Malolo Lounge

There may be a worse place to watch sports but I can’t imagine where that would be. The chairs are uncomfortable and make it almost impossible to eat or drink without spilling. The waitress varied between uncommunicative and sullen and had to be reminded that I had ordered a beer. When the food finally arrived it was cold and had clearly been sitting around for a while. If you’re staying at the Waikoloa Hilton and want to watch a game either stay in your room or go to one of the sports bars in Kona.

Pricey yes but you are at a resort so what do you expect?
So having that out of the way, it’s a comfortable place to escape the heat and chill. Drinks a good (even the alcohol free ones) and the bartenders were generous with their pours.
We had only salads and we were satisfied.
This isn’t a top spot but it’s good enough in a pinch if you want to chill but don’t feel like venturing out of the Hilton resort.

Other than the fact that my wife’s beer had a bunch of junk in the bottom that was never identified, this place is pretty decent. Very slow service, and an odd but entertaining two man band. Not great, not bad.

Having recently panned one of the eating places at the Waikoloa Hilton, I feel it’s only fair that I compliment one of their other establishments. The Malolo Bar, open until 10 pm, has very nice salads and small plates, good drinks, friendly and accommodating service, and two lovely terraces. Beautiful and relaxing in the evening after a day among the weekend crowds at the hotel pools.

Pricey! However, the prices were typical of any resort. The hummus appetizer was quite bland, but the drinks were the savior; yet, four drinks and an appetizer for over $ 65? Questionable. We ordered the Açaí Berry Fizz, Lava Flow, Rum Runner, and an Old Fashioned — all wonderful! The ABF was tart, while the Lava Flow was very sweet. The live music was also quite decent! Just a simple duo who covered a variety of artists from James Vincent McMorrow to John Mayer to Johnny Cash to the Temptations. Overall good lounge feel, but the food was not worth it. Recommend it for drinks, though!

My husband and I have been here three times now and the service always friendly.
The Ahi Sashimi is quite expensive for what you receive but very well prepared. The first day I had the Thai Summer Beef Roll. Quite disappointing. Not sure where the beef was and the rolls themselves were very, very small. I have never had a roll quite so small… really the vegetables are not that expensive. Maybe they wanted to make sure you tasted the beef… like I mentioned, I could hardly see the beef, let alone taste it.
My husband also tried the sliders which come with homemade chip. They looked good and I snuck a little prime rib piece. The meat it self had no flavor. Hum… same meat as in the roll?
The best part… Cheese platter with charcuterie. Not inexpensive but was a very nice selection of meats and cheeses with walnuts, pistachios, dried apricots and papaya, olives, apples and peppercinis. I asked for gluten free bread instead of the Walnut. The bread came to us warm. I’m sure it was Undi’s White but fit well with the combinations. Glutino Crustinis would of been awesome .
So sad to add one more disappointment. I ordered a coffee drink. I’m big on whipped cream when it actually lists whipped cream on the menu. This to me is at least a quarter above the actual drink. I received a tablespoon half melted. Totally ruined everything. Yes even the cheese platter. Hey, the whipped cream makes the drink.
Just like extra veggies in a roll, the air in whipped cream is not that expensive either.
The conclusion. Hit and miss on the menu.

Came here once with my husband on our honeymoon. Drinks were delicious, food was great, service was good as well. Pretty pricey though. Cool atmosphere, fun place to hang out.

Drinks and the service are good but the food is not worth the price. The $ 19 hawaiian style salad with chicken was so bland we asked for Ceasar dressing to cover the lack of taste but that dressing was also like water. The prime rib sliders were good but again the horseradish sauce was nowhere to be found. Same problem with the seared ahi… no sauce. I do recommend the ahi poke and fun drinks, just eat somewhere else first.

Okay the food is good, the price is a little too high though, and our server was not all that nice to us. The fondue is delicious. The cheese plate has good variety but is full of nuts, so if you don’t like them skip it. The drinks are really yummy, I just wish they weren’t sooo crazy expensive. But since it’s at the hotel, what are you going to do? Music ambiance is nice, seats are comfortable enough but don’t try and hop into them thinking the cushions will be extra squishy-they’re not. Overall, it worked for us for our first night at the hotel.

I came here on a Monday to order a salad to take back to my room. The bartender was friendly and quickly took my order. I ordered a Cesar salad with chicken. The order came out within five minutes and the total was $ 16.00. The salad was rather small, but it was really good. My only suggestion is that the portion be bigger. I would recommend this place if you’re looking for a nice place to have drinks and something light/​small to eat.

In my opinion, this is the best spot to get a drink within the confines of the Hilton Waikoloa Village resort. The bartenders are awesome, the live music was usually good, and for reasons that I’ll never understand, drinks are cheaper here than at other places within HWV.
It was so confusing, I had to ask one of the awesome bartenders about it. She had no answer, and said that if I’m given the opportunity to comment on the matter, I should, because it annoys them too.
For example: a mojito at Malolo Lounge costs $ 11.50. At the Lagoon Grill, which boasts fully inferior food and service, the same mojito costs $ 13.50. It’s the same drink menu (pretty much the same menu for everything within HWV) so why is the price different?
No idea. But the prices were lowest here.

