Embassy Suites Waikiki, Honolulu Review
You can book theEmbassy Suites Waikiki, Honolulu here.
Hilton manages an epic amount of properties in just such a close vicinity in Waikiki. There are a total of eightproperties in those few square miles that the company has under their marketing roof.
Since I'd already stayed at the Hilton Waikiki Beach (which I mostly liked) and the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort (which I really did not like) in 2013, I wanted to try something new. Armed with the weekend night certificate from my Hilton HHonors Reserve card sign-up, I found the Embassy Suites to have availability for 60,000 points (which is their standard level points redemption!). With those two one-night certificates, you can now book any standard rooms when available on points even if those might be 90,000 at some properties per night!
The Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk is part of a mixed development of part mall, part office, part hotel - right next to the Trump Tower. The mall looks pretty, but has just rather useless touristy shops in it. The Embassy Suites itself is made up of two old buildings that have been remodeled and combined with a new building housing the lobby and pool. It's all very close to the beach (though that closest part of the beach isn't my favorite along this stretch).
The lobby feels more like a garage or car park - it just feels wrong. I'm not sure what the architects showed in their drawings, but it has not come out well. Check-in was friendly, though, and fast with a room ready at 10AM.
The suite itself is two rather small rooms. There is a separate bedroom and living room (with a fold-out couch) and a good sized bathroom. The whole room felt very new and the furniture, carpet and tiles were well done.The beds were soft - too soft for my taste. The rooms heat up a lot during the day but the AC works well and almost without any sound.
There is also a balcony allowing you to look all the way to the Trump Tower, although overall views are somewhat limited.
The service was friendly and calls would be replied to immediately; that was pretty outstanding. If you need something, the staff will bring it right away, not 30 minutes later as most hotels do.
Given that the hotel attracts lots of families (the suites can sleep up to 6 people) the pool was CROWDED. It's not exactly big to begin with (and really shallow) but it was just not able to serve the amount of people at the hotel.
The same issue came up for breakfast, which was incredibly crowded and only had terrible quality items. Breakfast is included for all guests but I wish that I would have not gone and then my impression of the hotel would have been better.
Four times a week there is a drinks reception from 5.30PM to 7.30PM, where they serve potato chips and drinks. The drink selection was pretty solid while the snacks just felt super cheap.
I found the internet to be super slow and especially after 8PM where it would come to a complete halt. No premium internet is available at the hotel at all.
In conclusion, the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk is very similar to the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, with better rooms but less public space. It suffers from the same issues - maddening crowds, cheap and terrible food and a general atmosphere of cheapness. All this for $300-$400 room rates or 60k points... Only in Waikiki!
If you have a large family with small children (e.g. 4 kids) this place might be worth the pain. Otherwise consider some of the cheaper options and just get two huge, no-frills rooms and hang out at the beach most of the time.
You can book theEmbassy Suites Waikiki, Honolulu here.
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