When you enter the bright lobby of the Aqua Palms Waikiki and are greeted by the friendly staff who will become like family during your stay, you’ll get that true aloha experience. On the second floor you’ll find a wading pool, sundeck, and gas barbecue grill. If you’re there for the Manager’s Reception on Wednesdays, you can sample their signature cocktail, The Sway. After drinking one or two, you might find yourself swaying like a coconut tree.
This was not a vacation stay. We had to get our stored things out of a storage facility and send them off island and needed a nearby 'staging' location. We live on Oahu. If this hotel had been priced cheaper, I would probably have given a 4 star rating, because the staff is friendly and helpful and it is well-located. However, at $140 a day, I would have expected more meticulous cleaning - the windows had previous-occupant kiss marks on the windows and the bathroom mirrors were not cleaned consistently. I have paid more in Waikiki and gotten more, so at this price, if I were coming to Hawaii for a vacation and expected to be out all day, paying more might not make sense. Expecting more at this price is the problem. I guess I had the same feeling I have when I get a coffee at a restaurant and there is lipstick already on the cup. Seems they're just not careful and maybe a little run down. I noted that the tub had been resurfaced and the surface was peeling (though the water pressure and temperature were amazing!), the coffee maker left a mildewy taste to the coffee, the microwave had dark stains that looked like mold (though I tried to clean it and it seemed embedded, not surface) and the beds sometimes looked like a kid had made them, e.g., with lumpy sheets under the blanket. A couple of nights I was awoken by loud noises from the room next door and somebody smoking pakalolo on the next-door lanai, but that isn't the hotel's fault, I guess. I love Hawaii and I and most visitors are delighted to get a chance to be here, so if you think these observations are picky, look at the good stuff - fresh apples on the reception desk for free, a water and coffee station in the reception area, a manager's night with free snacks and music and free DVDs and, as I said, lovely staff.
Work and play
FamigliaLaBella
(Adelaide, Australia)
Recently stayed at the Aqua Palms Waikiki, for a Conference. I chose this property, for its price and location to Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon (10min walk) and Kahanamoku Beach (15min walk). The lagoon is a great spot for kids to have a swim.
The room is spacious, with my room having two queen beds (great for 2 adults and 1 or 2 kids), and all rooms have a fridge, iron and ironing board, bathroom amenities, a good selection of TV channels, adequate size balcony and if you are lucky, get a ocean view.
The property also has a pool, a bbq area and offers car parking at a charge.
Kalakaua Ave, which has all of the shops, restaurants, bars and so is a 7-10min drive or a 20-25min walk away.
Ala Moana shopping centre is only a 5min drive away and the property gives each person a free return shuttle pass to the centre.
The property has a ihop on the ground floor, where you can go for breakfast (or lunch and dinner) and you may also get a discount, as you are staying at the property.
There is 2 ABC stores (convenient stores) within a 5min walk and plenty of restaurants within a 15min walk, like asian, Australian steakhouse, Italian, bbq, burgers and so on.
Contact me to manage your next holiday at john.labella@travelmanagers.com.au
Good for location!
Ashleigh K
Great location, about a 20 minute walk to Ala Moana Centre. You’re in reach of bus stops, ABC stores, cafes. The staff are good, the rooms are just right. The hotel was affordable, we’ll be staying here again when we come back to Waikiki.
Staff was absolutely great
Nancy N
(Cleveland)
This was my husband and my first trip to Hawaii. We stayed a week at the Aqua Palms.
Hotel staff responded quickly every time we called for help, whether it was extra towels or fixing something in the room. They fixed a slow running bath drain and a toilet issue both efficiently and completely to our satisfaction. They gave us a tutorial on how to use the room safe as there were no instructions and we couldn’t figure it out.
We had a free movie rental and couldn’t get it to play on the PlayStation in the room. Maintenance came and literally took the tv off the wall to get the wires hooked up correctly and working. Every single person on staff was warm, friendly and helpful.
There was a basket of free apples in the lobby every day at the front desk. They had a dispenser on the wall by the front desk filled with free reef-friendly sunscreen. We rubbed some on every day and it worked great.
