Hampton Inn & Suites Oahu/Kapolei — Hotel in Oʻahu

I stayed at the Hampton in Kapolei as my final hotel and stop on my way back home from two weeks in Asia. Read on for my thoughts and summaries:||- Location: It’s far from Honolulu and Waikiki Beach—for whatever reason, the map makes it seem closer in real life than it actually is. Expect a max hour transit time in peak rush hour traffic. Alternatively, which is what I chose to do on my return to the airport the day I checked out, is to take the nearby light rail/monorail system that Hawaii recently built to connect suburban Honolulu. It was super clean, fresh-feeling, and relatively quick! The monorail does NOT go straight to the airport (yet); there are future lines in construction to reach both the airport terminals and Waikiki. Once at the terminus of the current operating line, you can easily take a public bus the rest of the way. And from the Hampton Kapolei, you’ll need to walk at least twenty minutes to get to the closest (and other terminating end) station. If only it could have just extended a biiiit more down! I bet planners were expecting future developments on the open land north of the existing commercialization of Kapolei.||- Atmosphere: It’s clear to anyone who enters the property that this Hampton is a new build and newly built. Very modern, fresh, and up-to-date. Nothing distinctly Hawaiian about it, though…oh well. I suppose if folks are seeking Hawaiian vibes and decor, they’d choose a beach resort! The reception is a bit cramped, I will say, because it essentially is an unwidened part of the same hallway leading to the rooms (in other words, there is no real separate room for the reception desk). When someone would stand at the desk, they would often trigger the automatic hotel doors to open, which may be frustrating in bad weather. No biggie.||- Amenities: Typical Hampton amenities here, like free breakfast and Wifi, fitness center, outdoor public patios, sundries, and pool. Parking is ample because the lot is shared with the nearby shopping mall.||- Service: All the staff here exhibited very warm, delightful Hawaiian hospitality. The woman at check-in in particular was amazing, helping me decide on the best room, figure out ways to return to the airport the next day, etc. She called around to several taxi and shuttle companies, trying to see about coordinating wheelchair-accessible pick-ups. I ended up using the monorail anyway, but I truly appreciated her efforts.||- Room: Being so jetlagged from Asia, sleep quality was of huge importance during this stay. The bed did not disappoint. The room was comfy and quiet. Fitting the common areas of the hotel, the furniture and upkeep of my room was contemporary and of high-quality Hampton standards.||- Value: I did take some issue with the price I paid for my stay, just a one-night’s rest. It was way higher than I would ever typically pay for a Hampton, even one that’s updated or new. I may have been traveling during a peak time (around the Christmas holidays), but regardless, I would likely opt for another property on a future visit if I couldn’t secure a lower rate here. Plus they are very stingy about the incidental deposit at check-in, which I generally try to reduce or waive as a responsible solo traveler.||If the price is right, to quote Bob Barker, I...

The Hampton Inn at Kapolei is a basic hotel.

This is our second stay at Oahu. And unfortunately there is not much good to say about this hotel.

Yes the hotel does offer free parking which isn’t the general rule in Hawaii but the parking is very limited and we could only manage to get a parking lot one time in our 12 days vacation. The other time we had to use the public parking of the mall which is okay but you have to walk a lot.

The hotel has a huge bug problem. There are flys (which does bite) everywhere in the hotel area, the lobby the pool, the breakfast area. The flys are even in consumables which the hotel offers in morning breakfast buffet. Very disgusting. We never had a real breakfast and did not use the pool because of the bug infestation of flys.

Speaking of the pool. The pool is tiny and the pool area is not enjoyable because it’s almost an indoor pool. No hot tubs.

Breakfast is standard nothing special. No fresh cut fruits just banana and apples. At least coffee all day long.

I made a claim at the general manager but she only told me that she is sorry about the flys. And the reason of flys are the nearby ongoing constructions and will last for a while. Which could be true on the other hand, there are no flys outside or in any shop around the hotel, so I think it’s more like a problem of the hotel.

The hotel also is located far away from any attraction / hike and sightseeing.

You drive at least an hour to the good beaches at the north or east. Even to Waikiki area you have to drive 1h+ because of the bad traffic here in Oahu.

I would recommend choosing a Waikiki hotel or better a hotel at the north shore.

Rooms a almost clean. Bad thing is you have to request room service by your own. Otherwise the hotel will clean your only every 2-3 days.

The A/C is also not adjustable. You are stuck with the temperature the hotel chooses for you. Also has an motion sensor in room which will switch of A/C when you out.

Bathroom has an other issue. There is no real door, just a slide door no lock and you can hear everything.

Positive: The hotel is located nearby the food court of the mall. You have plenty of restaurant...

This review needs to be split into 2 parts. It is hard to review outside of the context of its location.||Hotel - close to 5 stars based on room size, overall cleanliness, service, free parking and easy access to all the stores in the mall where it is located. I am big proponent of staying near grocery stores and there is a new Foodland right across the parking lot. The hotel is actually within the mall itself - a real throwback to the mall of my youth with Cinnabon, Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory etc. Side note - they forgot to clean my room one day and I do not believe room service does a full daily cleaning, they empty trash, replace towels, make the bed but they do not actually clean daily. |The hotel pool is pretty crappy as far as Hawaii hotel pools go, it’s small and located next to a parking lot and the hotel laundry room.||Location - the hotel is not close to Honolulu or all the beaches, attractions east of Honolulu. It is on the west side of the island and the nearest nice beach is Ko’Olina which is a 20 min drive. The nicest beaches (outside of the North Shore) are close to an hour away. Honolulu is 30 mins away and as much as an hour depending on traffic. |If you are coming to Oahu for the first time and do not think you will ever return, I would not suggest staying here. The Four Seasons and Auhlani Disney are on Ko’Olina Beach but they are not “close” to the Hampton and they are all inclusive resorts that sit on private beaches. ||There appear to be a lot of locals staying at this hotel and given that it’s a Hampton Inn, they host a lot of work related conferences.|I do want to emphasize that both staff and all the hotel occupants were extraordinarily nice and polite.||Overall, the hotel stay itself was relatively nice but I was hampered a bit by...