Myself and my two year old will be taking a five day trip to Honolulu on Jan 13th thru the 18th. Can someone help me with two things; first is it worth spending 32,000 points per night at the Hilton Waikiki or should I pay the AAA rate of $224 per night. Secondly, out of the five Hilton props or so on Waikiki Beach, which will give me the most hope of a Diamond upgrade?
Myself and my two year old will be taking a five day trip to Honolulu on Jan 13th thru the 18th. Can someone help me with two things; first is it worth spending 32,000 points per night at the Hilton Waikiki or should I pay the AAA rate of $224 per night. Secondly, out of the five Hilton props or so on Waikiki Beach, which will give me the most hope of a Diamond upgrade?
Theres Waikiki and theres Waikiki Beach. The only HH on the beach itself thou its not 'The Waikiki Beach' is the HHV. Hilton Waikiki is 1 very long block inland from the beach, while the ES across a small street and blocked by a Hotel from the beach itself and a very narrow beach at that. The Main beach is down by the Marriott , and thats where the Hilton Waikiki is located but inland
I assume when you said HW you were referring to the Hotel on Kuhio (the 1 thats a long block inland)
there are Pros and Cons to each Hotel and I suggest you do a Search for Honolulu as its all been covered already, once you decide which Hotel then . But personally Id use 32k instead of paying $224 any day of the week
As for upgrades well with the ES you automatically get a suite along with breakfast every day and night time snacks but no lounge. HW havent stayed was going to till I decided to stay elsewhere(using different pts) theres a lounge and free breakfast in it but dont count on any great view due to its location but the ES doesnt have views to speak of either. Bout the only place where you may land a nice view is the HHV but no lounge or breakfast to speak of, and I believe they have tightened up with Ocean views
This is why I suggested you do a search and read the threads, I dont believe that there is a 1 Hotel that will give you everything youd want, but rather this 1 has this and that 1 has that to offer and youre gonna have to decide which is most important
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I think craz said it all. We do not know your preferences and needs, so we can hardly recommend anything. But look at the copious information members have spent the time and effort sharing, and make an informed decision. Views, location included breakfast and snacks / alcoholic beverages, nearby attractions, beach, etc. are all covered.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aspenedelen
Myself and my two year old will be taking a five day trip to Honolulu on Jan 13th thru the 18th. Can someone help me with two things; first is it worth spending 32,000 points per night at the Hilton Waikiki or should I pay the AAA rate of $224 per night. Secondly, out of the five Hilton props or so on Waikiki Beach, which will give me the most hope of a Diamond upgrade?
don't even waste your time going there. I was there October and left in less than two hours. I was so disgusted with the filthy carpet and the indifferent service I choose to leave.
I went to the HHV, an altogether better experiance
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I've stayed at the Doubletree, HHV, and Hilton Kuhio. My favourite is the Kuhio.
Doubletree - Very good value, and I got upgraded to a very large top floor suite, but the pool is a joke and the breakfast room is rather unpleasant in its basicness. Also, it's valet only, which is just one of those things I hate.
HHV - Obviously, it's good to be on the beach, even if it's at the far end of Waikiki. Still, the place was just too huge. Check-in took forever and there was no "respect" for the HHonors queue. Upgrades required a lot of begging. The exec lounge is just a breakfast room but there's not even a toaster in there, just a bit of fruit, yoghurt and slices of cake (who wants cake for breakfast?!). It's a very nice room though, especially if you can nab an outside table facing the water. There's a few pools to choose from but they're usually too full of children to enjoy. The gym was nice, but full-up unless you get there before 6am. There's self-parking but it's gonna be a long walk to your room no matter what. Rooms, even with the upgrade I begged for, are old and tired.
Hilton Kuhio - Best location IMO in central Waikiki and not far from the beach. There's a real exec lounge with hot food for breakfast and evening reception, but its basement location isn't great. The pool is small but the area is large with nice sun loungers and a pool bar. The gym is small - maybe 7 cardio machines, but it was never too busy. Rooms in this hotel are the best of the three - all very clean and modern, with huge flatscreen TVs, balconies and walk-in showers. Also, you can park at the Banyan hotel next door for cheap and avoid the valet.
This is kind of a whirlwind trip that I am taking my two year old son on. I just found out that my wife and I are expecting our second child and I'd like to take my little Oscar to Hawaii before our second one comes.
