We stayed at the fabled Ali'i Tower for a week, as part of a conference package. To say it was a profound disappointment is something of an understatement, but first let me issue a warning to potential guests, as Hilton never make this clear themselves:- EVERY OCEAN VIEW ROOM HAS A CONNECTING DOOR This might not bother you, but since the hotel is clearly marketed at couples - and not families - and aspires to be seen as a premium, private boutique hotel, I think it's important to clear this up, otherwise you're in for a nasty surprise, as we were. Well, it isn't a boutique hotel at all. It's just a rather shabby, concrete accommodation block, part of the Disneyland-style "Hilton Hawaiian Village". Yes, it does have its own check-in desk - so you can avoid queuing for an hour to check in - but be in mind that the check-in desk is unmanned for much of the time, so if you arrive early or late you’ll still have to use the central arrivals desk. We booked the premium “Ocean View” room option and requested a quiet room, high up, without a connecting door. (Connecting doors are one of my big gripes: I hate hearing what’s going on in the next-door room.) It never occurred to me that pretty much every room in this tower (and ALL Ocean-View rooms) would have a connecting door! By way of background, I *had* tried contacting the hotel - on three separate occasions - before our arrival, just to clarify that our requests were understood. The first two times I was - after ages on hold - told to call back later; the third time, I finally got to speak to someone who, whilst being a bit vague, said that they had our requests. She didn’t say that, no, there weren’t actually any rooms meeting our criteria. If she had done so, we could have tried another tower (I’m told the Rainbow Tower might have *some* Ocean View rooms without connecting doors…)… Anyway, we turn up after a long flight, fighting our way past the massive crowds at the central reception, only to be told that we can’t have our pre-paid Ocean View Room because they all have connecting doors! What?! It’s true. They proudly tell us that we’ve been assigned an “Ocean Front” room - which turns out to be a lower-grade, side room - right next to the elevator shaft. The room turns out to be dark, drab and profoundly depressing. It looks straight over the pool with the vaguest glimmer of ocean in the distance, and is dominated by a vast area of grey concrete wall. Horrendous! Added to which, every few seconds there’s the rumble of the elevator. I go back down to reception, get a different check-in agent this time, but the hotel is fully booked, so the best he can do is to move us to a “resort view” room, looking out onto the central courtyard, so we can watch the hoardes waiting to check in to the other towers. At least it’s on a higher floor, and if we go out onto the balcony and lean over the rail, we can just about see the ocean through the other towers. (Later, I did try the central desk to see if we could be moved to the Rainbow Tower, but again, the resort was fully booked, and there just wasn’t anything available.) Kudos to the check-in agent and the *excellent* concierge, who went out of their way to help us. But the fact was that we didn’t get our pre-paid ocean view, and if the hotel had been clearer in their marketing and their communications with us, we would never have been left in this state. (Note: the hotel website includes extensive room plans, including virtual reality views and many photos; none of these show connecting doors in the Ali’i Tower!) Looking at other reviews, there are clearly some people who value the Ali’i Tower - but it does have an aura of faded grandeur and it may be that it was better in the past. For us, the room layout was the killer, together with the depressing decor and lack of communication. We also hated the crowds everywhere, the “Disneyland” vibes, and endless queues at breakfast, and the sense of paying a premium for a mass-market product. We won’t return here, and will probably choose somewhere like the Halekulani, the Royal Hawaiian, or even the Prince Waikiki in future. On the plus side, the individual staff members we encountered all tried really hard to help, but ultimately were thwarted by the system. In summary:- • The Ali’i Tower does not live up to its marketing hype as an exclusive, premium option for couples. • The Ali’i Tower is an expensive option that seems tired and dated compared to other hotels. • Beware those connecting doors on Ocean View rooms (in fact, virtually all rooms have connecting doors) I hope this information helps others in a similar situation to ourselves.…
We stayed one night in the rainbow tower full ocean view and 6 nights in the grand Waikikian. The rainbow tower had an amazing view and it was just breath taking. We then moved to a time share room on the 27th floor with partial ocean view. The view was more city view but the room itself was high , spacious and well kept. The appliances in the 2 bedroom suite was modern and having a kitchen was very beneficial for us having breakfast before we leave for the day. The staff at the village was very courteous and friendly and we never had a problem. The lagoon was perfect for the kids and for novice scuba divers who are afraid of sharks in the real ocean (Like me) the lagoon gets crowed during the day so we usually go early. The beach was a little rough with a lot of rocks It was pretty good though. There are 5 pools an the property with some being adults only but we basically used the one near the gran Waikikian (3 levels with slides ) and the super pool. There are many restaurants nearby and prices are higher at the resort as expected but for the convenience and service it was worth it. We went to tropics twice and tried a few of the other cheaper take away places in the village. We mainly ate at Ala Moana mall food court and bought groceries at the foodland there…
Horrible Staff attitude : Upon checking the front desk offered an upgrade to a Two Bed room instead of King Bed because the King Bed room will not be ready until 6 PM when the checkin was at 4. They even suggested it was better to sleep in two separate beds even though we strictly said it was our Honeymoon because it was “ a better room”. That was an awful sentiment to start out stay at Waikiki. We even said, it’s our honeymoon what could the hotel do for us that’s special? They responded : “ A congratulations “. Very cold treatment. Wouldn’t recommend for honeymooners
This is a good location for families and kids. Easy to get to, close to beach and other activities. Our room is very nice. Clean, A/C runs good. Plenty of food choices within the resort. Numerous other dining sites within easy walking access. Great location to serve as a “base camp” while you tour other island destinations. Overall, very good value that won’t break the bank. Enjoy! Aloha!
We have stayed at this property on many occasions and absolutely love it. It never disappoints us in any way. I have read some of the recent reviews on Trip Advisor that were not 4 or 5 stars and I am here to tell you that we can’t imagine anyone being disappointed, especially with the staff, location, amenities etc. A huge shout out and thank you to our friends at the front desk, Dean, Gary, Alyssa, Kevin, Amelia and Jun, and our housekeeping specialists extraordinaire, the wonderful Elsa and Jocelyn, Kacey at the Hau Tree and all of our friends at Tropics. How in the world can a stay at HHV be anything but spectacular with people like this. And, of course, a special thank you to David Means. Here is how we see it: Service - 5 stars Friendliness / Aloha spirit - 5 stars Amenities - 5 stars Accommodations - 5 stars Location - 5 stars Overall - 5 stars We can’t wait to return to HHV and do it all over again!…
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