dstan

No joy now. From the other HHV thread:

TrojanHorse

thanks for the heads up

bdemaria

Having a well balanced breakfast or eating at a buffet does not automatically = making a pig of oneself. I prefer to have a bit of protein w/my breakfast - and I don't like hard boiled eggs. I've been there when there was only ONE type of cereal, the sugar soaked Fruit Loops.

I agree that other HHonors lounges in the continental US offer breakfast that isn't much better but they have a different character/use. Let's face it: most people do not pick the St. Louis airport Hilton as a "destination resort" where they plan to spend a week w/their family. The issue is not how it compares to other US lounges - where, frankly, Hilton falls well behind other chains [i.e. Hyatt] but rather how it compares to other resort properties in Waikiki - and again, it falls below my expectations.

TrojanHorse

actually there are now two types of breads, some darker brown one that I don't really like and the standard banana bread type

before I forget, does this Wifi code ever change???

HNLHV2233

It also appears that they do not monitor the back door entrance (small stairs) right by the lagoon. it has a 3 foot gate that stays half way open and I have seen a dozen people come in thru that gate. *mental note if I ever lose G/D status*

nonutrix

When did the new rate sign for marina parking go up? We were there in June and parked there every night for $6/day.

Thanks for the update.

nonutrix

edweird

I stayed at HHV 9/11-9/16 and would walk over to the marina each day. I saw a sign that said something about Early Bird Parking rates for folks that got there early in the day, but since I didn't rent a car, I wasn't paying attention to the details.

A cab from HNL was $40 I used the Alii tower concierge to arrange a shared ride back to the airport cost me $12

The Alii tower pool was never too crowded to find a chair, and I was happy with the breakfast at Tropics which is below the pool in the tower.

I booked my trip using the AMEX Fine Hotels and Resorts program, and was looking for nice beachfront location that was walking distance to a lot of other things. That's certainly what I found, but yes there were a lot of kids, families with strollers, and even a business meeting group or two there during my stay.

Itsalongwaydown

I have read this thread in full and note the references the 'other HHV thread.' I have not found that thread so feel free to point me there or simply answer here.

I/we have never been to Honolulu and need some guidance about pretty much everything. We are two adults whose kids have left home, but keep coming back, so we have to get away to get some peace.

We have 5 nights, a seven night cruise and then 3 nights in early to mid November. I have 2 certificates from the 2nd quarter promotion and about 250,000 HH points available but from what I can see burning points in Honolulu is a very wasteful proposition.

Our flight from Oz arrives at 0545am () so starting at a familiar branded hotel that may let us check-in early sounds like a good idea. Our departing flight leaves at 0815am so reliable transfers are also of interest.

Any and all thought and recommendations are gratefully received.

cblaisd

For general assistance about things to do, etc., in Honolulu, please feel free to check out the Hawai`i forum here.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hawaii-435/

In terms of getting back and forth from HNL to/from Waikiki, there's a helpful thread here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hawai...ts-thread.html

A couple of others that might be of interest?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hawai...t=consolidated

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hawai...t=consolidated

bdemaria

I would not count on the HHV having a room available for you very early in the am.

1st Cav Vet

Itsalongwaydown: If you are arriving mid-week at HHV they might have a room for early checkin available. I remember that they did have a few "pri-checkin" rooms with shower for a few hours before assigned room was available. As I remember, the Hilton has over 3,000 rooms and the front desk should be able to accommodate you with your early checkout next day.

dstan

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...esort-spa.html

(first page of search results if you search "hilton hawaiian village")

Itsalongwaydown

Thanks.

This gives me plenty to research.

Oops.

I did not scroll far enough down the pages. Half way down page two.

Thanks Guys.

chsckldy

chsckldy

After confirming a room at this hotel, when we arrived we did not have a room, we waited over two hours and finally they found me a room at the towers.
The rooms are very spacious, as large as a condo! You are in the middle of everything including shops and plenty of places to visit.
Just make sure they can confirm a room.

TrojanHorse

i was at HHV for about two weeks with my kids recently and here is a synopsis of my stay

Took a cab on the way back and it was about $40 including tip. It took about 30 minutes IIRC. Rented a car on the way in. Parking was $24 for one night. You do have to double check with them if you rent a car one night only and you stay longer, they tried charging me for every night, luckily I caught it after day four when I went to just get a copy of my folio for a random review.

I checked in later in the day and was given the option of a full ocean view but smaller room in the Rainbow Tower or a larger room but no ocean view in the Tapa tower. I chose the latter. I did notice that there were lines often around that 7-9A timeframe. Japanese tour busses must arrive around this time as thats who appeared to be in those lines daily. The elite lines were often no better than the regular check in line. There is a separate Key and Mail counter at the far left end of the huge check in counter.

My room was an end of hallway room that was huge IMHO. King bed and pull out couch, a TON of space, an easy chair, a balcony, a large bath and a desk. But again, there was so much space. Never had a problem with the elevators. the first night the security personnel caught us off guard if someone was in the room and we didn't have our key as we didn't know the elevator area was blocked off unless you had a key. But once that was figured out we were fine. The TV channels were definitely kid friendly which was nice. Lots of Cartoon Channels, Disney, Nick etc. If you come here, you have to expect that you will run into a TON of families and kids.. thats what this place is.. a family resort plain and simple.

