I am off to Waikiki (my first time, yipee!!) and I am staying at the fabulous Sheraton-Waikiki, a hotel I normally can't afford to stay at. To cut a long story short, I am staying for 5 days for a song through the generosity of a friend.

Question....are there affordable places within walking distance from this hotel? Groceries, supermarkets? I have no idea where exactly this hotel is, I just know it looks wonderful, so I don't know if it's in a plush area of Honolulu.

Thank y'all!!

According to my Waikiki map, your hotel is right next door to the Royal Hawaiian hotel on the beach, 'behind' the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, an excellent central location.

The nearest grocery store is Food Pantry located at 2370 Kuhio Avenue (~10 mins. walk from your hotel).

Also I found the ABC Stores (located literally everywhere) very handy. Different ones have more or less selection but you can get inexpensive ready-to-eat items like cold noodles, salads, sandwiches, cut up fruit, sushi, etc. from their frig cases.

There is an EXcellent bakery called St. Germaine on Kuhio (you'd walk past it on your way back from Food Pantry). Delicious ham rolls, sandwiches, pastries, single slices of pie, etc. Self-serve, reasonable prices.

My last great budget suggestion (but I'm not sure the status because of the construction in the area) is Lewers St. Loft & Lanai which features "plate lunches" and big breakfasts in the $5-7 range. It is (was?) in the 200 block of Lewer. Hopefully it survived the neighborhood remodel.

aloha...

I realized the cross street will be more helpful than the street address above: Food Pantry is at the corner of Walina & Kuhio Ave. back towards the canal.

You will find tons of free tourist information everywhere, just grab a street map when you first arrive.

If you want a big dinner one night I enjoyed Buzz's Steak & Lobster House 225 Saratoga Road (over near Ft DeRussy park). Nothing fancy, no attitude, just an old school steak house with salad bar and decent prices.

^^^

You can go to the supermarket, buy some corn flakes..the local supermarket brand. Get a fork and eat the cornflakes with the fork saving the milk for the next person..!!!

tee hee..sorry but it just reminded me of something funny.

See thread titled, "Welcome to Fodors".

what's the problem? There's only one grocery store in the central Waikiki area that I'm aware of, so question answered (vague title and all).

You could go to the Hale Koa Hotel. It's a military R&R facility. You need to have a Military ID card or be a hotel guest to use their restaurants, but there's a place out by the Pool/outside bar area called Happy's Snack Bar. It's a "Casual outdoor dining near the pool, including fried chicken, pizza, hot dogs, sandwiches, salads, daily special "plate lunches" and soft-serve "flavor swirl" ice cream." )A cut/paste from their website.) Their prices are reasonable. It's not gourmet, but may be what you are looking for. They also have a nice pool bar with reasonable prices and a great place to watch the HHV fireworks on Friday evening.

A few cheap options I like are Ezogiku (near Gucci) for good noodles and gyoza, the Mexican stand in the International Marketplace, and the Wailana Coffeehouse for their breakfast special. Wailana might be a hike on foot (it's over by the Hilton Hawaiian Village), but you can fill up on all-you-can-eat pancakes for $6, which means you can eat a smaller lunch.

Hats off to people who are willing to travel on "the cheap". We have been able to travel all over America, Europe and the middle east by doing it on the cheap and had fantastic adventures. Pinstripe, you will meet many more people by traveling this way. Its hard to explain but you are just "out there" more.

Good luck and have a great time. I am sure you will come home with lots of email addresses from people you have met.

There are LOTS of places like Ezogiku near the Sheraton.

I agree with Jorr. Fortunately I get a big kick out of grocery stores, post offices, local festivals, farmers marekts, so traveling on the cheap is as much or more fun to me than dropping lots of cash for a fancy meal or activity.