few modest storms at sea. In even giant cruise ships that journey takes a good while with average speeds of 18 knots or more in calm water.

For me, the trip was from one resort to another. Yes, I did feel completely spoiled. Even if you are traveling from one island to another in Hawaii, the trips are fast and easy by boat or plane.

This resort is amazing, and it is one of the resorts directly owned by Hilton. This means that you can and should expect Hilton’s high standards for cleanliness and comfort during your stay.

This resort offers 1, 2, or even 3-bedroom accommodations. The 3 bedroom is rare in the islands and wonderful if you have a large family and or group you are travelling with. My 1 bedroom deluxe king was a resort view room and they also have golf view rooms here as well.

The king was 768 sq ft in size, so large by any standard. The 2-bedroom suites here are almost 1,000 sq ft and the 3 bedroom larger still. All suites offer a full kitchen and many amenities and features you will love.

Villa Amenities

Resort Amenities

The resort offers free parking, so if you are like me and have a rental car, that is a nice feature for some added savings. They also offer free Wi-Fi because many in your party will want to instantly share their pictures of the vacation with the world and those back home. There are 2 onsite restaurants that are fine options when you have played in the water all day and just want to relax. 

Kings’ Land Bistro & Lounge

This restaurant serves breakfast, biscuits, and bread from 8 AM-10 AM daily and then they start the normal menu for the rest of the day.

Kings’ Land Pool Bar

This location offers a larger menu of local island favorites than the name suggests and is enjoyed by all guests.

It is open from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm every day of the week.

Golf

This resort is home to two championship golf courses and a 30,000 sq. ft. putting course – complete with sand traps and water features. There is even a self-guided tour of Hawaii’s indigenous, plants on the grounds that should not be missed. Hawaii has such amazing flowers and plants.

If you play golf at all, make sure to book a round on one of these courses during your stay.

Notes on Booking Your Flight

You can either fly into the Kona International Airport, which again, is where all the resorts are, where all the sandy beaches are. Or, you can fly into the Hilo International Airport. However, when buying your airline tickets, I really recommend choosing the airport that is close to the city that you plan to stay in first because the two airports are actually 2 hours away from each other. I flew into Kona days ago now, and if I could afford it, I would never leave.

Day Two on The Big Island

The Island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island, is bigger than all the other islands combined, maybe even twice as big.

This island is super cool. You can see volcanoes sandy beaches to lush tropical rainforests. I feel like this might be the coolest island because it’s not as touristy as Oahu. It has so much to offer and I feel like this island is very low-key. The island is categorized into two main areas.

You have the leeward and the windward. The leeward side of the island is much drier. It doesn’t experience as much rainfall. Thus, this is an area where it has a lot of sandy beaches. Whereas the windward side of the island is a lot wetter because it experienced a significant amount more rainfall than the other side. 

So, it has a lot more tropical rainforests, lush greenery, and also has a lot of waterfalls.

The resort is on the leeward side but close to the start of the area for the windward side since it is farther north on the island. In my mind, this makes this resort feel like it is in an ideal location. The area of this resort gets on average 36 inches of rain a year, while Hilo on the windward side gets an average of 160 inches a year. Islands are often a daily example of the mountains’ impact on climate. I first experienced this in Jamaica when I was a younger man. I was on a cruise and we had just completed a tour by kayak on the local waterway. Like clockwork, an afternoon rainstorm gathered. The houses were built to take advantage of this natural cooling effect. They had huge sliding doors on both sides of the home. The idea was to let the cool air from the rainstorm come through the home and carry out the heat of the day on the other side. It was so effective that you could feel the temperature drop by 10 degrees. The rain only lasted 30 minutes or so, and then the sun came out again.

In Hawaii, and especially the big island, the rain will last longer and be stronger in some windward areas. It may seem like a flash flood, but it will pass.

For my taste, I love staying on the leeward side of the islands and then driving to the windward side in the morning, leaving before the afternoon rains when possible.

Seeing the Waterfalls

Video by Ampman.Travels

There are so many waterfalls that you can visit on this part of the island. One of my favorites is Akaka State Park.

This is the biggest or one of the biggest waterfalls that I’ve seen. You do have to pay to get in, ($10 per car, and $5 per person) but it’s so worth it. Especially if you go during a time when there was a lot of rain because the waterfall will be rapidly flowing, and it’s going to be so beautiful.

Another waterfall you can visit is Rainbow Falls. That one is really pretty too and you don’t have to pay to get in there. Whereas, Akaka you do…

Akaka, you have to hike a little for like 15 minutes to get there. Whereas Rainbow falls, you don’t.

Rainbow Falls is in Hilo, so more of a drive to the windward side like Akaka but farther south closer to Hilo than Akaka. Seeing both during your trip in one day is easy to do and a nice thing to get in before the late afternoon rains. Just keep in mind that if you are driving and not with a tour group when you stay longer, you will probably get to drive back through some heavy afternoon rain part of the way back to the resort.

My trip to both falls made for a wonderful morning and early afternoon. I followed it with lunch on the way back towards the resort.

I chose to eat at Mai Grille by Chef Allen Hess. They have local Poke and burgers here, as well as many fun local drinks. For Hawaii prices, the food is not too high, but remember these are Hawaii prices, so even at lunch you will find items higher than at home. Plan for this as a part of your trip meals out are costly on the islands. If you are traveling on more of a budget cook in your full kitchen at the resort, and you will save a fortune.

Day Three Exploring the Big Island

Local Beaches

One beach that you can visit is Hapuna Beach. Which is about 50 minutes north of central Kona. It’s a state park, so you do have to pay to get in. It’s $5/person and $10/per car.

This beach is so beautiful and it’s so blue, especially when it’s sunny. The sand is super soft so definitely recommend that one.

Another beach that you can go to is Magic Sands Beach This beach is in central Kona. It’s a little bit small but if you are someone that wants white sand and really blue, turquoise water, I really recommend that.

Another beach that you can go to is Mauna Kea Beach inside the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Resort. That beach is really pretty too and if you guys don’t know, all beaches in Hawaii are public beaches.

So even though it’s within a resort, you can visit as long as there’s parking. Another beach that I really recommend is Malakawena Beach. which is one of the most beautiful beaches that I’ve been to on the Island of Hawaii. It’s amazing! However, it is a bit of a trek.

You have to put a lot of effort into getting here. You have to drive through unpaved roads for about… It depends on what car you have.

If you have a four-wheel drive, it’s going to take five minutes through unpaved roads. But other rental cars will not love this trip, so you may want to skip it.

Kings’ Land by Hilton Grand Vacations is a great location book your trip now this is a popular resort.

On this trip, I have shared many things you can do on the big island that are a low cost like the state parks and the beaches. You can visit and have a life-changing trip just by visiting these locations alone. If you want to learn about the more costly but amazing things you can do on your stay in Hawaii, read more of my blogs on other resorts in the islands on Tzort.com