Daughter teenager & I stayed at the Ilikai ON WAIKIKI BEACH for 3 weeks in July 2011.

IT was 'Brilliant' value & the rooms were spacious and location perfect for visiting the Ala Moana Centre. During our stay which was peak season we had to change rooms on 3 occasions as this was the only way to get a room at this Hotel which was completely booked out at this time of the year. Even although we booked in advance we were still in a position whereby we had to change rooms, so if you want to stay here book WELL in advance.

The Hotel is obviously one of the originals and hence it is of an older vintage which in fact makes it much more enjoyable. The rooms are LARGE!! seriously. The beds too. The decor is very comfortable, compliments the era. The Lobby is lovely and the restaurant downstairs on the Lobby floor is exceptionally good & exceptionally good value!!.

The staff here are amazing. Trust the Americans to do it so well>>>SERVICE that is, something that Australians would do very well to learn more about as generally we have a lot to learn from our allies over there on this topic. The front desk staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful; we needed to change rooms on a number of occasions and they were flawless in their preparations.

The maid service is also excellent. Please TIP them as they rely on this to boost wages; plus they are generally very good at what they do. Different teams work on different floors though so be aware of who the maid is for your room during your stay. They replentish the coffee- perculator- Hawaiian brands - not our taste- and clean the room perfectly.

The location is truly excellent away from the bustle & hustle of central Waikiki and walk to Ala Moana Beach & Shopping Centre plus surrounded by brilliant restaurants and Hilton Hawaiian Village.

I was recovering from major surgery _Total Hip replacement , yet managed to walk daily to Ala Moana and down the beach to Waikiki with teenage daughter so if I can do it so can most. The quiet location is very important and if you take a room with a view- we did for a few days- the atmosphere is exceptional.

The City view Mountain view rooms are also nice, especially value wise. Truly this Hotel has to be recommended not only for the excellent value (especially compared to Australia @ just over $120 per night~ PLUS the truly BRILLIANT professional staff, the spacious airy & light well maintained rooms, and the very lovely lobby and restaurants. You can book bargain prices via the various online booking agents. We found a very good one & got a great deal. We will DEFINITELY stay again. Absolutely. And Hawaii= For atmosphere & shopping in a contemporary setting with a great taste of USA & Japan especially food. American Professionalism- CANT BEAT IT!!

As most people comment about the hotel/building etc, I'm going to try to focus my review on the Condo 1318. The thing to remember is that the building is divided into 3rd's. One third is the hotel, one third is owned condo's, and the last third are condo rentals. I can't comment on the hotel or lived in rooms other than the quick look you get when walking down the hall when they are being cleaned, but they did look more dated than 1318.

Condo 1318 that I arranged through Waikiki Oceanfront Rentals (Scott) was completely updated in 2007. Once you walk in through the door you wouldn't know the building was old. The floors had all been redone, new kitchen, new appliances, walk in showers in both bath rooms, the master had a 10 jet hot tub, 2 flat screen tv's, 2 dvd players, 2 separate air conditioners with remotes. The kitchen had everything you could ask for in terms of pots, pans, forks, spoons, glasses, toaster, crock pots, full oven, you name it. It was there with the one exception being steak knives.

It's billed as a 2 bed 2 bath unit. Yes the 2nd bedroom is really part of main area with those extendable sliding walls but to be honest we had no problem with it. The eating area and lounging area are large enough in size to not feel cramped at all. The couch in the lounge area was also a pull out bed so you could put another 2 people there if needed. Our family of 4 didn't feel cramped at all with the space.

The great thing with this condo is the size of porch/deck. It ran the complete length of the unit and had an entrance from both the master bedroom and the main area. The deck has another full table and 4 chairs, plus a set of lounge chairs, plus lots of space left over. It's really that big.

The condo exceeded my expectations in every regard. It even had free LD to the mainland, and free wi-fi.

The only thing I could fault it for was the bed in the master was lumpy. But that is it. I would highly recommend the unit to anyone.

Regarding the hotel. Yes the outside is dated. Big deal, you don't spend hours looking at the outside of the building anyway. The inside has been renovated, the lobby, the grounds, the elevators have been updated.

The bar/grill on the lobby floor offers good food at reasonable prices (not horrible waikiki prices). The general store is generally cheaper than the ABC Store just outside. There is a "bathers elevator" so you don't get on the elevator all wet. The people at the reception and cons. desk are super eager to help regardless of you staying at the condo or hotel. There is even a car rental right there.

Yes there is a pool. It's small, and used mainly by the groups that live in the building. It's an older age group than my family so we didn't use it once. We are more beach and big water folk anyway. That said the people there looked like they were enjoying themselves. Yes they didn't like little kids being loud. But I knew that going in, so didn't even consider going there.

Yes its easy access to the beach. Yes you can get a starbucks at the hilton next door. If you go through the reviews on this place, you will see most people really enjoyed the location.

If you think its far to walk to the other side of Waikiki, just know we walked to the church at the other end of waikiki and it took 35 minutes door to door at a pace an eight year old can maintain. It was a 15 min walk to Ala Monana Mall. It was easy to get to.

It's a great place and I would highly recommend the unit. If you have questions, feel free to ask me.

A very pleasant 5 day stay here, although next time I will request an oceanfront room (ours was VERY noisy on Mt. View side). The hotel is older, original Hawaii Five-0 older, so it will come as no surprise that there are a few "worn" items in the room. Beds are comfortable, big shower but small bathroom, dressing area with mirror, flat panel T.V. In Rm. 2215, dresser, closets, newer carpeting, desk, lanai w/chairs, plenty of outlets for re-charging and all other in room amenities. There is an average sized pool, that gets "taken over" quickly in the mornings, but the ocean is readily available only a mere few feet away; also a fitness room that is just ok. The hotel does have a two restaurants and a mini mart, inside the lobby area, they will also provide beach towels for guests, very open airy atmosphere. It's right next to Hilton Village, which is nice to shop around in or there is a mall across the street in case you forgot something. The closest Starbucks is in the Hilton main entrance, watch out it can be pricey! Waikiki is a very busy area nowadays, not laid back like some of the neighboring islands, but if you like fast paced, party location Waikiki is a good bet. We went without kids, but I did see a lot of them around, and there are plenty of places for them to have fun! All in all it was a good trip and after 20 years a LOT has changed, but it was good to visit again.

We stayed at the Ilikai for 3 nights in January. While it is not as modern as some of the neighboring hotels, the location and attentiveness of the staff more than makes up for this. The hotel is located at the edge of Waikiki, which means its relatively quiet, although there is a short walk to the beach. The pool is nice, but not huge, and the poolside restaurant serves great (and affordable) casual food. The other guests during our stay were primarily 60+, so the atmosphere was quiet and seemed a bit more upscale than the other hotels we walked by where there were many families with small children. We'd definitely stay again.