Kaimana Beach Hotel — Hotel in Honolulu

I can't say enough good things about my stay at the Kaimana Beach Hotel. As a first-time visitor to Hawaii, picking out the right place to stay among the overwhelming number of Waikiki offerings was fraught with uncertainty. I finally took a guess and settled on the Kaimana Beach on the basis of location, amenities, and price. After spending a week there, I have to say that I completely lucked out: my experience here was even better than I had hoped it would be.||Let's start out with location. Situated near the eastern end of Waikiki, the property is right on the beach and bordered by parks on two sides. There was none of that “all built up” feel I encountered elsewhere in Waikiki; instead I felt as if I were staying at a small, far-off resort. My companion and I would got out on the beach in the evenings and watch the sun set into the ocean in perfect serenity. ||To be fair, the location does have some drawbacks. The parks that I mentioned separate the hotel from Waikiki's shops and restaurants by about a half mile. The walk through the park is quite pleasant, but it wasn’t always convenient. I ended up calling for Lyft rides more than I'd expected to, but in my estimation, that was well worth it.||A brief word on price: I feel I got great value for my money. I’ll take this occasion to say a personal thank you to Ursula, the very helpful booking consultant who set up my reservation. She went to significant effort to come up with a combination of rates and rooms that fit perfectly into my budget. ||Now to the hotel itself. The first view of the lobby is breathtaking, with the far end wide open to the ocean, and exotic decor all around. It was a surprise then, that when I got off the elevator to get to my room, the corridors seemed drab, almost institutional. I started to wonder if I'd made a mistake-- what would I find when I opened the door? There was no need to worry at all. The room was surprisingly roomy: though listed as a single, it felt more like a suite, with separate sitting and sleeping areas. Everything in the room was spotlessly clean, the sitting area nicely appointed, the bathroom well-stocked, the mattress firm and comfortable. The spacious wraparound balcony offered a fine view of Diamond Head. What more could I ask for? ||Well, just one thing. The air conditioning unit was surely a technological marvel, but lacking an engineering degree, I never could get it set to the right temperature, so I'd wake up every morning either sweating or freezing. I probably should have called down to the desk and asked them to send someone up to adjust it for me, but for whatever reason, I never remembered to do so. Tip: if you find yourself in the same situation, be smarter than me and ask for some help.||Now, let's head back downstairs to the Hau Tree restaurant, where there's good and not-so-good to be said. The good part is that the food is excellent and the ambience can’t be beat. However, I got the feeling that the restaurant’s not really set up to service hotel guests. You need to make reservations well in advance, and they’re not always available. The place doesn’t open for breakfast until 8:00 am, and the bar shuts down at ten on the dot. It’s also quite pricey, at least in my view; you can decide for yourself by looking over the menu, which you’ll find on the hotel website.||My bottom line here is that I wish that the hotel had a wider variety of offerings: the Hau Tree is great when you’re looking to treat yourself, but sometimes you just want to grab a quick breakfast or a sandwich for lunch. However, there's both a tiny coffee shop (great pastries!) and a very well-stocked convenience store attached to the hotel, which together went a long way to taking care of my needs. In addition to that, a five-minute walk through the park will take you to a nice outdoor cafe (The Barefoot Beach) where they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner on picnic tables at more reasonable prices.||Finally, there’s no way this review would be complete if I didn’t mention the staff. I have never, and I mean never, run into a more pleasant and helpful bunch of folks at a hotel of this size. Everyone-- front desk agent, restaurant servers, bartender, the housekeeping staff-- were friendly and cheerful, and bent over backwards to make sure our stay was enjoyable. Seriously-- without one single exception!||Here’s my prime example. I was initially booked into a room on the third floor, and while I’ve already mentioned how nice it was, I had been hoping I might get a room higher up for the sake of the view. The next morning I stopped at the front desk and asked if it might be possible to make a switch. The agent spent some time on his computer, then looked up and announced with smile, “Yes, we can do that.” I spent the rest of my stay on the seventh floor, enjoying the view and appreciating the desk agent’s efforts.||“But wait!” as they say on TV. “There’s more.” When I packed to switch rooms, I messed up and left a bunch of my clothes in the closet, then went off for the day. When I got back to the new room, I was amazed to find all that I’d left right there in front of me. Up until then, I hadn’t even realized I’d left them behind. It was clear that the housekeeping staff and the front desk folks had worked together to track down where all the stuff belonged, and made sure it was waiting for me. Talk about taking great care of the guests!||So here’s my final verdict. The Kaimana Beach Hotel has strong points and weak points like anywhere else, but my companion and I kept saying throughout our whole stay, “Did we ever make the right choice!”||Oh yeah, and one other thing. I'll say it again because it's worth repeating: the staff is just plain incredible. Thanks for a...

