Hilton Grand Vacations Suites at Hilton Hawaiian Village
2003 Kalia Road, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States 96815
Tel: 1-808-953-2700 Fax: 1-808-983-7910
Entirely non-smoking property indoors, some outdoors
Check-in 4:00 PM, check-out 10:00 AM

Link to Google Maps for location

This property is adjacent to the new Grand Waikikian Suites by HGVC, and is available to HGVC owners and booked as a Hilton hotel property as well. Booked as a hotel, one earns points and has daily housekeeping services (and amenities replenishment); booked as HGVC, one has a "mid week service" housekeeping, provided approximately every 3 - 4 days, not meant to provide all amenities needed for the stay, particularly for four people.

Location: Hilton Hawaiian Village property between Ala Moana Yacht Harbor and Fort DeRussy, approximately 3 miles from downtown Honolulu, 8 miles from Honolulu International Airport (HNL), $30 by taxi and less by shuttles - twenty minutes and up, depending on traffic and shuttle stops. Central Waikiki and Waikiki beaches are a short walk away, and one can use the City Bus or the Waikiki Trolleys.

Parking: Valet parking is available at $24 self-park or $30 valet park daily. If you do not need a car every day, it may pay to rent from the Hertz desk o-property or off-property rental companies nearby.

The review will be about what is marketed as 1 BDRM KING OCEANVW LAGOON when sold as a hotel room, and for HGVC as 1 BDRM PLUS. If on an HGVC package, check in at the Grand Wakikian (entrance from the alley going makai from Ala Moana between Ilikai and Hiton Grand Waikikian) or the main hotel lobby and desks if booking as a hotel room.

Staff largely seems helpful and friendly, and we were given our suite at 12:00 noon as it was available and had been serviced - but we were prepared to check our luggage with bell staff and return. Be aware that with the scale here (2,860 rooms in five towers, 20 restaurants, 90 shops and service locations, spa and travel agency, children's park and programs, doctor's office, wedding chapel, post office, Xerox business center, etc. all on 21 acres) queues can form almost anywhere at high demand times.

The suite: The one bedroom ocean view suite has one king-bedded (Hilton Serenity bed with Suite Dreams mattress, Super Topper mattress pad, Touch of Down pillows, blanket and 250 thread-count sheets) room with double built in luggage jacks and a chest of drawers with 24" LCD television, night stands with drawers and lamps, a clock radio with iPod / iPhone socket, a reading lamp near the overstuffed chair and ottoman, a small closet with digital safe, two windows with plastic louver blinds that do not provide blackout curtain protection from light.

The bathroom includes a shower-tub with flexi-hosed large shower head, marble counter with single sink, eco-flush toilet (doesn't always flush everything with one flush) and hair dryer. Amenities are Crabtree & Evelyn hotel samples, insufficient for four people and for a longer stay - for condo / HGVC stays, it's time to visit one of the nearby or on-property shops. Towels (can be changed daily if a hotel booking, twice weekly if HGVC) seem a bit on the stingy side (Sobel Westex and Baltic Linen, about the size of HH Collection), and the tub enclosure can be slippery.

There is one additional small closet in the hallway connecting bath, bedroom and "great room" style kitchen and living room. This contains ironing board and iron, as well as broom and dustpan.

The great room includes living room area with a double sized sofa bed, stuffed chair with ottoman, coffee table, lamps, large chest with DVD / CD player and 32" LCD television, and a full walk-through glass door / window (protected by both translucent and blackout curtains) leading out to the spacious lanai (terrace) with a drum table and three chairs.

Moving back toward the kitchen is the dining area there is a round mosaic-style table with four dining chairs, illuminated by a bank of three ceiling lights controlled with a dimmer. This is also the work surface for computing, etc. as there is no desk or actual work surface. At the back of the living room is a breakfast counter with two bar-type chairs, which lead to the kitchen.

The kitchen includes considerable counter space and cabinetry, sink with macerator, rice cooker, microwave oven, range unit with radiant cooktop and oven, full fridge with icemaker, two slice toaster, blender, four cup coffee set, stove-top tea kettle and full set of cooking wear, knives, serving ware and dishes, glassware for four people. The kitchen is fairly well equipped and they include "starter" material of one roll of paper towelling, half-bag of rice, small bottle of dishwashing detergent, packets of regular and decaffeinated coffee for four, etc. (ABC Superette down the street on Ala Moana helps fill the gaps, and there is a Foodland at the nearby Ala Moana center - as well as a ton of other shopping, from Nieman Marcus to Ritz (I miss Liberty House!)

A telephone with nasty rates is provided in the bedroom, and another on the breakfast counter. WiFi Internet (HGVC network) access is free for some (unclear rules), and my WiFi is 2/5 to 5/5 at different times, password changes weekly. Lighting is quite adequate except in the bathroom, where most will find the lighting adequate but insufficient for any detail, and thre overhead spots illuminating the dining area. HVAC is central, and the single thermostat in the great room unhelpfully has no temperature markings whatsoever - one must guess and fiddle; the fan has three positions, but there's not much difference between fan speeds - the control is left in the coldest position by staff, and frankly, not much seems to have effect on the room temperature, which I estimate at 68F / 20C (slightly warmer in the bedroom).

