Fairmont Orchid - Hawaii

Second time staying at the Fairmont Orchid. The staff are extremely detailed oriented. My wife who is gluten free celiac felt very safe staying and eating on property. 10/10 will be back!

What exactly did I pay for? The rooms themselves are quite expensive even though the cleaning crew does nothing but retold your bed and (maybe) give you a few extra towels. They can’t even be bothered to clean anything else even though they come by your room twice a day. Then, you have a $50 per person breakfast buffet that is no different than a FREE continental breakfast included in a 3 star hotel, haha, what a scam. On top of that I have celiac disease and could not eat most of the buffet, I had to personally ask for gluten free items and for an all you can eat buffet, they would give me what I asked, I had to be drip fed a few pieces of gluten free bread/pastry at a time and wait on the wait staff. I’d like to mention that all the staff were incredibly kind though (: The beach has shade cabanas that are an additional $150 to rent too, an average entree is $32+ for mediocre food. Coming from NYC I’m used to expensive, this place is price gouging and gives you nothing in return. On top of that you e given a $48 per day resort fee at the end of your visit as well as a few other fees that make it an additional $55 or so more on top of your original room fee but you don’t get anything for this fee. The only thing you get with all the hidden fees and room is free pool towels (wow what a gift!), a water bottle, access to the gym and the beach. Everything you’d expect to be covered in your pricey room charge. However, it’s also ridiculous to charge for beach access when it’s technically public, and not using the gym you’ll still have to pay for it. Otherwise absolutely everything is an additional payment and they make sure it’s not cheap. The pool and hot tub were disgusting and frequently had napkins and other debris from pool guests in the bottom that there was never any haste to clean up. Overall it felt like I was throwing money away at every turn, but the staff were the redeeming quality as they were all so pleasant. You’re better off staying at literally any other hotel of whatever star rating because they include more services and things with your room charge, not to mention the rooms are expensive to begin with. It’s a pretty location and enjoyable to rest on the beach, however that’s the island’s beauty and fault, not some scammy hotel pretending to be 5 star lol