Never have I ever officially stayed here as a hotel guest either on vacation or staycation yet. But…read morerecently came here on a recent special occasion for a friend's milestone birthday celebration. It was held in the Waialae Ballroom on a Saturday afternoon with lunch being served for all the guests. What a beautiful location where you can see the lush garden just outside, the pacific ocean was a few yards away when you're done eating, you're free to roam the area and see the beautiful architecture and structure of this fabulous hotel. I was not able to play tourist as this party had to end by 2pm and I had commitments thereafter. But for future hotel guests information, they also have dolphins for you to see. The food here was incredible and of good quality. Good for any type of gatherings of any size breakfast, lunch or dinner. Bartenders and service at the bar was even better! The amount of attention every table was receiving was amazing, glasses were never empty and always started with a full pour. Self parking was completely full, although valet parking service was a better idea. Keep in mind this is a full service 5 star property located in Kahala/Waialae. Would love to be a hotel guest one of these days just to say I've stayed at The Kahala Resort.

The Kahala Hotel & Resort in Honolulu, known historically as "Kahally-wood," has hosted numerous…read morecelebrities, including Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and Michael Jackson. Other notable guests include Queen Elizabeth II, U.S. Presidents from Lyndon B. Johnson to George W. Bush, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan, King Charles, Adam Sandlers, Angelina Jolie, Bob Hope, Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, Diana Ross, Drew Barrymore, Duke Kahanamoku, Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, George Clooney, Janet Jackson, Julie Andrews, Justin Timberlake, Lucille Ball, Nicolas Cage, Rihanna, Rod Stewart, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, ... you get the drill. The hotel features a "Wall of Fame" near the lobby that showcases photos of many of these famous visitors. We strolled the gorgeous grounds of this hotel and resort as we were early for our dinner reservations and wow. Truly a lovely hotel and resort. Lots of photo spots (we saw someone setting up for a proposal on their beach), you can see dolphins here, there was an adorable cat named Natto, and the staff are really friendly and kind. What a gorgeous hotel. It's no wonder why celebrities vacation here at this hotel and resort while on Oahu.

Odd experience here. Was INCREDIBLY excited to stay here, and in a few ways this is a great spot…read more Wonderful location, and great access to watersports like SUP and kayaking. That's where the good ends. The bathroom isn't great, there isn't a light over the shower so it's quite dark in there, plus it wasn't draining well so our showers were turning into baths. Room was pretty nice overall. We signed up for SUP, and it was my girlfriend's first time ever doing it. We expected someone from the resort to be there to show us the ropes and give us some information...there was absolutely nobody. We went searching for people, and the maintenance people didn't really say much of anything. We went into the Kahaluu bay area and I fell off my SUP once and ended up scratching up my leg and foot pretty bad...would have been nice to know the bay was only a few feet deep in some parts, with rocks on the seafloor to avoid. We also signed up for their big Saturday "Paradise Bay Experience Package" out to the reef to snorkel and to the sandbar to walk around. We signed up for a 10 am departure time. They called at 9:50 am to double check we were still going on the experience and I confirmed yes to checking out and yes to the experience. We went upstairs to checkout a few minutes later, and it took us a few minutes to do so because they said they wouldn't trust us to not return our towels and car parking pass after the experience, so we had to grab them RIGHT THEN. Okay fine, we bring those to them and notice from the front desk the boat for the experience literally leaving the dock at 9:58 am...WHY?!? I ask them and they say it was our fault, and we were supposed to be there at the boat 5 minutes early...NOBODY TOLD US THAT! Not when we signed up for the experience, and not in the follow-up email we received about it, which I'll attach below. So then they rush to call the boat captain to say to come back to the dock. You JUST called me 10 minutes prior and I said we were going on the experience, did you not communicate that with the boat staff? Clearly not. We end up jumping on the boat at 9:59 am after it had returned, so after all that hassle we were a minute early. No sorry from anyone, not even any acknowledgement from the boat staff. Long story short, this could easily be a 5-star hotel and experience if the hotel had a completely different staff, filled with people with more compassion, customers service skills, and a greater care for hospitality.

