6 Unique Hotels in Honolulu, Hawaii

We traveled to Honolulu for our son’s wedding and stayed 8 nights at Trump Waikiki. Everything was outstanding! Beautiful rooms, so many amenities, perfect location for getting to the beach, restaurants and sights! It is even pet friendly as we learned while caring for our son’s dog! Ideal location for beach walking and views from our balcony were incredible. What really sets this hotel apart from the others are the people. The staff is so friendly, helpful, professional and responsive to whatever you might need during your stay! Cannot recommend highly enough! - M3998NNmichelef

Q: Where can you find a room that will sleep 5 people, in a convenient part of Waikiki, is rated #1 on Tripadvisor for the best hotel in Waikiki, with 5-star service, ocean view w/ dual balconies and a separate room for the in-laws? How about free valet parking, no resort fees, early 12 PM check in and late 6 PM check out for Kama'aina (locals)? A: You're looking at it! It was difficult to fit all of these criteria into our budget and what we were looking for. It was either book two separate rooms and pay more, or stay here. Although the Trump line is not associated with budget, compared to booking separate rooms WITHOUT all of the perks above, it would have come out way more expensive. This was actually a deal, believe it or not. DETAILS: POOL: You're wondering why I'm writing about the pool first; it's because it seems to be one of the complaints of guests calling it small, and I have no idea why this is a problem. It is the most luxurious pool I've ever soaked in, and small and classy is better than big and brassy! Looking out over the infinity edge, I can see two other hotel's pools and they are a LOT larger but filled with rowdy drunk people and inflatables. Would you rather have a classy pool, or a larger pool in a less fancy setting? I soaked in the pool in the day, and at night (simply magical)! If you get cold, there's a separate jacuzzi. There's poolside cocktail and food service but I didn't use those. Next time I stay here, I'll try to time it with the full moon so I can soak under the moonbeams. ROOM: Mind blown! We had a suite with one full bedroom, a den and living room, both with pull-out beds, 1120 sq ft, ocean view w/ 2 balconies, 2 full bathrooms, a fully-stocked kitchen (dishes, high-end bar glasses, utensils, knives, 12 cup coffee maker, full sized rice cooker!, wine chiller, pots/pans), microwave, fridge, dishwasher, ovens (Subzero, Wolf, Bosch, Miele). The bathrooms had really nice toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, bar soap, bath gel, bath salts, loofah, cotton swabs, make up pads, hair tie and shower cap, nail files). The room decor all tastefully done in creams, dark and light wood tones, very clean as well. The trashcans were even made of leather! Impressive! The hotel gave you complimentary hotel slippers you could walk around in, as well as Eco water bottles; heavy bath robes for each guest, tons of fluffy clean towels and twice daily housekeeping. Very quiet, we didn't hear a thing but we also got a room on the side of the elevators separated from other rooms. Four elevators, the fastest elevators we've ever been in...totally insane! SERVICE: Minds blown again!! This is 5-star service on steroids. I have never heard, in my life of frequenting hotels all across the globe, someone actually SMILING over the phone!! Keiko and Ryuko cheerfully greeted me daily when I called to ask for bottled water (complimentary) or had questions. Housekeeping personnel actually smiling and greeting us warmly was also surprising. Front desk check in and check out, all wonderful! Valet, also great! Twice daily housekeeping, amazing!! FOOD: Breakfast at the In-Yo Cafe was not very impressive. It was pricey so the next day we walked over to Duke's Waikiki for buffet breakfast (read my reviews for both). Eggs and Things around the corner but too many people. Dinner at BLT Steakhouse burned a hole into our 401K but my husband said it was the best steak ever (see my review on this one as well). The in-room dining menu seemed impressive, but we didn't use it. You can also walk about 2 short blocks to ABC Stores to get cheap wine and food, and Dole Whip! Giovanni Pastrami is also in the short walk away for take-out food and pizza (we loved the pizza). CONVENIENT: ABC Stores, restaurants, boutique shops, Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, International Marketplace all within walking distance. The beach is right across the street, as is the Army Museum, if you're into history. Drop into Lewer's Lounge at the Halekulani for cocktails/piano music in the evening, but dress nice for that. If you want to drive over to Ala Moana Shopping Center for all-day shopping, it's about a 5 minute drive away. OTHER: if you're a bird watcher, you're in for a treat if you have a room with the ocean view balcony. Swarms of white tern and Indian Ringneck Parakeets fly in flocks over the trees below and mingle with the pigeons and the lone chicken pecking for food in the grass by the Army Museum. You can bring your dog with you for $50 more a night, now how many hotels let you do that? Need a crib for your kid? No problem! If walking to other restaurants, I suggest walking along the beach-side and avoid walking around the hotel on the Ewa (west) side; it wasn't as nice and there was a creepy man checking us out. PRICE: Your mileage may vary. We locked in at $666 a night (not joking) for local Kama'aina rate and now the rate is $987 for the same room.   RETURN FACTOR: 120% YES. - LehuaMonsoon

