Wayfinder Waikiki — Hotel in Honolulu

Spent four nights here in early March. Didn’t love this hotel— definitely some pluses and minuses. In the interest of giving some feedback/insight, let’s talk…

Pluses -Location. Super close to the beach and all the great spots in Waikiki. Walkable, to say the least.

-The cold brew at B Side Cafe 👌🏻 on point.

-Design of lobby (love the open air space).

-The pool. Big plus. It’s pretty well done overall. Nice music and solid drinks at the pool bar. Lovely design. Busy— but never too crazy.

-Room: Some pluses here. Really loved having the balcony with two big doors we could open and feel the cool ocean breeze into our room. Pretty view of the pool below and mountains on the other side. Bed, comforter, and sheets were comfortable— liked the pillows and having the mini fridge in our room.

-Soaps/shampoo/conditioners. Really nice stuff.

Deltas

-Housekeeping: Something was off here. On our second day they knocked on our door at 7:55 am to clean our room— and the staff was cold to me when I kindly asked if she could return later. 👀 The next day, our room didn’t get any cleaning — at all. It’s like she was trying to punish us 😒 😂. No towel refresh. No trash change. Nothing. Kind of basic stuff here for a property claiming four stars. Not up to par at all.

-Resort fee/amenities: The whole American resort fee thing is dumb (and quite often a reason I book an Airbnb)— and this property is certainly not alone in this foolish trend. These resort fees were all outlined up front— so, in fairness, we knew what we signed up for. Still, I was frazzled when— on day two— they ran out of beach “loungers” by 10am. 😒 The beach chairs (and beach towels) offered by Wayfinder are crazzzyyy cheap. By our observation, some of the other Waikiki hotels offer farrrrrr nicer chairs and towels— not sure what we were paying for here. Highly recommend yall upgrade these amenities so your guests have something nice to sit on after their walk to the beach. After all, that’s why we are here.

-Check In/Front desk: Some staff were really friendly. Some-were not. Context: We arrived to the hotel at 11am after a 6 hour flight. The hotel sent an email asking if we wanted early check in— for $150ish bucks. 👀 I didn’t like that— feels very nickel and dimey. Regardless, we opted to wait until 3 pm to check in— and asked to pop into a restroom to change. The front desk pointed down the hall to the nearest restroom. It has one stall— it was occupied. About 20 minutes went by— and my partner and I waited and waited and waited— thinking somebody must have been taking care of some business 😂. I finally just went into the bathroom to see what was up— and walked in to find one of the staff watching a YouTube video on his phone— laughing. Cmon man. That peeved me. We also didn’t know the pool bathroom was larger and just around the corner— would have been kind for the front desk staff to just direct us there after she just watched us sit there for 20!! minutes. Kinda a bad first impression.

-The room: Some pluses, yes—but felt kinda bare bones overall. Thin thin windows and doors. Could hear everything in the hallway and outside. Aircon crazy weak. Left us a couple water bottles on day one— never anything else. Ice machine in the hall didn’t always work— so we went floor to floor to find one that did from time to time. I just didn’t find the room or amenities to be special at all.

-Nickle and dimey: Like I mentioned before— we got emails before our visit and on our last day asking if we wanted early check in ($150ish) or late check out ($45?+ish). This whole scheme hit me the wrong way— particularly when the resort fee amenities were unavailable before 11am + my room wasn’t ever really properly cleaned or refreshed. Would have loved a couple more hours before our flight— but nah. We cool.

Overall, we had an okay stay. I don’t know if I’d return— the Wayfinder didn’t win me over (but didn’t completely lose me, either). Definitely some opportunities for growth— but I’ll test out a couple other properties on Waikiki before...

We wanted to enjoy this hotel, but unfortunately, we had a pretty awful experience at the Wayfinder Waikiki. It was so bad, in fact, that we ended up leaving a day early and cancelled our last night. To be honest, the hotel experience at Wayfinder was a bit of a bummer for our overall trip to Hawaii (it was my first time going and we were going to celebrate our first year anniversary/delayed honeymoon).

Let’s get to the biggest issue we had…our room. After initially being placed in a small, ADA accessible room (which is GREAT that they offer, but we, as two able bodied, 6 ft plus people, do not need to take from those who may actually need and benefit from lower to the ground amenities), the manager corrected the situation and put us in a different room, a corner room, on the top floor. The new room was beautiful, with great views, but small for spending a week in Hawaii, with limited storage and bathroom space. It was fine though. The big issue was that here we are in this gorgeously renovated space and guess what they didn’t renovate and replace…one of the first things you should…windows and sliding doors. One of our aluminum sliding glass doors would not shut all the way, so all day AND night long, we would hear the winds howling in through the open spaces at the top and bottom of the door where it did not connect. It got especially bad as a tropical storm moved in about halfway into our visit. It shook the entire door and window (we have videos that are pretty insane) and not only were we not getting good sleep, we felt unsafe. We finally called maintenance about it and their solution was to put a wood door stop at the bottom to close the bottom gap, with the top gap still being present. The noise caused by this issue is one of the main reasons we left early as we were not getting adequate rest on a VACATION. Lipstick on a pig. I also wonder if we, as a gay couple, were placed in this room on purpose to inconvenience us as there is no way they didn’t previously know about this structural issue.

