Aston at Papakea Resort  Diamond Resorts

Not recommended

After a very long trip, we arrived at the resort, we were exhausted, the check in was fast and within probably about 15 minutes we were in our room.

The grounds are nice, but that’s it. We rented through Papakea and did not know exactly what unit we were getting, but booked an ocean view studio. The one we were given was extremely dated, the furniture was old, and the main problem I had with the room was that it was dirty. The air conditioner was old and sounded like a jet engine. Even though I sleep with earplugs I was not able to get any rest because of it.

We were exhausted, so we just sucked it up for the rest of the day and night because just wanted to rest. The bed was a very uncomfortable and so were the pillows. I kept waking up with the AC noise and a stuffy nose from the dust.

The next day I called the front desk and they were actually very accommodating and gave us another room that same day. The next room was better, but still not good. Again it was very dated there was a lot of dirt and dust everywhere but at least it wasn’t as bad as the first one. The air conditioner was better, less noisy, in the second room. We normally don’t get room service/cleaning every day wherever we go, so we had a do not disturb sign on the door for a few days.

After that, though I wanted somebody to come around and sweep the floor, change the sheets and towels and it turns out that they don’t provide any of these services. I ended up doing more cleaning and laundry within two weeks we were there then I do in a month at home. They would not exchange towels unless they were beach towels, I had to wash all the towels and sheets myself.

Since we were going to the beach every day I had to sweep all the sand off the floor daily, and they don’t provide any cleaning supplies or tools either. We just had an old broom in the room. I wish I was aware of that when I was booking with this place. I understand that these are private condos rented out by a company but if you’re gonna have them rented out, at least get them to a certain level of cleanliness and standards. I would not book with them again, even though the place is located in a great area with shopping and food within walking distance.

PROS:
-good location, within walking distance to stores, restaurants and a food truck park
-nice grounds, well maintained
-nice views from rooms
– washer and dryer in room
– good pool and hot tub
-ABS store right by the parking lot with good and quick made to order breakfast
– plenty of shaded parking

CONS:
-old, dated, dirty rooms (and they charge a cleaning fee, yet I don’t think anyone actually cleans, I have not seen a cleaning cart the whole time we were there, 2 weeks)
– furniture is worn , dirty and dated
– I don’t think they’ve cleaned the curtains since the place was built
– loud, old air conditioners
-no cleaning services, you have to do all of it yourself, wash towels, sheets, and you have to get your own cleaning supplies
-no beach, only a grassy area, there is a patch of sand but it is covered in water with the tide
-no real water access or swimming area