Honolulu and Oahu Hotels

The 2½-mi stretch of sand known as Waikiki Beach is a 24-hour playground and the heartbeat of Hawaii's tourist industry. Waikiki has a lot to offer—namely, the beach, shopping, restaurants, and nightlife, all within walking distance of your hotel.

Business travelers stay on the western edge, near the Hawaii Convention Center, Ala Moana, and downtown Honolulu. As you head east, Ala Moana Boulevard turns into Kalakaua Avenue, Waikiki's main drag. This is hotel row (mid-Waikiki), with historic boutique hotels, newer high-rises, and megaresorts. Bigger chains like Sheraton, Outrigger, ResortQuest, and Ohana have multiple properties along the strip, which can be confusing. Surrounding the hotels and filling their lower levels is a flurry of shopping centers, restaurants, bars, and clubs. As you get closer to Diamond Head Crater, the strip opens up again, with the Honolulu Zoo and Kapiolani Park providing green spaces. This end has a handful of smaller hotels and condos for those who like their Waikiki with a "side of quiet."

Waikiki is still the resort capital of this island and the lodging landscape is constantly changing. The Waikiki Beach Walk opened in 2007 on 8 acres within the confines of Beach Walk, Lewers and Saratoga streets, and Kalia Road. It comprises a multitiered entertainment complex, cultural center, hotels, and vacation ownership properties, all accented by lush tropical landscaping. Ko Olina Resort and Marina, about 15 minutes from the airport in West Oahu, looms large on the horizon—this ongoing development already contains the J. W. Marriott Ihilani Resort, Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club, and some outstanding golf courses, but it is slated, over the coming decade, to see the construction of an extensive planned resort community and marina, an aquarium, dozens of restaurants and shops, more hotels, and yet more vacation-ownership rentals.

Casual Windward and North Shore digs are shorter on amenities but have laid-back charms all their own. Oahu offers a more limited list of B&Bs than other islands because the state stopped licensing them here in the 1980s; many of those operating here now do so under the radar. Legislators on Oahu are taking another look at this industry, and it's possible that B&Bs will flourish here again in the next decade.

For a list of hotel and condominium accommodations on the island, go to the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau's Web site (www.gohawaii.com).

Less »