Kona Kai Resort & Spa

Wow it’s shocking to read all the reviews and see that nothing ever changes at the Kona Kai.
We had our boat in the marina and had the worst experience their. The bathrooms are atrocious, the lawn is not kept up the trash is overflowing. The dog waste is not picked up because they don’t supply bags and people leave it everywhere. I could go on and on but I have already written a letter to the management and they’ve done absolutely nothing.
Fortunately for me I’ve vacated my slip and will no longer have to deal with them.

We’ve been going for years. Twice a year for a week or so. The reason? It’s simply a fantastic place to stay! Location, grounds, pool area, service, etc etc. This trip though was our first visit since their huge restoration/​remodel. I can tell you the end result is simply amazing! The rooms (and especially the bathrooms) have all been updated and are very cozy. The outdoor enlarged pool and bar with cabanas are 10x better than any other resort on the Island. The bar/​restaurant is really sweet. And the New Year’s Eve Party with live music was just the bomb! Awesome time. Much of the staff was new… and manager Dennis was simply a great guy. In fact… it was talking with him in advance that got us back to the KK this trip. We had concerns that the place might be less than ideal due to the remodels… but he assured us the remodel was complete and all things were a «go» just like the years before. Dennis was spot on… the staff was great… and man do they aim to please. Bottom line… if you want to go to Shelter Island… the one and only is the KK. Dennis… KK…GREAT JOB! We’ll be back!

To tell you the truth, I’ve lived in San Diego well over 20 years and I’ve only been to the Kona Kai once before — ages ago and at that time — well forgotten. I was curious to check out this spa resort again, and so glad I did. I started the year off right by doing a «walk through» by the Club Membership Sales Director at the Kona Kai to see the premises and all of the wonderful offerings that this resort has to offer! Spa, Wellness Center, Gorgeous Hotel, amenities and beautiful accommodations all the way around — you get the idea! So well worth a visit!
To top off my «walk through», we ended at Kona Kai’s lovely restaurant/​bar called Vessel. To start, the restaurant looks like «eye candy» — very contemporary, spacious, and accommodating. The food was delicious — what comes to mind are the delicious buttery mussels bathed in a white wine sauce that you just wanted to drink on its own! Excellent. The service was so great too. Thanks to the lovely GM Shauna, the restaurant manager Sean and Marin, our server who made the visit extra special.
Whether you are visiting from out of town — or similar to myself — live right here in our gorgeous city, do yourself a favor by going to the Kona Kai! You will be transported to a special get away vacation that you may not have expected!

Beautiful property with spectacular service! Throughly enjoyed the rooms as well as the cocktails in the restaurant. Will be back sooner than later! Thanks Kona Kai!

After spending the weekend in San Diego, our family of 4 decided to stay an extra night. We found the Kona Kai Resort and Spa on Hotels Tonight and the pictures reminded us so much of Hawai’i we decided on it as our destination.
When we arrived, we were greeted by Tish and Dennis. They were amazing and full of helpful suggestions. My wife had forgot her bathing suit and Dennis gave her easy to follow, detailed directions to the nearest retail locations.
While my wife went out immediately to look for a bathing suit, Tish helped get us checked in. Mind you it was only 2:00pm and she happily accommodated an early check in for us. We found our room and pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was. Both of my daughters said this was their favorite hotel ever.
We quickly changed and headed to the pool. Being a Sunday, it wasn’t crowded and the football game was playing on multiple flat screens under the nice tiki bar. Jonathan was polite and helped us throughout the afternoon with drinks and cocktails.
Through his recommendation we decided on Tom Hand’s Lighthouse Restaurant.
We had a great sleep in the comfortable beds and checking out was the worst part. Not because of the service, but because we had to leave.
We will be back and in the interim, we will suggest this hotel to our friends.

The view great, the staff is dining is exceptionally nice and sincere. front desk. average. room price vs room seems pricy for average. Best part of the bathroom is the sink. Bed is exceptionally comfortable, great night sleep.

