Island Breeze Lū‘au - He 'Ohana Kakou

Nice buffet, Great Show, Fire is always a hit

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

DO NOT BOOK this Luau! I repeat, DO NOT BOOK this Luau!!! They advertise “Free cancellation” yet with Hawai’i getting hit by record storms and flooding that shut down all state agencies and emergency services (2 feet of rain over the past week) they would not allow cancellations. Keep in mind, this luau is just shy of $200 per person. Instead, we were told that they would host the luau indoors in conference room #3 at the Courtyard Marriott King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel. Completely destroyed the atmosphere! Dancing was okay, but you could tell even their energy wasn’t the same. To end the night, the group was told that the fire dance could not be done because we were indoors (for obvious reasons), but they would guide everybody outside where it would take place. After getting everyone’s hopes up (As this is the reason 99% of travelers attend a luau) they immediately followed up with “It’s raining” and abruptly ended the show. Not only would they not allow cancellations, but they took 100% of our money for 80% of the show. Extremely disappointing to get a lackluster experience on a once in a lifetime family trip. Walking back to the car after the show let out made the night even worse, as everyone we passed was talking about how “Disappointing” their luau experience was. Would love to have a conversation with Ownership/Management and get a “FULL” refund, but my guess is they’ll gladly remain silent on their way to the bank.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Island Breeze is a buffet dinner + music, dance and activity show. All performances were related to the Hawaiian and Polynesian culture. All good to great. Fire eater was the highlight. Food was good but more suited to International non vegetarian audience, not an Indian vegetarian like me.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Great experience. Loved the food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food is very bland. Only the kalua pork is good. I paid for the Ali'i upgrade just to get the better seating which I did appreciate since I am a short individual so likely would have struggled to see anything from the general seating. The dancers are obviously very talented, but I thought there would be more history talked about. It was very superficial and all information I had heard already from visiting the other historical sites. I thought they would give more story about the dances themselves, but they didn't, only giving a very superficial description of the dance. The fire dance at the end was neat, but the guy spent more time trying to ask us to yell and cheer than actually dancing or doing much. Maybe he was just having an off day? Overall, didn't feel it was worth the money.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 3

A great place to get closer to the spirit and culture of Hawaii

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

If we hadn't been to other luau then maybe we wouldn't know any difference, but they shouldn't be charging for this. The location, food, setting and entertainment all could not have been any worse.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

This was a wonderful luau for the entire family! The food was delicious while the Polynesian performance was very engaging. We especially enjoyed attending the free imu ceremony the morning of the luau, where we got to see the whole pig prepared and buried for cooking. The entire luau experience was one of the highlights of our Hawaiian vacation. Thank you!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

What a fun time. We learned the history of the Hawaii's islands. Had a nice choice of food and desserts. We would do it again for sure!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great food and show. Organization and execution disappointing. We booked general rather than priority seating. Seats are assigned prior to opening. The Priority seating was called first to the food buffet. The show started before we were called to go to the buffet so we missed most of the opening show. We learned if you want to see the entire show you must book priority. Note drinks are weak so you should order at least two at a time. Only coffee is available the last 30 minutes.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 2

Amazing luau experience! Great food and great show. The rain held off for the entire show which was really nice. We sprung for the VIP experience and highly recommend this luau for its food, exciting show and magical location.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This was so disappointing. From the directions of where the event was, all the way to the end where you need to pay EXTRA for the pictures? We arrived early and stood in line to get into the event which meant that we would missed all the small events that were held before the big show. There were only 2 bartenders. We waited in line AGAIN for another 30 mins after we got in, to get drinks. RIDICULOUS. They started the show before we could even get seated to get our food and the food was mediocre. The desserts were from a box and the food was “hotel food” as the event took place at a local hotel. The only fresh food was the roasted pig which was delicious. The entertainment was good.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

I don't understand the negative reviews. This was awesome. Great history. Great performance. Food was good. Yes, it is expensive. Thoroughly enjoyed it. We chose to sit in the back, middle table. Great time.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Beautiful luau, very entertaining. Food was delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We were quite disappointed with this luau back in September. While we do appreciate the availability to reschedule as there was a miscommunication in dates when booked through agent; not at fault of luau company by any means, they got us right in no problem which I must note was accommodating and the best of service received. I give 3 stars simply for the dancers, they were amazing and deserve 5 stars alone, this luau would get a 1/2 from us if it hadn’t been for a wonderful performance.

Unfortunately the service and food knocked the entire experience down several notches. Upon arrival you get leid inside of a resort which doesn’t feel very authentic whatsoever considering the workers were dressed like hotel staff - you follow through to the back of the resort which is a historic landmark providing the authentic vibe - I was mid video of the pig roast when I was told I would have to leave due to improper footwear. With that interaction entirely taking away from the pig roast experience, we carried on to our meals. We sat down at our VIP table, there were no other restrictions or instruction given. We had gone to the buffet where the food was mediocre at best, maybe the worst we had on the entire island - major disappointment. When we got back to our table we had another couple who had joined while we were getting food (we visibly marked our seats) and we could care less we were sharing a table as that’s the aloha vibe. It was a table for 4, we were 2 separate couples. As we sat down we were screamed at by the other party regarding seating and forced by staff to move to the far left of the stage more so in front of the band not the dancers whatsoever. The other party hadn’t even gone to the buffet at this point, we had arrived early as instructed for the best seating. The entire thing left a bad taste in my mouth, literally. It was so loud the host made an announcement for a reminder for the crowd to live Aloha.

Staff did absolutely nothing to make this right that evening. The dancers are the only commendable part of this luau. They deserve better team work on the back end. Not worth the money IOP, definitely won’t be back - go to Royal Kona or Legends when the revamp is done.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 2