The lobby was grand and had lots of seating. Every night there is live music, happy hour and dessert hour. The hotel also has a delicious eatery called MAC 24/7 that was featured on Man v. Food. We had dinner and breakfast there and both were very good. I thought the prices weren't too bad considering it was a hotel (about $15-20 per entree).
Check-in was 3 p.m. but I arrived a bit early so I asked if I could check in early. The receptionist found a room available on the 10th floor with an ocean view, which is actually a small upgrade from the room we paid for, which was a "city view" room. Kudos for early check - in and ocean view room.
Unfortunately, there is a huge building directly blocking the view, I think it's the Pacific Beach Hotel, but it was still pretty nice because I could see plenty of waves and sand on either side. The room came with a balcony, which proved useful for drying wet swim suits and shoes.
Again, no wifi available in the rooms until you were a Gold HHonors member I think. Wifi was available in common areas though. I didn't mind not having wifi since I was on vacation as I try to "disconnect" from electronics whenever I am on vacation.
One of the big pluses was we were on the same floor as the heated pool --- yes heated so no freezing waters! I loved it. There's a bar at the pool too and lots of comfortable lounge seating to soak up the sun. I swam in the pool and we also laid out for a bit, catching the breeze and enjoying the sunshine.
If I ever went back to stay at this hotel, I would request a room on the 10th floor for easy pool access. It's great for an early morning swim before breakfast and then hitting the beach or late night swim without the hassle of going to the beach.
The beds were comfortable, the room was clean. The bathroom had a shower only, which I appreciated since for some reason I have never stayed at a Hilton with a clean bathtub. It always seemed to "icky" to take a bath --- there have been hotels with nice, gleaning bathtubs that invited a soak, but not at Hiltons.
The toiletries were all Hawaiian inspired --- mango honey body lotion, coconut shampoo and conditioner, I smelled like a tropical fruit bowl. I loved it.
Again, there weren't a lot of rack space for hanging up towels so we used to the slide bar on the shower. The bathroom was a great size and the glass let in natural light. The closet was IN the bathroom, which I thought was genius for getting dressed after a shower and such. Now I am thinking of putting a closet in my own bathroom, or at least a mini-clothes rack.
The service was nice, but our room was made up pretty late in the day. We got up around 6 a.m. every day (my friend woke up even earlier for a jog on the beach) and would go out and explore, come back at 12 p.m. and our room still wasn't made up. I think our rooms were cleaned around 2 p.m., which is later than I prefer since that is optimal nap time. However, not too big a deal.
There was a safe in the room for valuables at no extra charge, another small plus. I find it rather annoying when hotels charge a small fee for using the safe.
I would stay at the Hilton Waikiki Beach again, but I would try looking for a deal next time.
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