I am a frequent visitor to the Hawaiian Islands. I typically stay in private residence with family or friends. However, I have always been a fan of the historic Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki. Right in the heart of Waikiki, it is an oasis in an otherwise chaotic area of the island. The service is excellent there and I believe that is because they take great care of their employees, who seem just as happy as I am to be on the beautiful grounds. I treated myself to a massage at the Abhasa Spa there and I was beyond satisfied with the luxury and level of service I received. This was on Super Bowl Sunday and I requested to be outside in the cabanas even though that meant I would hear some shouting now and then... I was in heaven and I went back a second time, even though my body still felt great from the first massage. Darshan and Melissa were the names of my body workers and I highly recommend that you book yourself an appointment and indulge in some relaxation!

What a place to arrive at....from the courtyard at the front...with that huge banyan tree and the views from every room in the hotel that face the beach.....this is THE PLACE to holiday. I loved the staff, the cozy poolside, the food and the linens....pink bathrobes and banana bread fresh from the kitchen each morning! I dream of my next visit and it will besoon if I my dreams come true.

I am a traveller with very discriminating taste. I'm not sure what other reviewers were expecting in Hawaii or in a historic hotel. Frankly I can not see how it is possible for anyone to complain about this property and its staff.
I stayed there during the Pro Bowl as did a number of players. While other hotels were a zoo, the Royal Hawaiian was tranquil, beautiful and serene. The front desk and concierge staff were amazing: I called the concierge, gave them a list of things I wanted to do and events I wanted to attend in Honolulu, including a number of Pro Bowl events. The concierge spent 2 hours creating an itinerary, making reservations and even hand delivered it to me.

The vallet service is very useful. The resort fee covers self parking, however, if you are going during a busy time of year, pay the extra $6 a day and it will save you time. Having said that, traffic in Honolulu is pretty brutal. The hotel is located on a beach, near all shopping, restaurants and bars. You might just want to opt out of getting a rental car and take a taxi if you feel like going to the North Shore. Will save you time and money!

The restaurants are world class - Mai Tai's bar has great views and Azure is simple fantastic. Be prepared to spend $$ here, but worth every penny. Azure's sashimi is to die for!

The beach is wonderful - lots to do. You can take advantage of the beach activities like surfing lessons and kayaking. Lots of fun.

Fast wifi access - if you are having difficulties, the ethernet cable and router is attached to the phones. Reset by disconnecting and reconnecting the power plug. Fixes the issue right away. Engineering can do it for you and they are quick to respond, but frankly it takes just a few seconds to do n your own.

I would have given the hotel 5 stars, however, they lost out on one issue that became a big one. Housekeeping is a little over eager to clean the hotel and everyday I was woken up at 8am. A few times staff didn't hear from me and walked in on me - even in the evening where I required privacy and had a do not disturb sign on my door. It may be just because my suite was the first one on the main floor. A couple of incidences were quite embarrassing, and I had to call the front desk. It was remedied immediately, I wish I had called the front desk earlier. Either way, the property should be given 4.5-5, however, I am still a little scarred by housekeeping walking in on me while I was undressed!

After staying at the Westin Moana Surfrider twice, and having stayed at both the St Regis Kauai and Rome, we were expecting something grand from the Royal Hawaiian. What a disappointment it was! We had two rooms - our daughters were placed in a room with a view of a wall - seriously - a wall about one metre from their window - and we had a room with a view over the roof of the restaurant. As others have remarked on Trip Advisor, it looks from the outside like the rooms have balconies, but they are just an external facade. Both bathrooms were so tiny that even for one person at a time they were too small. The light switch hung on a chain that could only be reached by standing on the bed or a chair. Our daughters had immediate problems with cockroaches - at first they thought it might just be the odd one or two, but no, they killed 6 in just a few minutes. Complaints were made twice, but nothing was done. In a hotel of this standing, we would have thought that they might have relocated the girls, especially given that occupancy was obviously low and that we are Starwood Gold members, but this was not offered. We were very disappointed that the pool is closed to guests at 6pm, and a staff member enforces this ridiculous rule. This hour is ludicrously early - it's not even dark at that time! Breakfast was so dreadful that we chose on our second and final morning to take our business back to the Westin, and what a delight that was in comparison! We heard that many people do the same thing. All in all, for the hype that Starwood make about their renovation of this historic property, and given its status as one of their "luxury collection", we have never been so underwhelmed by any of their hotels, and we have stayed in many. Not even the beautiful arrangement of fresh flowers could redeem the many shortcomings of this hotel.