Marriott Waikiki Hawaii

April 12, 2024

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The Marriott Waikiki Hotel is perched right along the beachside of Waikiki. Towering high at 33 floors the enormous hotel has 1310 rooms in two towers. Find out which rooms have the ultimate view of Waikiki Beach and find out how you can make the most of your stay there.

It’s 5:15pm by the time we arrive at the Marriott Waikiki. All afternoon I had been fretting through the busy Honolulu traffic from the airport wondering if we would make it in time to see sunset from our room at the Marriott Waikiki. The hotel is located right along the beachwalk and to say that the Marriott is huge is an understatement. There’s a Starbucks in the lobby as well as an ABC store, boutiques, ukelele store and a range of other shops and restaurants.

The lobby is sprawling, tour buses deposit large numbers of guests but the check in process is quick and painless. The three bags that we’ve stowed with them before our Kona trip make it quickly up to our room and its 5:30pm by the time I open the door to our room. Our Junior corner suite #2233 is on the 22nd floor, out of 24 floors and the view? Well it’s spectacular giving us unparalleled views of Waikiki Beach with a spacious balcony in the Kealohilani Tower.

The first thing you see is the absolutely incredible view of Waikiki below. It’s so mesmerising that I forget my fear of heights and just stand there on the balcony staring at the colours outside. This is one of the best views you can have of Waikiki Beach and for a second I forget myself. Then I look around and see other people on their balconies relaxing with drinks and enjoying their views too. Everyone is enjoying watching the sun set and surfers drift in the water and people play on the beach below.

There are two double beds for this room category and they are very comfortable. The curtains keep out a lot of the light when you sleep so the room is great for a sleep in. There are smooth sheets and a good range of pillows and plenty of plugs and USB charging ports right next to the bed. A lot of hotels in Hawaii seem to have these plug in charging ports with lots of power points and USB points which is very handy.

The bathroom has two sinks and two showers. There’s a bath shower combo as well as a separate shower with full sized, delicious smelling amenities. There are also enough towel rails to hang up your towels too. There aren’t any robes or slippers in the room but there are plenty of towels.

Like all Hawaii hotel rooms, there isn’t a mini bar but there is a coffee and tea station. Coffee drinkers have drip coffee sachets and a machine while tea drinkers have a range of tea. For a kettle just call housekeeping and there are stores downstairs for milk and other drinks and snacks. There are also hydration stations located in the lobby for people to fill up their water bottles.

The next morning after a deep sleep we head downstairs to take a look at the pool. There is a family pool and an adults only pool. Depending on the time of day and whether you want shade or sun will determine which pool you want. During the afternoon most of the shade is at the adults pool and this means that it is quite busy although there are some lounges available. The only real shade at the family pool is in the cabanas which cost extra to book. During the day there are a range of complimentary activities from sunset painting, hula lessons, mai tai making, yoga, lei making, tai chi and ukelele lessons. There is also a laundry room in the Paoakalani tower.

If you happen to be staying on a Sunday or Monday and love sushi, head to the third floor to Sansei Sushi and DK steakhouse at 4.45pm-5:30pm for their happy hour. It’s one of the island’s most popular happy hours as all of their sushi and sashimi is half price. That doesn’t include drinks or other non sushi or sashimi items and make sure that you get there before 4pm to join the queue and spaces are limited.

One of the newest offerings is the Marriott’s Pāʻina Lūʻau that started in June 2023 and rumour has it that it is the Island’s best luau food. Stay tuned for a review of this!