Great place to visit if you want a quiet stay away from Honolulu. Location central to other…read moreimportant spots in Hawaii, that offer great sandbar experience. Parking was affordable but limited if you come back to room late. The rooms need updating, bed needs new mattress and bathroom shower deep cleaning. Room service only by request, the plus side they have a laundry room. Our bathroom had very limited counter space, same for kitchenette. The best part was the morning complimentary banana bread. Most staff was very friendly and a few that were not helpful. Amazing view surrounding the resort.

I came here for a week and stayed in a large renovated tower room. My mom was in another room in…read morethe diamond wing, which was small but perfect for a solo traveler. Because we made this our base, I feel that we had a good representation of what the property and staff had to offer. The service was top notch from the valet to the spa. The location was great for walking, and the valet was fast and convenient. The food at the beach house was excellent. I absolutely loved my massage at the spa. My little one loved going straight to the beach from the room. The beachfront in front of the moana is fantastic. Not too many rocks and calm. You can also borrow equipment from the hotel like inner cubes. We did rent a cabana for a day, which was great. Will be back sometime

The image of this hotel is plummeting fast in my eyes. It's no longer the Waikiki icon it used to…read morebe. On our latest visit, they are taking forever to give us a room. They are blaming housekeeping but that is absurd since other guests who are arriving after us are getting their rooms right away. To make matters worse, the air vent in the room was dirty. We had to turn off the air conditioner to prevent damage to our health. The room became uncomfortable. The next day they moved us to another room but even that took hours and hours. This will be the last time we will stay here. We have many good memories that we will treasure, at the same time.

Beautiful Resort with top notch service. Yes this is a Disney resort but the Disney part is more…read morelike a sprinkle on top rather than it's whole identity. So many great things there besides the beach. The lazy river and the coral reef that you can snorkel in or just stand and feed the fish is fun too. A few shopping locations and several options to eat as well. I see review regarding cleanliness but everything I saw was clean, well maintained as well as pest free.

My family and I recently stayed at Aulani, and while the resort itself is beautiful and there were…read morecertainly parts of the trip we enjoyed, our overall experience was unfortunately overshadowed by serious cleanliness and pest concerns. During our stay, we discovered ants running across the kitchen area in our room. This was not just a few ants. It appeared to be a clear infestation. I have video showing the extent of the ant issue and what we experienced during our stay. We also spotted roaches on the property, which added to our concern and disappointment. Instead of spending our time relaxing, enjoying the resort, and making the most of what was supposed to be a special Disney vacation, we spent valuable vacation time dealing with pest problems, contacting the front desk, waiting for housekeeping, and following up in person to get the room issue addressed. We contacted the front desk right away. The initial call did not seem to be taken as seriously as we had hoped, and it was only after I went to the front desk in person that housekeeping was promptly sent to the room. To their credit, housekeeping did come, took photos, cleaned the area, and attempted to resolve the situation. However, by that point, the disruption had already taken away from our stay. What made the experience even more frustrating was the response afterward. Nothing was initially offered to address the time we lost, the food we had to throw away, or the overall inconvenience of dealing with ants in our room during a vacation we spent over $8,000 on. When we asked about compensation, we were told housekeeping did not have the authority to offer anything, which I understand. However, after speaking with a manager, we were told nothing further could be done beyond a $100 credit, which felt very disappointing given the circumstances. The most upsetting part was the suggestion that we may have brought the ants in ourselves or that we should have reported the issue at check-in. That response felt dismissive and shifted responsibility onto us instead of acknowledging the seriousness of the problem. As someone with over 20 years of experience in the pest control industry, I found that explanation very hard to accept. I hate to put this out there, but I feel obligated to share our experience. Many families save for a long time for a trip like this, and they deserve to know what they could potentially experience, especially when paying Disney resort prices and expecting a certain standard of cleanliness and service. Aulani is a beautiful property and has the potential to be an incredible vacation experience, but this stay did not meet the standard I expected from Disney. The pest issues themselves were bad enough, but the time wasted addressing them and the lack of a meaningful response made the experience much more disappointing. I truly hope management takes these types of cleanliness concerns more seriously in the future. Guests should not have to spend their vacation dealing with ants in their room, food loss, and repeated follow-up just to have an issue properly addressed.