I have been staying multiple hotels in Waikiki(primarily Royal Hawaiian). Now I have a newborn and I suddenly realize how it restricts my selection now. The room we stayed is Premium one-bedroom plus Den. The layout really varies but the amendities are the same. The room can easy accomodate 6 adults with the 1 queenbed + 2 sofabeds The REASONS of choosing Trump Waikiki over the others - Top tier services provided and Staff are extremely friendly and helpful. Only Ritz and Trump are in this category. Below the resorts but while above all other hotels. - Prepared and experienced in helping family with kids.      a.UPPAbaby Minu stroller is provided by the hotel for daily use. I wish I knew it earlier so I didn't need to carry mine.      b.A big quality crib provided in room.      c.A kids friendly swimming pool. Slim and shallow. No alcohol served by the pool.      d.Hotel feels safe and secured by access control. We realized we left something in the swiming pool two days ago and staff done a great job in storage them for someone to claim. - The washer and dryer in unit are bosch 800 series. Pretty clean and new. And we use them everyday. - Our flight departed at 9:30PM. They kindly offered a late checkout after 7pm. - Humidity indoor is well controlled. - When talking about the full kitchen, they really mean it. You can find Subzero fridge, subzero wine celler, rice cooker, induction stove, double oven, dishwasher, blender.etc almost everything you need. Based on the great experience I had this time, I would probably only stay with Trump when visiting Waikiki for family trip. - swingtiger

Hotel Info

• view website
• 1 (808) 468-7061
• 223 Saratoga Road, Honolulu, Oahu, HI 96815-1942

6. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Nearby restaurants:

• Lobby Lounge at Four Seasons Resort Maui

• Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante

• DUO Steak & Seafood

Nearby attractions:

• Polo Beach

• Fishpipe Hawaii

• Grand Wailea Luau

Let’s see how people review this hotel

We stayed 5 nights and had a great time. The staff is very friendly and helpful. We had no issues getting chairs at the pool. The beach has limited space so getting chairs there can be a little harder. The breakfast was very good with a large buffet or you can order from the menu. The French toast with Hawaiian bread was particularly good. The room was quiet and very comfortable. - swiftmi

The Four Seasons, Wailea is a gorgeous and magical property. Our family of 8 just spent four nights here after spending three nights at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu. Our intention was to spend a fifth night at the resort but one of our three rooms had a crying baby next door. Unfortunately, the poor baby kept us up all night, every night, and woke us up early every morning. The hotel staff checked in on us daily via text, but was unable to change our room as there were no other rooms available with two beds. Pools and outdoor areas are truly spectacular, like many other guests, we had issues getting chairs at the adult pool. Lots of options with shade but we were told that the chairs with shade were $100 per pair  (should have gotten them because my husband now has a terrible sun burn). Our kids and teens LOVE the kids club and game room and quickly made friends with other guests staying at the resort. Gym is beautiful and we didn’t use it but hope to on our next trip. The guys played golf and loved the experience. We took a surf lessons but it was not a good experience as the beach area was crowded and the waves were not great (even for beginners) so don’t expect to be able to surf in this area during the summer. Little things could have gone a long way at The Four Seasons, Wailea. We were not greeted as we arrived to the hotel. We weren’t given the traditional welcome (with Hawaiian Leis, etc). Amanda at the front desk was sweet but we felt a bit on edge after checking in, as she just pointed us in the direction of the elevators. We had to turn back and ask for a map and for some more information about the hotel (as it was our first time here). The rooms were beautiful, spacious, and bright with nice balconies.  We definitely would have appreciated stocked minibars (instead of having to run out and buy snacks and drinks for everyone to have on hand). Rooms were missing cloth shoe bags and laundry bags (we were sent plastic ones). The hotel is LARGE and our three rooms were in different parts of the hotel. Expect to do a lot of walking and ask for rooms near the south tower (it’ll save you lots of time).   Our meals at the restaurants at the resort were good and breakfast was great although Spago absolutely missed the mark on many things at our dinner there  (albeit the server at Spago was phenomenal and truly tried to help). All in all, the property is really amazing and we look forward to returning soon. - SegalFamily

This was our 6th  year back to Maui and our second year staying at The Four Seasons Wailea. From The moment we arrived, the team remembered us and greeted us by name - car attendants, beach and pool attendants- it was really awesome that they remembered us! Everything about this fabulous hotel is why we come back, and will be booking our rooms again for August, 2023. Service here is impeccable-  we have been to many hotels in Wailea and no other hotel comes close. We have found our annual  summer vacation home and cannot wait to see our Four Seasons ‘Ohana’ next summer. A hui hao! (Until we meet again) - bettyngo9

Hotel Info

• view website
• 1 (808) 874-8000
• 3900 Wailea Alanui Drive, Wailea, Maui, HI 96753-5453