I stayed at Hono Koa with my 6y/o daughter in a top floor, forward room (away from road), as last minute an Interval International exchange for my timeshare. The location and offerings met our needs, and were as expected based on reviews etc.

It's important to note that this is not a luxury hotel, in quantity or calibre of amenities. Although rated Silver on Interval, it is not comparable to others I've been at with the same ratings. Rack rate pricing is out of keeping with quality of facility.

The up:
-Location and views are fabulous.
-Small and quiet resort.
-Gardens left more natural than most.
-Onsite activities benefit from larger sister resort.
-Good layout and sufficient space.
-Adequate kitchen (dishes, pots etc.) and other supplies (towels, detergent, soap etc.)
-We loved the sunsets, rainbows, making flower leis, and seeing giant sea turtles.

The down:
-Minimal staff presence (1 person, very limited hrs).
-Little staff knowledge/ability to answer touristy questions (re; golf, waterfalls etc.)
-Dated/tired doors, cabinetry, elevator,decor etc.
-No air conditioning.
-Jacuzzi not hot.
-Not walking distance to anything.
-Ground floor and aft-located rooms (near road) have limited or no ocean view or breeze.

With a few changes this would be a top notch hidden gem.

This is a very small resort with only about 27 units. It was extremely clean and right on the water. There's no beach; the water comes right up to a retaining wall on the property. There are several beaches close by, some within walking distance if you're not carrying too much. The view and sunsets were absolutely incredible though!! You can see Lanai and Molokai from our balcony.

The 1st number of each unit indicates which floor it is on (there are only 4 floors). The last 2 numbers are the unit on the floor. The lower the unit number the better your ocean view is. Our unit was 407. The 4th floor is the best with cathedral ceilings which makes the unit seem bigger. Unit 7 is on the end, which is also good because we had a private "front porch" where we could leave our wet and sandy things outside the unit without worrying about anyone taking them. Because the building sits at an angle to the ocean, our unit was the furthest away with the least amount of ocean view. Unit 401 would be the best unit in the place with a private "front porch" and a great ocean view.

The unit was very large!! There was plenty of room for all 6 of us in our family. There's no air conditioning so we kept the windows open all the time. During the day was comfortable since there is always a breeze coming off the ocean. At night we closed several of the windows and kept the ceiling fans going and were plenty cool enough.

The pool is nice, though it's closed from 10 pm til 9am...since we live on the East coast of the mainland we were up VERY early in the mornings and would have liked to have been able to go to the pool by 7:30 or even 8 am.

The office has beach chairs, umbrellas and toys that you can borrow...a big plus!!

My husband, 9 year old daughter and I, went to the Hono Koa in June. We own a Cape Cod timeshare, and have been trying to get a Maui swap for the 10 years we have owned it. In March, we lucked out and were able to get a Maui trade for the first week of June. I LOVE high-end, luxurious, resorts. This wasn't one of them. I knew it was going to be old and outdated, but it was direct ocean front, and a 2 bedroom. It doesn't have A/C, but I was assured that the breeze and ceiling fans would be enough. We have lived in Florida for 9 years, so we are well accustomed to heat and high humidity. If we had gone to this resort while still used to the climate of Massachusettes, I'm sure I would not have been as comfortable. When we arrived after a VERY long plane ride and got into our unit, I was initially dissapointed. I felt it was stuffy and smelled a little like a thrift store. We went to the pool, hot tub and saw the huge turtles, litterally right under the ocean deck, I started to feel better. I took a shower and cooled off, then the room didn't seem so bad. We got there on a Sunday, by Monday night there was no hot water. The entire building was out, we were offered the use of the showers at the sister resort's fitness center. Other people were very angry, some checked out, they couldn't fix the water heater until the parts were flown in from the mainland. We took it in stride, I heated water on the stove and my daughter and I washed our hair by leaning over the tub and using the warm water. The staff were sympathetic, but couldn't fix the heater by magic. It would have been nice to get a gift certificate to go out for dinner to make up for the inconvenience, but we didn't get anything. The hot water was on by Thursday. They are slowly renovating the resort and updating the units. We were on the 3rd floor and had a Hala unit, this means full ocean view. We could leave the patio sliders for the living room and master bedroom wide open all night, we got the breeze and the sound of the ocean. We wound up really enjoying our stay. We went to several restaurants while there. One was called 'Canoes', it has a really great atmosphere and a huge salad bar. However we were dissapointed with the served meal, mealy mashed potatoes and overcooked prime rib. Be ready for grocery store sticker shock, 8.50 for a gallon of milk, 6.00 for a jar of Clausen pickles, 8.00 for a 12 pack of Coke. Although you can still get a footlong at subway for $5. We booked our excursions through the concierge, we took the Road to Hana tour trip with an experienced driver. I would not try to drive the Hana road the first time on my own, there are over 100 hairpin turns and many one lane bridges. Our driver would routinely honk the horn going around a tight turn, incase there was a driver coming around the bend that was drifting into our lane. My husband and daughter took the surfing lesson, we all went to the Ocean Center Aquarium. It was very nice there. We wished we had taken a snorkel trip, but did go snorkeling off the resort beach. You can rent equipment for the week, $50 for all of us for the week. Definately go to the Luau, I think we went to the Royal Lahaina Luau, ask the concierge, it's the one with the fire dancing. Only about 350 people there, the other one can have up to 1,000. We will be going back.

We had an incredible stay at the Hono Koa. Although the complex is not located on a beach it is right on the water so atleast you get to enjoy the sound of the ocean and a wonderful view. We were there during Whale season and thought it was awesome to just sit on our lanai and watch the whales breeching off shore. It was incredible! The unit itself was very spacious, clean and livable. The kitchen had been remodeled and was well outfitted. More than adequate for our group. There is a small beach a couple of blocks down as well as a small market and a few restaurants and shops. Driving to better beaches like Kapalua, Napili, Kaanapali or Kahekilli takes just a few minutes. We would absolutely stay here again.