HI Oahu Hawaii Prince Waikiki Marina

[ScottF12345]

Great Hotel.

Reccommend to everyone. Definate 4*. Doesn't nickel and dime you. Bumped up to 29th floor with no problem. Everything about this hotel is fantastic. If you can get it, definately get it!

[epicureangirl]

This was a 5 night stay (Jan 22-27 2005) for $124 a night through Hotwire. As usual, I will give a thorough (and lengthy) review.

After reading rave reviews about this hotel on Trip Advisor, I felt 'safe' selecting this 4.5* property in Waikiki Waterfront.

This hotel is directly on the harbor, every room has a water view, and is a few blocks away from the beach and a block away from the high-end mall, Ala Moana Center. The hotel is made up of two towers, "Diamond Head Tower" and "Ala Moana Tower". Upon checkin, everything went smoothly and we requested a room with 2 beds (we had our daughter with us). This was double-bedded which I find rather uncomfortable -- shouldn't the standard be 2 Queens or 1 King bedded room in a 4* hotel in the U.S.? I had enquired about a King with a cot/rollaway, but they would charge me $35 extra per night for the cot which I thought was too much. Especially when Sheraton's I've stayed in do not charge for the rollaway when it is used for a child. The two doubles would have to do. A nice touch was the Keiki (child's) welcome package they gave my daughter -- a ball, some crayons and an activity book were in it. We were given a card-key to a room in the Diamond Head Tower on the 8th floor. As soon as I exited the glass-elevator (looking towards the city) I was hit by a strong smoke smell and I realised I forgot to request a non-smoking floor. We checked out our room anyhow, hoping that it was better than the hallway. It was -- no smoke smell at all, however both me and my daughter began having irritated eyes so we called down to the front desk to ask for a room change to non-smoking.

Heading back down, we found out we could only get a non-smoking room with a King bed. We accepted it, and solved the expensive bedding dillema by heading to WalMart to pickup a beach air-matress and Disney sleeping bag (total bill, $25). This thrilled our 7 year old, saved mom and dad $35 a night (for the rollaway offered by the hotel) and gave us the spacious comfort of a King bed. This room was on the 10th floor in the Ala Moana Tower.

Now that I have seen rooms in both towers (2 doubles and the king room), I can safely say they're basically the same. The hallways are a little worse for wear (beaten up baseboards and doors) -- to be fair I've seen a few Waikiki hotels during this trip and generally get the impression hotels here really get more use and wear-and-tear than in many cities.

The look of the room was moderately disappointing (after rave reviews on several sites and guidebooks saying how luxurious this property was) as it was perhaps slightly dated looking and not as plush as I thought it might be. However, there are many, many great things about this hotel that made our stay wonderful. So lets get on with the good stuff...

The view of the harbor and city is amazing, you have floor to ceiling windows and the windows slide open very wide so you can have warm breezes in your room instead of air conditioning if you wish. The air condititioning has a temperature dial, and low-med-high settings (as well as off) so you have complete control over the temperature. The low setting was very quiet for night-time and the high setting cooled the room down VERY rapidly when you needed it to.

The bed has a great mattress. Slightly on the medium-firm side, it may have been one of those 'do-not-disturb' mattresses, as my husband and I were never awoken during the evening by either one of us moving around or getting out of bed. The sheets were soft, sparkling white and good quality. The towels in the bathroom also were incredibly soft Turkish cotton, looked brand new and smelled fantastic (like almonds). I honestly want to know what they use in their laundry. :) The small fridge in the room was left empty (great for storing your own drinks and flower lei's!), except for 2 small bottles of Dasani water which were complimentary and replenished every day of our stay. A nice touch.

The bathroom was marble and thoughtfully equipped. Separate tub (with laundry line to hang swimsuits and towels when you needed it), separate shower (with good pressure and Moen shower head), Separate toilet with frosted door and phone (didn't try that one out!), vanity area with coffee maker (complimentary Kona blend coffee packets), hair dryer and lighted makeup mirror. This room probably had more fresh linens than in any hotel I've been in. The spaciousness and layout of the bathroom made this very easy for a family of 3 to be comfortable in during our stay.

The closet had the standard ironing board, iron, safe, suitcase valet, but also had robes for your use and complimentary slippers.

The hotel pool is on the 5th floor and has sweeping views of the harbor and city -- very beautiful to swim in the moonlight (though a bit windy at all times of day). Towels were available at poolside and at the front desk in the lobby -- when heading out to Hanauma Bay they suggested we take some with us. This reflects their great service -- we didn't have to sign them out, or feel we were doing something 'wrong' by taking hotel towels away with us for the day.

On our last day we asked about the possibility of a late check-out and were extended until 2:30, which was perfect timing for our departure to the airport. No extra charge and graciously accommodated.

Self-park was a reasonable $12.70 a day and we could always find convenient parking directly attached to the hotel. Local calls were 75 cents, so not unreasonable compared to other hotels I've stayed in. Conceirge, bell-staff and everyone at the front desk was wonderful and accommodating. They really have the Aloha Spirit.

[bubba99]

i just finished my stay and thought i would add a comment about the Prince. I have to agree nearly 100% with epicureangirl. Her comments were right on the money. My exceptions were as follows:

the double bed was not comfortable at all. Very much what i would expect in a low-end hotel. However, they did have feather pillows.

I was not struck by the interior decor. However i did think the bathroom was spacious with a seperate bath and shower.

The halls were worn and not updated.

as epi said, the staff was terrific. they did not mentioned priceline at all. The hotel was very clean. But if your flight is early, they will not bend on letting you get into the room until your 2pm check-in time.

there is a hertz rental car center in the hotel. Its a nice touch to rent and drop off at the valet. use your triple-A and get a bettr price.

the lobby was very well maintained and clean. this is where the 4-stars are coming from.

I have been to a lot of hotels around the world. This is not a 4-star. Don't purchase here thinking you are getting a 4 star quality hotel room. 3 star yes..

However, i have been at other waikki hotels and understand what dumps a lot of them are.. it might just be a 4-star in terms of wha you can get in oahu.

i will also say this. This is a property that caters to the japanese. It did not bother me, but i did not seee another non-asian in the hotel during my stay. I say this as not a warning, but as a thought that this hotel is NOT marketed to the american market. i sense it is mainly focused on the asian market and thus 4-stars in the american market might be seen differently in asia.

for what it is worth.

[thereuare]

This is a very nice hotel on the outskirts of Waikiki Beach. Priceline/Hotwire guests are assigned rooms on floors 5-9. I had asked for a room as high up as possible and was given a room on the 6th floor directly above the pool. As this was a 5 nite stay I asked to be moved to something higher (saying that the noise from the pool might disturb our baby during her naps) and was switched to the same room on the 9th floor. This room was identical except it contained a larger desk with more business amenities