HILTON WAIKOLOA VILLAGE, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII, READER SWIM

Reader Alisa visited the Hilton Waikoloa on the Big Island in October of 2012. As pools go, this one is a serious player. Maybe an all-star even. They’ve got:

• Kona Pool, the largest of the three freshwater pools, features a dramatic waterfall;
• Kohala River Pool, a system of four pools interconnected by waterslides and a flowing river;
• Ocean Tower Pool, the adults-only option;
• The Lagoon, connected to the ocean with seawater flowing in, snorkeling. Not technically a pool, but seems to work like one!

Here are her photos:

We just wrote about Hilton’s recent Blue Paper  highlighting how important pools are to vacationing families. My guess is that the Waikoloa Village is a big ole’ family favorite and helps prove out Hilton’s  point regarding families and pools. There are kids clubs, a dolphin experience and other all-ages activities too like boat rides, fishing, water sports. This is one of those resorts where you check in and pretty much stick around til’ it’s time to go home.

Alisa and Scot (no kids) found it only slightly over-the-top. They stayed in the nearby Hilton Grand Vacations Club, which has its own pool with a slide too. Perfectly respectable as far as hotel pools go, but much less of a family-factory. They took the shuttle over to Waikoloa Village for the day, swam in the various pools, went snorkeling in the lagoon, enjoyed the sun. Scot tried the water slides but Alisa was too chicken.
At the end of the day, they took the shuttle back to their more low-key but equally relaxing resort. Nice.

For more Hawaii hotel pools, click here.