We'll check out from the Waikiki Beach Hotel at checkout time, then our flight is at 8:45 PM. Suggestions?

Check out & leave your suitcases at the hotel front desk. Keep a small bag with a change of clothes with you. Head somewhere nearby, like to the beach for the day.

At either end (in front of Fort de Russey or in front of Queen Kapiolani) there are nice outdoor showers and rest rooms. Clean up and have an early dinner somewhere. Around sunset, head back to your hotel, get luggage, have them call you a taxi, go to the airport.

You could alternately do something like a Chinatown tour, Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum, but the luggage is a problem.

Will you have a rental car or not?

This sounds great! Yes, we'll probably get a car for this day.

Be very careful about leaving luggage in your rental car - they are targets for thieves. Either leave your luggage at the hotel or check-in to your flight and keep your carry-ons with you.

You can't check in at the airport that early in the day. I would leave the luggage with the hotel front desk. Go back on your way to the airport.

(Agreeing with not leaving it in the trunk of the car, especially at tourist attraction parking lots, or beaches where you will be far from the car.)

I pay for the room for one more day, you can leave your luggage in the room head to the beach and take a hot shower befor that long flight home.

AA {Oct 06}allowed us to check our bags in around 11 am for a 6 pm flight. We turned in our rental car and took city bus into Waikiki; stopping at hilo hattie's. Taking the bus back was slow with many commuters and stops, so allow for that. We also tried to checkin as much as possible so as to not have to drag it around town withus.

Debi

We did the Tantalus/Round Top drive hiked up to Manoa Falls. The HHV was nice enough to hold our bags AND offered a hospitality room for us to clean up or rest in (about 45 min. alotted to us).

If your hotel has a 'club' - usually free to sign up, I recommend it - has a few perks like a shorter or no line for check-in (while all the others stand in a long Q). The same applies to your rental car.

If you have not done the China Town tour with PakePorkChop, I highly recommend it! He's a hoot (a very educated one to boot!).

DebitNM- good information on the early luggage check-in option. I had heard differently. And so many people seem to find themselves with this schedule on their last day, so helpful to know.

But I'd probably spring for keeping the hotel room that last day, as suggested above, to save an extra trip out to the airport and back, and have a place to shower and rest right up 'til time to go.

suze -- we stayed way out at Ko'Olina so it wouldn't have made sense for us to stay another day there and to get a room where you might not be able to checkin until mid afternoon in/near Waikiki or airport didn't work. It was fine for us -- we just needed to make sure we allowed for the longer bus ride back to airport than the one from the airport.
Debi