Obviously I don't want to walk a far distance to the beach as I'll have a two year old in tow and I'd prefer a decent breakfast in a executive lounge for Oscar and I.
One last thing, I am trying to do this on a shoe string budget just to say I've done it.
I've stayed at the HHV, Kuhio, and Embassy Suites in HNL. The HHV is a downright tourist trap. Other than its beachside location, it pretty much isn't worth your time. Overpriced for small rooms that skimp on everything. As a Diamond, the "breakfast" was hard boiled eggs, cereal, and OJ. Bare-freaking-bones.
The Kuhio makes up for its somewhat lesser location with surprisingly good ocean or mountain views. Also, the odds of being upgraded as a Diamond are excellent and the staff is helpful. I was upgraded to a gorgeous suite and I can't say enough good things about it.
Finally, the Embassy Suites offers a basic room with a location almost as good as HHV, a good breakfast, and that cocktail hour that rules. Also, when I was waiting for my room, they gave complimentary tropical smoothies, which were a nice touch. The poolside bar alone made it worth the money. For a relatively cheap hotel in the Hilton chain in HNL, you can't do better than ES.
Finally, the Embassy Suites offers a basic room with a location almost as good as HHV, a good breakfast, and that cocktail hour that rules. Also, when I was waiting for my room, they gave complimentary tropical smoothies, which were a nice touch. The poolside bar alone made it worth the money. For a relatively cheap hotel in the Hilton chain in HNL, you can't do better than ES.
Although there isnt a Exec Lounge as the OP said they would like, I Agree that the ES will fulfill most of what they are looking for.Only that it will cost more pts then Kuhio will. And as I said up thread there isnt 1 Hotel that will have it all, so each person needs to decide what is most important to them and chose accordingly
If the amount of pts or $$$ is the main concern then Kuhio will be right up the OPs alley but a long walk for a 2 yr old to do to get to the beach, unfortuantely in HNL you cant always get what you want
That property hasn't been a Hilton for many, many years.
I tried last night for 10 minutes to find that property but to no avail.
I tried the first week in March as well for this trip but the points only went down from 114k to 111k.
It seems that the ES is going to be out of my points spend.
I would presume that once we leave the Hilton Kuhio I can rent a umbrella for my little guy as he lays and plays in the sand? Anyone by chance knows how much the umbrella rental would be per day?
Quote:
Originally Posted by craz
Theres Waikiki and theres Waikiki Beach. The only HH on the beach itself thou its not 'The Waikiki Beach' is the HHV. Hilton Waikiki is 1 very long block inland from the beach, while the ES across a small street and blocked by a Hotel from the beach itself and a very narrow beach at that. The Main beach is down by the Marriott , and thats where the Hilton Waikiki is located but inland
I assume when you said HW you were referring to the Hotel on Kuhio (the 1 thats a long block inland)
there are Pros and Cons to each Hotel and I suggest you do a Search for Honolulu as its all been covered already, once you decide which Hotel then . But personally Id use 32k instead of paying $224 any day of the week
As for upgrades well with the ES you automatically get a suite along with breakfast every day and night time snacks but no lounge. HW havent stayed was going to till I decided to stay elsewhere(using different pts) theres a lounge and free breakfast in it but dont count on any great view due to its location but the ES doesnt have views to speak of either. Bout the only place where you may land a nice view is the HHV but no lounge or breakfast to speak of, and I believe they have tightened up with Ocean views
This is why I suggested you do a search and read the threads, I dont believe that there is a 1 Hotel that will give you everything youd want, but rather this 1 has this and that 1 has that to offer and youre gonna have to decide which is most important
Craz, I appreciate you taking the time to write all of this info. I found it to be very helpful in regards to searching for a HH to stay at.
Last edited by Canarsie; Jan 20, 13 at 1:16 pm..
Reason: Consolidation.
I would presume that once we leave the Hilton Kuhio I can rent a umbrella for my little guy as he lays and plays in the sand? Anyone by chance knows how much the umbrella rental would be per day?
If I remember I will check on Mon arriving into HNL Sun night ,not staying at a Hil I was booked on pts at Kuhio, till I changed to a Weds red-eye from a 7am Thurs flight. So now its 3 nights and doing 2 at Holiday Inn on pts and 1 at the Courtyrad using my CC free night
But then again I dont recall seeing umbellas staked out
On pts and wanting to use as little as possible or not having enough for the ES+ Kuhio is the way to go imo, alot better then the DT
