My husband and I booked our stay at the ResortQuest Waikiki Beach hotel through Costco online. We had an Ocean View room, we received a fresh flower lei greeting at Honolulu airport (they smelled so good, and many people commented on them!) and free shuttle service to the hotel and back from Roberts Hawaii. We also received an "Aloha" booklet, with discounts for shows, restaurants and attractions.
And the hotel has free breakfast for all guests!!...more on that later.
We arrived and took an escalator to the 2nd floor lobby. The lobby is right across from the pool. The pool is OK, nothing great but you have beautiful Waikiki Beach across the street-literally. The hotel lets you take their beach towels to the beach!
We checked into our room, the bell hop was nice and brought our bags up for us. Later he brought up a bottle of champagne since we were on our honeymoon. That was really a great surprise. There was an lcd TV, bathroom was regular, and the bed was very big and nicely made with a red and white Hawaiian print quilt and duvet. The lanai was rather small, yet still had a table and chair, and what an AWESOME view. From our lanai we could see the entire ocean (we watched a sunset from there a few times...it is stunning watching the sun go down over the waters of the beach) and all of Waikiki including Diamond Head and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
Location. location location...wow...right downstairs from the hotel is a Wolfgang puck express, Coldstone Creamery, subway, Starbucks, and Honolulu cookie company. There are ABC stores literally on EVERY corner- you will find upscale shopping as you walk along the streets such as LV, Coach, Tiffany, as well as other hotels and the International Marketplace, which is a great shopping center.
There is internet access through computers in the lobby, we did not utilize this amenity but wanted to mention it is fairly expensive. There is also an Expedia travel center right in the lobby, perfect if you want to book tours or find out about activities.
There are often free shows at Waikiki Beach, we saw some great hula dancers, and right across is Kapi’olani Park, which is really nice too. The Honolulu zoo and the aquarium are both in walking distance from the hotel.
OK. So Resortquest calls their breakfast Breakfast on the Beach AKA BOB, because they give you a zippered logo insulated bag-that you get to keep, you go downstairs by the pool and there are cereals, egg sandwiches, Japanese breakfast items, mini bagels, donuts, French toast sticks, tropical yogurts, muffins, juice and coffee waiting for you. You just fill your bags up and go back to your room or take it to go. I have to say this was one of the nicest free breakfasts I have ever encountered. We went on a tour once and took our bags with us for the bus ride.
One of the only things I can say I disliked about the hotel was the fact that every time we went to our room, there was a horrible sewage smell in the hallway. Sometimes we could even smell it in our room. We notified the front desk about 4 times, they said they would tell housekeeping, they said they would tell maintenance, and in the end they said you can sometimes smell the garbage trucks…umm on the 18th floor?? The elevators were also difficult for a lot of people, as you have to insert your key card to press a floor, and many people did not get it “right” the first time therefore even when they hit their desired floor, were plummeted back down to the lobby. This was also a problem with the room sometimes, but to me, not that big of a deal. The pool was usually very cold, so there was never anyone in there!
I do not think it is worth renting a car on Oahu, since they have a bus line named “TheBus” –Genius! It is $2, but has free transfers and goes almost anywhere! The concierge can give you a bus list and the bus stop is right down the block across the street.
Overall, I think this was a great value hotel, great free breakfast, flat screen tv, pool, close to everything including transportation. My husband and I really enjoyed our time there, and would stay there again if we went back to Oahu.
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Some advice:
Iolani Palace is the only palace left in the US. You can take a bus there, it is about $16 for an audio tour, and is simply beautiful. You do not need to pre-order. They also make you wear “palace slippers” which are worn over your street shoes.
Near the palace is the infamous black and gold King Kamehameha I statue.
Pearl Harbor/USS Arizona are also a must see, you can take busses here too. Long lines, you are not permitted to bring a purse or bag, only a camera pouch.
Honolulu Zoo was a fast walk, elephants, tigers (one once escaped from this zoo), orangutans, the biggest tortoises you have ever seen, pink flamingos, nene (the state bird), and the craziest chimpanzees I have ever seen-very entertaining.
There are also trolleys, which you may think are only for the Japanese tourists, but they are for everyone. Take the pink line from the hotel to Ala Moana Shopping Center-same price as the bus, but better views as you are sitting with no windows-sideways, not frontways like a bus- along the main streets. This is a huge upscale shopping mall, with a fantastic food court.
Hilo Hattie’s also offers a free shuttle from all hotels to their superstore. We went to Hilo Hattie’s but liked ABC better, however, you can take the free shuttle and have lunch in Sam Choy’s Breakfast Lunch and Crab. Great Beer sampler and wonderful seafood.
Del Sol is a great store for presents, everything they sell is clear or white and changes into vibrant color when in the sun. I bought clear hair clips there that I adore, they change to yellow, pink and purple.
If for nothing else, go to the aquarium to see the shark tank.
Chinatown is not worth the bus ride. Its dirty and not exciting, and how about this?? You are hard pressed to find Chinese food! Mostly you find Vietnamese restaurants. Maybe that’s because I live in NY and have a great large, bustling Chinatown. Yes, with authentic Chinese food!
The Bishop Museum was a great place, our only regret was that we did not spend more time there. There is a planetarium, and a lot of cool exhibits about the planet and Hawaii’s history.
We did a “Circle Island Tour”…nice, but not worth the price. We saw Pali lookout, the “from here to eternity” beach, Sunset Beach and Banzai Pipeline, Chinaman’s hat and a lot of other nice lookouts and landmarks such as the driveway of Magnum PI.
Top of Waikiki is a revolving restaurant, great fondue and drinks.
Do not go to the Coldstone Creamery right next to the hotel-a giant flying roach landed on my husband, I freaked out and almost knocked over the guy in front of me, and the employees just said oh what was that a roach? Oh. And they continued working as the roach started WALKING up the garbage can. Unbelievable.
Be sure to try Shave ice, sold almost anywhere, and loco moco, a dish with white rice, a hamburger patty, an egg on top and gravy over the whole thing. Does not sound appetizing, but it was really good. (and easy to recreate at home )
If you can, try to check out “Art in Motion” a free show of a spray paint artist who will amaze you as he sprays swirls with house music, using old things from a kitchen such as forks spatulas and an old fridge door to create masterpieces.
Diamond Head is touted as the one of the easiest hikes compared to the other islands. It was actually pretty strenuous, but what a view and sense of accomplishment you feel after hiking, walking through tubes, crawling and going up about 200 steep stairs. You can take a tour, but its not necessary.
If you are going to the other islands, which I recommend, take Hawaiian airlines. They are cheap and most flights are about 30 minutes.
And to Robert, our Filipino driver from Roberts Hawaii…Mahalo! Thank you for being informative, funny, caring- and after dropping us off at the airport, coming back to bring me a sweater I left behind the first time. You were a great beginning and end to our time on Oahu.
Do not fall for any stores which offer you a “game” to unlock something or choose a piece of paper. These are scams asking you to open an oyster, which will have a pearl inside but you will be required to buy jewelry to set it in.
You must try 100% Kona Coffee. No after taste.
There is a Dole Plantation that has a maze, train and the best pineapple ice cream I have ever tasted-all for a fee. Also a macadamia nut factory…you will never taste nuts like this again I promise you. Take some home, they are even better than Mauna Loa. They have samples of all flavors, cinnamon was my favorite. Please note these places are a bit far away.
Aloha
- This TripAdvisor Member:
- Liked — BOB (breakfast on beach), amazing views, proximity to everything including transportation
- Disliked — sewage smell in hallway
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