Other issues we had included check-in. We got in early and they gave us ONE luggage tag for our five bags, some of which are valuable, and then stuffed them into the operations room. Once check-in time started at 3 pm, the lobby was CHAOTIC (a pattern we saw every day) with rooms not being ready on time and the works. Just seemed like they didn’t have enough people working to ensure rooms are being cleaned on time and guests are being properly taken care of. When we went to retrieve our bags, along with several other people, the stressed out employee told everyone to just “go back there and take your bag,” opening a Pandora’s box that could have led to people stealing other’s belongings. After checking in and getting into our first room, we noticed not only was it ADA, but they also forgot to set up the honeymoon package we ordered (which made us feel like they just threw us in whatever room was ready). Even when we got to the second room (two hours+ after check in), the package wasn’t set up and we had to call for them to say “oh yeah! We must have forgotten.” Again, as a gay couple, I can’t help but to wonder if this omission was purposeful…

In addition, one of the two elevators broke for two+ days during our visit, causing long waits and even more lobby chaos (the guest elevators are also used as service elevators). In asking employees where things like the ice machine were, staff either didn’t know or had wrong answers (we ended up going to every floor and found it ourselves). In speaking with other guests staying on property, there seemed to be this general feeling of disappointment. One guest we talked to in the gym said she went and bought a coffee maker because even a simple coffee maker, like a Keurig, is not in the room (they told her, “well there’s a cafe in lobby,” which is true but also cost $4-6 for a coffee and opens at 6 am as opposed to the ease of having one in room). We also reached out and wanted to talk about our experience with them…they have yet to respond...

As a traveler who stays all over the world, I had a fantastic experience at Wayfinder Waikiki.

Wayfinder Waikiki is located about 3 blocks from Waikiki Beach, it's about a 5 minute walk. Unless you're set on a beach stay, this is a great spot off the main strip, with accessible pricing. I love that it has such easy access to Ala Wai Blvd for day trips.

You'll be greeted with a token for a complimentary piña colada at the pool! I didn't realize until my last day that they offer a GoPro for guest use, and that they have complimentary towels & beach gear for guests.

I had a double room with a lanai that faced towards other buildings and Ala Wai Canal. It was nice to have a little bit of a view. The room size was to be expected for a double. I loved that they gift you two free bottles of water and an orchid in your room.

The team gave an old hotel a really cool facelift transformation that has wonderful tropical foliage and aesthetics that nod to Waikiki throughout.

I ate at the Redfish Poke Bar Restaurant more than once because the vegan tofu poke bowl was so darn good. It's so nice to take it poolside, so I did that twice - but the restaurant is open air. Also highly recommend trying the Fresh Hawaiian Pineapple at Lost + Found, the poolside bar.

Be sure to take advantage of the schedule of wellness classes & music that they have. The poolside stretch class with Nick was JUST what I needed after the flight, and his energy was the best. He was happy to stay after class to recommend spots around town. I didn't get to take Brent's E Ola Koa Circuit class, but will be making time for it next time because I got to chat with him a bit, and he is so nice.

Pros :: The staff is outstanding - everyone is thoughtful to be sure that your stay is above and beyond. I read some reviews about them being inattentive, but experienced the complete opposite. I was constantly welcomed by staff, and every single experience was positive, truly going out of their way to be sure that I was happy and taken care of. They have beach gear available for guest usage Great location just off of Waikiki Incredible facelift transformation from the hotel that used to be there. The aesthetics & vibe are unique and on point. As a DJ, I adored the soundtrack. It was fresh & completely fit the vibe. I love the natural bathroom products. The shampoo infused with black pepper feels great after a day spent getting sand in your hair. There is a filtered water fountain for you to refill water bottles with. The onsite B-Side Coffee Bar is so convenient with great local brews and snacks. Wonderful pool area complete with tropical foliage, suntan lotion, aloe, bar & bites that have great happy hour specials, and fresh island tea Calendar full of great wellness and music events Awesome poolside eats and restaurant

Cons :: The walls are pretty thin. I did hear some outside noise throughout my stay. I was next to the elevator, however and was surprised to not have much noise from it! Valet only, with only one lane in the driveway - their valet was incredible, this truly isn't a con - but leave a few extra minutes when you need your car in case there is a backup. Valet runs you $45+/day, but this is typical in Waikiki.

I love a beachside stay, but would stay here again in a heartbeat when staying off...