First time staying at this hotel and I don’t expect to book here again. For reference, I’m a local and a veteran. I booked this hotel because it was right next to an event I signed up for.
Since parking is extremely limited in this part of Waikiki I booked the Kama’aina rate as it guanranteed half off parking and half off the hospitality fee and complimentary late check out (if available).
I get to the hotel early and try to park my car, just to be told the valet parking is full. I tell them about my rate and they tell me that parking is not guaranteed; it’s first come/first serve.
Nowhere on the reservation did it say valet parking was first come/first serve. So my first issue is, why offer this package if parking isn’t guaranteed?
So instead of paying $30 for parking, and having my car close by, I had to find parking 5-10 minutes away at the Banyan hotel and pay $60 for the night.
Huge strike for me.
I upgraded to a junior suite and the view was the best part of the room. However, the room itself was extremely dated. Calling it a junior suite was extremely generous as it was the size of a regular room at a chain hotel. I wanted to check out the pool, it it was really small and full of kids. Some of the reviews I read suggested it was more adult oriented, but it wasn’t that way for me.
Finally, the morning I was scheduled to leave, I received multiple notifications that it was close to check-out time (this was around 8am) and when it gave me an option to select a check-out time, late check out was not available. I know the hotel wasn’t fully booked for the day I left, so it really felt like the hotel was trying to push me out of the room as soon as possible. The room was clean and quiet for being on the street/zoo side of the hotel. No complaints there.
The Deck restaurant and bar was great. Excellent food and service, but I was surprised the bar didn’t carry Red Bull/energy drinks. Not a huge deal in the scheme of things, just surprising that a hotel in Waikiki didn’t do that. I liked the atmosphere of the bar and restauant.
Ultimately, I don’t expect to stay here again and wish I had spent a few dollars more to stay at someplace that provided more value for my money and was able to meet the parking needs of paying customers. Giving 2 stars because of the pool/bar/restaurant staff who were all fantastic and very friendly.
