LiveTraveled
  • Blog
  • About
  • Basics
  • Trip Reports
  • Contact

Guest Review: Hilton Hawaiian Village

5/13/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Guest Reviewer: Chris

An avid traveler and obsessive points and miles hound, Chris is my travel buddy extraordinaire. I love him for his enthusiasm, his sense of adventure, and his American Airlines Executive Platinum status benefits. Hope you enjoy his perspective! 

Background

While Jen was toiling away in China on a business trip a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a quick weekend trip to Honolulu to take advantage of a cheap American Airlines flight I found. I would only be in Hawaii for 24 hours, so I looked for a hotel that was both reasonably priced and not too far from the airport. The Hilton Hawaiian Village fit the bill, and while I’m normally not a fan of mega resorts, in this case it made sense.

I booked the hotel through American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, which is an online booking site available to Platinum and Centurion cardholders. Its rate that was about $25 higher than the one on Hilton’s own website, but it came with a bunch of extra benefits such as a $100 dining credit, free breakfast (about a $40 value per day), a subject-to-availability room upgrade, 12pm check in, and 4pm check out. On top of that, I got a $10 dining credit for being having HHonors Gold status. So in total, my $204/night room rate came with $150 in credits, which made it quite a good deal.


Check-In

My Uber dropped me off at the hotel just before noon, and the main check-in area was hustling and bustling with a horde of people. After making my way to the front of the check-in line, I was told that the tower I was in (Ali’i Tower) had a separate reception desk, so I had to go there instead. It wasn’t too far away, so I was soon able to check in for real. They offered me an upgrade to an ocean view room, but that room wasn’t ready yet, so I declined the upgrade in favor of the basic resort view room, which was ready. Had I been staying longer than a day, I would have waited for the better room, but in this case I figured I wouldn’t be spending much time in the room anyway, so would rather have something available immediately. I appreciated being given the choice - sometimes hotels just assume you want the upgraded room, and make you wait for ages.
Picture
View from Hilton Hawaiian Village Main Lobby
Picture
Hilton Hawaiian Village Main Lobby
Picture
Ali'i Tower Entrance
Room

The room was on the 14th floor and was fairly basic, with two beds, a desk, a coffee maker, a TV with a PlayStation 3, and a balcony with two chairs. It looked a bit worn, but I’ve certainly seen worse. The balcony view consisted of some concrete buildings and bird-poop-covered beams, so I didn’t feel the need to spend much time there. The bathroom had Coconut brand toiletries and a western toilet (I was hoping for a Japanese one, given how many Japanese tourists visit Honolulu!).
Picture
Ali'i Tower Resort View Room
Picture
Ali'i Tower Resort View Room
Picture
Ali'i Tower Resort View Room
Picture
Ali'i Tower Resort View Room
Picture
Ali'i Tower Resort View Room "Resort View"
Picture
Ali'i Tower Resort View Bathroom
Resort

The resort is large and has five pools (one of which is exclusive to Ali’i Tower guests), a lagoon, and is also just a few steps away from Waikiki Beach. The pools were all busy while I was there, and finding an empty lounge chair required a bit of effort.
Picture
Ali'i Tower Guest Pool
Picture
Hilton Hawaiian Village Super Pool
Picture
Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon
Picture
Waikiki Beach
In addition to the many bodies of water, there are a plethora of restaurants onsite, including several chains (Starbucks, Dairy Queen, Round Table). Unfortunately, the Amex FHR dining credit only applies to a few select restaurants, so I couldn’t use it to expense any frappuccinos. Instead, I used all the credit toward a nice dinner at Bali, a seafood and steak house. It didn’t cover the whole meal (my steak alone was $60), but it took care of most of it.
Picture
Bali Steak Dinner
The free breakfast was good for any breakfast option at Tropics Bar and Grill (including juice and coffee). I opted for the Big Kahuna, which came with eggs, potatoes, sausage, toast, and pancakes. It definitely hit the spot. It’s also worth noting that both restaurants can be reserved through OpenTable, so I never had to wait for a table.
Picture
Tropics Bar and Grill
Picture
Tropics Bar and Grill Big Kahuna Breakfast
Summary

Overall I had a pleasant enough time at the Hilton, but it’s not a place I feel a strong need to return to. It’s extremely crowded (which makes relaxing difficult), and feels overly commercialized, even by Waikiki Beach standards. On the plus side, it was relatively inexpensive, and its beachfront location can’t be beat.

Cheers!

Chris
1 Comment

    About

    Just a girl with a full-time job and a full-time obsession with traveling. It's best to LiveTraveled.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Air Canada
    Airport Lounges
    American Airlines
    AmEx FHR
    Andaz
    Beijing
    Booking Sites
    British Airways
    Burj Al Arab
    Cathay Pacific
    China
    City Guide
    Conrad Hilton
    Credit Cards
    Dragonair
    Dubai
    Emirates Airlines
    Etihad Airways
    Fairmont
    Flight Review
    Grand Hyatt
    Hilton
    Hong Kong
    Hotel Review
    How To
    Hyatt
    Hyatt Regency
    Iberia Airlines
    InterContinental
    Japan Airlines
    Jumeirah
    London
    Los Angeles
    Lufthansa
    Madrid
    Maui
    Miami
    Misc
    New York
    Park Hyatt
    Photography
    Qatar Airways
    Recommended Blogs
    Ritz Carlton
    San Diego
    San Juan
    Seattle
    Seoul
    Seville
    Shanghai
    Shangri-La
    Singapore Airlines
    Sites To See
    SLS Hotel
    Starwood
    Tips
    Tokyo
    Vancouver
    Weekend Write-Up
    Westin
    W Hotels

    Archives

    March 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

#livetraveled
  • Blog
  • About
  • Basics
  • Trip Reports
  • Contact