Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu
Halekulani
The best service in Waikiki, and a sunset Mai Tai I'd fly for. It is not a beach hotel, whatever the address suggests, because the sand out front has all but gone. Come for the calm, the staff and the food, and you'll forgive it.
Service
If I had to pick one reason to come back to Halekulani, it's the people who work there. They're warm without being showy, and they never rush you. I think it's the best service in Waikiki.
It's the small things I like most. Housekeeping visits twice a day, and there's a different little gift at turndown each night. If your flight lands early or leaves late, there's a hospitality suite with showers so you're not stuck in yesterday's clothes. You also get free entry to several Honolulu museums, which I think is a lovely touch for a beach hotel.
Service at the pool and from room service can slow down when the hotel is full, so bring a little patience in a busy week.
Rooms
The rooms are famous for being white. The hotel calls it seven shades of white, and I find it very restful after a day in the Waikiki sun. Everything was redone while the hotel was closed in 2020 and 2021, so the rooms feel fresh. Every one has a lanai and a deep soaking tub.
Here's where I'd be careful. The view you get depends heavily on the category you book, and the entry-level Garden Courtyard rooms are on the small side for the money, with no ocean view at all. If the budget allows, the rooms I'd ask for are the Diamond Head Oceanfront ones, on a high floor. That's the view you've seen in the photographs.
If you're booking the cheapest room and hoping for an upgrade, I'd rather you knew what you might end up with.
Food and drink
This is where Halekulani really pulls ahead of most beach hotels. My favourite thing here is the simplest: a Mai Tai at House Without A Key at sunset, under an old kiawe tree, with live Hawaiian music and hula every evening. If you only do one thing here, I'd make it that.
La Mer is the grand French restaurant upstairs, and it holds the top rating from both Forbes and AAA. It's a real occasion, with a price to match: the tasting menu was $325 a person this spring. It's open Tuesday to Saturday only, and there's a dress code, so pack a collared shirt, long trousers and proper shoes.
Orchids, down by the water, does breakfast, lunch and a Sunday brunch worth planning your weekend around, and Lewers Lounge has cocktails and live jazz. Nothing here is cheap, and House Without A Key gets busy at sunset with people who aren't staying, so book ahead.
Setting
I want to be straight with you about the beach, because it's the one thing that catches people out. Halekulani sits on the water, but the stretch in front of it has mostly washed away. Depending on the tide there's a small patch of sand or none at all, and the hotel doesn't set out beach chairs. You can swim from there, and the wide sandy part of Waikiki is a few minutes' walk along the shore.
What you get instead is a quiet five-acre garden in the middle of a very busy neighbourhood. The pool is the centrepiece, with a huge orchid picked out in glass mosaic on the bottom, and you look straight across the water to Diamond Head. It's a single pool, though, and it fills up.
So I think of this as a pool-and-sunset hotel more than a beach hotel. If you know that going in, I think you'll be happy.
Value
It's expensive, and I won't pretend otherwise. Rooms start at around $700 a night in the quieter months, and the ocean-facing ones are usually well over $1,000. Parking is $68 a night, so I'd skip the hire car unless you really need it.
In its favour, there's no resort fee, which is rare in Waikiki, and that's a real saving over a week. It's a splurge, and I think it's worth it.
This is also a hotel where booking through an advisor makes a noticeable difference. Breakfast for two and a hotel credit are the usual extras, and the hotel often runs a fourth-night-free offer.
Who it suits
I'd send couples, honeymooners and anyone who's been to Hawaii before and wants Waikiki on the doorstep without the noise. If your idea of a holiday is a wide beach with a lounger and an umbrella, or you're travelling with children who want several pools and a kids' club, I'd look at the Four Seasons at Ko Olina or the Kahala instead.
More on the area: Waikiki guide.