t did not meet expectations. The Royal Hawaiian is...

t did not meet expectations. The Royal Hawaiian is set up for package tourism and all aspects of our stay reflected that. Overall we much preferred the lesser-star Moana Surfrider in terms of staff, service, and shockingly, cleanliness. The good: We travelled with young children. The Royal shares a kid's pool with the nearby Sheraton which has multiple pools, depths and slides.t was chaos, but we were fine with that. I did yoga four different mornings: it was a very basic sampler class designed for beginners, but was fine as a morning stretch. Our children took advantage of all crafts (which were the same each time but they did not care), bracelets and hula lessons which they really enjoyed. The desk staff was polite and the gang at the entrance was great. Because we had a late departure, a courtesy room (shared with the rest of the hotel) was made available. The bad: The room was not very clean upon arrival. Both lampshades were cracked and furniture was greasy and damaged. Every day the cleaning staff forgot to replace something: towels, robes, shampoo, body wash, water, tea, tea cups, etc. We constantly had to call down. The bathroom was partially cleaned once in 10 days, and this only happened upon our request. The faucets were covered in hard water stains and the mirror frame was constantly dirty despite our ask that it be cleaned. We were a family of four using one small bathroom for 10 days. I actually started cleaning it myself, until I realized that at the rates they charge, this was insane. We then asked for the bathroom to be cleaned please on day 7. It was lightly cleaned. I have simply never encountered this before. Anywhere. The sheets were replaced twice, I think. We are only sure they were changed once because one of the cleaning staff made a point of telling us that she couldn't believe the sheets hadn't been changed yet so she had done it for us (gold star for her). We were left with the distinct impression that we were given the "Expedia Experience" at this resort. The staff are not that interested, and the concierge snapped at me for asking where Yoga was We, apparently, do not reflect its desired clientele (whoever that may be). It was so disappointing.

We paid the insane price for the "luau". Feelings are mixed. It is not a luau. It is very much dinner theatre. We would have enjoyed more traditional music and dancing. Mid-way through there was this weird interlude where the performers dressed up as members of the Royal Family in the 1800s. And we were supposed to clap at their introduction as they promenaded across the stage. My kids stopped watching. Thank goodness it ended with some fire dancing or they would have crawled under the table. I would have enjoyed much more traditional dancing. The food was good though, good pan-asian and some Hawaiian cuisine. Much better than what was on offer at some of the other luau's on the island: no Styrofoam plates and buckets of poi (although there was poi here too). Everything was presented well and service was good. The show was just a little weird (although the dancers were talented, had they been given an opportunity to really demonstrate traditional Hawaiian dance and not "bugle boy of Company B" it would have been awesome), and probably designed for the over 80 set.