Onewhoknows

Hi,
just got back from Hyatt Waikiki.
Points posted correct within 3 days.
Hotel was okay.location is good. Parking at banyan was easy. 12 USD. across the street.
Points of critic: Rooms are really tiny. For one person ok, for two with luggage really hard.
breakfest is totally crowded,good about it is thats on the outside.
for our 99 USD rate ok, but for 400 USD : hmmm.

mcgahat

I thought I would post a review of this property. I am not Diamond or even Plat with Hyatt but not sure it really matters too much at a Hyatt Place and perhaps some would like some pics of the property and room.

Booking: I made my booking via American Airlines vacations which brought the rate in the $100/night range which is about right for this property...maybe a little more but definitely wouldnt pay the rate via the Hyatt site at about $190/night as there are better properties in that price range.

Arrival: I took the bus fromt the airport as I was traveling all by myself this trip and very light which worked out ok given the price of $2.50. Usually I use a private taxi service in Honolulu but I had the time and decided to save the money. It took about 1hr 10min and the bus drops off right on the corner across from the Hyatt Place with no transfer needed.

Check In: They guy that checked me in was very professional and thorough and gave all the info one would need without needing to ask.

Room: I had room x19 in the Diamond Tower. It was a small room with a King bed but I didnt find it too small especially for one person. If it was me and my wife and we had a couple of big bags it would have gotten crowded for sure. The biggest let down for me was the small lanai...not very much space at all so if you want to sit out and enjoy the fresh air there isnt much space especially for one person. I am coming back this weekend and will try for a room in the other tower as I think they have bigger lanais. The room has plenty of power plugs which is a HUGE plus and the TV has plenty of connections in case you bring your own entertainment. I found the bed comfortable and slept good. The chair with ottoman is comfortable and actually looked liked it pulled out to a single bed. The shower had "OK" water pressure and there was no tub. I do not like the carpet in the sink area but the Hyatt Regency has the same setup and I think it is crazy but whatever. My room also looked directly into the Ewa hotel but you will have that with this location. In all, the room is good with the exception of the lanai and the size.

Internet: It is included with your room at this property and it worked surprisingly good. Usually you get what you pay for with regards to internet but no issues here. I used wired in the room and the wifi and both worked fine. They provide a wifi code when you check in.

Breakfast: I was only here a couple of days and I usually have breakfast at Lulu's up the street but did check it out one morning and it looked ok for the price but the place was a bit of a zoo and just headed on over to my usual location. The breakfast is located on the 3rd floor essentially using the pool area.

Dining: They have the usual Hyatt Place menu for various cooked items (microwaved is my guess?). They also had a happy hour during the evening but I did not try it out to check out the prices. There was live entertainment on Friday till about 9PM. Here is a link that has a menu of food items. http://i.waikiki.place.hyatt.com/

Pool Area: The pool was really useless. You could fit a few people in there at the most so I would just go to the big pool down the street.....the ocean.

Location: Best location, no. Good location, yes. You are just a couple of minutes from the beach and just a few more minutes walk to the central waikiki beach area. This property is on Kuhio which is usually a negative for me but it is at the end of Kuhio so you a bit away from the more crowded and somewhat les desirable area of Kuhio (in my opinion). A big plus is this property is almost across the street from the Banyan parking which is about the cheapest place to park in Waikiki so you dont have to walk far to get your car if you drive.

Service: Ok, this is not like other Hyatt Place properties as it is really closer to a full service property. They have people to help with bags, concierge etc. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and couldnt ask for more with regards to service.

Conclusion: I think this is a very solid option in Waikiki and seems to be very well run and has a lot of benefits to staying here. I will be returning next weekend and will decide after that stay if I want to bring my family here for a longer stay later this year as I just am not sure the rooms are big enough for my in-laws. Having a friendly and helpful staff goes a long way though.

Entrance to Pool/Fitness/Breakfast Area


Breakfast Area


Breakfast Area


Breakfast Area


Lanai


Desk


Chair and Ottoman


Bed


Desk and TV


Fridge


Room


Bath Vanity


Closet


Shower


Bath Area


Room Entry


Community Computers


Bar Area


Lobby Lounge


Lobby Lounge

mcgahat

Looks like Hyatt Place popped up on Travelzoo today with a $139 deal. That is a pretty solid rate for this property. Looks like they will get my next stay after all.

mikew99

And I just locked in a non-refundable rate at $164.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some! I hope it's a great stay, regardless.

mcgahat

Still not a bad rate..could have been in the $190's. The big difference is the tzoo rate is not a prepay rate.

lswcih

I just completed a 3 night stay at the Hyatt Place. The front desk staff were very friendly and accomodating. Was upgraded to a 20th floor (top floor) ocean view room in the Pali tower. Typical Hyatt Place furniture. The one major issue I had was in the evening I constantly heard a whooshing sound. It turn out that there was a pressure differential between the hall way and the room....and the whooshing sound was the air being drawn from my room out into the hallway under the door. I took a bath towel and rolled it up on the floor and spread it across the bottom of the door and the whooshing sound went away.

On one of the days the wireless internet crashed for a couple of hours and there were several people in the lobby trying to print their boarding passes which they could not do.

Other than the whooshing noise and the internet issue, the stay was fine. The hotel was near capacity and sometimes the wait at the elevator could take several minutes.

LASUA1K

I booked at 129.00 for next week. I'm staying one night, and the rest of the stay will be at the Hyatt.

azepine00

So what are the largest rooms there? Are more expensive categories bigger?Is deluxe ocean view for example bigger than generic citi view?

