Food and Beverage
There are two restaurants here, Passageway + The Grove, and Morimoto (of Iron Chef fame). My plan was to go to Morimoto for dinner and then try The Grove for breakfast. The Grove is the all day restaurant and the Passageway is more of a lounge. Morimoto also serves 3 meals a day and for Open Table points collectors, Morimoto consistently offered 1000 points for dinner. However due to the flight situation I was unable to dine at any of the restaurants for dinner. Instead, I went to Morimoto for breakfast.

Morimoto is a large restaurant on the pool deck level and has direct access from the hotel driveway by way of a large staircase. There is a large showcase kitchen as well as a coveted covered terrace seating. The Terrace has views of the harbour.



I had the yose dofu which is freshly set in the kitchen (it is freshly set table side at dinner). Freshly set tofu is always much more tasty than the stuff you buy at the supermarket. The quality of food was very good and it seems Morimoto is pretty stringent on quality. This dish came with onset egg in an extremely delicate dashi, a piece of his miso cod (I think actually prefer his to Nobu), kim chee soup (his twist), and the traditional accompaniments for the tofu -- grated fresh ginger, scallions, and freshly shaved katsuo bushi. Pricing is what you expect for Waikiki but the cost for a bowl of rice was usurious at $7. Still, on the terrace with wonderful food, it was a delight.




24 hour room service is also available.

Service
For a such short stay it was difficult to evaluate service as I did not have a lot of contact with staff. On departure, since I only had a laptop bag and a roll aboard I did not use the bell service. Check-out was efficient and the folio was accurate.

The Concierge is very helpful -- when enquiring as the time I should depart back for HNL for my Island Air flight to Lanai the Concierge suggested Charley's Taxi as they offer a fixed rate fare of $29 to HNL. Eco Taxi does it for $32. Watching the Concierge while checking in and out, they were extremely knowledgeable and helpful to all guests.

While checking out, bellmen came to take my luggage to my reserved taxi. Service seems to be better during normal hours.

Final thoughts and notes

I think this is a solid 4 star hotel based upon this short stay. It has a nice vibe and the F&B seems to be very strong. The location is good and is a welcome respite from the other monoliths on Waikiki. I would not hesitate to return.

Virtuoso guests receive:

10% off BAR (unsure if this will be extended to 2014)
Upgrade at booking if available, excluding suites
Daily full breakfast for two
$85 hotel credit once per stay for hotel incidentals (excluding room/tax and any third party vendor charges)
Early check-in, late check-out subject to availability