Jul 26, 2010

Where to stay in Waikiki ~ Renew Hotel

Where to stay in Waikiki ~ Renew Hotel 

Renew Hotel General description:

• The Renew Hotel Renew was originally built in 1962, it consists of a single building with a little over 70 rooms, and most of the units have windows but no balcony.
• The Renew Hotel has very small common areas, no swimming pool, in house restaurant or other common amenities found in most Waikiki Hotels.
• The Renew Hotel was for many years the “back” or “mauka” tower of the ResortQuest Waikiki beach hotel until it was “spun off” and sold in 2005 and started operations as Ocean Tower Hotel in 2006. In 2007 underwent an ambitious renovation with the intention of increasing the star rating of the property.
• Parking is very expensive and extra like all hotels in Waikiki. It is also very limited, parking can not be pre-reserved and there is no free street parking close by.

What we like about the Renew Hotel:

• The design of the new room decorations came out very nice and the renovation resulted in much nicer rooms than it had before.
  The Renew Hotel is very closed to the beach, only a block away.
  It is one of the few hotels in Honolulu that accepts small pets (for an extra fee).

What you may not like about the Renew Hotel:

• The intention behind the last renovation effort seems to have been to create a high end boutique hotel, the problem is that even though the decoration is very nice, what is missing is space. There was one aspect of the renovation that was beyond the designer control and that was that the rooms were not big enough to start with.
• In exchange of personalized high end service there is a group of travelers that are willing to sacrifice the amenities, the pools, the jacuzzis, the in house restaurants, bars and shops but the one thing they do not seem willing to compromise seems to be space and a balcony.
• About half of the units at the Renew Hotel face in the direction of the ocean and even though the hotel is a block inland, the view is fairly nice, the problem are the other half of the rooms that face a back alley, try only to book the rooms that have an ocean view or you may not like the view that you have out of your window.
• The room rates are as high as the Resort Quest Waikiki Beach Hotel next door and that seems to be a better buy.
• Unless you want to be at the end of Waikiki, this hotel is somewhat far from the center.