I see HP generic "divided living and sleeping areas" in all room descriptions (and some website photos appear that way) but the pictures posted here suggest rather tiny rooms.

I plan a one night stopover with two kids so space confirmed in advance is critical.

wqurg

Only until 12:00am tonight, Best Rate Guarantee through Hyatt to bookit.com $116.64 for ocean view room. $9.70 less for mountain view.

azepine00

Thank you! This made it cheaper than pl. Price matched deluxe room which are significantly larger according to front desk.

mcgahat

Just got an email about my upcoming reservation and this is a NOR1 property. The link I went mentioned larger rooms and it appeared to apply to deluxe rooms but no actual room sizes were mentioned. I think if they want to sell NOR1 upgrades they will need to mention actual rooms sizes as I think a lot of people are like me and want to know what they are buying.

If it is that important, I would suggest you call the hotel to verify room type.

mcgahat

Just checked in again at this property and must say it is pretty solid and very friendly. The king rooms are pretty small and I didnt realize it so much until this trip when I booked two rooms and the other is a two queen room and it is MUCH bigger than the king room we are in. The staff is very friendly and helpful. We told the front desk about a shower drain issue that we had and they contacted engineering immediately. The problem still is not fixed but dont think it is because of a lack of effort but possibly just a common problem at the property.

I still wish they had some room sizes listed on the room descriptioins especially with the NOR1 options email they send out before arrval. I may have bitten on one if I knew for sure what I was getting with regards to size.

Still, a very good property especially at the rate I am paying.

azepine00

I stayed there a couple days ago and asked about room sizes. It appears that even within the same category (king deluxe ocean) they have larger and smaller rooms. Website picture represents the larger one. The smaller one is OK for two but probably not OK with kids.

Aside from that it's a very nice friendly place which in most aspects (perhaps aside from the view) compares favorably with supposedly more upscale Hyatt, Westin, Sheraton or Hilton where they seem to be reducing amenities and increasing bogus fees of all sorts.

I would not hesitate to return.

steve64

I was there last month.

Location
Not too bad. Just off Kuhio towards the Diamond Head end. A couple of blocks from the beach. Usually this means a lower price but I've seen the price separation between the Hyatt Place and Regency change wildly. I've seen Regency only $10-20 higher and at that price point, IMHO the Regency is a better deal.

Property in General
A very nice re-furb on one (two ??) of HNL's older boutique hotels.
Open air lobby with bell service. Several check-in positions with agents ready to help. Large bar area served by a dedicated bartender, not a single "all-n-one" Gallery Host. "Biz Center" just across from the bar with about 6 PC's w/Internet access and a printer off to the side. With only 6 PCs for such a large property (and easy access from the lobby) I was initially worried about having to fight (playing kids) for a position. In reality, I never had to wait.

Check-in
Not a Hyatt Place. The entire experience had more of a full service property feel to it. From the atmosphere all the way down to the super friendly agents. In addition to the typical HP practice of the "host/hostess" coming around from behind the desk to hand you your room key, my host escorted me back to the elevator bank (one tower has the elevators just to the side of the lobby, the rear tower elevators are hidden beyond the bar area).

Room
Not a Hyatt Place. That's a good and bad comment.
Very clean and fresh having just going thru a re-furb. Colors more along HP's blue than the outdated gold and brown.
My king room in the rear tower was on the top (14th) floor on the side.
On entry was the dressing area and closet. The other side of the dressing area had the powder room and shower stall.
The room itself was small. There was no "semi suite" separation of living and bedroom areas. The "living area" was nothing more than a (single seat) chair in the bedroom. There was no desk at all, the closest thing being a small 1x2 foot end table which was open ended so that it could be positioned to straddle the chair.
There was a mini-fridge, free safe and the typical HP flat screen TV.
There was a skinny lanai. Being on the side of the tower, it looked as if my lanai was longer than standard. From my top floor, I could see the ocean in-between other properties.

Noise
Being on the top floor, I wasn't bothered by most the noise experienced in most of HNL's boutique properties.
However, the building itself sounded like it was haunted. A constant "pipe banging" sound from the walls. At first I thought it was the ice maker which backed up to my room (behind me were some service areas that opened into the elevator lobby). In the end, I think it was elevator noises. Possible the "drive unit" sat on the roof near my room. I mentioned it on check-out and she said she'd heard of wind noises, but not banging in the walls.

Breakfast
Basically an enhanced Hyatt Place.
Instead of having 2 "skillet" sandwich options, they had (at least 2) minor variations that rotated each morning. The fruit selection was better and included fresh pineapple. Granola/nuts/fruit/yogurt selections and instructions on making a parfait. I didn't try them, but laso Miso soup and the standard waffle selections.
The place was an absolute zoo. While larger than most HP breakfast buffets, it isn't large enough for the number of rooms. The buffet itself is open air but under roof. The eating area is outdoors with large umbrellas. It was a misty rain one morning and made the madhouse effect much worse. They do have written invitations for you to take your selections up to your room to eat.

Pool
Use the ocean. If you must use a pool after traveling all the way to Hawaii, it's that small thing to the side of the breakfast area. It makes the Hyatt Regency pool look olympic sized.

Bottom line
A decent property when priced lower than the other Hyatt (do your own price shopping with other chains). Contrary to the #1 feature that makes the Hyatt Place brand what it is (consistency to the nth degree), do NOT expect a Hyatt Place. Expect the cleanest boutique hotel in HNL, small rooms and employees that rival the Regency.

FlyerChrisK

I stayed here over Labor Day weekend and your experience mirrors mine. Check-in quality exceeded many FS Hyatt stays, particularly in terms of emphasis on Diamond recognition.