Introduction
We stayed here in early December 2018. For Waikiki, we’ve stayed at the Hilton (Doubletree?) that’s like 5 blocks away from the beach, and I think we’ve been at the Westin Moana Surfrider for 1 night. My friends had stayed here a few years ago, and said it was good, so I used points for our stay. I think it was something like 70K Marriott points per night and a ridiculous ~$30 a night “resort fee” that even Platinums have to pay.
Getting to hotel
We rented a car because we wanted to get around. I want to say in-and-out parking was ~$35 or so a night.
Checkin
One of my biggest pet peeves is having to wait at the check-in desk just because I know someone’s in the back that is too lazy to come out and help guests. Anyway, I had used my suite night awards, and we were upgraded to the Ohana room, which turned out to be one of their biggest suites. The other room I booked only got upgraded to the oceanfront view; I had asked for that to be upgraded to a suite as well, but they seemed full. Since I was Plat Premier, I had access to the lounge; my other room’s guests apparently did not, but the clerk was nice enough to give it to them as well since she couldn’t get them into a suite. The lounge was NICE, so try to sweet talk your way into getting access.
Wifi
It was fine; no big issues. Think it was just open access.
Room
Like I said, our room was huge. As soon as I checked in, I found out that it could hold 6 adults. I then tried to cancel my 2nd room and have my friends move in, but because I used points for the 2nd room, they’d be forfeited. The bathroom had a Toto bidet in it! We got about 2 bottles of water a day, but stocked up in the lounge.
Breakfast
This was a bit odd. At checkin, the rep asked if I wanted 1K points or breakfast for two. I got confused with the lounge breakfast, so we ate in there with my friends besides the restaurant(?) breakfast for Platinum? Not really sure. I thought the lounge food was fine.
Lounge
We had breakfast in the lounge every day. I want to say you had 3 hot dishes – eggs, bacon, sausage, and something else. You had miso soup every day that was actually pretty good (not too salty.) They had fresh fruit like pineapple and watermelon. Pastries and danishes, a pancake making machine, and mango juice. I think breakfast ended at around 11AM. Right after that, they remove the food and you’re stuck with just drinks until about 4pm when happy hour starts until 8PM. For that, there are 2 beers on tap – a Budweiser and a local one that tastes like Coors Light. There was a chardonnay, a cab I think, and a decent rose. They also had hot items like potstickers, etc. So you could easily get full at the lounge, but I’d reco you go and get some good food outside instead.
Conclusion
I thought the hotel was a bit dated, but I really loved the location. There’s a Japanese food court right next door. The hotel had 8 elevators that went pretty quickly. The pools were a bit full if you went after noon, but it wasn’t HORRIBLE. The drinks by the pool weren’t outrageously priced; I think it was like $12 for a frozen mojito.
Pictures
