DoubleTree by Hilton Alana - Waikiki Beach — Hotel in Honolulu

Let me start by saying, before booking a hotel for our trip I did research and read reviews. Watched countless YouTube videos, etc. This trip was a graduation gift for my oldest son, I planned carefully and budgeted wisely because Hawaii is not an inexpensive destination. This is long, detailed and if you take the time to read, hopefully it helps save someone an unpleasant situation such as the one we experienced.

Upon checking in, I questioned the amount they had charged my card in the lobby to which the attendant said "it's for your stay minus the initial down payment required when booking." (I did not use a third party, I booked directly through the hotel's website.) I asked again, as the amount was now a total of $1,984.86 and my booking receipt was $1,372.02. This is a difference of $612.84. Factor in the $50 nightly for parking, that's still an overcharge of $412.84. I call the front desk, where I am transferred to a manager. She proceeds to attempt to make the calculations make sense. When she can't she informs me that there is essentially nothing they can do. They could attempt to cancel the prior authorization and rerun it but this lends the chance that the funds would be held up TWICE. Essentially informing me that when the authorization is processed upon check-out it will only run for what we SHOULD be charged and not the whole $1,641.86, releasing the extra that is held. Great. So, what I should have been charged upon check in (approx. $1,229.02, give or take a small margin with taxes) was over $400 that we had budgeted for meals and other adventures and we will now have to wait for this to refund WHEN WE CHECK OUT, rendering it useless to us as we will then be on our way back home. While talking to me I had let out a sigh if you will, a huff, and the manager says to me "I would appreciate if you didn't laugh at me Miss, I'm trying to help you." - how, how have you tried to help me other than telling me I'm out that money until check out, with a chance of funds being held up twice if we try to cancel the existing prior authorization and re-run appropriately? There was zero effort to actually rectify in any way. (Being that all prior experiences with Hilton Doubletrees have been pleasant I will be transparent, I was shocked.)

Day 2: The pool is allegedly "heated". When we went to the pool we are greeted by another guest who is on the patio and informs us the pool, despite claims of being heated is unpleasantly cool, that she couldn't make it in any further than waist deep. We didn't need to dip in any further either, even with pleasant temperatures outside the water was not at all comfortable, enjoyable or inviting. We opted to relax briefly on the patio before heading to get our car and venture out.

Which is when we find out they lost the key to our rental, we went down to valet to get our car to leave and they literally could not find our key. They took myself, my son and his girlfriend to the car to see if they key was somehow in the car (it was not.) They then called the individual who had been on shift, and after like twenty minutes the key surfaced. - at this point, our plans were impacted because of the time wasted but I was just thankful we had the key. I will say that the valet team greeted us upon our return in the evening, offered a SINCERE apology, and offered to remove the cost of parking for 1 night due to the inconvenience. Very much appreciated; was not expected and again, we were just thankful to not have to inform the rental party that we were without a key.

We then find out, despite the fact that hotel amenities highlight electric vehicle charging capabilities the charger is not functional, so this also is not feasible.

The elevators took a significant amount of time, enough so that we opted for the stairs for the full duration of our stay. This works for us but if you are dependent on elevator use, be forewarned it can be timely; this was noted by other guests in passing during the duration of our stay as well.

The hotel's location...

Very unimpressive and problematic in many ways. Though location is near Waikiki beach the walk is an effort with the long lights and complicated intersections. Though one of side of the hotel states there is a partial ocean view, it is very partial. The city Diamond Head side is much nicer and less money.

They charge a $35 a day resort fee but this is not a resort in any way, shape, or form. There is no grounds to walk around whatsoever. There is no beach. There is no spa. There is a tiny poor restaurant that is barely open. The lobby is drab and tiny. The pool is small, Hilton Garden Inns have bigger pools. The gym is minuscule. There is no shuttle anywhere. The restaurant is rarely open and the Hikers cafe was never open once. This is not a resort!

The hotel needs a lot of updating. There is an effort ongoing. The hallways are dated and are beat up, as are the elevators. My first room was small and smelled really bad. I moved to another room that was much better. But my large balcony was bolted shut due to construction but it make it worse I saw no construction in the 5 days I was there. The rooms need updating as well but the bed is nice. They skimp heavily on toiletries giving the bare minimum. For how pricey this hotel is that is not ok. It feels like on every level you a being cheated.

The lobby is tight and needs updating. The staff should be much more friendly and welcoming. They charge too much for parking at $50 a night. That might be standard for the area but for this hotel too much. Often has to wait a bit to get the Valet to show up. Since the entry is right off the street there were several pieces of luggage sitting there unattended while I waited for a valet.

