Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa

This is our 3rd time at Aulani and the resort has deteriorated in quality and service. The cost for the resort has increased considerably but otherwise the rooms have gone downhill. The rooms have aged and they are not well kept. They now only give basic amenities ie. a soap bar and lotion on the counter top. There was no blow dryer or robes, etc. The pool area and main lobby area are beautiful as per previous - but the service is not good. When speaking to the manager about the concerns we had about the room, the response was “this is just the way it is”. It’s just unfortunate as the experience we had twice before was much better.

First off, I did enjoy my stay here at Aulani. I really did, It's just that there are weird, very DIsney quirks that bugged me. The resort is beautiful. There are 4 different pools, one being adults only and another is the Lazy River. There are multiple places to sit for the day away from children, near children, near the pools, on the beach in the shade and on and on, Yes the hair game if big, but I watched and there were always chairs on the beach and fatther away from the pools. I stayed on the hotel side and had an ocean view room with a king bed and balcony. I slept like a baby. The bath has a bath and shower and was loaded up with towels. Every staff member was wonderful and kind. On my way to dinner one night I saw a staff member from the cleaning crew, standing and waving hello to folks with a roll of stickers he was giving out to kids with their parents. They were delighted. being on my ownm I rented a Casabella daily at $110. It's added up, but I need shade and this is the way I could guarantee it. They are 2 seated cabanas and are comfortable. Generally the prices are siilar to other resorts in Hawaii. I did have a problem with a banana costing $5. For some reason that was a line I wouldn't cross. And finally, seeing the characters throughout the day was a delight I didn't know I would love. Here is what bugged me about Aulani which I understand is common to most Disney properties: No glassware in the room, except for paper cups for the Keurig. I was in a hotel room, not DVC. Room cleaning is only every other day. Some may prefer that, I didn't. One of the pleasures of staying at a nice resort is a room that is cleaned daily. I could call for new towels if needed. I think what frosts me the most is this all done in the guise of environmental preservation, but there is plastic everywhere here and it just doesn't add up for me. The bands for the pool are fine, but perhaps they could make them easier to remove? You need to find someone to cut it off of you. All of these are minor but it's what bugged me. It may not bother you. If you can afford it and you want to have a great famiy vacation, this is an amazing option.

Aulani is beautiful, but the overall experience did not match the extremely high price. The room quality felt average for what we paid, and the food was shockingly expensive with no breakfast included and no affordable family dining options. For a resort marketed to families, this was disappointing. The staff experience was inconsistent. Some cast members were warm and kind, while others were dismissive or ignored us. It often felt like service depended on tipping expectations for things I would gladly do myself. Activities were limited and booked up immediately. For a resort of this size and cost, I expected enough availability for all guests to enjoy the full Aulani experience. We also experienced a full‑day power outage with no communication from the hotel. No updates, no explanation, and no real accommodations beyond someone singing from a balcony. For the price point, this lack of communication was unacceptable. Overall, the resort is visually stunning, and we made great memories, but the value simply wasn’t there. Our best experiences were actually off‑property during excursions. Aulani is beautiful, but not aligned with the cost.

My family and I recently stayed at Aulani, and while the resort itself is beautiful and there were certainly parts of the trip we enjoyed, our overall experience was unfortunately overshadowed by serious cleanliness and pest concerns. During our stay, we discovered ants running across the kitchen area in our room. This was not just a few ants. It appeared to be a clear infestation. I have video showing the extent of the ant issue and what we experienced during our stay. We also spotted roaches on the property, which added to our concern and disappointment. Instead of spending our time relaxing, enjoying the resort, and making the most of what was supposed to be a special Disney vacation, we spent valuable vacation time dealing with pest problems, contacting the front desk, waiting for housekeeping, and following up in person to get the room issue addressed. We contacted the front desk right away. The initial call did not seem to be taken as seriously as we had hoped, and it was only after I went to the front desk in person that housekeeping was promptly sent to the room. To their credit, housekeeping did come, took photos, cleaned the area, and attempted to resolve the situation. However, by that point, the disruption had already taken away from our stay. What made the experience even more frustrating was the response afterward. Nothing was initially offered to address the time we lost, the food we had to throw away, or the overall inconvenience of dealing with ants in our room during a vacation we spent over $8,000 on. When we asked about compensation, we were told housekeeping did not have the authority to offer anything, which I understand. However, after speaking with a manager, we were told nothing further could be done beyond a $100 credit, which felt very disappointing given the circumstances. The most upsetting part was the suggestion that we may have brought the ants in ourselves or that we should have reported the issue at check-in. That response felt dismissive and shifted responsibility onto us instead of acknowledging the seriousness of the problem. As someone with over 20 years of experience in the pest control industry, I found that explanation very hard to accept. I hate to put this out there, but I feel obligated to share our experience. Many families save for a long time for a trip like this, and they deserve to know what they could potentially experience, especially when paying Disney resort prices and expecting a certain standard of cleanliness and service. Aulani is a beautiful property and has the potential to be an incredible vacation experience, but this stay did not meet the standard I expected from Disney. The pest issues themselves were bad enough, but the time wasted addressing them and the lack of a meaningful response made the experience much more disappointing. I truly hope management takes these types of cleanliness concerns more seriously in the future. Guests should not have to spend their vacation dealing with ants in their room, food loss, and repeated follow-up just to have an issue properly addressed.

The experience is good overall. It didn't feel like any special Disney vacation. The rooms are bland, even a disney character painting would add some charm. Only two water slides: one open (need tubes) and one covered. There is a wait time in both depending on when you go there. They shouldn't have cancelled events during the rainy days: - Why cancel the free "indoor" craft event? It's indoors. - Outdoor movie-night could have happened inside their huge ballrooms. The best activity was 1 hour "Menehune adventure trail", free and always available unless raining. The ukulele and sketching classes were good. The property is nice however the Disney experience is very limited. There is always a character available after 12pm however we covered all characters over two days. And then these meet-n-greets became repetitive. There were a couple of fun pool parties with the characters performing for you. If you are not an early riser, there is absolutely no hope of getting a chair. I cannot comment on the Kids Club (Aunty's Beach House), only kids are allowed inside. We were not even allowed to peek, my kids were happy though. Should book all the free activities and dining slots as soon as they open (45 days ago) OR else you got to show up every morning 7.30am to grab a walk-in slot. To be honest we were expecting a lot more for the price tag.