It was a beautiful sunday afternoon as we made our way to the kona Kai restaurant for a friend’s birthday brunch. As soon as we got to the table, have not sit down, we were introduced special drinks of the day, which is mimosa and bloody marry. I politely asked him to give us a minute to sit down and wait for or others to arrive.
It was a group of 18 people and some people were running late, so I understand the staffs frustration, especially when the restaurant was closing in 1 hr.
As we were putting our order, our waitress was asking if we would like to spit the checks. I’ve said yes and was greeted back with a «that would be a disaster for me, but alright «. I was so shocked at her reply, coming form a staff at a 5 stars quality restaurant, I requested to cancel my order.
My friend order a fish tacos plate, supposed to come with 3 (according to Unilocal) but there were only 2. We asked the waiter ans he said «that was last year «.
We can sense the resentment from the staffs since we stayed after their closing hours.
So at this point we were rushing through out foods to get out. Remebered, we requested to get separate checks. But there were multiple checks that combined multiple orders on them, the waiter told us «that’s the way the she (the waitress who took our orders) did it, shrugged and left.
This place get 3 stars based on the foods alone but thr service was rude and unsatisfying so 2 stars total

We spent 2 nights at the Kona Kai in a 2^nd floor Marina View room for $ 339 a night over Columbus Day Weekend. Unfortunately we also got to attend 2 weddings with a PA system blaring wedding music and speeches, hipster guitar guy, with loud and drunk party guest, all from the comfort of our patio. Closing our patio slider only muffled the noise. We fled. On Saturday there were at least 2 weddings and on Sunday a wedding that took place on the marina beach and then traveled to the grass area behind the pool bar. THERE WAS NO ESCAPING THE WEDDINGS.
Complaints to hotel staff were always answered with, «the music will stop at 10pm.» Seriously? For $ 339 a night, we got to be the wedding crashers on the hamster wheel of «B» weddings, right outside our patio door.
It’s an ok hotel that has been refurbished. Vessels restaurant and bar is beautiful. Service is uneven. What more can I say. The only way I would ever go back is if I were attending a wedding there.
I would give 1 star for our experience, but the Kona Kai is no more than a 3 star at best.

The place is in great condition, has minor details but it doesn’t bother me at all (small repairs).
The view is amazing!

This is added to my new fave Staycation hotel in SD. One of the best beautiful beach front hotel. California vibe. Aloha! Gorgeous room nice renovated bathroom. Polynesian style. We upgraded our room to 2^nd floor overlooking Marina and relaxing pool view. But the yellow cabanas and fire pit are extra fee. We also love the vessel restaurant with a renovated 360 degree bar and video wall. It’s very casual chic atmosphere. Free wifi. Free live entertainment Thursday to Sunday. Amanda the jazz singer is one of my fave. Overall, loving our stay here. Can’t wait to be back in few weeks. Aloha!!!

The use of the word «resort» here is definitely a stretch. We have a two year old and would not say it was exactly child friendly but there were a lot of kids here.
Pros
Recently renovated rooms, more like recently painted with new décor. I wouldn’t call it renovated exactly
Food in the restaurant is great
Room service is fast and yummy
Staff was nice
Live band around the pool
Dog friendly
Cons
No one explained the parking situation so we were overcharged (parking is $ 25 a day-​ouch) they fixed it in the end but it was very confusing (asked for our credit card per day to get out of the lot and we were billed at the end). The man that first helped us seemed confused and ended up directing us to park on the opposite side than where our room was. It’s not easy lugging around all of our bags with a toddler and having to trek extra distance is obnoxious.
The restaurant takes absolutely forever. We sat and waited for our food for 45+ minutes. The server was nice but that doesn’t help our wiggly kid. The food is amazing though. Worth the wait if your party is all adults.
The hotel is on the end of the peninsula so you cannot walk anywhere which is annoying. It took us 25+ minutes to get anywhere. Also, you pass several strip clubs and scary looking places on the way in. Not the hotels fault obviously but doesn’t make the surrounding area feel safe to go to.
As lots of other Unilocalers have said, the ac runs on and off all night and it is LOUD. It also never really cools the room down.
You’ll get to know the bathroom habits of the people next to you as the water rushes through your walls loudly every time they flush and take a shower.
The beds sunk in in the middle so we rolled into one another all night.
The sheets were ridiculously wrinkled and loose so it was difficult to get comfortable,
The hallways smell. Bad. It’s musty and humid. The carpets in the hallways are super nasty and made me nervous about the carpets in our room.
This is random but they constantly left the door of an office open upstairs by our room and it seriously mirrored a dungeon. Creepy.
None of the rooms on the bottom floor have a railing so we couldn’t use it at all because our toddler would run which means we couldn’t even open the door. Thankfully we were able to switch with someone in our party to an upstairs room.
No screens on the doors.
The tub was pretty nasty looking. It had these weird blue streaks like shampoo had exploded and dripped down the walls and no one cleaned it up. The soap holder looked really old and dingy. Our in laws had a renovated shower (no tub) that was much nicer than ours so I guess it’s just chance.
The toilet paper was basically cheap sandpaper. Seriously, bring your own or risk injury.
The housekeepers take forever to get to the rooms so some days we would come back and our room still wasn’t clean so we would just say forget it.
There were a lot of rowdy drunk people at the pool until about 10 or 11 every night and then they would stumble in yelling at one another for the next couple of hours.
My in laws had an employee drilling a lock out of the front door of their neighbor’s room at 2 in the morning. She finally became fed up and went out there and told them to be quiet but the employee just shrugged and kept on. Seriously?!
There’s no actual beach access in terms of swimming. It’s just some sand with a row of rocks and then a bay with yachts and sailboats.
We rented a fire pit one night to have smores (provided by them) and while it was a lot of fun, the smores were really gross. They give you a box of smores stuff and both the chocolate and the marshmallows were overly sweet, obviously cheap and really gross. My two year old didn’t even want them and that’s saying something.
Now saying all that, my in laws who were with us really enjoyed it here but it wasn’t for us. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for.