The restaurant on-site is called Trees. It is open for breakfast from 6-9:30am. It is $29.95 and some change per person and it is an awful breakfast. It is Hampton free breakfast but so much worse (Hamptons do a nice job now). The eggs were dry one day and another before closing they were out. I asked if they cooked eggs to order as the elevator picture shows fried eggs they said no and laughed. I asked can you make more eggs since you are still open but are out before closing. Their response well you need to arrive before 9:15 for that. Bare minimum fresh fruit and nothing unique to Hawaii. Pastries subpar. One flavor of yogurt. This is bare minimum breakfast and a complete rip off for price. You can make your own waffles like Hamptons but only has one waffle maker. For the price this is a joke, the quality poor. Some days the staff were nice others borderline rude. The fact they do not remain open to ten in the morning is odd.

They are open again in the evening but only to 8:30. There is a bar but that is an early closing for a bar. Did enjoy some drinks here and bartender was great.

As a Hilton Diamond member many hotels now allow you to use your daily meal credit for food from the pantry especially when the restaurant is open such limited hours. That is not the case here which is very disappointing. They must keep lots of the food allowance from their Hilton Honors members which is not paying them the respect they deserve.

I did request a late checkout something that is granted to Diamond members upon request. I got only 30 Minutes.

The staff here have an attitude. Not once was there acknowledgement of Diamond status as they are suppose to do or even a hello or welcome. They did not ask how the stay was and wished me safe travels or such send off. They seem quite disgruntled. One encouraged me to write complaints as he said the resort fee is a scam.

On the opposite end though the housekeeping staff were so kind and friendly. Always a greeting and have a nice day.

Avoid this place. Hopefully Hilton corporate will step in and require changes. Being a very loyal Hilton fan this was a huge disappointment and a waste of money. I love the brand but it has some places that need work to represent the brand the way...

For perspective, I'm a frequent business traveler who has earned diamond status with Hilton through stays, not through credit card perks. I have a lot of experience with Hilton properties and write with that in mind.

This property needs some work. I visited on an awards stay for points with my mother, taking her to Hawaii as a gift. It's understandable for properties to age a little worse in Waikiki than other places given the lack of space creating a lack of impetus for new development and innovation, but whereas the Double Tree Brand tends to be sleek, clean, and modern, this felt substantially older and run down.

The worst part is that the stuff that is easy to control, easy to modernize, the service, is where the property performs the worst. Let me get the good out of the way real quick and say it's one of the fastest Valet services I've ever seen, very impressed by their valet crew. Which is good, because valet parking is mandatory if you have a car and costs $50/night.

There are two restaurants on property. One is the Trees Cafe which handles their breakfast buffet which comes in at a whopping $30/person and is the exact same as you get for free in any Hampton Inn or Embassy Suites across the country. I know this is hawaii, I don't mind paying a bit more, but $30 for this is absolutely absurd. Real restaurants in the area don't charge that much for food. Even with the $18/day meal credit provided by my diamond status, I'm still paying $12 bucks for it. Now, that being said, $12 is probably fair. But if you're not a Hilton Elite member, you're paying THIRTY. My best guess is that the raised the rate to a point where they'll be okay even if all their guests are Golds and Diamonds, and then said screw everyone else. I have to imagine if they made it a reasonable 10 bucks or so, they'd lose a bit of money on the honors members, but gain a ton from the visiting families with kids who would be willing to shell out 40 bucks for a family breakfast rather than scoff at 120 and go to McDonalds.

The second restaurant does offer A la Carte Food Options. But unlike every other Double Tree I've ever been to, you are not allowed to use your honors meal credit at the ala cart restaurant. If you WANT to get your honors perk, you have to give them $12 and eat a bog standard breakfast buffet. There is no market, and there is no microwave in your room. If you want a convenient meal without going out, you're paying above tourist prices for below average food, and you're hoping you have the status to bring the above tourist prices down to actual tourist prices. Truly, truly, awful way to treat the folks who spend upwards of half a year living at their properties.

The staff is poorly trained or deceitful or both. The phone operator could not explain how to work the poorly labeled shower over the phone and sent an "engineer" up. When requesting fresh coffee pods for the room, the staff either didn't send them, lied to each other about the fact that they were sent, or brought up 1 or 2 of the daily 4.

I requested a late check-out (a perk available due to status) because my flight out wasn't leaving until 8pm and I'd like an afternoon nap. "We can't do anything, we're sold out that day."

"Ah, no problem."

That felt weird though, especially after all the other shady things. So I looked it up. They weren't sold out. They still had buckets of rooms for sale on the hilton website. I confronted the manager.

"Oh, we have to keep selling those in case there's no-shows."

"So you're selling rooms you don't actually have?"

"Yeah, but that's normal in the hotel business. Also we have to have certain types of rooms."

"Ah, so the issue is the room type. But you're showing city/mntn view 2 queen beds available as well."

"Can't do anything."

Called the Diamond help line. They confirmed the hotel had actual availability. The staff was lying to me.

tl;dr: go somewhere else. The hotel is old and the...