Stayed at the Renaissance Spa Hotel and had a great experience overall. Shawn at the front desk was…read moreincredibly welcoming and helpful from the start. I stayed on the 19th floor with beautiful city views and a partial ocean view. I spent 7 nights there, and the room was consistently clean and comfortable thanks to excellent housekeeping. It's about a 20-minute walk to Waikiki, which is nice if the weather isn't too hot. Otherwise, the hotel offers a shuttle service that runs every two hours. Uber rides typically ranged from $9-$15, though Lyft was consistently a bit cheaper. There is a $50 daily destination fee, which is provided back as a credit to use at Sera on the property. While the credit is a nice perk, the experience at Sera didn't feel very welcoming. I've shared a more detailed review about that separately. Overall, still a convenient and enjoyable stay.

Besides my love for traveling, I LOVE staycations, so this weekend we did just that and it was…read moreperfect @ Renaissance Honolulu Hotel & Spa. First time here and feels different staying here at this side of town. We always walk or drive pass the Renaissance, once we had to use the bathroom during our walking ventures around town and happen to be at the bakery ( we love to get our walks in) and the kind staff at the front desk let me use the restroom. I know no public restrooms but I really thank you for this. ( after this I had this on my bookmarks for hotels) This time the rates were great and I need to accumulate my nights in, to keep my status. We walked to the Renaissance, checked in was a breeze, met & chatted with Shawn who was awesome, he gave all info. hotel & rooms. The Renaissance is super modern, brand new, hotel in the middle of town. Room keys are needed to work the elevator, you have to scan enter floor #, there are about 6 elevators so not much of a wait. I don't know if there are security but I feel safe. Renaissance Hotel & Spa is a 5 star luxury hotel, with fitness center, spa (Nami Spa), lap pool, saltwater swimming pool, two hot tub, bar (Sky Deck) and BBQ grill area-all located on the 8th floor. Keep in mind the pool is shared with tenants of a residential condo across. $50. plus tax for daily destination fee which includes: daily $25. beverage & food credit, two reusable water tumbler, GoPRo use, beach chairs for up to 2 guest, shuttle service to Ala Moana, Magic Island, and Waikiki, enhanced high speed wifi. This does not include overnight and valet parking. Our rooms are spacious, we got the one king bed, with city views, our rooms were on the 28th floor, no balcony but you can open the top portion of the window, so it is open lanai. It was pretty scary, I was shaking looking out and trying to take photos, had to hold that phone real tight. The view is nice but looks getting crowded with all the new developments. The one thing I don't understand is why only one chair in the room, we got some take out but couldn't utilize the cute table. I guess this room is only for one. ? . I like the Toto toilet, the sensor lights, comfy king bed. Other than that we had a great relaxing time, walked to Ala Moana, ate dinner near by, went to Korean market to get ramen, snacks, then we made bowl ramen for our late midnight snack. The next day we swam at the pool, hot tub, soaked up some sun, relaxed, dine at and got take out at SERA. We wanted to take the shuttle to Waikiki just to feel like a tourist but no time. All in all, something different, great location and we had a great stay, loved every single moment and see you at the next stay, at the next one!

