Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii

We stayed at this resort because of a meeting. I cannot stress strongly enough how well we were treated by every single staff person we interacted with. They have it down to a science! The resort is lovely, clean, beautifully constructed, the food is wonderful, and the people who work there take pride in their job. I would highly recommend this hotel. It is worth what you pay for.

I’ve stayed at several fairmonts and have loved all of them, so I had high expectations of this hotel. The fairmont orchid is a perfectly nice hotel. They have a nice beach, with adorable sea turtles that I swear was eavesdropping on my conversations. There are tiny cute birds running all over the property. The hotel was nice, although for the brand and the price point maybe I was expecting something more luxurious and architecturally aligned with being in Hawaii. Unfortunately, our experience with housekeeping was far from optimal. Although we tipped generously for the first 5 days, They never changed out our water glasses or wiped down the countertops, we ran out of body wash and they didn’t replace it nor any of the tea until I had called several times. In fairness, right now they don’t have a GM. They blamed the staff for being undertrained- but I did some sleuthing and apparently they bring out lots of hospitality interns to do rotations, then don’t actually let them do rotations, just make them worn on housekeeping and wash dishes. Fairmont, it’s not a good look to exploit intern labor. You make enough money to pay your staff fairly. Other than that, my massage with Brandy was phenomenal. Cheryl is an amazing concierge. Some more feedback - update and invest in spa facilities. 2/3rds of the massage cost goes to the fairmont, you could at least provide hairbrushes and juice and in a nice seating area - More Hawaiian inspired fare for the breakfast - Denote gluten free options more clearly on menu - We were there for a conference - they did not have enough staff or food for the socially hours and did not replenish the food nor add more workers, meaning many people didn’t get their drinks or food

Stayed at the Fairmont for 3 nights as a couple. Our welcome to the hotel was actually terrible. We pulled our car into a spot near the entrance to go check-in and rather than someone greeting us with a welcome and offering to assist with our bags, a person came up to us asking if we were valet or self parking and when we said self parking, he said we have to move the car- with one person checking in and the other paring. Bad way to welcome someone. At check-in, the desk person said that he saw that we were celebrating an anniversary (had asked on the registration along with my husband's name), and he asked what is my wife's name. Politely told him my husband's name was Benjamin. He looked flustered. When Ben returned from parking, he did not say happy anniversary to him. This was a general theme of the place. I am not particularly sensitive to homophobia and seldom see it at hotels these days (outside of Jamaica and the mid East), but it did seem to be pretty pervasive at this hotel. Nothing overt, just in general not treated the same as other guests by many (though not all) of the staff. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. The rooms are a good size and nicely decorated (though showing lots of wear and could use a freshening-up). The bed was comfortable though a little too soft (worn). The rooms and hallways had a decidedly moldly smell that was often covered with aggressive use of air freshener. The food and beverages throughout the hotel are very expensive- breakfast $50 pp + tax and tip, sandwiches and burgers close to $30, drinks in the $20 -25 range, and overall not of great quality. The breakfast buffet for example was nearly identical to the club breakfast that we had a Hyatt Regency in Honolulu (free) with the addition of an egg station. The service throughout the hotel was hit or miss and definitely not at a 5 star level. Housekeeping was good. We placed a wake-up call for our last morning and it never happened. The gym was very good. The beach was nice though no life-guards. On our 1st day, I had to go in and pull a young woman to shore who was in distress. First, booking through Costco was great. Booking through Costo was a great idea, as we did receive a room upgrade, included breakfast and $25 a day food/drink credit and water sports rentals (which would also have been very expensive). While we enjoyed being on the Big Island and the pretty grounds, probably would not stay here again, and would not recommend this hotel to gay couples.

We got married at the Fairmont Orchid in February 2025. Absolutely amazing event with excellent service by our coordinator on-site, Yvette. She made our day and week extra special 💗. The grounds are immaculate! Great beach area with lounge chairs and perfect spot for a little lagoon snorkeling. Brown's Beachouse Restaurant is amazing! Great food and perfect ambiance. I would definitely stay here again!

Staff went above and beyond to help us out. We booked very last minute and they helped make our trip a great one! Loved the water bottles and water stations! Beds are always so comfortable and the rooms are great. Food and drinks are always fantastic and we had a ton of fun in the pool!