I am divided about this place. After I submitted a less than stellar customer service review, I was surprised that this allegedly classy place didn’t bother to respond to me. Beware and read the reviews here!
Our room was not ready until after 6pm. As we drove from Las Vegas to San Diego, this is pretty unacceptable. We arrived a little bit early, i.e. 2 pm and were allowed to use the pool, which was fantastic. There was a pool bar that sold adult and kid friendly drinks and you could even get some food delivered from the onsite restaurant. There was no hotel towels when we arrived, but that was OK because I had our beach towels. We sent a couple of good hours swimming and drinking soda and water.
At 5ish, the front desk gave me the keys to our room. We went up there and the maid had all of the pillows on the floor and was leaning up against the dresser texting on her phone. She shooed me away.
Our intent was to eat at the onsite restaurant, but since we had been unable to get into our room, I decided it was time to leave property. We went to Coronado for dinner and I was called sometime after 6pm to let us know that the room was (finally!) ready.
The room: Bed and pillows were great. HOWEVER, there seems to be some effort to class the place us and it was only done halfway. Tub still looked original and banged up. The door to the bathroom was a weird sliding door that was attached to the outside of the bathroom wall. This meant it that the door never really felt closed. Also, the bathroom had an ant problem. Not just one or two ants; I killed at least a dozen in our one night stay.
There was this odd note in the shower on the full size shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, which said that you would be charged $ 120 if you took the items. Since I held no confidence in this establishment, I didn’t even use them for fear that they would charge me.
Parking was $ 30.
The onsite restaurant had the most amazing breakfast and hooked my 8 year old up on her birthday. Yes, there was an additional charge for the chocolate chips, but it was nice that they did it.
The pool and the restaurant-​thumbs up! The check in and the room in total-​thumbs down.
You have been put on notice, so make your hotel reservations with your eyes wide open.

My girlfriend and I recently stayed at Kona Kai for a one-​night stay, a pre-​cursor to our stay at the Crowne Plaza for Tiki Oasis. We chose Kona Kai for its proximity to Bali Hai (the opening night venue for Tiki Oasis), but having now stayed there, we both would choose it again for other trips too.
Kona Kai is in a beautiful part of San Diego, and it’s such a pleasure waking up there to the bright blue sky and marina. The hotel itself has a really cool aesthetic, with everything from the library wall paper in the lobby to the modern rooms and bathrooms. From what I can tell, there’s no undesirable room, as each one has different vantage points (whether it’s poolside, the marina, downtown San Diego, etc.) We had the poolside view and enjoyed sitting on the porch with a view to it and the water.
As for amenities, the pool is a good-​size with an attached tiki bar for all your drinking needs (including a decent selection of beer.) Next to the pool is a jacuzzi, which is pretty straightforward but very nice nonetheless. Downstairs from the pool is a large fitness center with new equipment. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try out the Spa center but it looked like it offered a lot of great, relaxing services.
Wish we had more than one night there. Even though I tend towards Airbnb, Kona Kai will be on my list of potential accommodations next time we’re in San Diego.

