High end hotel in Honolulu
 

We will be visiting Honolulu in February and are looking for a high end hotel. We were going to book the Halekulani, but have read some recent reviews stating that the rooms need to be renovated and the overrall quality of the hotel has slipped. Would we be better off at the Royal Hawaiian or another hotel? The Kahala sounds nice, but abit far from the action. We would appreciate any feedback. Many thanks.

Here is a current thread about that very thing.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...iki-hotels.cfm

Royal Hawaiian, Moana Surfrider, and the Halekulani are the highest-end hotels on Waikiki. Those are you choices.
-suze

Are you kidding me? Royal Hawaiian is the best! From check in to room ameities to concierge help! Wish I could have afforded it for more nights!

http://www.royal-hawaiian.com/?PS=PS..._092808_NAD_FM

Love the Royal Hawaiian - I'd stay there again. Old Hawaii with modern touches, awesome service.....

We have stayed multiple times at the Halekulani and at a large range of other Hawaiian hotels (from 2 star hotels to the Four Seasons Maui). We recently visited the rooms at the Kahala and JW Oahu. We love the Halekulani for the incredible service and the incredibly calm feeling that is pervasive at the property. You can shop, eat and have fun in the noisy, crazy Waikiki area, and then return to a very quiet, serene experience. The dining is extraordinary. The rooms are NOT state-of-the-art, but they are very comfortable, and for us, the service and the great views from oceanview rooms more than make up for the older rooms. With that being said, Halekulani has certain drawbacks that are important to note - (1) if you are looking for a large, sandy beach area in front of your hotel, this is not your hotel; (2) if you require multiple pools and/or a pool with elaborate bells and whistles (slides/waterfalls), this is not your hotel; (3) though the service is incredible at Halekulani in most areas, we feel the pool service is very average - so if that is important to you, you may be disappointed with Halekulani; and (4) if you are staying in a garden view room, I would not stay here as those rooms are still pricy and face a very noisy area of Waikiki. (Certain travel agents have negotiated free room upgrades and free breakfast at Halekulani. Because of the bad economy, there are also multiple free night and/or free amenity packages available at Halekulani as well as the Kahala and JW. Be sure to check around for the best rates or free room upgrades. We have always been able to find a free night deal and/or a free upgrade deal at Halekulani.) The Kahala property has much more space and has a wonderful beach area. The Kahala is not for us as you must drive from the property to reach central Waikiki, but if you need a large beach, this may be a better option for you. Regarding the Royal Hawaiian - that property was not a good fit for us, largely because it felt too hectic and we felt that it was far less serene/quiet than Halekulani, but many others love that property, so I will let others speak of the virtues of that property.

Here are some helpful photos of the properties to help you with your choice:
Halekulani - http://www.wizardpub.com/oahu/orhalekulani.html
Kahala - http://www.wizardpub.com/oahu/orkahalahotel.html
Royal Hawaiian - http://www.wizardpub.com/oahu/orroyalhawaiian.html
JW - http://www.wizardpub.com/oahu/orjwmarriottihilani.html

Overall, Hawaii is such an incredible place, I am sure you will not go wrong regardless of which hotel you choose.

I forgot to mention - the pictures of the hotels posted in the prior message are from the free online content provided by the authors of the book "Oahu Revealed." We found that this series of books provides great advice for traveling within Hawaii. The authors provide reviews, pictures and other content related to Hawaii/Oahu at http://www.wizardpub.com, and this might help you with your Honolulu trip. Good luck with your trip planning.

I'm old school and love the Royal Hawaiian Hotel..just renovated and the pink palace is a stately jewel.