Hawaiian Inn Beach Resort

“Would come back!”

We stayed here for almost three weeks. The staff is very friendly, helpful and courteous. Our room was clean and well prepped. We had a beautiful view of the ocean from our room. The heated pool is very warm and both the indoor and outdoor pool are clean. We were planning on staying for two weeks b… more

We stayed here for almost three weeks. The staff is very friendly, helpful and courteous. Our room was clean and well prepped. We had a beautiful view of the ocean from our room. The heated pool is very warm and both the indoor and outdoor pool are clean. We were planning on staying for two weeks but decided to stay an extra week on and the staff gave us a great deal. Very accommodating.

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“Great hotel, AWFUL bartender”

Over the years, I have stayed at Hawaiian Inn many times. I have stayed solo, with my kids and with family and friends, and it has always been a wonderful experience. I have never had any complaints with the rooms, staff, accommodations, or the Tiki Bar. I recommend this hotel to everyone. We have … more

Over the years, I have stayed at Hawaiian Inn many times. I have stayed solo, with my kids and with family and friends, and it has always been a wonderful experience. I have never had any complaints with the rooms, staff, accommodations, or the Tiki Bar. I recommend this hotel to everyone. We have always spent a lot of time at the bar and enjoyed the food, drinks, service, and the great prices. I was definitely a little bummed the grill was out, but things happen. My always positive experience completely changed during my recent stay. I am almost at a loss for words regarding the things that took place because of one particular staff member/bartender at the Tiki Bar, Mike. I have seen poor employees at places before, but never bad enough to take the time to formally complain. Mike is hands down one of the WORST employees I have ever encountered. From his poor service, nasty attitude, and unprofessional demeanor, to the awful drinks and burnt food, I do not even know where to begin because it was that bad. Once we got settled into our room, we decided to go down to the bar for drinks and a little food for the kid like we always do. There were only two or maybe three other guests at the bar. We sat patiently waiting to be served or even acknowledged. After roughly five minutes, Mike came over. He did not apologize for the wait and simply asked what he could get us. We asked what he recommended and did not get much of a response, so we ordered basic drinks. The drinks were awful, I get it not every bartender is skilled at making a good drink, although they should be at least decent and palatable. I believe it boiled down to the obvious “I don’t want to be here” attitude Mike had. For as busy as the hotel was with Jeep Week, it was shocking to see the bar so dead. It did not take long to understand why. After the first awful round drinks, we decided not to buy any more and instead hang out by the pool and beach. During that time, we watched an older woman walk up to the bar to ask a question. Mike literally yelled at this woman, “Can’t you see I’m dealing with someone? Gosh, why are people so rude today?” There were only the same two people sitting there and their friend. It was dead. The woman stood there, waited, and simply wanted to ask about toilet paper for the pool bathroom. Mike threw his hand up, pointed inside, and said, “Go inside and tell them, that’s the HOA.” His nastiness was completely uncalled for. I think he gave a slight apology but the damage had been done. During our time on the beach, we saw the woman he had been rude to and apologized to her because we felt bad she had been treated that way. She and her friends then told us how awful he was as well and how the bartender the night before (a female bartender) had been amazing, so they did not expect such poor service from Mike. Then it got even worse and, honestly, downright disgusting and shameful. He told that group of women to avoid the indoor pool because, and I quote, “If you don’t have herpes when you get in it, you will have herpes when you get out.” What kind of person says something like that to paying guests who want to enjoy a pool? It was disgusting, inappropriate, and unacceptable. After a while, we decided to order food because we did not feel like driving. While waiting, we were forced to hear things no guest should ever need to hear being spoken to another guest, especially from an employee. Mike repeatedly trashed the hotel, management, and ownership and constantly dropped F bombs while doing so. He complained that the hotel and HOA were awful because the owner’s son is now “running things,” said the son was jealous of the relationship Mike had with the mother, complained that the kid pool had been closed and they kept finding “poop” (used other word) in it, along with a bag of weed and seaweed placed there to look like feces and I can’t remember what else. One patron who had been sitting there asked for a drink chilled on ice, then turned and walked toward the beach while Mike was making it. Mike became annoyed and asked the patrons “What the f*** does he ask me to make a drink and then turn around and leave?” He then set the drink down and left it there. He complained that while they were rebuilding the pool, that workers came at the worst times, that the grills were broken, and that he was not high enough to be there. Not one positive thing was said about the hotel, the work environment, or management. Clearly he has some serious animosity with the son running the hotel. We brought our food back to the room, opened it and our food was burnt, I mean BURNT. Mike was so busy talking trash to patrons, when he should’ve been keeping an eye on our food. We tried to eat what we could, ended up throwing it away but did not dare ask to have it remade because we had no idea if doing so would set him off. That is not good for business and not fair to us as guests. A decent staff member would’ve never served that food. This is especially bad when you have picky eaters. Fortunately, he mentioned he would not be back until Saturday, and everyone seemed to have the same “thank God” reaction. Since we could see the bar from our room, that evening around 7:20 PM, I watched Mike come from the kitchen carrying a garbage can, look back, saw two new guests sitting there, and did not acknowledge them. He kept going with the trash. A few minutes later he returned, and another woman had sat down, making four guests total. I thought for sure he would stop and acknowledge them. Instead, he went back into the kitchen, came out with a grocery cart full of cardboard, walked right past the guests without saying a word, and took it outside. After he was gone for at least five minutes, one woman got up and left. The other men stayed. Who does that? Who ignores guests or refuses to pause closing duties long enough to serve customers? Mike does!!! Fast forward to Thursday just after 11:00 am. We came up from the beach to get food and drinks, not knowing what to expect. I immediately noticed one of the previous bartenders I had always enjoyed seeing there, so we took our chances. It was like night and day. The attitude, the drinks, and the food were 100 times better than the day before. The bar stayed packed all day. We spoke with multiple patrons and discussed how glad everyone was to finally get a good drink, attitude and service. You would not believe how many people said they avoid the bar because of Mike, how nasty and unprofessional he is, and how they refuse to support that behavior. At least a dozen people commented on how horrible he is, how they do not go to the bar when he is working, and similar sentiments. In all the years I have been going there, with my kids, family and friends, I have never seen the bar so dead, nor have I ever had bad service. I am fairly certain the bar was closed and shut down by 8:30 PM on Mike's night. How does a bar shut down by 8:30 one night, then stay packed and open until nearly midnight the next day with different bartenders? That should tell you everything you need to know. I do not know who makes the decision to keep this man employed, but it is a bad decision and their judgment needs to be questioned. It is poor business judgment to have someone like that representing your establishment, openly bashing the property, mistreating guests, and driving customers away. I could not imagine how the owners would react if they could actually see and hear this employee. My personal and professional opinion is that this employee should be removed as quickly as possible. I do not care how “close” or protected he may be with anyone, he is TERRIBLE for business, damaging your reputation, and people are talking. Sadly, IF I plan a future visit, I will be calling to make sure MIKE WILL NOT BE WORKING DURING MY STAY.

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