Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, Honolulu > Reviews > Great Location Location Location

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Everthing you need is in the hotel !
Disadvantages:	None  -  however check on reconstruction work

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

What can I say about this hotel - Wonderful!! I went last year with my daughter and all services were outstanding.

Room service very speedy and food was delicious, however some meals were on the pricey side, and as the hotel has a few places to eat you'd be better off eating in one of those.

Restaurants in the hotel - are the Shore Bird Restaurant & Beach Bar - amazing one of the experiences you have to try - you get to broil your own food (broil? you maybe thiking - I was! well it's similar to Bar-B-Qing but on a hotplate of sorts) first you choose your own food, (mainly fresh local fish) season, and throw on the "broiler". Then you choose all your extras and sit down in the beach front restaurant and enjoy the sun setting over waikiki beach - PERFECT! Most nights you have entertainment, generally hawaii local music - very low key, which is great, as it accompanies the setting brilliantly without turning it into a bar - dress code is pretty much anything.
The other main restaurant is the Ocean House Restaurant this has your traditional meals (to be found in most restaurants) and others that are purely hawaiian ones, the restaurant gets the balance right, with great choice, delicious combinations, great colour, texture and price. Prices are about average to high average for the meals and the dress code is more particular, so you need to dress up a bit - but you won't be needing a Tuxedo or cocktail dress.

Other hotel amenities are numerous they have a Spa so you can pamper yourself, including small gym (if you fancy keeping fit). A few small shops so you can buy that bikini, get your digital photos printed or put on disk, souvenirs from heaven and a small shop that you can buy snacks, drinks, and basic food - ideal for keeping in your fridge or taking to the beach.

Beach - Waikiki beach - do I need to say more? It sells itself amazing!! Well you can walk from the hotel (leads onto the beach) to the sea in about 30 paces (yes it's that close!!) water is warm 24/7 so unlike most destinations where you walk into the sea and get that shudder as the cold water touches you, here you walk in and go mmmmhhh, it's great, you can see a few great fishes swim buy and they don't seem to mind - I'll just say it again AMAZING!

One of the features about the hotel I liked was they had traditional hawaii craft activities going on in the lobby at certain times every day, My daughter loved making her own fresh lei - nearly as much as me - One thing to note - if you forget your antihistamines (as I did) they sell them in the shop.

Children get to take part in traditional activities in the hotel, but check on the clubs schedule before you go. They also get an outrigger backpack with lots of goodies and a fantastic activity book, that you can help them with as you find out interesting things about hawaii.

A fantastic service was the tour guide booth in the lobby - there you can book pretty much anything. From Luaa's to Island hopping. The staff have bus times, tourist actractions, and they give you an honest view of what and what not to see - very helpful. They saved me $20 by telling me not to go on a coach trip to the sea-life centre, (it's about an hour or so away from the hotel) They recommended I take the bus. There are lots of bus routes so you need to make sure you get the right one, but the guide gave me a map and drew directions (although the bus stop was only about 150M from the front of the hotel), it was very helpful. And to make it great Hawaii bus's are $1 per person for the whole of the journey (Cheap as Chips). Great day out!

The rooms lastly, I had a standard room, It was great value - It had partial sea views (but mainly overlooked the pool - check out the website and take a look at the photos!!!) A small balconey with 2 chairs and a table - great for the evening! Inside the room I had two double beds, safe, fridge, tv - with internet, hotel and island information, games and pay-per-view movies (very good list of films), coffee maker (room service refilled the sachets regularly) And a shower and small washroom. Room service was great !

Recommended tips

Having your room serviced - $1-2 daily
Food brought to your room - $1-2 per visit
Bags - $1 each bag (everytime someone carries them - Watch out for this)
Eating out -15%-20% of total meal costs (not for take aways or fast food however local diners/cafes will still want a minimum of 10

At the moment the hotel is going through reconstruction so check with the outrigger website or your tour company to check on possible disruption before you go.