Tom

We're meeting friends in Hawaii who are staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and had a couple questions:

1. If we opted to stay at the Halekalani, how long would it take to walk to the Hilton?

2. If we do opt to stay at the Hilton, which tower is nicer? Alii sounds like it has privileges but Kapilia is newer. Do any of their rooms have private balconies?

Thanks

Becky

I have never stayed at the Halekulani, however I do have an opinion as to which Hilton tower I'd recommend. Go to the Hilton website and check available room types for your desired dates. www.hilton.com
Check Hilton Hawaiian Village (hotel) rates (specific Alii and Kalia Towers will be stated in the room availability page)AND also check Hilton Grand Vacation Club-Lagoon Tower rates.
You will find that for $285/nt you can have a 1 bedroom villa/full kitchen/oceanfront balcony at Lagoon Tower. In contrast, Alii and Kalia Tower rooms are more money, and may be nice & with extra services but they are hotel rooms, not villas. Alii is oceanfront, Kalia Tower is not, it is quite far back all the way to the entrance road to this immense "village".
My recommendations at Hilton from your question:
#1 Lagoon Tower (oceanfront timeshare bldg. with rentals)
#2 Alii Tower (oceanfront concierge level rooms)
#3 Kalia Tower (newest-this bldg. has a large Spa)
All are a 10 min walk to Halekulani along the beach.
If extra services are important, that could alter your choices.
As a Hilton timeshare club member I have stayed at the 2br oceanfront unit and the views are fabulous.

Becky

I have never stayed at the Halekulani, however I do have an opinion as to which Hilton tower I'd recommend. Go to the Hilton website and check available room types for your desired dates. www.hilton.com
Check Hilton Hawaiian Village (hotel) rates (specific Alii and Kalia Towers will be stated in the room availability page)AND also check Hilton Grand Vacation Club-Lagoon Tower rates.
You will find that for $285/nt you can have a 1 bedroom villa/full kitchen/oceanfront balcony at Lagoon Tower. In contrast, Alii and Kalia Tower rooms are more money, and may be nice & with extra services but they are hotel rooms, not villas. Alii is oceanfront, Kalia Tower is not, it is quite far back all the way to the entrance road to this immense "village".
My recommendations at Hilton from your question:
#1 Lagoon Tower (oceanfront timeshare bldg. with rentals)
#2 Alii Tower (oceanfront concierge level rooms)
#3 Kalia Tower (newest-this bldg. has a large Spa)
All are a 10 min walk to Halekulani along the beach.
If extra services are important, that could alter your choices.
As a Hilton timeshare club member I have stayed at the 2br oceanfront unit and the views are fabulous.
Smaller studio units with kitchenette are available in the Lagoon Tower for less money, but do not have balconies.

Becky

Whoops. After re-reading your post I see your friends are at HHVillage, not Halekulani. Anyway, I can't imagine that any of my 3 suggestions would not meet your expectations.
Have a good time!

Tom

Thanks Becky. We're considering staying at the Halekalani as we've heard it's very nice, but don't want to have to schlep too far to meet our friends. If we stay at the Hilton, we'll definitely opt for the Lagoon Tower.

CF

Having been on several trips with others we found it a lot easier when we were all at the same hotel. Getting together is much simpler that way.

John

Strongly advise against Hilton if your visit it in summer. They book to capcity and do not have enough space or help to accommodate guests. This was my experience last August. Great hotel in the non school break season. Public pool feeling in summer. Rates are similar at the Royal Hawaiian and Sheraton Moana but with less crowds choose between these too. Royal Hawaiian is very close but I prefer Moana having stayed at both.

John

from another post comparing HHV & RH to Kahala Mandarin

Royal Hawaiian has a very institutional feeling to me. They do things like rope off access to a green patch (also most direct access to ocean from main lobby), keep patio hardwood furniture without padding so you won't sit down and give you walk around the hotel access to the beach. Lobbies are completely enmpty and dark. Gorgeous property just not very welcoming. Would only stay here again if I wanted to stay in Waikiki and the Sheraton Moana was booked. The crowds at Waikiki are off putting and I think the best restaurants are outside of Waikiki anyway. So I am not sure why someone would choose to stay here unless you want to be around all this activity. It can be fun to walk down Waikiki beach and people watch.

Just glanced back at your post. Waikiki is an absolute zoo in August. I was at the Hilton Hawaiian village (which is huge) last August and the pool had people swimming every few feet it looked like a public swimming pool. Royal Hawaiian the August before while it did not feel cramped as HHV at all once you are on Waikiki beach you find yourself dodging for a beach chair even in the roped off HR area.

Tom

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately stuck with Hilton as that's where friends are staying. Agree with earlier post, probably too much of a hassle to stay elsewhere and try to meet them. Thinking the Alii and Lagoon Towers at least have pools that the guests from other towers can't use. Trying to figure if one has a better lanai.

John

If you do stay at HHV there is a group called Oliamona (sp)that performs on Friday and Saturday night (Rainbow Tower), stop in and see them they are very local and frequently invite friends in for impromptu hula.

gail

Actually the Lagoon Tower pool did not have restricted used when we were there. I think the people smoking(at night) with their feet in the water were not even Lagoon Tower guests. Kind of ruined the ambiance of the pool exoperience.

CF

When we were there and stayed in the Alii Tower we had our own key to get to the pool. It was never crowded and there was a bar there too. The only thing was, at the time, the pool was just your run of the mill square-ish pool without the fancy landscaping and ambiance of the larger pool.