The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikiki

I was blown away with my experience at this beautiful classic hotel on Waikiki Beach. I wanted to celebrate my 70th birthday in Hawaii and chose this luxury hotel right on the beach. From our welcoming experience with the front desk to all the staff here they are very kind and considerate. I asked for and received a room on the higher floor of the Mailani Tower. We had a breathtaking view of the beach, surfers and Diamond Head. Our king bed had a super comfortable bed, a coffee-tea station/small fridge area, a good size closet and full bath. Our balcony had both a loveseat as well as a small table with two chairs. The room was exceptionally clean and there was housekeeping every day. I knew that, since the original hotel was the 2nd one built in the 1920’s, the tower was built in 1968 - that the pool was very small. The unfortunate part of this as there aren’t a lot of chairs around the relatively tiny pool, we could see the pool from our room and there were towels placed on all those chairs by 7:00 in the morning. We were not in Hawaii to hang around the pool not as much an issue for us, but it’s really a rude thing to do. If you do want to take a dip, there’s quite a large pool at the Sheraton sister hotel next door you can use. We went to the Mai Tai bar on the property for lunch a couple days. Friendly staff, good food and of course, delicious Mai Tais! The location of this resort is in a perfect spot in Waikiki, you’re close to shopping, restaurants and bars. We stayed for 6 days and wish it was longer!

I always return to this hotel for its central location and a touch of old Hawaii. The lobby services are diminished as Marriott is driving high profitability across its properties via lower service, that is just how it is now. In fact, have not been in a Marriott property that was sufficiently staffed in at least five years. Regardless, the restaurant's were good, the room lovely, and quiet.

For the price we found the room in need of much updating and the pool was very small. In fact it’s so small they’re sharing the pool with the Sheraton property next store. Great location, good breakfast, staff very friendly. If you want chairs and umbrellas at the beach there’s an additional cost of $70/day.

The Royal Hawaiian has the best location on Waikiki Beach and the interiors and grounds really reflect a sense of place and the history of the area. Our room was in the original section and very comfortable but not luxurious. Service throughout the hotel was very good and we really enjoyed our time here. Note that the pool area is very small but access is provided to the larger (and busier) Sheraton pool. Beach chairs are available on a first come first serve basis but do require a daily or hourly fee. The beach chair employees were all were kind and helpful. We have previously stayed at a few other places on the beach and I think that the Royal Hawaiian is the best option to enjoy Waikiki Beach and the surrounding areas. We had a great time and would happily return!

An eloquent period hotel with wide breezeways and open areas to sit and watch the world go by. The pool and bar area are situated right on the beach with access to the surf Our hotel rooms were facing the beach so a magnificent view of Waikiki is the vista Now the negatives firstly and like all hotels we visited during this trip there is a resorts tax here of $52 USD per night per room. What this is for is a bit of an unknown even staff are embarrassed by it’s existence as they point to a small paragraph in the things to do sheet and show that you get a water container and a free yoga lesson or token rubbish like this. So in our case we had three rooms as we were traveling with 4 adults and 4 kids under 7 as a family room we were charged $104 per night resort tax as it was 2 rooms… really how is this fair, if the hotel / resort had a proper family room it would be 1 room right!! One charge It’s a money grab, these chains need to grow sone balls and just up the room rate by $52 a night if that’s the case then everyone is clear on the costs. For Aussie travelers that’s a huge cost impact with the exchange rate where it is at $0.61 cents today so as I checked out of these two rooms this morning I was given a bill for 780 usd over $1000 Aud just for a resort fee make it part of the room charge they need to be upfront We also had the displeasure of waking one morning to find a drone hovering at the tenth floor filming the hotel rooms from the outside, and beach pool area this was easily identified because you can see orientation by the navigation lights as to its direction of focus. Hotel security were advised but there was no outcome as to the perpetrators so beware they say they take seriously but their own cctv cameras should be able to identify the culprit. Next why are there no decent coffee shops in the hotels ie barista coffee, this hotel has a bakery that’s open from 6 am to 12 noon why ? There is a line at 6.30am it takes at least 20 mins to get a coffee and the coffee is appalling as it is most places with automatic machines it’s an eternal annoyance one can not get good coffee when in these 5 star hotels Room cleaning services are great and helpful the rooms are adequate and clean and the service is ok Pool staff are awesome and friendly and the kids had a great time Apart from the little issues above this is a great hotel and awesome location for a family stay just wish they would put all the hidden costs in up front instead of finding out on checkout day, I know the management will respond saying everyone is made aware of this but seriously just up the room rate for transparency Other than this highly recommended fur a stay lots to do and see