My family and I arrived around 1 PM. Our suite was not ready. There are numerous stores and…read morerestaurants in proximity to the resort. We dined in at a nearby restaurant, then walked around seeking Kona coffee. Our suite was ready around 3 PM. The suite was very spacious and I am mostly impressed with the cleanliness. The bathtub did have a ring of discoloration surrounding the drain. I gave my kids showers instead of baths to be on the safer side. I love that there are multiple pools on the resort. Although, I am disappointed that the adult pool closes at 6 PM, which all the other pools close at 9 PM. There is a private beach area, which my kids enjoyed. Beach chairs are $26 each, which are quite expensive. I appreciate the $65 per night dinning credit, which we utilized at the on site market for snacks and water. We enjoyed the brief firework show from our balcony suite. We attended the on site Huli Huli event, which was quite disappointing. I did not enjoy the food and it was pricey. $75 for skewers, corn, and shrimp. Overall, we enjoyed our stay and will contemplate on a return visit in the future.

We picked the Hilton to stay as we're contemplating joining the membership. But after this…read moreexperience, we'll likely be going Marriott. Check in wasn't bad - busy, but it's a resort so expected. The shops are nice to have near. The real issues was within the Rainbow Tower. The elevators are atrocious to deal with. Enter your floor level and it tells you what elevator to get on - you and the 8 other families with 4+ people trying to get in an elevator at the same time doesn't work. So you're stuck on your floor or the lobby for 10+ minutes waiting. Next - the smell of marijuana and cigarettes coming from nearby balconies. We notified front desk but nothing could be done. And finally? The cockroaches that scurried out from under the ice machine on the floor. The picture obviously isn't inside - but it's a cockroach nonetheless the less.

Had a great one night stay with my 2 kids, room was fantastic and in a great location. Special…read moreshout out to Erick at the front desk and the bell staff. Would recommend

Stayed here on a staycation so we could hang out in Waikiki overnight…read more Location is great, super close to beach and variety of restaurants and shopping. The rooms are super clean and very comfortable. If you're familiar with Embassy, all rooms are 1 bedrooms, this room was spacious with a long balcony. Smart TVs in bedroom and living room, I love this!! The bedroom has a sink, mini fridge, coffee maker and a microwave. The pool area was packed with people. We didn't even try to go to the evening reception the line was like a 15 minute wait. The morning breakfast had cereal, fruit, scramble eggs, rice, bacon and sausage and the omelette station was great. I think this is a good choice for families that need larger rooms, family vibe and their free breakfast. Not sure if I'd stay for a romantic/chill/couples getaway because this hotel caters more towards families.

Loved our stay here, we rented the anthurium unit for one night. It had everything we needed, and…read moreright on the beach. The unit itself is also right on the road and it's very very noisy at night, and while it's also the largest unit to rent it shares walls with 2 other units. We got there about an hr after check in and had to wait 30 mins for the cleaner to go in. That was annoying to say the least when you're spending $1000+ per night, check in was at 3 and check out was 11. plenty of parking for the unit, street parking is close by but not the safest.

These bungalows are located in the North Shore area and are situated alongside Ke Iki Beach. The…read moreproperty had gated entry which was nice and a small parking area within. We arrived at a certain time to collect the keys to our bungalow from the manager onsite; however it would have been nice if there was system in place to retrieve your keys or check-in at any time (similar to a hotel) as we were driving in from over an hour away. I do not recall the name of the particular bungalow I stayed in, but I liked it. It was on the second floor and had a good number of windows which allowed for the ocean breezes to flow thought. This was very much welcomed as the unit did not have A/C and only electric fans were provided.i could see how it would have been very hot or uncomfortable if I was on a ground unit with no A/C. There was also a large covered patio/deck at the front where you can views the beach and watch the sunset. The property for the most part was very private. This was my first time staying at a bungalow so, I was not exactly used to the lack of concierge or housekeeping amenities. Towels and some kitchen items were provided, but make sure to bring extra of whatever you think you might need. There is a grocery store about a 5-7 min drive away so that was helpful at times. Overall, not a bad stay and beautiful sunsets if you are looking to really get away to tranquility in a remote location in North Beach.

