The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikiki

This is going to be a long and detailed review, so grab a snack and settle in. My husband had stayed at the Royal Hawaiian when he was a kid, so he was thrilled to go back and see what the hotel was like now. They advertised themselves as a "luxury" hotel, and Marriott really pushed this angle, so we were excited to see just how luxurious it was. Alas, most of the luxury appears to be aspirational at this point, and I'll break down the pros and cons of our experience: Pros: we stayed in the Tower, and the ocean view from our balcony was absolutely gorgeous. The towels were super absorbent, and the shampoo/conditioner/body wash smelled nice and were very hydrating. The elevators were super fast, and I loved using a bracelet as your room key, like at Disney World. The food and coffee in the bakery were delicious, and I loved that they opened at 6am (lots of places didn't open until 8am, which is late for a beach town). The daily yoga offered by the hotel was fantastic, and I truly cannot recommend it enough. The location of the hotel can't be beat, and the lush, tropical grounds were a tranquil haven from the insanity that is Waikiki these days. Every staff member we interacted with was kind and friendly. Cons: before we arrived, we got an email saying the hotel was undergoing renovation. We called and asked just how bad this was going to be, because our entire neighborhood has been under construction for months, so we really wanted peace and quiet on our first vacation in over a year. We were told the noise would be very minimal and wouldn't disturb us at all. That turned out not to be true - the day we arrived, the noise was so bad, our entire room was vibrating, so we quickly put on swimsuits and went out to the pool. The construction absolutely impacted us using our beautiful balcony because the drilling, sawing, and pressure washing were ear-splitting while trying to sit and watch the waves. The first night we were there, the smoke alarm started beeping at 1am and woke us us. We called the front desk, and a very nice staff member came up and took out the battery, which they thought would fix the issue. It did not, and the alarm woke us up again at 5:30am, at which point we got dressed, went down and told the front desk it was still an issue, then went out and walked on the beach. We'd been up since 4am and taken a long flight to get to Hawaii, so this was truly a miserable first night. We had to call the front desk twice because our tv would just randomly stop working. If you so much as bumped the dresser the tv was on, a message came up about the source input not working, and sometimes you didn't even need to bump anything, the tv just wouldn't come on. The second staff member who came up and examined the tv tightened some of the cables, and that helped. No, we were not at the Royal Hawaiian to watch tv, but after a long day at the beach, sometimes you want to sit in your room and chill, and I don't think you should have to call twice about a tv not working in a luxury hotel. This historic hotel tour was incredible, however, it was scheduled to go from 1-2pm, and it didn't start until 1:15pm and went until 3:15pm. The elderly woman who led it is incredibly knowledgable and had wonderful stories, but she needed someone to help her watch the time and focus on just the highlights of the property. People had to leave early without experiencing the whole tour because they had other commitments, and while we stayed, we were really tired by the end. Also, this tour should be offered earlier in the day, because by 1pm it was nearly 90 degrees with humidity over 70%, which was brutal to walk around in. On the schedule of events, there was an early morning Hawaiian ritual listed for one of the days we were there. According to the schedule, we needed to register using a QR code, but that didn't work. We called the front desk and several people had no idea what we were talking about. Again, in a luxury hotel, I should be able to ask any front desk staff member about a scheduled activity and get a clear answer. Eventually we were told we just needed to show up. The event was scheduled from 5:30-6:00am, so we arrived on the beach a little early. A few other people were waiting for the event, as well, so we all stood around together, waiting for someone to come out and call us over. Apparently the person doing the ritual was the same person who did the historic hotel tour, so we recognized her and went over, but she did not have anything to signal she was the one leading the ritual. We finally got started at 5:50am, and while this elderly lady is absolutely lovely and extremely knowledgeable, it would have been helpful to have someone with her to help her manage the time. The ritual involved going into the ocean and doing a cleansing wash but no one had been told to bring bathing suits. The woman told story after story after story, and by this time I was starving, since I'd planned to eat breakfast when the event was over at 6am. My husband and I ended up leaving without ever getting to experience the ritual. We ate breakfast on our balcony and saw the people who stayed finally get into the ocean more than 40 minutes later, and an experience that was supposed to be 30 minutes went from 5:50-7:00am. I know there's such a thing as "island time" but it's important to know when something is supposed to end when figuring out when to eat, organizing tours, or planning the rest of your day. Overall: Sadly, I don't think we will return to the Royal Hawaiian. The hotel is gorgeous and the location can't be beat, but for over $700 a night, this fell short of being a truly luxurious experience.

We love historical hotels, so I specifically booked our 4 nights with The Royal Hawaiian. You pay more for this hotel, but in the busy Waikiki, it is its own oasis. It is a beautiful place and smells amazing. I wanted the older section, so booked a Jr Garden Suite. I requested a higher floor, but was placed on the 1st floor. It was a nice room, but soon learned it had several issues. There were ants, and the room needed a thorough cleaning in several areas. I made the front desk aware, and they were very accommodating. They offered a new room in the new section, but since I really wanted to stay in the historical part, they were able to switch our room the next day. The new space was lovely and had absolutely no issues. I placed pictures of both rooms below. The MaiTai bar was great, and so was the food for a quick meal. Don't miss the pink pancakes at breakfast!! I also really enjoyed the pool. At first glance, it is easy to dismiss the smallness of it, but sit down and enjoy the space. It has such a cool retro feel, and was so relaxing. The large pool at he Sheraton is available for use, but was incredibly crowded with like a 1000 people in it, so was a no-go for us. The staff was awesome everywhere we went. The valets, housekeeping, towel service and MaiTai Bar staff!

Rooms were dated. My daughter’s room was filled with ants. She had to spend a whole morning emptying all their suitcases, etc. because ants were in a few bags. Won’t go back.

Not sure how many times I have stayed here, but it’s always a joy to stay at the Pink Palace. Nearly 51 years ago was my first visit to Hawaii with my mother and we stayed here. This is my daughter’s first trip to Hawaii so I made sure The Punk Palace was our first destination. She certainly enjoyed our time here. Maybe in the future she will bring her child here for their first trip to Hawaii. Having said this, let me start off with the bad, hence only 4 stars: 1. Flew on an overnight flight and landed in Honolulu at 8:30am, arrived at the hotel at 11. Couldn’t get early check-in, which I understood and was told I will be notified by phone and/or email when the room is ready. Perfect! By 2pm we were in zombie form and returned to the hotel. By chance I asked if our room was ready and it was. No phone call, no email…was happy to get into our room and we all cleaned up. Later on in the evening I noticed an email was received at 3:30pm saying my room is ready. A little late (lol). 2. Ants…didn’t mind it much. Little one was amused by them, but the Mrs was not happy. 3. Helumoa Pool: water was cloudy. At first I thought it was a saltwater pool but later found out its freshwater. It was pretty nasty as cloudy as it was…maybe the filters were out of service THE GOOD: Staff is friendly as always. Started with the valet greeting us with a smile, nice to see after being on traveling for about 20hrs. Front desk, housekeeping, maintenance and activities staff were all wonderful! The larger oceanfront room had plenty of space for the three of us. Had to improvise and remodeled the two queen beds into one super king, and housekeeping did a wonderful job making sure the room was kept tidy.

I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the truly wonderful stay and the exceptional hospitality extended to us during our visit.