The setting: You are a 20-30 minute and @$35-40 taxi/ride service drive away from HNL Airport. City public bus route 19 stops in front of the hotel, and leaves from HNL; it takes an hour. This high-rise property is one block from the southern end of Waikiki Beach, one block from the actual southern end of the beach. The hotel has a slick feel of a modern, high-rise with a spacious open air lobby with natural stone finishes throughout the lobby, which adds a level of coolness, much appreciated stepping out of the heat of Honolulu. There is a huge sitting area with couches, a bar area serving light fare and drinks/coffee. The lobby is fronted by the valet leading to the reception desk. We arrived at 7pm and check-in was seamless, with the reception agent acknowledging our status with Hyatt, and upgrading us to an ocean-view room on a high floor. She also congratulated us on our honeymoon which was a nice touch. She didn’t, however, explain that complimentary beach towels were available at the reception, during the day, or offered us the slip we needed to grab the daily, complimentary bottles of water. The lobby is accessible to the public, but the elevators to the rooms can only be accessed with a room card. Your card key will give you access to the floor your room is on and the third floor, which houses the breakfast buffet/the pool area, as well as the gym and laundry area. The hotel lobby has a Domino’s Pizza directly but discreetly accessible through the lobby. There is an ABC convenience store just a few yards down the street from the hotel’s entrance, and the giant Marriott Property across the street (has car rental options for easy pick-up, Enterprise is the best option there). The beach front is a long block (few minute walk) from the hotel. There is self-serve parking here for $25 and valet for $35, but no in-out privileges. Street parking isn’t too tough around this property. Upon check-out, which was graciously extended to 2pm, we could store our suitcases in the lobby. The friendly clerk locks a great many suitcases with secure wire through the handles, using a bag check system.
The room: Ours was a 12the floor room with two queen beds, facing the ocean. There was a small balcony with two chairs and a small table off the room with a decent view of the ocean. The sunset views were excellent. The room also had a seating area with an L-shaped sectional and a full size coffee table, a desk and a large flat panel TV with a mini-fridge below it. Conveniently and thoughtfully, a large tray was set on this coffee table for the purpose of taking breakfast to go, back to the room. There was a coffee maker in the room, no kettle for tea. The TV had all the cable channels one would want/expect and the complimentary WiFi worked well throughout the property. The large closet had a very large safe, great for laptops, unfortunately, its door fully obstructed the remaining half of the closet. The beds and bedding were comfortable. The sink/vanity with a large mirror was set just outside the shower/toilet room. This was a small but functional shower space, although with poor water pressure out of the shower-head and very slow drainage in the shower. The toiletries were basic; we brought our own. We once had an issue with the mini-fridge and needed a remote control replacement, and the repair man showed up promptly.
The food: The large open air breakfast buffet has rooftop seating, some of it around the pool. There is a huge coffee/tea station then a U-shaped buffet with mainly continental, but also a few Asian options. Eggs and home fries are served daily but the choice of meat rotates, with ham, crispy bacon or tasty, local Kalua Pig on rotation. Yogurt, fresh fruit and cereals are also served daily, as is the miso soup, rice, kim-chi and tofu. There is orange and grapefruit juice available but oddly not the Hawaiian preferred Passion-fruit, Orange, Guava mix, or even just guava. On the weekends there are waffles or monkey bread as a treat. The open air seating is nice, but during times of rain and during gusty winds it’s not a functional eating space, good thing most of the time it’s sunny and calm out. Once while indulging some late night cravings, it was super convenient to grab a pizza from Domino's just off the lobby.
The third floor: The pool is just beside the breakfast patio, on the rooftop of the second floor. The remaining part of the third floor is a small gym with cardio equipment and a small laundry room with many washers/dryers that take both coins and credit cards.
All in all, it was great getting an upgrade to an ocean-view room on a high floor. The breakfast is a nice perk, and the setting and location is good as well. Being at the southern end of Waikiki, you are just a 10-20 minute walk from excellent beach to all the restaurants, shopping and sights of this glittering neighborhood. The southern end of Waikiki means much less densely packed beaches. Walk to the beach and hang a left along the oceanfront It’s 5-10 minutes to a great local beach park, Queen’s Beach, with its great wide lawn with plenty of shade from old growth trees with wide canopies. The sand is golden and soft here and the water is cleaner. There are showers available as well. Just bring your own beach gear to enjoy. The much busier part of the beach is 5-10 minutes to the right after walking down to the beach from the hotel, it’s the part with Duke Statue and giant trees. There are great Asian, local and American restaurants throughout this area 10-20 minute walk from the hotel. I would definitely consider this hotel for another stay in Waikiki, especially when it’s a cheaper rate.