Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach

This 5 star hotel is perfectly situated right across from Waikiki Beach, making beach access incredibly convenient. It was so easy to take a swim, rinse off, dry off, and simply walk back across the street to our hotel, ideal for families! We stayed on the 33rd floor and were treated to breathtaking views of Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach. Our Queen Double room was spacious and comfortably accommodated two adults and one child. A huge shoutout to the housekeeping team!! they were exceptionally friendly and took such great care of us throughout our stay. The true highlight, though, was the indoor aquarium. It’s not only beautiful, but also educational. We had the chance to speak with the onsite marine biologist, who spent 35 minutes walking us through the tank’s ecosystem and explaining how it connects to Hawaii’s marine life. It was fascinating and really added something special to our trip. Thank you to all the staff who made our stay so memorable!! we’ll definitely be back! Read less

Not Worth the Hype – Feels Like a 2-Star Motel with a Fancy Lobby I booked ʻAlohilani Resort because it was advertised as a luxurious 5-star hotel, but what I experienced was far from it — more like a run-down 2-star motel with a flashy entrance. I normally don’t complain, but this stay was bad enough that I feel obligated to share. From the beginning, cleanliness was a major issue. The first room had hair stuck to the shower door, hair in the shower, and even hair in the bed — absolutely disgusting. I asked to switch rooms. The second room seemed okay at first, but then developed a ceiling leak, so I had to move a second time. All three rooms had a strong, damp, musty odor. The vents appeared moldy, and the walls on the balcony were filthy and stained. The hallways were dark and dirty, with a run-down 1970s motel feel. The only thing that looked 5-star was the lobby — everything beyond it was a huge letdown. The furniture in the elevator lobby was shockingly filthy. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years — at that point, it would make more sense to throw the chairs away than to keep them out for guests. The ice machine room was equally disgusting, with rust and mildew caked along the bottom of the machine. To make matters worse, the bidet in our room was cracked and very dirty — another example of the lack of proper maintenance and care throughout the property. After just two nights, we’d had enough and checked out early. We booked a room at a real 5-star hotel, and the difference in cleanliness, professionalism, and comfort was immediate. Although we weren’t refunded for the unused nights due to booking through Priceline, it honestly didn’t matter at that point. We just wanted a good experience — and this definitely was not it. Do not trust the social media reviews on this property. I am here to tell you — this place is downright disgusting and absolutely not a five-star hotel. I would never stay here again, and I don’t recommend it to anyone. If you’re looking for a real 5-star experience, choose another location. ʻAlohilani Resort is all appearance and no substance — overpriced, unclean, and a complete disappointment. Read less

Giving it 4 starts, but closer to 3.5 or 3.75. While we would consider staying here again, our stay fell short of expectations considering the Alohilani is listed as a 5-start hotel on Google. As we arrived at the hotel in the morning and waited to check-in, there was zero greeting from staff as we waited for someone to help us. No hellos, no "someone will be with you shortly", no welcome. This isn't necessarily something we expect, but for a hotel branded as 5-stars, you would think customer service and greeting upon arrival is a given. The level of hospitality from the beginning seemed to be lacking. Additionally, when we came back to the hotel in the afternoon to retrieve our room keys and had quite a few bags with us, no one offered to help. As we loaded up a bell hop luggage cart ourselves, no one acknowledged us even though at least 5 employees saw us. When we were ready to take our stuff up to the room, one worker just said to us "excuse me you can't take that" without any explanation, telling us to stop, leaving us confused, and then finally told us guests were not allowed to use the carts themselves. A bit odd since 5 other employees saw us fully loading up the cart 5-10 minutes prior. Upon arrival into our room, there was something wrong with the toilet where the toilet tank took anywhere between 3-10 minutes to fill up and when we called the front desk it took 10+ minutes for someone to come up and help. What also left us a little disappointed in the beginning was the lack of acknowledgement that this stay was for our honeymoon. I say this because in the 5 days leading up to our arrival we received an email and phone call asking us about our stay in which both times we informed them this was for our honeymoon. Both times, the staff member stated a honeymoon gift would be provided to us and there was no acknowledgement from the staff at check-in (again, the small things when it's a 5-star hotel) and there was nothing in our hotel room upon arrival. When my husband went downstairs to check with the staff about someone coming to help with our toilet (after waiting 10+ minutes) and mentioned this being our honeymoon stay and there being no gift, a staff member finally brought something up. As part of our booking through AMEX, we had access to the Longboard Club for breakfast and evening bites. If you have to pay for this, I would pass. The continental breakfast was beyond mediocre. The eggs are not great - I've had better eggs at airport lounges. The staff during breakfast was also lacking customer service, with one particular staff member being rude and dismissive as we looked for open seats. If you don't get an inside seat for breakfast, good luck outside because there are hundreds of birds everywhere trying to get your food, landing on your table and seating. The evening service is okay. Beer and wine are included which is nice and the staff members for the evening service were the highlight of staff at the hotel, especially Anson and the other Asian woman (we didn't catch her name). The pasta bar could be better though. For 2 of the 3 evenings the noodles were the same dishes and one of the nights the only other item besides the charcuterie was salad. One of the guys working the pasta bar was super friendly though! The hotel pool is okay. For the size of the hotel the pool is probably a little small. Additionally, the Alohilani is on Resort Pass so there are a ton of family it seems that access the pool this way and many kids seemed unsupervised, doing cannon balls and being a disturbance to the guests. If your room is on the 5th floor (where the pool is) of the ocean side building, your hallway will smell moldy. The room itself is good and has a small couch which is nice, but the bathroom is quite small and the shower was like a 3-star hotel shower in a 5-star hotel. There was not a proper door, only a half-way there glass leading to water getting everywhere. Overall, the first impressions left us with starting this stay on a not-so-great feeling. The hotel itself is okay. Not 5-stars though. We typically stay at a different hotel when we're in Waikiki so unless the price difference between the two is major, we will most likely choose to stay at the other hotel. Read less