I should add that The Outrigger was every bit as zooey if not more so than The Hilton. And can you say, "slow elevators?"

Also, we have friends who just returned from The Moana, and thought their oceanfront room in The Diamond Tower was tiny and vastly overpriced.

If I were going back anytime soon, I'd look at The Hyatt, too. But then again it's not on the beach.

We always stay at the Hyatt, in the Diamond Head tower, ocean front, high floor. The views in all directions are fabulous. Waikiki at night just sparkles and Diamond during the day is a great view.

They have beach chairs available for use, to take across the street to Kuhio Beach. I like that part of Waikiki, it's right in the middle of everything to walk to.

Have the Diamond Tower rooms been renovated at the Surfrider? I will be staying in the taller tower - not the Diamond wing. Unless it has ben renovated, it seemed like it would have been really dated. But, with the renovations, has that changed?

My impression is that some of The Diamond Tower rooms at The Moana Surfrider have been renovated, but not all. We had booked there originally, but I changed it after checking many reviews and speaking to friends who had recently visited. My friends thought the ambience and public rooms of the hotel ( lobby, restaurant, etc.) were just gorgeous. But they were not particularly thrilled with their rooms, and had some plumbing/ AC issues as well.

Other friends who just got back stayed in both The Diamond Tower and The Banyan Wing. The friends in The Banyan Wing room thought it was small, but very nicely renovated. Diamond Tower friends were not as happy with their room.

Thanks. I will report back on the Surfrider after my trip. I will be staying at Turtle Bay too.

How about the Kahala for Marginal? It is a bit out of the way but beachfront and supposed to be very nice.

I am really curious how Turtle Bay was. We went up there and walked around. Breath taking Location!

Please do a report on TB!

We love the Waikiki Parc which is just a few feet from the beach. You need to make sure about the room if you want an ocean view. I think we were on the 10th floor or I know it was just 4-5 above the pool and we faced the ocean. The room included breakfast, which was excellent.

I have only stayed at The Outrigger but liked the location and thought the room was fine. I didn't have any trouble with hearing noise from the neighbors-maybe we just had quiet ones. I didn't pay for the oceanfront but had an oceanview which was just fine. I actually liked it better because we could see the ocean and city view.

Like beachkomer, enjoyed sitting at Duke's for drinks or for breakfast in the morning. I did think the pool area was small and it filled up quick. My 21 year old daughter was with me and she enjoyed the beach the shopping which was just across the street. We got a very good deal on our room which is why we choose the hotel but were very happy there.

The pool at the Outrigger is very small but deep...We only swam here once.
I would stay here again. Just bring ear plugs!

ha.

Hi Marginal
We stayed at the Moana Surfrider on our first visit to Hawaii a couple of years ago. After lots of research, we specified a room in the original (historic) building, and just loved it. Not huge -- but we weren't there to hang around in the room. Room was clean, nicely fitted, and very comfortable with that great Sweet Sleeper bed. Bathroom was classically stylish, red marble etc. The public rooms are excellent, and so is the service and the location, right in the center of things.

Our first evening, we walked along the beach to House without a Key at the Halekulani, for drinks and appies. We sat watching our first Hawaiian sunset with a former Miss Hawaii dancing and singing in front of us, while we enjoyed excellent mai tais and coconut shrimp. (Of course, while we were doing that the tide came in so we had to find another way home!) ;-)

When (not if) we go there again, we'd do exactly the same.

Have a great trip!

I'm leery about the older rooms at the Moana Surfrider because of all the comments about the noise, and the dank smells.

Do you have to stay in Waikiki proper? What about Turtle Bay?

Has anyone really read the reviews of turtle bay? we walked it and the location was great, but the public spaces were needing to be upgraded.

I have not stayed here, but we had lunch here. The pool was on the opposite side as the beach. It was laid out kind of odd for a resort.

I read a bunch of reviews on
tripadvisor and decided to just
stay on Waikiki.

bk

I love the Moana Surfrider!

I've been to the Turtle Bay Resort and I don't need to go back. Beautiful setting, but the rooms were sort of musty and dingy. I wasn't that impressed. I just want to stay on Waikiki, do the tourist thing, visit Pearl Harbor, the museusms, Doris Duke's house.

Sorry! I haven't been to Turtle Bay, just thought the beach looked nice.

Back to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for a moment... I got incredibly lucky and nabbed a really low online rate for a one-bedroom /two bath suite on the 6th floor of the Al'i Tower. It had a gorgeous, L O N G balcony facing both the city and the beach, and the room itself had just been totally renovated.

I don't know if the price they quoted me was an error or not, but I paid a bit under $700 for the suite, and thought it was worth every penny.

You might want to check online, and see if what they are quoting for a room of this type. Apparently the one-bedrooms above the 6th floor don't have balconies, so if you decide to reserve, mention this to the agent.

Anyway, enough from me! Good luck with your choice. Please post when you get back!

Well... almost enough from me! I forgot to add that we had a second room at Hilton Hawaiian for our kids, and this one was just under $400, and much nicer than the room either of us had at The Outrigger.

Hi again marginal
You comment: "I'm leery about the older rooms at the Moana Surfrider because of all the comments about the noise, and the dank smells."

Well, I can't claim encyclopedic knowledge based on one visit -- but that was certainly NOT our experience. Room was quiet, airy, comfortable and classic. Since it was built in the 20's, construction was more solid -- so I would expect less noisy than many more modern structures.

You might want to do some searching on Flyertalk.com, on the Starwood hotels threads -- many, many posts there about *wood properties in Hawaii, including the Moana.

We would definitely love to stay there again.

My experience last year at Turtle Bay was different too. I found the resort very well maintained and our room was updated and very nice - not musty or dingy at all. Must have loved it because we are going straight back - and I too like a nice room.

I hope we didn't get the only nice room in the place - like I said, will report back.

The Embassy Suites is new - not right on the beach but close. That might be an option if the higher end hotels are booked.

Please read my review of the
Embassy suites under worldtripper on
tripadvisor. Just type in 'worldtripper' on search and scroll down to "results for screen names", and then under the tab:
contributions.

They also have a map there where you can log all of your travel destinations.

I need to post that review here.
I like how it's formatted on tripadvisor, where you can click on someones' name and read all of their contributions.

aloha!