Hotel in Waikiki on the ocean

[pinkxray]

I am planning to spend 2 nights in Waikiki next April. We are a family of 5 which limits our options, as I like to avoid two rooms. I see that there a few places that have rooms for 5 if I book early. (Will book next week as soon as our dates open)

I want to be right on the water. Walk out the hotel and step on to the beach. We have little kids so I prefer the convenience of having everything we are looking for right next to us.

Here are the options I am looking at:
Hilton Hawaiian Village (was my first choice due to pools and having some Hilton points) Not loving the location near the end of the beach. Thinking I might like to be a little more centrally located

Moana Surfrider
Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort
Royal Hawaiian

Any opinions on these? I am not too concerned about the room. We would need a jr suite type room. All of these have some type of option for 5 and are close enough in price to not factor that in.

Is the beach area of any of these better/worse than others?

We are not fancy. I just like to be close to wherever I am going. I usually love having a fun pool for the kids but not too worried about it since it is only 2 nights.

We will follow with 3 nights at Turtle Bay and 5 nights at AulanI

 

[newdeal]

I have only stayed at one, Outrigger Waikiki on the beach it was called at the time, no complaints. However, I have heard that Hilton Hawaiian Village is the one to stay at and is awesome. Now, personally, I think Waikiki sucks so I would stay longer at Aulani or Turtle Bay and just drive in once for the day if you really want to. We have been to Aulani twice, and Waikiki once, we purposefully avoided Waikiki on our two Aulani trips because to me it has nothing good about it at all. We have explored most of the island now and certainly Waikiki is by far the worst part of the island to us. We haven't stayed at Turtle Bay but the North shore to me is the best part of the island so if it was me I would stay there 5 days and Aulani 5 days.

 

[Mamasarges]

I have stayed at all 3. The Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian are both historic hotels. Beautiful and elegant in their own ways. Both are very family friendly. The Outrigger is more modern, and is quite lovely. All are in easy walking distance of other restaurants,shops, etc. the Royal Hawaiian has a high end mall basically attached to it that has a food court in it. Also, the Royal Hawaiian has shared pool privileges with the Sheraton Waikiki next door that has an awesome pool for families. It does have its own pool,as well, just quite small. All 3 of these hotels are easy walking distance to each other on a lovely part of the beach.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village is indeed at the end of the beach, but the beach itself is much larger at that end.also many shops/restaurants right there as well. It is a huge complex.
All 4 are good choices.

 

[kdonnel]

I have stayed at the Royal Hawaiian, also just for 2 nights as part of a split stay. We had a great time and enjoyed the resort. The beach was great when we were there and it was so close to the Royal Hawaiian Center. Great memories of walking over to the restaurants there. We also enjoyed the proximity to the Boardwalk and enjoyed evening strolls down to the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

 

[monsterkitty]

Just as a heads up for anyone wanting to stay on Waikiki - they are "refurbing" the beach and a very large portion of the beach is closed as the dredge sand from the ocean back onto the beach. When we were there the last week of March the the section of the beach that was open was incredibly crowded.

That said, we've stayed at the Outrigger and really enjoyed it.

 

[kdonnel]

The Waikiki Beach sand replenishment is due to be completed by the end of May.

 

[vacay77]

I've stayed at the Outrigger and loved it. Right there on the beach and within walking distance of several shops and restaurants, plus Duke's is right there.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Don't overthink "at the end of the beach," for sure. Each part of the beach has its own benefits and being at the end actually can be less dense because of where the access points for those coming to the beach from non-beachfront properties are.

 

[mark nakamichi]

We've stayed at the Outrigger. It's right on the beach. Duke's restaurant is there and it has very good food. Our balcony had an awesome view of the ocean and Diamond Head.

 

[kyton]

There’s also Outrigger Reef and Halekulani plus Hale Koa if you have someone in military service who can sponsor you.

Personally I prefer the location of Outrigger Reef. I much prefer the Lewers St end of Waikiki.

Not directly on the beach however a very quick 5min walk across one road is Embassy Suites which would offer more space to your family.

 

[funantiques]

Do you have military privileges? Hale Koa on Waikiki beach, amazing!

I am planning to spend 2 nights in Waikiki next April. We are a family of 5 which limits our options, as I like to avoid two rooms. I see that there a few places that have rooms for 5 if I book early. (Will book next week as soon as our dates open)

I want to be right on the water. Walk out the hotel and step on to the beach. We have little kids so I prefer the convenience of having everything we are looking for right next to us.

Here are the options I am looking at:
Hilton Hawaiian Village (was my first choice due to pools and having some Hilton points) Not loving the location near the end of the beach. Thinking I might like to be a little more centrally located

Moana Surfrider
Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort
Royal Hawaiian

Any opinions on these? I am not too concerned about the room. We would need a jr suite type room. All of these have some type of option for 5 and are close enough in price to not factor that in.

Is the beach area of any of these better/worse than others?

We are not fancy. I just like to be close to wherever I am going. I usually love having a fun pool for the kids but not too worried about it since it is only 2 nights.

We will follow with 3 nights at Turtle Bay and 5 nights at AulanI

 

[pinkxray]

Do you have military privileges? Hale Koa on Waikiki beach, amazing!