Second night of our honeymoon and we wanted a lowkey kinda night because the next night we were splurging on KPC. We heard that Malolo lounge had a live musician so we arrived hungry and ready to chill. Unfortunately the waitress didn’t seem to notice us so after a while we had to go up and ask for menus. After that though she was relatively attentive. We ordered a yummy mango martini and a coco mo which was an adult milkshake type drink that quickly became the favorite of our trip. We got ½ dozen oysters and two prime rib sliders which turned out to be enough. We sat and listened to the soulful singing of the singer/​guitarist who could have been dressed a little more appropriately for a hotel lounge. I dropped a couple bucks in her tip jar which was empty and requested a song for our honeymoon. Overall its a nice low key place. even has a couple pool tables.

We were wrapping up our vacation on a Saturday evening and didn’t really want to go off-​site so we decided to check out the Malolo Lounge. There was a band just starting up and the place was pretty empty for happy hour so we were a little nervous, but decided what the hey. We ordered a couple of beers, the ahi poke app, caesar salad, and pork sliders to share. The poke was absolutely delicious and the salad and sliders were very solid and their homemade chips were pretty tasty, too. The service was great and the prices were very reasonable for a resort. Glad we stopped in.

This place was terrible. 8 dollar Sierra Nevadas. Terrible draft selection. Bar staff was extremely rude and slow to serve. I wanted to get an apéritif before dinner and the bartender told me they didn’t have any then I asked her about the sambuca that was clearly on a shelf with other aperitifs and she wouldn’t let me try it. I feel bad complaining about this but if I’m going to pay 15 dollars for a glass I’d like to try it first. Overall a very disappointing experience. The pool tables and cues were even in crappy shape. Next time point me to the hole in the wall a few miles down the road.

Yeah, this place is nothing to look at. In fact, I didn’t even want to go there. My coworkers decided it was a good idea after work and I was hungry so there I went. The four stars is for the poke. It was really good. I mean REALLY good. The menu says it’s «award winning». Usually places that say that are lying, especially when that place is a Hilton lounge. I think they might actually be telling the truth this time.
It’s on the pupus section of the menu but it is definitely enough for a meal. On a bed of diced avocado and surrounded by taro chips, that poke is packed with flavor and so good that I’m about to go back for more.
The drinks are nothing to write home about so don’t expect anything mind blowing. The live music is nice, though. Go for the poke, go out for drinks… or pre party before.

Terrible service! When we finally did get some service, I ordered a mango mojito and california rolls. The mango mojito was delicious, but the california rolls tasted like gas station ca. rolls. the kind you can get from am pm that come in a lil package of 6, and expired yesterday. I’ve had better ca. rolls at those chinese buffets that serve fake ice cream, and texas toast from stater brothers.
I would give this place one star, if it wasn’t for the fact that I got the kama’aina discount even though I’m not even a local. People here tell me I look like a local or that I look like a full blooded hawaiian even. But anyways, I decided to keep my mouth shut when my mom blurted out yes to the waitress who was asking if we were «from here».

We went here late at night during our stay at the Waikoloa Village and it definitely met our needs.
We wanted a lounge to relax in and this seemed perfect. There are TVs everywhere with sports running all night. The two lounge singers were entertaining as well. People got up to dance and people were singing back to them. (Some guy to impress his lady. Not sure it worked for him.)
Anyway, I thought this place was comfortable. Plus, we ordered a delicious chocolate mousse dessert that was super rich and fortunately for our waistlines we didn’t finish it.
For a guy who likes sports during his Hilton stay, this is paradise.

The Hilton Waikoloa web site says music in the Malolo Lounge from 530 to 830 nightly. we make a dinner reservation at the nearby Roy’s for 830 and head over to the Hilton. Into the lounge we go, and there’s a small number of patrons and no music. I ask the waitress where’s the music? She says it starts at 800pm, I say the web site says 530, she says no it doesn’t say that. I say yes it does, she says if it does I’ll change it. we decided to stay. we order two mai tais, the waitress drops then off and vanishes. another couple comes in with a toddler and sits down in the bar right next to us… the toddler starts to howl. we start looking for the missing waitress to get the tab… she’s gone missing. I go up to the bar and tell the bar keep, I need our tab. he goes looking for the missing server… he comes back and says she’ll be here in a minute. by the way I ask why do you allow children in the bar. he says we don’t, but it’s quiet so we just look the other way… waitress shows up with tab and says I was in the ladies room.TMI. Stay away from this place. unless you have a howling toddler and want them to look the other way

A decent place for an evening drink at the Hilton.
The Malolo Lounge is near the Hilton’s lobby and serves a variety of cocktails and a few snacks. You might want to stop here before going out to dinner or on your way coming back. It’s also a decent place to catch a football game when they re-​air them in the evening; I enjoyed some MNF here one night while sipping a mojito.
The tropical cocktail specials (mostly $ 10 each) are pretty good, but make sure you don’t stray too far from the specials (a martini cost $ 15). There is a small selection of eats at the lounge; we had the eggplant hummus, which was actually tasty! One item that I wished I had tried was the cheesecake lollipop, which looked inviting. There is also the same sushi selection found at the other Hilton-​owned outlets at the resort.
Sadly, the place is a bit too big to really feel cozy, and the lack of any sort of view is unfortunate. Also, the service, while nice, was pretty slow (even for «Hawaii-​time»). If push came to shove, I think the bar at KPC is better for pre-​/​post– dinner drinks and ambiance, but the Malolo’s location right by the lobby makes it a great stop on your way in/​out from dinner off campus.