We got the ‘free’ breakfast package. You get to eat at the IHOP next door or the coffee shop on the corner. Both provide basically the same choices for your breakfast. You select from a specific list of eggs, meat, carbs like toast, hash browns,pancakes, or French toast. Those are your only choices. I can’t eat a cooked breakfast every single day and would have loved to just have a bowl of Cheerios and fruit but that wasn’t allowed. I ended up buying some at the ABC convenience store around the corner and some milk for the room fridge and ate my breakfast in the room. On Sat morning when we needed to check out the dining options were so crowded we couldn’t use our free breakfast. So basically we wasted quite a few of our free breakfast certificates. Only choose the free breakfast option if you want a hot breakfast every day. Also you can only get coffee OR orange juice. Not both.
WiFi was the best I have ever had in a hotel. Worked great.
We used the beach chairs and beach towels several times and greatly appreciated that. We took the free shuttle to the mall/Walmart one day and it went smooth. Later in the week we wanted to head to Waikiki beach (it is a hike) so we waited for the shuttle. We could see where it was on their app. They say they run two shuttles but we never saw two. We knew the route they were going so we headed down to a nearby stop at the Ilikai hotel and waited for almost an hour for a shuttle bus to stop. We could see on the app map that the shuttle was finally getting to our stop and we were absolutely shocked when the shuttle drove right past the stop and didn’t even slow down!! We had just wasted an hour out in the blazing heat.
We went back to the Aqua Palms and complained and the concierge lady explained to us how to take the trolley. After that we used the public bus and the trolley. Before our trip I had researched transportation because we didn’t want to rent a car every day and selected Aqua Palms due to its free shuttle and proximity to the bus and trolley stops. I am giving this only a 3 rating because the hotel contracts with this shuttle service and then has no way to satisfy the customer when the shuttle service only runs one shuttle a day or doesn’t even stop to pick up people. This supposedly is part of your $25 day amenity fee you pay in addition to your room rate so we surely did not get our money’s worth on that.
They have a few washer and dryers in the hotel but they were always in use so we ended up walking down the block with a suitcase full of dirty clothes to a laundromat instead.
We had a balcony room and a nice partial view of the ocean. It was right on the street and there is constant traffic and noise so not a pleasant balcony to just sit out and enjoy reading a book or watching the ocean. It stays busy til all hours of the morning. I slept with ear plugs in.
The location is great. You can walk to many places and it is close to the Ilikai hotel where many tours pick people up. There is a outdoor shopping village across the street which was nice to stroll through, a couple ABC stores within walking distance, an Urgent Care around the corner, and a beach close by. We walked to several restaurants for dinner during our stay.
It has an air conditioned lobby, which surprisingly not all hotels have there and that is such a wonderful welcome while waiting for a taxi or after a day outside in the humidity and heat.
Both my husband and I slept well on the mattress and the air conditioning worked well in our room. The shower had really forceful water pressure which I enjoyed but if we had brought our son when he was younger he would have freaked out.
Although it was always busy outside with traffic and pedestrians, the day we ventured down to Waikiki beach we encountered wall to wall people on the streets and the beach. So in comparison, this location was much easier to get around and the beach close by became our preferred beach. All the beaches on the island are public beaches so you don’t have to be staying at a hotel to use the beach outside their property. Even though Aqua Palms was not directly on the beach, it was no problem to walk to a beach or cut through an ocean front hotel to access the beach. Nobody questions you walking through other hotels so even staying at the Aqua Palms a few blocks from the beach is not a disadvantage.
Overall with the exception of the disappointing shuttle experience and limited breakfast choices, the staff was superb and this was a good hotel for us.
Be Aware!
aussgirl
(Sydney, Australia)
We arrived at the hotel early yesterday morning hoping to leave our bags while we went out sightseeing. The first comment to us was how early we were and check in was at 3. The next comment was they were overbooked and had moved us to another hotel. Really, at 7 am? It was very obvious we had been bumped and the room sold for a higher price. Our booking agent was not notified and neither were we. After a 9 hour flight this is not what you want to deal with. Very, very poor service. Could not recommend this hotel at all.