When you tell people that check in time is 4PM and leave them sitting in your lobby in bathing suits and sandy shoes until 5:15PM, it’s not a good first impression as a first time guest to this property.
The air conditioner in our room ran loudly the entire night long and the room never did get cool. And the signs in the bathroom telling me that if I dare take the ‘luxury’ soaps they are offering that they will charge you $ 95 was just ridiculous.
Our room was without a shower curtain when we checked in and we had to call to ask them to bring one. That was rather odd.
Our kids brought back dessert from dinner and when I sent them to the hotel’s dining room to get a fork, they were told that one would be brought to our room from room service. Why not just give them a fork? They are RIGHTTHERE. And needless to say the forks never came – even after we called twice.
The information about this hotel indicates that it has a private beach. This is extremely misleading. You can’t swim in the bay so any ‘beach’ they have is completely useless!
The kicker was that my father’s battery on his car died. He asked the bell desk if he could get a jump and he was told it was ‘against hotel policy’. Basic common decency is against hotel policy? Good to know.
This hotel wants so badly to be a 5 star place but they give 1 star service at best.

Only bad management can possibly take a seemingly nice location (geographically speaking) and run it like the paying customer is a burden. The fact that anyone thinks it makes your stay «hospitable» or «relaxing» when you use the shower and see a sign on the soaps that says «If you take the ammenity, we will charge you $ 95» just has no idea how to run a hotel property.
This place has the same equal chance as every other hotel property to be great… but wow, just wow when you see labels over things overstating values and threatening punishment. Dislike.

I spent almost $ 1200 and I was treated as a thief.
I have never experienced such rude and unprofessional staff, in fact I never thought there is a hotel would offend their guests by leaving unprofessional note attached to the amenity the night before our last day saying «If you take the amenity, we will charge 95 dollars» just in front of the shower. (I have pictures)
I called the front desk, the man who answered me said that was supposed to be a joke but it turns out to be a bad one! The day of check out I showed the notes to the front desk, she said let me talk to the manager then she returned and say we are just sorry. The manager did not have the balls to confront me or apologize personally.
If the management were good, they wouldn’t slip a rude notes. Even my family when I sent them a pic of the note they were shocked. I have never taken anything from hotels, I bring my own Shambo, conditionar and body wash since I dont like the ones that the hotels have.
Also other things you should know before coming to this hotel:
*The hotel at the end of the small island that is located in the bay
–You cannot swim at the bay!
–There is no nearby attractions or restaurants unless if you want to walk 30mins to get out of the island
–Unlike other hotels in the same island, this hotel does not have shelter to get you out of the island so you will need a Taxi, even though old town and downtown (Airport) is 10 – 15 mins.
To sum up, booking here was a mistake, nothing special about this hotel or the island. Best area to get are either Ocean Beach or Downtown or Mission Valley.
For the hotel staff since they are very unprofessional and rude:
If you think some of your guests would be interested in «plastic bottles» that worth $ 10 in the market then let me teach you how to deal with it to safe your worthy bottles.
1– I was required to sign a paper before I check in that says no smoke in the room, allow an extra line to express your worthy plastic bottles in those lines and say please don’t steal them because they are more worthy than you are, even if you spent $ 1200 we still love our bottles.
Or
2– Put a nice and polite note inside the room BEFORE the guest come in and that note should include a nice words such as «PLEASE» and «Friendly reminder». Or get actually a staff member that been to school and knows how to write professional letters.
You are the worst hotel that I have been to. I have been to over 300 hotels I never been disrespected like this one.