When we stayed in Maui a couple years ago, we got sold on their vacation club presentation and…read moreended up purchasing a 6-day/5night package to stay at this resort in a studio room. We arrived early but we weren't able to check-in until 4pm. No biggie though because we dropped our bags off and did our grocery shopping while we waited for our room to be ready. From a hotel customer service standpoint, it was pretty good compared to Maui vacation club resorts. The pools and especially the waterslide are the highlights when it comes to amenities. The waterslide is way too much fun! Another amazing part is the lagoons that are steps away from the hotel. No waves, warm water, and super clean. Being so close to a nice beach is such a luxury! They have some cool activities during the day to win prizes, which was a cool way to break up the day. Outside of that, the hotel was just ok. We found the restaurants to be fine but not great. Mid food, hotel prices. That didn't stop us from dining there multiple times because the options in this area aren't abundant. While the hotel has a gym, there's no tennis courts or even a shuttle to take you to the nearby shopping center. If you are staying here, definitely rent a car. $45 for self parking per night though. I've been to this resort a couple of times, and the contrast from staying in a studio versus the 1 or 2-bedroom suites is night and day. The studio rooms are a bit dated and honestly just feels like a standard hotel room. The studio room has a small kitchen area but no stove and really small fridge. The bigger suites are definitely the way to go.

The Marriott ko olina is located on the west side of Oahu, near Disney Aulani and the Four Seasons…read more There are two dedicated lagoons on property, and a bunch of other great services! The rooms come with a kitchen stocked with plates, utensils, bowls, a coffee machine, and a hot water dispenser. Laundry is complimentary and on the 4th and 10th floor. They provide the detergent, if you run out just ask for more! If you enjoy exploring local food, the on-site options are somewhat limited. There are two restaurants. One is by the market / koi pond. The other is closer to the pool/beach where you can order items to-go. This same place also delivers food and drinks to the cabanas at the pool and by the lagoon. We thoroughly enjoyed this service when we rented out a cabana for the day! The market carries everything you can think of - from food basics like cereal, to souvenirs. Prices are what you'd expect at a resort. Since we had a car, we drove about 15 minutes to a nearby grocery store to stock up. They serve Starbucks, but it's not the full menu and the line can be long. I preferred grabbing coffee at the restaurant next door (Longhi's) -- I paid ~$8 for a latte with a dairy-free milk substitute and didn't have to wait in that long line which probably would've cost the same price. Shoutout to Chelsea for valeting our car when we arrived, helping with our luggage, and bringing extra bedding and towels. Traveling with young kids can be stressful, but her calm, friendly demeanor made a big difference and didn't go unnoticed. Andrew assisted us with check-in and answered a lot of my questions--he was very helpful. They have an in-app texting service was also convenient. It's only available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I ended up messaging a couple times after hours not realizing it, and they were kind enough to respond the next morning! One thing to note: if you order any kind of delivery (ie. DoorDash, Uber, etc) - you'll need to pick it up yourself, as staff can't bring it to you. They have a bill changer by the valet area which was a game changer once we found out about it! Make sure to tip these folks, a lot of them are working very hard and showing up with so much love. Overall, this is a great option if you're looking for a "home away from home" experience on the west side of the island!