We stayed in room 317 from October 23rd to October 31st. We’ve been staying at this hotel for over 15 years, back to when it was called the New Otani.||The good:|-We told the hotel that we were celebrating our 35th anniversary, and they gave us a complimentary bottle of champagne. Nice. |-The bed is super comfortable and has good linens.|-The view from our Ocean Front-corner room was amazing; one direction Kapiolani Park, the other direction, the Pacific Ocean. |-While the room was fairly small, once our clothes were unpacked and put away/hung up/put in drawers, it sufficed for two of us. (you could not leave your bags out and unpacked or it would be too small). The wrap around balcony, extended the space considerably.|-The balcony was amazing. One of our favorite things was having our coffee on the patio in the morning and wine at night, just sitting there listening to the sounds of the ocean and people watching as folks enjoyed the beach and park activities. |-The third-floor room was a perfect height, in line with the tops of many of the palm trees…so cool, lying in bed and watching the palm trees sway.|-Most every person that was on the staff were very polite and accommodating. ||The o.k.:|-Some of the towels were plush and good quality. However, some of the towels were rather threadbare. Strange.|-The room was mostly clean yet, two days, we found long black hairs in our shower, that did not belong to us. Strange.|-We had to request a coffee pot for our room, which they provided. However, two days they did not leave any coffee. We requested coffee and it was promptly brought to us.|-We started off our stay with two water glasses, two coffee cups and a bottle of water. However, about two days in, we only had one water glass and two coffee cups. Strange. We made do by drinking wine out of a coffee cup. |-The outside chairs on the balcony were very uncomfortable and need cushions. ||The bad:|-It seems the hotel is short staffed. There is no longer a concierge desk, a bellhop or a beach attendant. The valet seems to work limited hours.|-There was often only one person working the front desk. We had to request beach towels and beach chairs from the front desk. Often, we would have to wait as the attendant checked in the next customer. One day, it was an elderly couple asking many questions. The front desk clerk was very polite and patient…but, we waited about 10 minutes just to get our towels, while he helped them first. Then the elderly couple needed help with their luggage, and the front desk attendant left the desk and helped them to their room with their luggage, (after giving us our beach towels)….but, leaving the front desk unmanned…crazy.|-We had a car for two days and wanted to get it at 7 am to drive to the other side of the island. The valet was not at work yet, so the front desk clerk had to get our car!!!|-In the past, there was a beach attendant that would dig a hole in the sand and give you a substantial-strong umbrella along with chairs and beach towels. Now, there is not a beach attendant and the hotel no longer provides umbrellas!|-Three days, there were not enough beach chairs, so we sat on the ground. I complained and the hotel comped the $40.00 per day resort fee.|-Why do they charge a resort fee? No one brings you drinks on the beach. They do not provide umbrellas. The chairs are limited in numbers. It seems a resort fee should only be charged if they provide resort amenities; beach-drink service, placed umbrellas, etc… This is an unneeded charge, if the hotel is not going to provide resort amenities. ||The ugly:|-The hotel had a soft remodel about a decade ago and things improved. But, it is time for another remodel. See my pictures; the bathroom sink is crackling/has lines. The bathroom mirror has rust spots. The sofa table is old and worn. The door to the cabinet, where the fridge is, is worn and does not close properly. The hallway carpeting is torn. The elevator carpet is stained. The bathroom light switch evidently had an electrical fire and the switch is still burn-stained. |-There is an atrium in the middle of the hotel open to the sky above. On the third floor is the bottom. It is bare. There is nothing there, just a blank white space, (see picture). It seems this should have tropical plants or some decoration in it. As it sits now, with the cinder block walls and no decorations and all... the interior hallways and atrium looks like, what I would imagine... a prison would look like, as we have seen in movies. Very ugly and bare.||Don’t get me wrong, this is still a nice hotel. The location is wonderful, away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. The corner room view is fantastic and the service is very good. But, at $590.75 per night, I expect the hotel to be perfect. It is not. It is worn. ||This hotel needs to either do a deep remodel or they need to lower their rates. Next year, when I return to Oahu, I will be investigating what $590.75 per night gets me elsewhere, before I make a decision to...