We flew in from Denver for a MUCH NEEDED vacation and we thought we were coming to a beautiful, quiet resort next to marina. When we got here, we realized really quickly that this is pretty much an old Motel 6 with a different name.
When you pay $ 333/​night at a hotel, it should be a VERY nice place with great amenities and nice rooms. My girlfriend and I have traveled all over and stayed in much nicer places for half the price.
The rooms are small, but not bad. The AC units, like many have stated on here, are like having your own personal wood chipper right next to the bed. Not only that, but we came back from dinner and found BUGS IN THE BED. We were worried to fall asleep, which is the last thing that should be on your mind on vacation. The pool is LOADED with kids and is very loud, and the drinks/​food by the pool are way too expensive. Oh and you have two choices for parking — $ 18/​day to pro yourself, or $ 26/​day for valet… rip off.
Like everyone else who has posted a review, the location of Kona Kai is the ONLY good thing about it. It’s beautiful. Sitting on the beach looking at the marina is legit.
If you’re planning a vacation to relax and enjoy your time, go somewhere else. A Holiday Inn Express is probably nicer.

We needed a vacation and wanted to go to San Diego and wanted to be near water. We looked high and low and prices were unbelievably higher than we wanted to spend. We finally found the Kona Kai!
This place was described as being remodeled so we liked that theory. It was nestled back like a hidden gem.
As we arrived it was a very nice entry view. A beautiful fountain. Someone was there to help with our bags. We had booked online and arrived way before our check-​in time. The front desk was nice enough to lock our bags so we could eat at their restaurant. We sat back enjoyed a very nice meal and chatted. Our servers were great when we told them we were waiting for our room.
We enjoyed a nice walk around the property and took pictures of the beautiful water and boats. Our phones rang and we were told that our room was ready! Yesssss!!! Easy check-​in process.
Our room was on the third floor over looking the marina. A beautiful sight when the sun is setting. We had a very nice remodeled room. The décor was updated and hip. We also had a small balcony with chairs and a small table. Great spot for breakfast and coffee!!!
They had a pool and hot tub. Cabana with TV, too. Bar was there but was not open while we were there. A couple of steps to the main bar/​restaurant if desired.
They had a fitness center which I saw many people utilizing on my walks outside! They had a spa there, too. Saw people doing yoga, too.
Overall, we had a great time here. The hotel itself I would give four stars. (Older building tastefully redecorated). If you’re looking for a true resort that pampers you every minute with chocolates on your pillow… this is not for you! If you’re looking for beautiful views and newly remodeled clean place that won’t put a giant dent on your pocket book… this is it!
Yessss…we had a problem with our plumbing. We called. The maintenance guy was there within ten minutes. He did his magic and gone in a timely matter. These things happen so I won’t knock a star off for a fluke situation!
When we were waiting for our trolley bus to come pick us up we were offered many different maps and coupons to help us with our day. Super nice people here.
We really enjoyed our beautiful views from our room and from our walks. We felt safe and everyone were very helpful. Short walks to their restaurant (which had a view, too).
Pool times in the evening was very enjoyable.
Our room had two beds in it. Great showers. They also had a mini fridge. We were able to buy a case of water while out and have something chilled when we got back.
We priced hotels all around! For views, the marina, restaurant, a beach with a fire, pool/​hot tub, etc… this was a great value! By the way… we booked in advanced and got a discount if that helps anyone planning a week long trip!

I give this place a 3.5 rating
Our room was very nice and and the drive was gorgeous to get to the hotel. Everyone was so accommodating and took our bags to our rooms and we were able to just sit on the balcony and drink some champagne that we brought with us and watch the boats on the harbor just imagining they were ours lol.
We booked a massage at the spa and wow was that one of the best massages I have ever had I fell asleep and I think I might of drooled (just kidding), but it was amazing. The massage did come with a mini facial which was lovely. We enjoyed the robes that came with the room. This was a much needed weekend getaway. Very relaxing.

Brother got married here recently, so we started the weekend. Nice place overall but lacked the value for the price.
Pros:
Clean room, decent food, great location, not super crowded, newly renovated for the most part
Cons:
Too much perfume in the cleaner, room smelled like a wet dog.
Expensive as anything but nowhere near 5 star quality.
No elevator if you have lots of luggage.
Small pool and hot tub, no towel restocking, no poolside service, no toys for kids, and limited seating… cabanas ridiculously overpriced.
A dozen people got their rooms taken away less than 48 hours before check in (after booking a year+ in advance) and promised free shuttle service from another hotel which never happened.
Service at the bar and restaurant were awful. Highly understaffed. Pool bar wasn’t even open on a Saturday in June.
Late checkout is like pulling teeth, even an hour.