Today I dragged my parents and my boyfriend out to the HIlton Waikoloa Resort and Spa to do some more Dog, the Bounty Hunter stalking. Ever since we arrived in Hawaii, I have been itching to stalk the hotel where Dog and Beth got married on May 20, 2006. The wedding celebration aired on August 15, 2006, and of course my mom and I watched every second of it. While watching, I immediately recognized the location of Dog and Beth’s wedding as the Hilton Waikoloa Hotel, as it is a place I have visited numerous times during my childhood vacations in Hawaii.
Dog and Beth got married directly off the main lobby of the hotel. Just past the main lobby there is a huge staircase which leads down to an ocean-fed, four acre, man-made lagoon. It is that staircase that Beth used as the aisle which she walked down to meet her groom.
Dog arrived at the ceremony via a raft which was pulled towards the landing at the bottom of the staircase by two men in canoes. The entire wedding ceremony took place at that landing at the foot of the lobby staircase. All of that I knew from watching the wedding episode back in 2006.
What I wasn’t sure of, however, was the location of the couple’s wedding reception. While at the hotel today, I asked TWO different concierges for the location of “Dog and Beth’s wedding reception” and BOTH of them took out a hotel schedule and asked me if the reception was taking place today!! LOL I was like “No, no, I am talking about the Bounty Hunter’s wedding reception.” Neither one of the concierges had any idea where the wedding reception took place – I guess Hawaiians aren’t much into the whole stalking thing. LOL Anyway, one of the concierges called a manager who finally steered me toward the Water’s Edge Ballroom, where the reception took place.
Lucky for me, the Water’s Edge Ballroom happened to be unlocked and I was able to go inside to snap some pics. The inside of the Ballroom looks exactly as it did when Dog and Beth’s reception took place, minus the decorations, of course. My mom and I were totally floored to see the reception area in person and if you are a fan, I highly recommend doing some stalking at the Hilton Waikoloa Hotel.
The Hilton Waikoloa Resort, which was first opened in the late 80s as a Hyatt Hotel, cost more than $350 million to construct and stretches over 62 acres. The hotel is ginormous and absolutely unbelievable – you truly have to see it to believe it. There are over 1200 guest rooms, three pools, three hot tubs, 24 conference rooms, nine restaurants, a full size Disneyland-style monorail, winding canals with boat service for guests, a huge drawbridge over one of the pools, a waterslide, over $7 million dollars worth of art on display, a man-made lagoon with kayaks and pedal boats for rent, and a on-site dolphin pool. While definitely a cool place to visit, I wouldn’t recommend staying there. Most people come to Hawaii to relax and if that is your goal, the Hilton Waikoloa is not the place for you. It’s more Disneyland than Hawaii, but still a fun place to stalk nevertheless.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Hilton Waikoloa Village is located at 425 Waikoloa Beach Drive in the town of Kohala on the Big Island of Hawaii. Hilton rooms will run you between $199 and $589 per night. If you stalk the Hilton, be sure to hit up nearby Kings Shops for some GREAT shopping. The Honolua Wahine shop is one of my faves!
Was at HILTON waikoloa Village for last 11 days (Oct 2013)Dog. & Beth were both here! I said hello to him but he pretty much brushed me off. Got a good but blurry pic of him
So are you going to come over to the Puna Side of the Big Island and Stalk out some of the places where the new Indiana Jones movie shot?
LOVED the wedding episode, and I LOVE that you stalked the location!!!!! Just think, all this time, Ive been a closet Dog fan. Well, Im in good company. Hope you are having lots of fun and enjoying your time on the island.
Kerry:)