Bikeguy

Show them your Hilton Gold card, if you have one. It can't hurt to ask.

If not, be careful though. I know someone that had a city view, asked for ocean view.

Was given a room on the side on the second floor above the garbage dumpsters, that were emptied during the night.

They had paid for Alii tower, but weren't even HHonors members, let alone elite.

jinabe

ＩＴ-

I stayed at HHV last November in a Kalia Tower King room for 2 nights on a business travel. Nothing spectacular but decent. It has me returning next weekend for 2 nights (1 night my own and 1 night with HH points). I've considered staying at cheaper hotels via priceline/hotwire, but somehow decided that was not worth the risk. Proximity to the beach, decent services, and upgrade to a better room (I'm a Gold member too) were enough reasons to lure me back into their marketing strategy.

After all, it's how you feel about your decision. If you are NOT totally convinced, then don't do it.

Goosey

I have stayed at the hhv a couple of times both times at the Ali tower because I read that was the best tower to stay in. But that was many years ago. Is the Ali tower still the best to stay in? I am hhonors gold.

ITravelThereforeIam

thanks for the suggestions everyone...I am gonna save those points and pay for something else :-)

PhilC

Any recent experiences with a third adult at Embassy Suites Waikiki? Thanks.

bearkatt

i booked a 6 night award for sept. at the es-beach walk. i ask the diamond desk about a third adult. she put me on hold and called the property. when she came back, she said that she was told a $40. per person extra charge each night would apply.

NewsBruin

I can't help the OP, but I want to get nit-picky:

If I recall, HH members are allowed to have the second adult rate waived for a spouse. Would that apply to an award booking if one of 2 (or more) other guests were a spouse?

Ritz

LOL. Sometimes even I'm amazed at this level of....

IsleOfMan

During our September ES Waikiki stay we were given 2 breakfast passes and 2 manager's reception passes that were dated with the length of our stay... not sure if they would give you more without imposing a fee, but you could always go in shifts of 2 using the same passes.

maven808

Stayed at the Alii Tower and Embassy Suites Waikiki over the memorial day weekend. As a HHonors Gold, I was upgraded to ocean views at both properties. I'll write about the ES experience in the appropriate thread.

At HHV they gave me access to the VIP lounge at the Rainbow tower, which was only open for the continental breakfast, nothing to write home about.

The room I got in the Alii tower was rather dirty and the fit and finish wasn't great. Water spots on the ceilings, dirty light switches, and the TV reception was just horrible. The evening reception was a joke. Went down to check it out and the place was just swarmed with people, the place they had it was next to the pool and very small. Just a bunch of dirty hands digging into whatever was being put out. Chips, salsa and supposedly one hot item, though we didn't see any. Also no free drinks either. My girlfriend and I basically walked in and made a u-turn and walked out. Wasn't impressive at all.

The only good parts was the separate front desk (the main front desk was a zoo) and they allowed me a late checkout. People were nice too. Even with the kama'aina rate I got, it wasn't that great of a deal. And after staying at the ES for less, it made it feel like an even worse deal. I was left very unimpressed, probably won't be going back.

goal2gosports

I'm taking the family to the HHV next week. Using separate reservations, I booked two rooms, one paid and one reward using ALON2. Because of having children, I need the rooms to connect.

Any suggestions on how to secure an upgrade before arrival? I don't want to use the "eStandby Upgrade" because I'm afraid they won't keep both rooms connected. Do the Rainbow Tower corner rooms have the ability to connect to another room? Should I press for the Alii Tower? I haven't stayed there in many years, so I'm not really sure which upgrade I should aim for.

Also, any other suggestions on how to make the kids' first trip to the HHV a memorable one?

Redeemed

We had connecting rooms in the Rainbow Tower on an award stay a couple of years ago- we had our 4 children with us. We enjoyed a trip to the Pineapple maze and driving along the North Shore. The Friday night fireworks are short but pretty spectacular.

freeupgrade

Plan on kissing an upgrade to Alii Tower "aloha" (read: goodbye).

I tried this as a Diamond member a few years ago, and the Manager on Duty was such an **** about it. Just fyi - the hotel considers Alii Tower a "separate hotel", and as such, it is not possible to upgrade from other towers.

Good luck - you will need it. You can try it, but I will be absolutely astounded if they upgrade you (especially with 2 rooms) to this.

bdemaria

In June at the HHV, I received an upgrade to an ocean view room in the Ali'i tower.

ffdom

ive stayed at hhv a dozen times, and 5 times this year, with 4 more to go...don't use your points, save them for expensive overseas hotels in tokyo, london etc. the next trip in a couple of weeks was $145 a night, including the 5th night at $50 - ouch, they must have been hurting when they released that rate... its certainly faded but the location really is great for waikiki (i mean the kahala [amazing], ihilani, turtle bay are all quieter and prettier for oahu tho much more expensive, but for waikiki, hhv is great...). its too crowded as well.

as a gold i have always gotten an upgrade - sometimes just to a tapa ocean view, but also rainbow, kalia and alii ocean view. all are fine. kalia is nice since its been re-done, alii is not as much as its cracked up to be...
i think its a bit of a crap shoot, depending on availability, time of check in and how friendly you are. all are really fine, none are really great and frankly none should justify more than $200 a night...

the breakfast keeps changing but i think now the bar area is finally finished, you have the vip gold/diamond area in the rainbow tower. limited continental but if you have a couple of hard boiled eggs you can just about make do. you can print your boarding passes, and its a nice relaxed, lounge area, albeit a bit crowded.

i like sitting for a mai tai (they just lowered the prices -- by several $ a drink) at the hula bar...they just introduced wrist bands for the pool area and your two towels...guess they are having issues..

overall, if you dont mind crowds, hhv is nice enough...