Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa — Hotel in Honolulu

Great hotel, great location but high fees! What started in Vegas and infected just about every hotel in the world. The dreaded resort fee to nickel and dime customers with hidden added costs are here to stay, unfortunately. (Simply put - why can't they just include them in the price?) That aside, the location of this hotel is hard to beat, right across the street from the Kūhiō Beach in Waikīkī and the famous bronze statue of Duke Kahanamoku. While the shops inside are not quite inclusive as Royal Hawaiian or Hilton Village, this Hyatt does try make everything convenient inside for the captive audience that they feel like they don't need to travel anywhere else for anything. With two ABC stores on site, several booking agents for attractions around Oahu, some with native Japanese speakers, many food options both owned by Hyatt, and not, even an arcade! The layout can be bit a confusing. We stayed at the Diamond Head tower, which is closest to the valet/self-parking (the parking garage is across the street on Uluniu Avenue where the Hyatt Regency Ballroom is). The resort fee includes things like day use of beach chairs, and even a GoPro Hero 10 (they only have about 8 of them to borrow starting at 6AM everyday and must be returned by 10PM). Each room includes a Hyatt Regency tote bag, and two reusable sippy cups. There's several water refill stations on the 3rd floor. We had access to the lounge and that was great perk if you can get it for the right price. While it does not include alcohol, there's unlimited Peet's coffee made to order by touch-screen machines, Soda Stream Professional sparkling water machine, and cans of Pepsi products (but not Mountain Dew - boo hoo!) The lounge food is essentially a small subset of what their buffet outside was serving. I wouldn't even call their dinner food anything more than dinner bites. The salad can be a bit old/wilted. It is more like you can fill up your kids on this inexpensive stuff, while you go splurge nearby at something with a table cloth and wait service. There's always apples and bananas available besides coffee and teas. (The teas are Starbucks' Tazo and Ito-en.) As one of the tallest resorts on Waikiki, the higher the floor you get, the better the view. That being said despite having four elevators for each tower, sometimes there can be long wait for elevator, and they don't indicate what floor they are currently on so you are left wondering if all four are running or not. Inside the elevator they make the ceiling like a tiki hut, which is a nice touch. We were there for Halloween, so there was extra long wait during the party hours. (Hotel guests didn't have to pay $25 per person entrance fee to their Halloween party.) As a choice hotel for Japanese travelers, every toilet has a Toto-brand bidet, and slippers are provided (like hotels in Asia). One nice plus that is not immediately obvious to most people visiting Hawaii is the air conditioner does not automatically turn off when you open the glass door to the balcony. There's manual blackout curtains and sheer curtains (not powered). The reason why it is not 5 stars (besides the high resort fees and parking fees - $70 for valet and $55 for self-parking!) was the towel "vending machine." While 24 hour access is nice, it uses RFID technology to track them and it is still immature. They automatically charged us even though we returned the towels without even using them that day. The charge takes forever to fall off. I think you have to return the towel one at a time in the drop box. There's even a momentary lag when you check them out, which implies to me they are using some IoT built-on older 5 nm CPUs with too little memory. There's also several table shuffleboard but they all were lacking in sand (irony being so close to the ocean) for the pucks to travel smoothly. We did a tour booked by the booking agent nearest the front desk only to find they had an upsell/booking fee tacked on, so I would explore other agents in the area if you are looking for...

