Honolulu Coffee at Prince Waikiki — Restaurant in Honolulu

Honolulu Coffee has locations in hotels and malls all over the island, but I am just reviewing the Prince Waikiki location. If you are staying at the Prince, you get free Keurig pods, and they serve ok coffee at 100 Sails during breakfast. But personally, I would much rather go to HC and pay a few extra dollars for great Kona coffee. I usually come down early, sit outside with a delicious cup of coffee, listen to the birds, enjoy the weather, and then pray that I will survive another day with my extended family. It's like therapy.

The baked goods are ok, but they are expensive - the guava bread is something you don’t often see on the mainland and might be worth trying. Just be aware that they don’t show prices, so you find out what things cost at the register. I would recommend going on their website first to find out the prices because some items are pretty expensive (e.g. breakfast burrito is $14.50). It’s located right in the lobby, so there’s plenty of seating including a pleasant outdoor section. One word of advice - it can get super crowded during peak hours (7am - 9am), so if you are in a hurry (or are super impatient), I would recommend placing an order through their website just before leaving your room. It’s basically like skipping the line, but without the guilt. The people working there have always been friendly with me, so it’s always been a pleasure to go to Honolulu Coffee. They also sell assorted HC swag which are nice, but again, pretty pricey and no prices until...

TLDR: My drinks got stolen.

I like Honolulu coffee, but the staff at this location is below the average of coffee shops in Hawaii or California. I live in California, and the staff in California will recognize customers' names and act friendly when they hand over the drinks. The staff at this Honolulu coffee shop don't verify what you order, don't give the recipes, don't recognize names, don't verify who take the drinks. They literally just call names and walk away.

I stay in Prince hotel for 2 weeks and get their coffee multiple times. One time my drinks got stolen. The staff said they can only remake the drinks if I have the receipt. The funny thing is they didn't give us receipt in the first place. They did give us one time courtesy, but they act like this is my fault. The overall experience makes me very uncomfortable.

Last time I stayed in Prince hotel (before covid), it's not Honolulu coffee. It's sad that Prince hotel builds partnership with Honolulu coffee. Starbucks would be a better alternative as their service and training is more solid than Honolulu coffee. Starbucks also have...

SPECIALTY LATTES: I ordered a few different ones throughout the stay and they all kind of tasted the same. Not sure if the temperature was set too high for the espresso or if it's an issue with the machinery...regardless, the lattes consistently had an almost burned flavor only to be barely saved by the syrup and milk; none of the lattes carried a fragrance or harmony that I was anticipating based on previous Honolulu Coffee experiences.

FOOD: [1] English Muffin Egg and Cheese Breakfast sandwiches - this was filling, I would order again.

[2] Acai bowl - the Acai base was pretty icy which is not what I'm looking for in my acai bowls, so I wouldn't give these another try.

SERVICE: Service quality varies depending on who's working - if it's a slew of young adults behind the counter, sometimes I end up feeling like I'm an inconvenience to their day when I place an order. If there are one or two young adults working the stall, they're quite courteous and...