I recently went to Hawaii for the first time on vacation. The flights I booked required me to overnight on Oahu on my way to Maui. I didn't know much about the hotel scene, but I knew that Waikiki was the most popular area for travelers. Waikiki, as you may know, is a very tourist-oriented…
Continue reading: Review: Hotel Renew Waikiki, Honolulu
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Nice review. Only minor correction I'd suggest is that the breakfast wasn't "free" you paid basically $25 for it on the resort fee inclusion.
@DaninMCI - contact the hotel to correct that. In all seriousness, it's the semantics they use (not Andrew) and we agree, is ridiculous.
Andrew - while I agree Waikiki is not the best place inn Hawaii, and the price you got an amazing place - there are many hotels on the beach (shared) and nice properties - SPG/Westin owns the Moana Surfrider which still holds a high place for hotel ratings and deserves it (I was there for 2 nights in January if last year.). On the beach side is also a Hilton and Sheraton (I think) and several others. The Moana is (at least) way better than Threes Company style/time period (they've kept it up very well, and no, no hula skirt wallpaper lol.)
I might suggest a great tour is Doris Duke's home on Oahu. You have to book in advance and it's extremely interesting tour with beautiful views of the Pacific.
I hope you had the opportunity to have a wonderful Mai Tai and the Royal Hawaiian at night. The twinkling lights along Waikiki are spectacular. Also, afternoon tea at the Surfrider is another great experience.
i think your taxi rates are backwards. We were there a month ago and did some island hopping. two times our taxi from the airport to Waikiki was $75-$80. Both times we took Uber back and it was between $40 and $45 in the early morning.
We stayed there in September last year, in fact it might have even been the same room!
We had some slight issues with bloody stains on the sheets when we arrived and a slightly musty feeling to the room but I guess that's hard to get away from on a tropical island? To offset these slight downsides the staff were lovely and it's nice to be on the far side of Waikiki where it's less busy on the beach.
Any thoughts on Royal Hawaiian vs. Moana Surfrider? Booked a stay there for next week and am SPG Plat (in case that has an impact on which property you would recommend)
@DaninMCI: Fair point, but then is *anything* ever really free?
@trup: Hmmm, nope...I was basing it off Uber's fare estimate tool and the taxi rates shown on HNL Airport's website. But I do find that typically Uber is cheaper than what their fare estimate tool shows.
@RichT: I think I was in Room 905, if memory serves. Maybe the whole point of the "aroma concierge" is to cover up the musty smell! I didn't notice it, for what it's worth. Bloody stains would've freaked me out, though...