Place is nice and clean. They're very strict about bringing…read moreoutside food into their facility. You would have to eat it in your room. Can't eat it by the pool or in any of their dining areas. Ayce breakfast package. Breakfast is nothing great. Every single day it's just rice, sausage, scrambled eggs, potatoes, oatmeal, miso soup, bagel/ toast, yogurt and fruits and sometimes bacon (once a week). Fruits are always the same. Pineapple and melons. Got real sick of the same stuff everyday. But if you ordered food off the menu, it's pretty good. We did order breakfast once. We also did order room service and food came up pretty fast. Some issues we had: After checking in and unpacking we were leaving and checked our door to ensure it's locked and realized it doesn't lock. So we had maintenance come and fix the door. The next day it happened again not sure what happened but again it didn't lock. Maintenance came by and took a look and they fixed it while we were gone. A bit inconvenience. Mini fridge in the room is terrible. Very small and it doesn't stay cold for very long. There's a button that says you can turn it on cold for two hours and another button that says snooze for 24 hours. So your drinks barely get cold or your food like poke will most likely go bad. Pool and hot tub are always nice and clean. Has a little mini golf area. It is usually windy since it's on the 10th floor. The house keeper lady that cleaned our room on the 32nd floor was super nice. I used the laundry room once and it had 4 washers and 4 dryer. Nice and spacious enough. Definitely not busy at all.

BEWARE!!! The ONLY thing this venue has going for it is the view: and if you are on the side with…read moreno ocean view be prepared for a significant "rip off" experience. I'm literally giving this place two stars instead of one because we had a beautiful view. Here's the details: 1. Paid extra for breakfast and it was a bad experience all the way around: 15-30 min wait EVERY DAY to get in. Inconsistent staff: from bossy and entitled to a helpful and kind. Food was awful - the very basics and this is from a "real Hilton"??!! It's supposed to be better than Embassy suites right? Bottom line: the breakfast venue is way too small for a hotel of this size. Food choices are very basic and too many nickel-and-dime corner-cutting management choices: very small coffee cups, you have to ask for a pitcher of coffee, bowls are very small, they won't give you to-go paper coffee cup, signs up that say if you take anything out you get charged $1.99 for their "Green fee"? GTFOH!!! I paid almost $12k to stay here! If I want to bring a few bagels for the road deal with it. We ended up bringing in our own coffee cups, and making up lies at the Starbucks counter to get a to-go cup... Can you believe that? 2. They had an arcade room full of scam claw machines! So awful... poor kids dumping $15-20 a day trying to grab a 10-cent stuffy - really? Is that Hilton's best option at providing wholesome entertainment for children? Every game should have been free play and zero claw games. 3. Towel machines everywhere with signs that say if you don't return your towels you'll be charged! More insulting ghetto verbiage that just points to ignorant clueless management. At these prices and resort expectations, I absolutely do not need to ever read that crap: staff should be waiting and serving - not barking rules and consequences. 4. Worthless concierge desk! I asked the concierge desk how to get to the Dole Pineapple Plantation and they had no idea what it was! That's like being at a five star hotel in Paris, being told they don't know how to get to the Eiffel Tower. 5. Everything requires a key card! It's a real pain in the a$$! They sure have plenty of hotel security: what the hell are they doing? Literally, you have to use a key card to go into the elevator, to get to the pool, to even open the lobby bathroom, to get towels for the pool! Honestly, I don't care if every resort is like this: it's just really poor customer service. 6. Every day there was a magician in the lobby pandering people to see a magic trick and then sell you on a $75 ticket to an hour magic show at the resort!! Again, REALLY?? Dumb nickel-and-dime cheap tricks to lure kids into over priced activities that should just be part of the "resort experience" - Hawaii already requires an expensive daily resort fee that every hotel charges... So what the hell are we getting for that fee! 7. Body wash, conditioner, and shampoo dispensers in the room showers dribbled out little droplets... May not seem like a big thing, but at every corner of this venue experience was cheap, nickel-and-dime poor management tricks that were not at all what we expected from a four star listed "Hilton resort". 8. Last note: there are TWO Hilton resorts both with very similar names, marketing images, and in close proximity to each other. This one: "Hilton Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa" and the other one: "Hilton Hawaii Village Beach Resort". I spent about 5 hours searching resorts and I thought I was picking the other one - I'm no idiot, but after so long comparing, it was too easy of a mistake. I think the Hawaiian village, might've been a better choice for smaller kids... But ultimately I'm guessing most of the complaints would've been the same. I'll never stay here again.