Michael El

I hope this property rocks. I just booked 7 award nights for the end of next June.

drewdawg199

oh it does rock, don't worry. Walking distance to all the shops, restaurants and beach, huge room, great breakfast, free cocktails, and easy to drive to and from if you have a car (valet only, about $30 a day I think)

iahphx

7 nights in Waikiki? Unless you like "urban Hawaii party life," I'd never want to stay that long there. But if you like cities, you'll like it here.

Michael El

Agree. However, it's the first trip to Hawaii for my kids and we have a lot of activities planned all over Oahu. Oh and it's a budget trip using HH points and US Airways miles for the flights.

Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

***Nothing wrong with basing out of Waikiki, other than the nighttime street noise, if that bothers you. ES Beachwalk is (thankfully) a bit outside of the busiest/loudest area anyway (I'm tagging the International Market area as impossible to sleep near - I stayed at the Outrigger directly across from that once... continual street performers bongo-drumming and the next-door property so close you could literally hear people talking on their balconies...)
Not so bad at ES.

O'ahu Advice - Traveling Deathmerchant says... get a car, use it often. Bug out each morning to take a leisurely drive up to hit the North Shore and Diamondhead area jaunts every day or two. Then come back to Waikiki-cum-Scottsdale-Fashion-Square-on-the-beach for some night life and sunset pupus.




TDM (who is counting down days til his October return to ES Beachwalk)

iahphx

I used the 4-night AXON coupon for my family last Xmas -- and then went to Kauai. I think I like Oahu more than most Hawaiian visitors, and I like to stop in Waikiki for a couple nights on any Hawaiian vacation (I do this less these days, because of the many nonstop flights from the mainland to the neighbor islands). That said, I would not want to spend a week on Oahu. It's just not paradise -- it's a city (although there are nice peaceful spots on Oahu outside of Waikiki).

You don't want to spend the week at Waikoloa?

azepine00

Has anyone tried to preconfirm an upgrade to 2 br on award stay (for $ or points)?
I can't find any email info on the webpage.

Preacher7

Gonna do an axon in march. As a gold, will the free breakfast be continental, buffet or a hybrid?

BlueZebra

You do realize you are asking about an Embassy Suites, where a full breakfast is available to everyone?

azepine00

Do they have award space for axon? I checked a couple shoulder season dates and premium room scam seems to be the norm there...

iahphx

Wow. I went at X-mas time last year. No problem redeeming for an AXON. I did book several months in advance, though.

3Cforme

When the site is up... flexible date searches allow one to answer that pretty quickly.

azepine00

Interesting. Perhaps booking a few months in advance helps.
I checked traditionally slower times of early december and mid january and stringing AXON was not possible.

Ironically due to changed plans i have to cancel new year axon there that i booked days before diamond force went kaput. I suspect i may never see another standard holiday award there.


Dec 03 Mon — Dec 04 Tue From 50,000 points
Dec 04 Tue — Dec 05 Wed From 114,840 points
Dec 05 Wed — Dec 06 Thu From 114,840 points
Dec 06 Thu — Dec 07 Fri No rooms available
Dec 07 Fri — Dec 08 Sat No rooms available
Dec 08 Sat — Dec 09 Sun No rooms available
Dec 09 Sun — Dec 10 Mon From 114,840 points
Dec 10 Mon — Dec 11 Tue From 50,000 points
Dec 11 Tue — Dec 12 Wed From 50,000 points
Dec 12 Wed — Dec 13 Thu From 50,000 points
Dec 13 Thu — Dec 14 Fri From 107,640 points
Dec 14 Fri — Dec 15 Sat From 50,000 points
Dec 15 Sat — Dec 16 Sun From 114,840 points
Dec 16 Sun — Dec 17 Mon From 114,840 points
Dec 17 Mon — Dec 18 Tue From 114,840 points

***

Jan 07 Mon — Jan 08 Tue From 122,040 points
Jan 08 Tue — Jan 09 Wed From 50,000 points
Jan 09 Wed — Jan 10 Thu From 50,000 points
Jan 10 Thu — Jan 11 Fri From 114,840 points
Jan 11 Fri — Jan 12 Sat From 114,840 points
Jan 12 Sat — Jan 13 Sun From 114,840 points
Jan 13 Sun — Jan 14 Mon From 114,840 points
Jan 14 Mon — Jan 15 Tue From 114,840 points
Jan 15 Tue — Jan 16 Wed From 50,000 points
Jan 16 Wed — Jan 17 Thu From 50,000 points
Jan 17 Thu — Jan 18 Fri From 114,840 points
Jan 18 Fri — Jan 19 Sat From 114,840 points
Jan 19 Sat — Jan 20 Sun From 50,000 points
Jan 20 Sun — Jan 21 Mon From 50,000 points
Jan 21 Mon — Jan 22 Tue From 50,000 points

sullim4

You cannot rely solely on the 50,000 point level to know if AXON awards are available. I tried doing this for our trip that we took just a few weeks ago. Despite ample availability of standard rooms, the 50,000 point awards were labeled as "Premium" awards and diamond desk CSRs were unable to issue the award. They had no clue why, though anyone that's followed the "Premium Room Scam" thread in this forum would know exactly why.

See it for yourself - try to book a room for October 2013 for 4+ nights on points. You'll be greeted with this message, despite "Standard" 50,000 point awards showing up:

I ended up booking at a vacation rental instead for the bulk of the trip, and only spent 2 nights here. Hilton's losing my business thanks to this premium award charade.

bearkatt

is it the same problem if you want a 6 day glon stay? or is it just the axon stays?