Unfortunately, we don’t. Dh was in the Marine Corp for 4 years but it seems like you need to be Current or retired military?

 

[The_Banking_Scot]

I have stayed several times at the hilton hawaiian village and liked it ( it is huge -some people say it is Disneyesque due to the size ) but the pools are nice, the beach is large and quieter than further along Waikiki and the lagoon was nice at sunset to walk round to get to Red Lobster and Outback restaurants.

 

[nkereina]

We stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott, but it is not beachfront. Its directly across the street, less than a one minute walk, but still has ocean view rooms if that's desired. We didn't care about being on the beach in Waikiki because we didn't want to plan beach time there. The beach is small, crowded, and chose to spend beach time in Kailua and during the Aulani part of our stay as well. I would recommend doing the same. So, if you're open to the resorts directly across the street, I definitely recommend the Marriott. Great central location, ABC store on-site, and a huge tour lobby with lots of organized tour offerings.

We visited the Hilton Hawaiian Village during our stay and found it to be quite a long walk to what felt like the heart of the Waikiki strip. Beautiful resort, but presumably with 2 nights, you're focusing on Waikiki and surrounding activities and not so much interested in resort amenities. With stays at Turtle Bay and Aulani following, those are nicer resorts where you'll get the true resort experience.

I see lots of people stay at the Outrigger, so we'd consider that on a future trip. We loved the look, feel, and atmosphere of Moana Surfrider and found that to be a great central location as well.

 

[DVC California]

We've stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki in a junior suite and that worked great for my family of 4. It's next door to the Royal Hawaiian and very centrally located. But to be honest, I think you'll enjoy your beach time more at Turtle Bay and Aulani than at Waikiki. All the beaches in Hawaii are open to the public. The hotels try to separate their beachfront with loungers but there's still plenty of people walking by.

For your family size, may I suggest the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk. It is very nice, typical two-room suites with plenty of room. We've really enjoyed our stays there and try to book that for whenever we want to do Waikiki.

HTH, Steve

 

[happymommy]

For a family of five, I second the recommendation of the Embassy Suites.

Waikiki is easily walkable, so being on one end or the other isn’t a concern.

 

[jenmiller114]

We really enjoy Waikiki and we like to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It is at the end of the beach but it has a bigger beach front area and is usually a lot less crowded. It is more expensive for beach rentals so we just walk down to the Hale Koa next door and rent chairs, umbrellas and water toys from them. it is significantly less expensive and less than a 5 minute walk. You do not have to be military, but if you are, the prices are even lower. They offer surf lessons there, as well. Sometimes we will walk down to the main beach in Waikiki but it is wall to wall people so we usually avoid that area. But we do like to walk down there for the restaurants. Another plus to the Hilton Location is you are fairly close to Ala Moana Center which has more restaurants and is across from a huge park.

We are also a family off 5 so we usually stay in the timeshare towers which offer two bedroom suites (Grand Waikikian, Grand Islander and Lagoon Tower). We like having access to laundry facilities and the extra space. Also having a kitchen is a plus. On the hotel side If you stay in the Tapa Tower, they have jr suites with room for 5. We stayed on a high floor with an amazing view of Diamond Head, the ocean and the pool. They probably have jr. suites (to sleep 5) in other buildings as well but those are the rooms I know of. I think the other resorts you mentioned but if you have any type of status at Hilton, I would not skip it due to location. It seems far away but it really isn't.

I do agree that Embassy Suites is another good option. It's right in the middle of everything.

 

[pinkxray]

I have narrowed it down to Royal Hawaiian or Sheraton.
I am leaning towards RH but not sure it’s the best options for kids? Kids will be 7 and 4. Is RH too quiet, am I going to spend my time shushing them?

 

[Kristie71]

I am planning to spend 2 nights in Waikiki next April. We are a family of 5 which limits our options, as I like to avoid two rooms. I see that there a few places that have rooms for 5 if I book early. (Will book next week as soon as our dates open)

I want to be right on the water. Walk out the hotel and step on to the beach. We have little kids so I prefer the convenience of having everything we are looking for right next to us.

Here are the options I am looking at:
Hilton Hawaiian Village (was my first choice due to pools and having some Hilton points) Not loving the location near the end of the beach. Thinking I might like to be a little more centrally located

Moana Surfrider
Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort
Royal Hawaiian

Any opinions on these? I am not too concerned about the room. We would need a jr suite type room. All of these have some type of option for 5 and are close enough in price to not factor that in.

Is the beach area of any of these better/worse than others?

We are not fancy. I just like to be close to wherever I am going. I usually love having a fun pool for the kids but not too worried about it since it is only 2 nights.

We will follow with 3 nights at Turtle Bay and 5 nights at AulanI

I had lunch at the Royal Hawaiian. The hotel is beautifu.

 

[kdonnel]

I have narrowed it down to Royal Hawaiian or Sheraton.
I am leaning towards RH but not sure it’s the best options for kids? Kids will be 7 and 4. Is RH too quiet, am I going to spend my time shushing them?

It’s Hawaii. My kids were 6 and 9 when we stayed at the RH. I never felt like I needed to shush them or stop them from running and playing.