The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikiki

I only spent one night at the Royal Hawaiian, but enjoyed every second of it. A small disclaimer that it was a special treat for me to stay somewhere like this, and I had just come from three days of North Shore camping. All the amenities and food options were amazing, and I had the best night of sleep of my whole trip. The sheets and shower products were wonderful. The property is unique and has lots of charm. The reason I’m writing the review however, is because the staff are so amazing there. Avis in particular both checked me in and out and made me feel so at home. Solo traveling can be a little intimidating and she really offered such a warm welcome and sweet goodbye. She was able to check me in early and told me about things like the hospitality room that I could visit after checking out if needed and available (check out is noon but I had a midnight flight so lots of time to kill). She explained all of the resort information very clearly so that I’d know what to expect. All in all, it just felt really nice to share some laughs with a stranger and be so welcomed and then remembered during check out. She really helped my trip end on a high note. The hospitality room was a game changer compared to showering on the beach before heading to the airport! Beyond Avis I also encountered many friendly pool staff, shop staff, and surf lanai staff. I stayed in an ocean view room on the 15th floor of the tower. I didn’t encounter any mildew smells or unclean conditions like some other reviews have mentioned. The only thing missing was my room didn’t have a bathrobe, which was no big deal for me. I personally don’t mind the room finishes being a bit ‘outdated’ as you just can’t beat the views, location, and service/friendliness from the staff. In my opinion, the rooms have more than everything needed to enjoy yourself and everything was in working order. For me, encountering kind, happy people is way more memorable on a vacation than a bathrooms sink condition/outdated light fixtures etc. I wish I had stayed a second night before heading home!

We stayed in the Mailani Tower in an Ocean Front King Room for almost $600 per night. This is supposed to be part of the Luxury Collection and we didn't see much luxury here. The room and bathroom were very dated and drab. The single sink was cracked and the faucets were corroded. The shower water pressure was so low that you had to move around to stay wet. The bed was very "lumpy" and the seat for the very old desk was broken such that you sunk through when seated. The room was so noisy from the drunken people in the bars and beach below. We are in 2024 and in the room we could find only one USB plug and that is an extension device on one bedside table. The only saving grace was the Frette Linens. We checked out after one night.

This was our second visit to this awesome and incredible historic hotel right on the best beach in Waikiki. The staff the grounds, the room, the restaurants and everything else associated with the Royal Hawaiian is first class. The Royal in the hotels name may very well refer to the way the customer is treated! When we had a very minor glitch on our second visit, hotel staff immediately went above and beyond to remedy the situation and truly amazed us with their customer first and friendly service.

This hotel is an oasis in the midst of big hotels and upscale shopping malls. It is an escape in itself. The property is absolutely gorgeous and quiet; it is part of the holiday experience. The beach is gorgeous and wasn't terribly crowded. The staff was helpful at times and, for the most part, friendly. We stayed in the historic part of the hotel which added to the lovely feeling of being on this property. Our complaints were: parking and ants. You can self park in the parking garage shared by the Sheraton and Royal Hawaiian. When we checked in we were asked if we had our own vehicle and if we would be parking it. Yes. The arm bands (that are the room keys), we were told, would work to get out of the garage and the daily parking fee would be $55. Well, the arm bands did NOT work at the garage exit, so we ended up paying the full $70/day until the fourth day of our eight day stay. At that point we complained to the front desk and were given a "pass" to present to the person in the garage exit booth. We were told by the hotel manager he would look into reimbursing us the difference in the cost of parking prior to that day. We checked out on October 9th and we still have received no reimbursement. It isn't the money but the principal. We had lots of little brown ants coming into our room from the window. They crawled down to the baseboards, to the door casings, to the furniture. We reported that on our second day to a man at the front desk. He said he would tell housekeeping. Well, the ants were still there on the sixth day of our stay, so we bought a can of Raid and sprayed everywhere in the room, around the interior and exterior of the window. That helped but did not get rid of the problem. We chose to stay at this hotel for sentimental reasons. My husband had stayed here in his youth and loved the place. It is a lovely, charming hotel with a lot of history, but responsiveness to problems is poor.

We booked this hotel based on some good reviews and the location. We were shocked at the condition of the room. Check-in was great, the front desk staff was nice, but the moment we stepped off the elevator into the tower, it started going horribly wrong. The hallway to the room was old, dirty, and worn. We walked by the housekeeper’s cart and it was filthy. We stepped into the room and we were immediately met with the feeling that something was wrong. The ceiling was very low, the room was tiny, there was mold on the air vent and some sort of weird orange mildew on the baseboards, all surfaces were weirdly dirty, the balcony had some haphazard furniture that was much too large for the space, there was sand all over the outdoor couch, the patios are separated by an old cinder block partition, the bathroom toilet was not properly cleaned, the shower/tub looked like something a very cheap hotel would have, the bathroom sink was cracked in several places, we could hear a lot of noise through the walls, we couldn’t figure out how to turn on the lamp so we followed the cord to the plug in, and the electrical was a total mess. It honestly looked like a fire hazard. There was also a weird smell when we turned on the AC (probably from the mold on the vents?!). We checked out and went to a different hotel. Don’t be fooled by the “newer tower” language on their website — it’s not new, it’s not renovated, it’s “redesigned” which means the very old, small, 60s rooms were only given a facelift that is not properly maintained. We wanted to love it, but we were so disappointed. There’s absolutely no way this is a 5 star hotel.