Honolulu Condo question
 

How does this place look? First time to Hawaii. With a partner with Alzheimer's who loves boats and would be happy to sit and watch the marina -- this sure looks good. And the price at $99 a night for a week in September looks great. Ilikai Marina, between the Hawaii Prince and Ilikai Hotels. How's that for location -- for walking or public transport?

How about a link, Patrick ;)

This is exactly the area I was thinking for you, tho. Great marina, near the park and mall. Only 5-10 minutes walk to the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which is next to the Hale Koa (try the Hale Koa snackbar on the ground level near the pool for cheap eats!) Super for The Bus, too! Lots of pick-up locations in that area, esp. the mall which works like a hub.

$99 in Waikiki - what a steal!

Aloha Patrick. My elderly aunt comes to Hawaii annually and has stayed at the Ilikai Mariana for the last 10 years. No complaints that I have heard about. My aunt loves the marina location, sitting on the lanai in the sun having a late afternoon cocktail.

These properties may be individually owned but managed by the hotel so the condition or each unit could differ. It should come with daily cleaning service.

The location is good. Near Waikiki but not in the middle of the busiest part of it. There is a lot of traffic in the area, but you will be a block away from it on the marina side. Reasonable walking distance to Ala Moana Shopping Center and Ala Moana Park. It's also along the major bus line into and out of Waikiki as well.

There is a small convenience store at the corner and a small supermarket (Food Pantry) on Hobron Lane a couple of blocks from the Ilikai to stock your kitchen. Hope this helps.

Ooops. See how excited I got?

www.alohacondos.com/ilikai/im790/frontpage.html

But you two are certainly making me think this is a keeper. Oh, yes. It is AirConditioned, I checked.

As I've said before, we don't really care much about the beach -- but having this marina view would be wonderful!

I'm doing my "I told you so" dance with regard to the Ilikai! ha ha. (See my post on your other thread) now with regard to the missing link...remember the guy who wanted to know where to park near the park??
;)

Its in a decent location. Its right at Ala Wai Yacht Harbor. Its on the Ala Moana side of Waikiki, but still in Waikiki.

Its about a 3-5 minute walk to the beach from there. Nearest beach is at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Ala Moana Beach Park & Ala Moana Shopping Center are only a 5 minute walk.

Its about a 20-25 minute walk to the middle of Waikiki.

There are bus stops in the area.

For popular attractions by bus:

http://www.thebus.org/pop/pop.asp

Oh Patrick, I think you have a winner here! ((y))

To me, being by the marina is a real bonus! (Although, you're that much closer to MelissaHI--be very careful of that woman! She eats anything! ;) ) I have walked by this area many times and have often wondered what the insides looked like. I actually prefer being away from the hubbub of the jungle of hotels further down the beach. Besides, it's just a nice, short stroll down that way anyway.

IMHO, the best stretch of beach / sand / sidewalk is directly in front of the Hale Koa, which is just on the other side of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a nice walk from your condo. And Lee will LOVE the walk thru the gardens of the Hale Koa as well.

There are quite a few restaurants within EASY walking distance, too. A couple chains and some others along the main street.

And I really do love watching the fishing boats come in in the afternoons, hanging up their swordfish or whatever they've caught. Good photo ops!

As others have said, the Ilikai is a pretty good location, and especially so for bus access if you're going to be using the bus a lot to get around.

I've taken a couple of tours over the last few years of the Ilikai and the rooms since they did a renovation and it was done nicely.

The walk into the middle of Waikiki is a bit longer than if you were staying on the other end, but there are tons of restaurant choices all around that area.

There seems to be some confusion. This condo is in a separate building from the two towers of the Ilikai Hotel which is a separate enterprise next door to this building.
But yes, it really does look great, and Lee is excited about it.

It's right between the Ilikai and the Prince. ((y)) ((y))

So glad Lee is excited! He should be. He's going to Hawaii!!

Yes, be careful, I just had chicken feet today.
;)

Oops, yes it is different than the Ilikai Hotel.

Is that the building that has the Chart House restaurant on the bottom?

chepar, yes, that's the one.

Melissa - you crack me up! b(

Melissa, a good podiatrist might be able to remedy that situation.

I managed a rental in the Ilikai Marina. The location is great, and though the building is aging, those units that have been renovated are very liveable. The views on the marina side (as opposed to the mountainside) will be wonderful, and so will the sunsets.

The building does not have it's own pool. For many years, there was an "arrangement" with the Ilikai Hotel, which his a just across the street, to share facilities, but there have been recent disputes between the two entities recently. It is convenient to be able to catch taxis and shuttles from right in front of the hotel. And the Waikiki bus runs right in front of the building.

You have your own pub at the Chart House.

Some people like this end of Waikiki better than the main part or the other end of Waikiki, which can be very noisy.

I like to be easy walking distance to central Waikiki, so the Marina area would be too far out for my taste.

As suggested on another thread recently, have you considered The Breakers or The Hawaiiana Hotel on BeachWalk. They are under $200/night and both have lots of character and aloha spirit.

Suze, an extra nearly $1000 for the first week of a one month vacation is not in the cards. Also, will either of them guarantee an open lanai with front row view seating of a marina or even the beach? That's far more important that the walking to us.

But not being familiar with the area, what am I missing? I keep seeing all these people talking about that Ala Moana Shopping area and restaurants and this place IS walking distance to that. I don't care about walking distance to a beach -- doubt if we'll even go on it. What are we missing by being further away from the "center", other than as several have mentioned -- the congestion and the noise?

I guess it is confusing to hear us locals talk about the Waikiki district. It stretches roughly from the Kapiolani Park area (the eastern end or Diamond Head as we call it) to the area around the Ilikai marina (the western end or Ewa side), a distance of maybe 2 miles.

Central Waikiki, the area most visitors associate with Waikiki is right in the middle, with the greatest concentration of hotels, restaurants and shops.

You will be on the far Ewa end, closest to the Ala Moana area. The Ala Moana Shopping Center, a large open air mall is perhaps a 10 minute walk from the Ilikai Marina, or a very short bus ride (2 stops at most).

The Waikiki area as a whole tends to be extremely busy and noisy, with the far ends around Kapiolani Park and the marina, slightly less so. I think it will all make more sense when you arrive.

Instead of walking to Waikiki, you could walk in the opposite direction towards Ala Moana Beach Park and Magic Island where more of the locals go for swimming, jogging, walking or just hanging out. Sometimes on weekends they have craft fairs under the trees.

I think on Friday nights they still have fireworks over the ocean--you should have a good view from where you're at.

No there is no view of a Marina.

I don't think you're "missing" anything by staying near Ala Moana mall area, if you are not interested in walking around for the shopping, beach, etc. in Waikiki's central area.

(Actually rooms start at $125 or so, I believe).

Maybe these aren't the hotels for you (you'll know by a peak at the websites) I was just trying to put up some other options I am personally familiar with since on another thread you sounded a bit frustrated finding a nice place to stay.