Hilton Grand Vacations Club Hokulani Waikiki Honolulu — Hotel in Honolulu

I was visiting Honolulu for 2 day. Since it was raining I figured I would check out the property I would be staying at with my wife in October to gain some insight to make the most of our upcoming vacation. The front desk punted on my request and told me to talk with the concierge which I felt was fair since helping HGVC owners is part of their job. We Waited 20 minutes to talk with the concierge and I am pretty sure the only word she knew was "no". Not even a look at their pool. This is the first time a HGVC property has ever refused me a courtesy tour of their property to review their facilities. In just the last week I was shown this courtesy twice. Once at the Flamingo in Las Vegas and the other time at the Hilton Hawaiian Village just down the road. When I stay at one of these two properties I will be happy to give them some of my time in return for the time they gave me. I would give the Hokulani one star but in all fairness I had a very nice experience with the Bell Captain on the street who was very helpful in answering my questions about the area even though that's technically not part of their responsibilities . I can not wait for the inevitable Concierge calls that always start two weeks before one stays at a HGVC property asking you to give up valuable vacation time to preview the property you are staying at as a HGVC owners update. I will be more than happy to repeat the word they themselves use so well "NO". "You did not have time to help someone who has been extremely loyal to your parent company at a very high level on my terms so I am not going help you earn that commission booking an update using my time on your terms."

Update (10/09/15)

My stay has blown my expectations away !!!! The Hokulani is an Oasis at the gateway to Waikiki. First it is not a HGVC that is meant for children. That said it is an adult paradise. I was not sure I would like Honolulu as I prefer the natural beauty of the country vs the city but here I can have the best of both worlds. All the tours around Oahu you could ever want have a major pick right across the street so you can easily experience the natural beauty I crave of real Hawaii outside the city with no hassles. Hokulani being at the gateway of Waikiki also gives you the additional option of enjoying Waikiki and all its world class amenities. Multiple restaurants and stores are literally a block or two away as well as the hustle and bustle of Waikiki beach which is 2 blocks away !!! The roof top dipping pool, hot tub and cabanas are the real gem and your oasis from the city.

The only thing that could make this better is if HGVC would give members access to the amenities of the Hilton Hawaiian village which is a few blocks away. The precedent for this has already been established for their most loyal elite members on the Big Island where access to Kings Land is granted even if you are not specifically staying at that resort. Hopefully HGVC is listening to members opinions on simple (no expense involved to the corporation) ways to enhance the club !!!

BTW: The staff at the Hokulani...

My least favorite hotel/resort experience in a long time. But there is good and bad. VIEW Bad. Horrible. An ugly roof, the side of a building, and a busy, LOUD street. Sirens, racing cars, busses-- all so loud. BATHROOM Good-- the bathroom shower is the best I've ever had with strong water and a hand held option. There is a bidet on the toilet and the TV in the bathroom mirror. Bad--tub fills from the ceiling- yes this looks cool but it turns out that is not because the splashing is craziness and it is so so loud. KITCHEN Good--It's fully stocked with dishes and cookware, has a cook top (no oven). Instant hot tap on sink and a kettle. Bad--zero room for food - you have to move and rearrange all the dishes to find any space for groceries. A glass shelf over the counter for dishes would look nice if they ever improve storage. Also, the cabinet hits the entry door when you open it enough to pull out a drawer. A designer somewhere didn't do a very good job spatially. DINING Only designed for 2 in a room that sleeps 6. We had 3 so we pulled a stool from the bathroom to make it work. BEDROOM Good--Hilton beds are always awesome. Know This-- is double beds, not queens Bad-- only one beside table between both beds so shared space with a big lamp, phone, and clock on it, so little space left for phones and drinks. BALCONY Bad. All 100% bad. Our door was locked and we couldn't go out on ours at all. Probably because of the worst location a room could ever have. Even if you could open the door, it's Itty bitty. POOL Forget about it. Why they bothered is beyond me. Made my kiddo want to be inside playing video games and she normally loves pools. 3ft max and not even a lap pool since there's a bench down the middle. Worst pool of any resort I've stayed at. If you just want a lounge chair and bar, fine, but it's no kind of pool. LOCATION Meh. If you're visiting Hawaii to spend thousands of dollars on high-end items, fine, but it's just a fancy mall with lots of traffic. You have to walk a few blocks to the beach. CONSTRUCTION Worst part of the stay was construction. Every single morning and throughout the day, jackhammering, drilling, noise so intense we could feel the whole room vibrate and couldn't hear a TV. Every single day. SERVICE The team was nice and helpful.

The bottom line is that I would never stay at this resort again. With the cost of it, the constant noise of traffic and construction, and a total lack of pool when it's not on the beach makes it a waste of money. Pick...

To begin, we are HGVC owners. We used 'Open Season' to book our room. We stayed three nights. This was not our first visit to this hotel. But, I must say, it may have been our favorite. |As we were moving from another hotel, we arrived in the morning to have our luggage stored until check-in. This was easy and efficient. To expedite our check-in later in the day, I 'checked in' in the morning so all that I had to collect at 4pm were the keys. The desk was not busy at 9am!|At 4pm, we went to our room. We were given a beautiful, end-of-the-hallway room on the 10th floor! Loved it! (I like a quiet room away from the elevator.)|The bathroom was as a big (or bigger!) than the living room. Huge shower. Free standing tub (that fills from the ceiling), two closets, separate toilet, two sinks! Great!|The room itself was very clean. |The kitchen is quite small--just a studio kitchen with two hot plates and a small(er) fridge and freezer. But, it was adequate. I don't cook much on holidays. It was sufficient to prepare a light breakfast. |During the day and early evening, one could hear people and sirens from down below on the road. But, it was quiet at night! That was a big concern for me but I must say that the room was pretty quiet from outside noise!|I will say, though, that we had a small noise issue one evening. I thought that I had inadvertently turned on the tv in the bathroom mirror. There was no picture, but the sound was as clear as day. I could hear it from the bed in the bedroom. Was it a podcast? A radio show? What was it? I called the front desk for help as I could not seem to turn off the volume. Turns out, the neighbors next door had their TV on. Maintenance called the front desk and the front desk asked them to turn it down. In minutes, I couldn't hear anything. While I felt badly, I was happy that the hotel dealt with it quickly. I wonder, though, about soundproofing--but, for me, it was handled!|We appreciated, too, the bathrobe and slippers. While we had to request these items, we were pleased that they were an option. |The rooftop pool was clean and not too busy. As many have said, it is really just a dipping pool. But, it was nice. We enjoyed a dip in the hot tub, too. There were plenty of loungers and fresh towels. It was relaxing to spend some time lying on the chaise and viewing the ocean and city scape. |All staff that we encountered during our stay were courteous, professional, and friendly. |We...