Jul 26, 2010

Where to stay in Waikiki ~ Waikiki Beachside Hotel

Where to stay in Waikiki ~ Waikiki Beachside Hotel 

Waikiki Beachside Hotel General description:

• The Waikiki Beachside Hotel was built in 1965, has 12 floors and a little fewer than 70 rooms.
• It is situated on the main Waikiki Avenue, across the street from the beach and in the 90′s underwent a massive renovation that improved the star rating that the Waikiki Beachside Hotel enjoyed from the original construction. Unfortunately its former owners went through some rough financial times witch led to some neglect and subsequent loss of some of the luster achieved during the renovation.
• Another renovation is taking place now mainly due to needed repairs in the balconies and cracks in the concrete slabs. The renovation extends to the rooms and they are remaining open during the process.
• The Waikiki Beachside Hotel has no pool or other amenities; it has however a cozy, fairly nice looking lobby.
• Most of the rooms at the Waikiki Beachside Hotel are in the Standard, Superior, Partial Ocean View and Ocean View and VIP Ocean View categories with the typical bedding configuration of either 2 double beds or one King size bed. 

What we like about the Waikiki Beachside Hotel:

• The Waikiki Beachside Hotel is in a very good location, on Kalakaua Avenue, across the street from Waikiki beach (in fact the so called “Waikiki Beach” is the “Kuhio Beach” but very few people outside Hawaii know this).

What you may not like about the Waikiki Beachside Hotel:

• No amenities, no pool, no restaurant, just your room the elevators and the lobby.
• We do not believe that the present renovation will be finished this year, time will tell, but you may experience some inconvenience due to the ongoing work.
• Believe it or not, the so called Standard Rooms or Standard Interior Rooms not only have no balcony; they technically have no windows other than a door window that open to the corridor. You may want to stay away from the Moderate rooms. Hopefully these rooms will be combined with adjacent units to form a suite during this last renovation, stay tuned for the results.
• Moderate rooms have balconies but face an outside wall.
• Partial Ocean View rooms have windows but no balconies.
• After the renovation is over the only rooms you should book are either the so called Ocean Front View or VIP Ocean Front View, those are the better rooms in this hotel. The problem with these rooms is the noise, their balconies are simply too close to the main Kalakaua Ave. and traffic on Kalakaua is relentless, 24/7.
• There are several hotels on Kalakaua Ave. or very close by, that have been renovated recently and cost about the same amount, even with a better star rating.