We used the Rainbower Tower VIP room for the Gold/Plat Continental b/f. I do think that i've addressed that in this thread. It was plenty fine for us and was surprised that it was no where near as bad as we had read about. Staff in that lounge was fantastic. They change the free internet code weekly. It is open 6 to 930 a.m.

Housekeeping was good IMHO. They really accomodated our schedule, gave us extra's of whatever we needed and did everything that I needed them to do.

the health club in the Kalia tower was pretty good for a hotel. cardio equipment and a few free weights and machines. It could get crowded at times.

Pools - the Tapa pool was tiny and we never used it. the Super Pool behind the check in counter was ok but since my kids were into jumping, splashing and just being loud, we preferred the kids slide pool. Heads up, you must be 54" to use the two larger slides (which are not that big) alone or otherwise you must wear these arm floaties which they will gladly sell you. Its funny, the towel situation is that you must have an armband, yet you don't have to sign for them, hence they are left everywhere when people are done. Chair squatting while being done, was not a huge issue either. Many time people would ask me if that chair is taken (towel covered only) and I would always say NO, and never once did I ever see anyone come back and say "hey that was my chair".

Beach - the Lagoon beach had primarily older folk and families with infants and toddlers. There were also a lot of rented paddle boats and surfboards with paddles. the water is virtually wave free. It has nice sand here as well. It was never crowded.. The ocean beach didn't have good waves either due to the breakers. the beach was nice but could get crowded. My kids really didn't like that beach as there weren't any waves.

Eats - other than a couple stops to the on-site RoundTable pizza which was pricey and not that great, we did not eat on site. I just couldn't justify the price difference from walking ten minutes. We mostly ate cheap as my kids don't care about fine dining. Within Ten Minutes there were the following

McD's/Subway/Buffalo WildWings - across AlaMoana, to the left just before Hebron

Wailana (sic?) Coffee house - a diner basically at the corner of Ewa/AlaMoana

IHOP - Next to the Coffee house

Waikiki Burgers - go right on Ala Moana about a block and its across the street.

Denny's as its funny as its across from Roys. go right on Kalia and its across from the Outrigger

7-11 - On Ewa; go left on Kalia, cross Ala Moana, it becomes Ewa.. to about 2/10 of a mile and its on the right. Its not one of the better 7-11's from a cleanliness stand point, it was kind of disgusting IIRC


Laundry.. I hesitate to put this one down.. but I will.. It was a ten minute walk and its next door to the 7-11; the lady that owns it is a complete B1tch. they advertise free wifi, i used it as I read the darn code off the wall and when she saw that I was using it she argued with me to turn it off. luckily for me it was within the last 5 minutes of my last dryer finishing. She also didn't want me to place my laptop any where but on my lap. English was not her native tongue so I was not going to help her out either. Cost was $6.00 per triple load (large machines) and 25 cents per 4 minutes of dry time. It cost me $4.00 to dry one triple load machine.

Resort Fee - None for me

Army Museum - free and on Kalia to the right about ten minutes. Nothing special but still worth going in if you want to kill a hour or so. Kind of interesting if you are into that kind of stuff. Kids seemed to enjoy it.

Hertz - Man the lines in that place are huge for the first two+ hours its open. I went to the outrigger to pick up my car, I swear it was faster than using the HHV. I returned it to the HHV. You must return to designated spots on the 5th floor of the parking garage, write the mileage, gas etc and drop the keys in a box or you can drop off at the desk if its open (7A-3P.. I think it closes at 3p... maybe it was 1P.. its not open that long)

Dollar - on AlaMoana.. left on Kalia, right on AlaMoana, go around the bend on AM near Waikiki burgers and another 2/10 mile it should be on the left across AM. That place always had long lines in the a.m. too

Public Transit.. we used the Pink Bus Trolley to get from the HHV to the Hyatt end of the beach. Its $2 per head including kids and exact change. The drivers sort of beg for tips but you really don't need to give them any, I don't think a lot of folks based on my few trips. There is also another thread in the Hawaii forum on the trolleys.

On another trip, I took either Bus 19 or 20 (The Bus) from HNL to the Sheraton but it stopped at the HHV and it cost me $2.50 OW. People had carry on type bags (i,e.. 22" wheelers) on the bus without any grief. I only had a backpack. Bus takes roughly an hour. If you have medicaid it costs a buck according to the sign.

tours etc.. I did not use any of the event or tours from the hotel, I went elsewhere to get that kind of stuff.

Fireworks - kids liked em (friday night).. not much to say other than you have to be on the beach to see them unless you have the right view from your tower, I did not

Its about a walk to the Duke statue and it took me 20 minutes give or take a few strolling along.. sometimes longer if I stopped at the Apple Store, Ferrarri store or one of the many quick eats on the way.