We stayed here for a week for our honeymoon. Our Uber drivers who have all have lived on the island anywhere from 10-40 years. All said this was a great hotel compared to the busy/Hussle and bustle of the main Waikiki strip. The locals come to visit this very beach/parks nearby. Very low key, clean, and AC was great. Refrigerator was a champ at making drinks cold quick. Awesome ocean views if you book ocean view room.

$$$: -Be expected to pay more for items as Hawaii is expensive and everything is shipped in.

-Rental car? Don't recommend. Main stores/restaurants are all on busy one way traffic with crazy turns/lanes especially Waikiki strip. $50 a night of valet, we paid in total of +$600 for ours here for a rental car we only used 4 times. Use shuttle services for faraway tours. Uber came in clutch.

They have a restaurant here, ate here once. Great scenery and food was good. Again, was only worth to try it once due to price tags.

-There is a convinent store in the same plaza with convinent price tags. However, it came in clutch more than once and they had an ASSORTMENT!

Be prepared-

Swimming: ocean is only option at this hotel. It can feel sticky due to salt residue /sunscreen. Those who aren't strong swimmers may not like the high tide/strong current warnings. We have seen children play and swim here and many were tumbled by strong waves😅. Lifeguard on duty.

Coffee: There's No coffee here, I'm a daily iced coffee drinker. Brought my iced coffee cup I normally use back home along with my preferred sweetner. Bought premade cold coffee from the convenience store refrigerated aisle. Will run about $5-$7 per cup. Despite price,it was cool trying the different Hawaiian cold coffees. Convinence store has hot coffee brewed every day. If you make a grocery run/order get premade cold brew coffee and addons if your into iced coffee.

Food/water/ no microwave:

They have ice machine on 8th floor. There is a refill water bottle station on bottom floor.

Uber grocery and Walmart pickup are most helpful for grocery needs. Walmart delivery had some issues I read so didn't try.

Before arriving at hotel we stopped for a Walmart pickup. Got bottled water and other grocery needs for sandwiches/frozen items.

Uber eats was great for those tired from exploring days but don't want to walk or get dressed up to eat out but wanted hot food.

There are no microwaves here aside from the smaller non ocean view rooms. Thankfully cheap Walmart appliances helps here😉 used for frozen breakfast burritos on early excursion days/leftovers.

About a 10 min walk you'll find the Barefoot shack. Best of local, Casual, hot food for a reasonable price and very generous portions near the hotel. They have those mini coffee creamers here(great for those cold coffee drinks from store ) their iced coffee isn't the best at the shack.

Staff: Got varied staff who were cool and awesome like Mark(front desk) and Sonia(housekeeper) while another was not helpful (a woman we didn't get a name to) . He let us borrow a umbrella, chairs etc for beach while the unnamed woman said they don't let us borrow anything and to only buy at convinence store.

Overall: Hotel is great for the location and clean. Sure it doesn't have certain amenities you'll find elsewhere but for the price, location, and amenities your trading out for and can work around...