Stay Report: Grand Waikikian by Hilton Grand Vacations
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When looking for a hotel in Honolulu, the biggest resort in
the area is the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort.
It is one of the oldest and most well-known resorts in the area. The resort is also centrally located and is
walking distance to many shops, restaurants, and other activities. The Resort is made up of a couple of
different hotels including the Hilton Hawaiian, the Grand Waikikian, and
others. The Grand Waikikian is part of
Hilton Grand Vacations so they are mostly suites – and that is what we were
looking for. Each suite came with a room
with 2 double beds, one bathroom, a full kitchen, washer/dryer, and a dining
table. As they are part of the resort,
each room comes with a resort fee which includes Fitness/yoga classes, Internet
access, in-room bottled water, and other resources for $35/day. Booking the hotel was easy and convenient
through Hilton’s website.
There are many entrances to the resort depending on which
hotel you are staying at –
each hotel has their own separate entrance. The entrance to the Grand Waikikian was off
to the side and it was at the far side of the resort, so you have both marina
and beach views but you are not on the beach.
The hotel lobby is located on the main level and it is an open air lobby
to allow for the breeze from the ocean.
The lobby contained the check-in desks, the valet, the concierge, and a
couple of benches. It is not a
traditional lobby but it serves its purposes.
Check-in was easy and we received our keys, a map to the resort, as well
as a packet which included amenities included in the resort fee. This included towel passes for the beach,
passes for two free bottles of a water a day, a dvd rental, as well as shopping
discounts. The elevators to access the
rooms were not located near the lobby – to access them you had to walk out of
the lobby, through the concierge room to another hallway and walk down that
hallway to get to the elevators. It was
a bit confusing at first and not well planned out.
There are 4 elevators and each time we did not have to wait
a long time for the elevators. The
elevators came and we went to our room on the 17th floor. When you enter the room, you enter into the
open kitchen on right hand side and a door to the left which leads to the bathroom. The open kitchen is spacious and includes a
full fridge, a stove, a microwave, an oven, plates, glasses, cutlery, a
toaster, a coffee maker, and a full sink.
It was a nice full kitchen. On
the other side of the counter to the kitchen were chairs were you could sit and
eat. There was also a half table that
pulled onto a bench so that was another option to eat there. Beyond the kitchen was the sitting area with
a couch and chair against one wall and the TV on top of a chest against the
other wall. The chest had the TV on top
and a drawers on the bottom. The sitting
area looked out onto the balcony which was a bit small but was nice to go
outside and see the sights and enjoy the breeze.
Next to the TV was a door that led into the bedroom. Given how spacious the other
rooms were, the
bedroom was a bit narrow. The bedroom
contained two double beds with a nightstand in the middle against one wall, and
another chest with a TV on top and the drawers on the bottom. The beds were comfortable and provided a good
night’s sleep, there just was not a lot of room between the two beds. Next to the beds, with minimal separation
between the two, was an area that contained a tub on one wall and the closet on
the other. It was an odd layout to have
a tub in the middle of the room. The
closet contained a safe, an iron, ironing board, and luggage rack; however,
considering the narrowness of the room it was not a lot of space to place your
luggage. In between the tub and the
closet was a door that led to the bathroom.
The bathroom contained a sink a standup shower, and a Japanese-style
toilet. The Japanese-style toilet was a
nice and welcome touch. The bathroom
itself was a decent size. The bathroom
also contained a second door which led out to the main room next to the kitchen
and the main door. As you existed the
bathroom, and before you got to the main door, on left hand side was a closet
which contained the washer and dryer. Overall,
the room had many amenities that were very nice and the sitting area was
spacious; the only negative was the lack of space in the bedroom area.
There are many amenities that can be accessed as part of the
resort. As the hotel is part
of the
Hilton Hawaiian Village, you can walk around and access any part of the
resort. Each hotel had their own pool,
so you could choose which pool you wanted to access. To access the beach you had to walk to the
Rainbow Tower near the main entrance to the resort as that was the only beach
access. Other amenities included free classes in the morning, fireworks on
Friday night, many restaurants to choose from, an entire whole shopping village
which included other restaurants, desserts, souvenirs, a convenience store, and
other amenities. If you wanted, you
could access everything in the resort and never have to leave. The hotel did provide free wifi, but our wifi
was only applicable in our tower.
Other amenities we took advantage of was the discounted taxi
rate and the lounge. The resort does not
provide transportation to and from the airport, rather they have
negotiated a
special discounted rate with a local taxi company that provides a flat fee to
passengers to and from the airport and the hotel. We used this service on both sectors and it
was very convenient and easy to use.
Another amenity we utilized was the lounge. Check-out of the hotel is very early, at
11am, and given the high volume they generally do not allow for late
check-out. To compensate for those
guests who have later flights, guests can access the lounge throughout their stay
and after checkout. The lounge is like a
standard business lounge with lots of couches and tables for people to relax
and rest. There are many outlets so you
can charge your electronics as well. No
food is provided and only water, tea, and some juices are provided. There is a small kids play area as well as a
small business center as well. There are
bathrooms as well as showers available, as well as hotel amenities included
soap, shampoo, and lotion. The hotel
will hold your luggage so this lounge is a nice place to go and relax and
recover prior to your late night flight.
Overall, it was a pleasant stay at the Grand Waikikian. The hotel provided a lot of amenities for
their guests. The rooms themselves were
nice and had lots of amenities, with the only downside being the lack of space
in the bedroom. While the costs for the
Hawaiian Village are a bit higher, you do get a lot of amenities as well as a
convenient access to many shops and restaurants within walking distance to the
resort.
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