The Beach Waikiki Hostel by ALOH — Hotel in Honolulu

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED This place is the cheapest and highest-rated option to stay in Honolulu. This place have a 4.7/5 rating and I only paid $170+ for 3 nights. The next cheapest options were $250+, but they only had a 3.7 rating. I almost booked too late, but luckily managed to get the last bed available during my stay. This is definitely a great place for the price, so I highly recommend booking early! They offer plenty of beach gear rentals, as well as free coffee and cold/hot water. The rooftop is really nice at night! Overall, the place is clean, considering people come and go from the beach. The bathrooms are cleaned once a day (or more upon request) during lunch when most guests are out. I’m sure the cleaners come in more than once, as there’s always new tissue paper, and I never saw the trash bins full. There are coin-operated washers and dryers available. I stayed in a co-ed room and was lucky to have roommates who respected the 10 PM downtime (the hostel observes quiet hours from 10 PM to 7 AM). The room itself was fine—there was enough space for all the bags. The lockers are small, just enough to fit daypacks, purses, or fanny packs. Each room has a fridge outside and a small space to hang out. Water pressure is great, and the shower's hot and cold water works well. There are three things I wish were improved: The Wi-Fi—it gets really slow at night when everyone is back at the hostel. The bunk bed frames—they’re a bit wobbly, so every small movement shakes the whole frame. A small thing, but I wish there was a mirror in the room. The only mirror is in the bathroom, so you have to wait if someone else is using it. The hostel is very close to all the famous spots in Waikiki. Waikiki Beach is just a 5-minute walk away, and there’s a bus stop just a 2-minute walk from the hostel. The popular moped rental shop is also on the next street, about 2 minutes away. Everything is really close and easy to walk to from here. Also, I met 4 different people working at the welcome desk, and all of them were nice! Lastly, it’s important to set your expectations: this is a shared space. If you’re picky or meticulous, this may not be the place for you. Personally, I usually like my alone time after a long day, so I tend to avoid shared spaces. But as an "avid review reader," I was curious about why this place has better ratings than some 5-star hotels. I’m so glad I checked in and tried it out! For my first-ever shared room experience, this place will be...

Knowing that our flight was landing early morning, we emailed the hostel on a couple of occasions in advance to ask whether there was any possibility of an earlier check in than the usual 2pm. The hostel did not have the decency to respond to any of our emails which was disappointing, especially as we could see the email system open at reception when we arrived (so it’s clear it wasn’t just an unchecked mailbox). While I appreciate that an early check in may not always be possible, the least I would expect from any hostel would be a response to confirm the position either way so that alternative arrangements could be made if necessary. ||||Given the lack of response, we proceeded on the reasonable assumption that we would be allowed check in as soon as the room was free and cleaned which, in most other hostels we’ve stayed in, has been earlier than the stated check in time. ||||When we landed in Hawaii, my partner was very ill. Upon arrival, we informed the guy at the desk of this and asked nicely if there was any chance we could get in to our room as early as possible (acknowledging that the hostel was full and rooms needed to be cleaned). The response was abrupt (and the guy was generally unsympathetic and unhelpful) that the check in was 2pm, no exceptions. We were told to just wait on one of the wooden seats (in 30 degree heat) out the back for when the room was ready. As my partner began to feel even worse (to the point where she needed a doctor) around 11.30 pm (30 mins after check out time) I asked whether there was any possibility that the hostel could ask the cleaning staff to prioritise our room given the circumstances. The response was ‘no’ with zero explanation, which is difficult to understand. The only logical conclusion is that the hostel simply weren’t bothered helping us. We eventually got access to our room just minutes before the 2pm check in time. I would have expected a lot better from a hostel (and particularly this one considering the prices they charge for a very modest room). ||||The room itself isn’t much better than the customer service, small, dark and dingy with an ancient and dusty air con system. Another guest walked into our room during our stay which was also less than ideal. The guest appeared to be checking in - not sure why they weren’t shown to the correct room...

Knowing that our flight was landing early morning, we emailed the hostel on a couple of occasions in advance to ask whether there was any possibility of an earlier check in than the usual 2pm. The hostel did not have the decency to respond to any of our emails which was disappointing, especially as we could see the email system open at reception when we arrived (so it’s clear it wasn’t just an unchecked mailbox). While I appreciate that an early check in may not always be possible, the least I would expect from any hostel would be a response to confirm the position either way so that alternative arrangements could be made if necessary. ||||Given the lack of response, we proceeded on the reasonable assumption that we would be allowed check in as soon as the room was free and cleaned which, in most other hostels we’ve stayed in, has been earlier than the stated check in time. ||||When we landed in Hawaii, my partner was very ill. Upon arrival, we informed the guy at the desk of this and asked nicely if there was any chance we could get in to our room as early as possible (acknowledging that the hostel was full and rooms needed to be cleaned). The response was abrupt (and the guy was generally unsympathetic and unhelpful) that the check in was 2pm, no exceptions. We were told to just wait on one of the wooden seats (in 30 degree heat) out the back for when the room was ready. As my partner began to feel even worse (to the point where she needed a doctor) around 11.30 pm (30 mins after check out time) I asked whether there was any possibility that the hostel could ask the cleaning staff to prioritise our room given the circumstances. The response was ‘no’ with zero explanation, which is difficult to understand. The only logical conclusion is that the hostel simply weren’t bothered helping us. We eventually got access to our room just minutes before the 2pm check in time. I would have expected a lot better from a hostel (and particularly this one considering the prices they charge for a very modest room). ||||The room itself isn’t much better than the customer service, small, dark and dingy with an ancient and dusty air con system. Another guest walked into our room during our stay which was also less than ideal. The guest appeared to be checking in - not sure why they weren’t shown to the correct room...