Colors are sunny yellows and some corals, browns, dark woods and white kitchen cabinetry, etc. Soundproofing is adequate - and the door to the bedroom serves as an additional barrier to noise when you have hyperactive children or adults, always a possibility, running, jumping or whatever in the hall (yes, it happens). As to noise, suites xx61 and xx63 are in front of the elevator and xx71 shares a wall with the elevator shaft. Frequent luaus, concerts, etc. are usually over by 10:00 PM or so, a few Saturday nights excepting, and one can hear the sound.

Newspaper provided is the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and Friday's has the upcoming entertainment options for the area; USA Today is no longer provided; the newspaper is not provided weekends, and weekday provision can be spotty.

Numeration: 23 floors in all, and bizarrely, xx60, -61, -62 (these last two face the elevator banks), -63, -64, -67 and -68 face south (Diamond Head direction) - HHV lobby and Rainbow Tower, as well as Great Lawn and Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon; numbers xx72 (splendid solitude, isolated with xx60 by equipment rooms etc. from the elevator lobby), -65, -66, -69, -70 and -71 (avoid this last one, one wall shared with the elevator banks) face north (Ewa direction) downtown and the Ala Moana Yacht Harbor with views of your neighbors' lanais at the Ilikai, but all have ocean views. Our xx-61 room has a view of Diamond Head - well, over the Ali'i Tower - as well as good makai (toward the ocean) views of the ocean, but blocked by the Rainbow Tower in one area, and the lanai is sunny - could be problematic for anyone not wanting a suntan / sunburn. You also look down mauka (toward the mountain) onto the Mid-Pacific Conference Center roof, where the "Waikiki Starlight Luau" is operated - it is noisy from the start until 8 PM when the luau promptly closes. (I would avoid this luau - it looks like quite crowded tables on a rooftop, endless queues for the buffet (whose food reviews are less than positive,) and the review is poly-Polynesian, with bits and pieces running from pop to hakas, Tahitian to a`uana (modern) hula.)

There is a free laundry room with two washers and dryers on the floor, and no icemakers are available other than the industrial one they won't tell you about in the basement level (the fridge is supposed to be your ice source). Additonally, there is a fairly well equipped sundries store off the main lobby, and prices are reasonably contained for Hawai'i; nearby are other stores within the complex and an ABC store is at Ala Moana and Kalia. There is a fitness facility- we have spent a lot of our time outside, so can't comment at this time.

Eating: A variety of restaurants are on-property, ranging from the seafront (Rainbow Tower) Bali Steak and Seafood (quite good, sunset views, pricey), to snack bars like "Pickle Pronto" and a Round Table Pizza; nearby restaurants include the very popular Wailana Coffee House (24 hrs, a lot of food for your money, bar opens ~1 PM, near the ABC store described above), Todai all you can eat Japanese food and sushi (mediocre, but all you can eat for $15 for lunch,) and many others - the Rewards Network member Harbor Pub on Ala Moana side street / Holomoana (seaside at the yacht harbor just past the Ilikai) offering breakfast, sandwiches, pizzas and drinks among them. Others nearby include Outback, Red Lobster, Singha Thai cuisine, Cheeseburger at 1945 Kalakaua (what you think), Ocean House seafood and steaks and the Shore Bird all day restaurant (Outrigger Reef Hotel, follow Waikiki beach seashore path), etc. etc. You can get a meal within a mile from $15 to $150 per person.

Also nearby (down Ala Moana across from the Hawai'i Prince) is an ABC Superette - not much of a greater variety of foodstuffs than the usual ABC and shops on campus, but some packaged fruits, sandwiches, etc. Your best bet for food is the Foodland market at Ala Moana shopping center, 10-15 minutes walk Ewa direction down Ala Moana, n.e. end of the first floor. There are also cleaners to use there - laundry and dry cleaning via the property is breathtakingly expensive.

Other: There are six pools (which depends on where you are staying, etc. and you are provided bracelets for access) and the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon with salt and freshwater, 77 foot "lava tube" waterslide, stand-up paddleboards, etc., 20 restaurants, lots of entertainment options and a large number of shops offering all from upscale Hawaiiana to schlock. Hospitality suites are accessible to HGVC members on early arrival / late departure days. (N.B. Friday evening there is a Hawaiiana presentation with music, etc. at the Super Pool, which ends about 7:45 PM with a spectacular fireworks show - IMO the best view is from the seawall leading to the "Port Hilton" dock (board here for Atlantis submarine).

Entertainment: Lots of local and tourist stuff is on much of the time, and you can get some free music as well; the Outrigger Reef has music at the pool bar every night, and you can listen from the open lobby or have a drink at the tables or bar, and even get such notables as Cyril Pahinui (some Wednesdays). Pick up copies of the weekly Oahu Gold (for Hawai'ian music) and "This Week Oahu" at ubiquitous streetside displays. Both have Waikiki / Honolulu maps and a variety of discount coupons.

Summary: This place is very popular for Japanese families on packages, as evidenced by the "welcome" center downstairs - some of the staff speak better Japanese than English. Nonetheless, it's a nice place to stay in Honolulu, with much more space than most hotel rooms and nice views. HGVC this Thanksgiving week is 6,200 HGVC points (equivalent to 155,000 HHonors points if converted) or $389~629 nightly + 14% tax via Hilton websites, depending on seasonality.

Hau'oli La Ho'oimaika'i / Happy Thanksgiving.

N.B. In this area, directions are often given as:
word - pronunciation - directionActually, pretty easy and you don't have to know north from nutin' And mauka / makai do not have any compass orientation, merely mountain and sea, anywhere in the Islands.