This is the worst Hyatt I have ever stayed in. This hotel should not be a 4-star hotel. It's a 2-star at best. You are paying for the proximity to the ocean across the street. The place is so dilapidated that it looks like it should be in a scene of a movie about surviving the apocalypse. Everything is old and run down. The parking garage is 2 way on a 1 way sized lane. Floors 1 through 5 are valet only. The self park gets full, so we would have to either do the $70 valet or park a couple blocks down the road to self park. The lobby was a depressing corner on the 3rd floor. There was trash scattered all over the carpet along with random stuff scattered around... an abandoned single sandal and used towels. The elevators are INCREDIBLY slow. Like bring a good book slow. I only ever saw 2 working even though there are 4 for the tower we were in. When they finally do show up, the horde of people waiting for the elevator cram inside like sardines despite the obvious discomfort from the people in the back. I got so close to someone I could feel their chest rise and fall against my back while they were breathing. Talk about awkward. There are 40 floors, so stopping at numerous floors to let people on and off while being trapped in the worlds most uncomfortable mosh pit is very unpleasant. The bottom floors are an old outdoor mall with employees inside that look so bored you almost feel bad enough to go inside to buy something. The swimming pool is abysmally small. Walls have large chunks of paint that are peeling or torn and there are pencil marks on the wall where it looked like they may have planned to put a tv up but changed their mind and never erased the pencil. The furniture in our room looks like it was thrown off the back of a truck and dragged inside. There are stains on the upholstered chair... I'm trying not to think too hard about that one. No fan in the bathroom, so you better be prepared to bask in the heat and humidity of your shower. There was black mold growing on the ceiling above the shower.The inside rim of the toilet bowl was not cleaned. The noise from the street and hallway is ridiculously loud. I have no idea how I'm going to sleep between the police sirens, loud music, screaming, and the apparent vault heavy doors slamming in the hallway. We even used a noise machine app. Our room smells like a musty old sock even with the air running. The thermostat is directly under the vent, so it never quite gets the temperature you set right. I made the mistake of walking around the room in my white socks only to find they turned brown after standing on the dirty carpet for less than half an hour. The television has a blurry picture, and the wifi is slow. The bedding was a sheet and an extremely old felt blanket. I love having a bidet in the bathroom, but do yourself a favor and don't lift the lid covering the faucet of the bidet. It is absolutely caked with black mold. The laundry room is on the 4th floor in a tower we weren't staying in. It opens up to a metal cart with a microwave sitting on top. So not only do you have to cross the entire length of the hotel with all your clothes, the chances are, you wont find open machines because they dont have enough to accommodate the number of people staying here. This is only night 2 and just the things I've observed in a short amount of time. When we went down to inquire about getting the suite that was mentioned upon our arrival, they informed us that they had already upgraded us to an ocean view. The person who helped us when we checked in said there would be a suite available at the end of the week, and she changed our room for an ocean view and suggested returning about the suite. Now, they are claiming there is nothing else available in the entire hotel and that they already upgraded us. Why did she even mention the suite being available if they didn't allow us to pay extra for an upgrade to a suite? We booked a week here. I feel like I'm in Hotel Purgatory. It's not quite as bad as...

If you read in other reviews that this resort is "run down," please don't let that deter you! This is a terrific place to stay! You can tell it's been around a while, but the decor and "vibe" are charming and so appropriate for Hawaii. Our room was really comfortable and clean. Yes, there were a few paint chips and wallpaper flaws, but everything worked perfectly and was so clean. The staff alone is worth the price! They are friendly, kind, and amazing. The room has a small refrigerator, and if you want a microwave, just ask and they will deliver one for you to keep in your room. This hotel is two very tall towers with a HUGE open-air shopping atrium. There's a pretty standard coffee shop in the atrium as one of the shops, and the coffee and service are wonderful. The line is pretty long in the morning, but they get through it quickly. The poolside bar/restaurant is delightful with, of course, incredibly friendly and attentive staff. I started getting my brewed coffee there each morning and sitting on the high chairs that overlook the beach, rather than getting an espresso drink in the atrium. So beautiful. The pool is small, but lovely, with lots of recliners. The hot tub is big with pretty tile and stone and was just perfect. There are a couple kiosks where you can use your room key to obtain towels for pool or beach--really convenient! Return to the kiosk by 11:59 p.m. to avoid a charge. You can check out beach chairs at the pool area. Yes, the hotel is right there at Waikiki Beach. Just cross the street! There are ABC stores all around, including one in the atrium, so that's very convenient. And you can buy sandwiches and salads there to avoid going to a restaurant. Good liquor, wine, beer selection there, too. Many other shops all around! There's a McDonald's close by, too... My kids wanted the McDonald's breakfast. So easy! Within very easy walking distance are all kinds of shops, restaurants, food vendors, outfitters... And I recommend Star Beachboys for surfboard rentals ($15/hr) and lessons--easy, short walk from the hotel. Also the Hyatt offers fun classes throughout the week, too, like a ukulele lesson, included with the resort fee. Overall, this was a great experience. Please note that at the Hyatt Regency, you are smack in the middle of the "action." That means everything you need is very close by, easy to walk to. That also means you are in the middle of a very active tourist area, so don't expect quiet! But the rooms are pretty quiet for sleeping, so that's great. We loved having a balcony, and though it was a city view, not a beach view, it was FUN to watch all the activity below. The only downside was the parking garage. You can do self parking, but you do risk not getting a space. Though if it is full, they send you to another garage where you pay out of pocket, and they will ensure you aren't charged for the parking that night. Be warned that the Hyatt garage is tall and skinny and TIGHT. You can get the hang of it, but it's a little hard to navigate in such a tight space. But don't bother trying to park anywhere else (except maybe the other one they send you to... I think it is called International Market). It really is best to park at the Hyatt. They have valet, if you...