Let me start by saying we are Elite members with Marriott so we generally always stay with them whenever we travel anywhere. I didn't even look at other hotels on Waikiki when planning this trip. That said, I'm not sure I could have chosen a better hotel for the price.

We stayed here for 4 nights before heading over to Maui. We booked a Deluxe Ocean view room in the Kealohilani Tower (with a request for a high floor). That's the one closer to the ocean. The hotel has its own website www.marriottwaikiki.com that has a great explanation of the different rooms and towers. Rack rate for our room is $520/night, but we paid $300 with our elite member discount. I also booked the hotel about 9 months out. We got in very late at night and I was worried they would tell us they gave away our room LOL, but they didn't. We had a king room on the 17th floor with a great view of the beach.

Oh yes, the beach. They are doing some construction and the beach is closed directly in front of the hotel. I found this out just a few days before we arrived and was really ticked off. But it really didn't make much difference. You could walk to the next block (in either direction) and go to the beach there. And those were both nice beaches as well. Not sure why someone felt the need to give the hotel a low rating just because of that when they din't even stay at the hotel.

As far as construction noise, well it's in the middle of a big city so there was a lot of city noise. Not sure it was specific to the beach construction or not. And yes, the noise can be heard even with the doors closed. It wasn't really a problem for us since we were there to see Waikiki and other city sites. We knew we were heading to Maui for some real relaxation. I don't think most people go to Waikiki for a relaxing beach vacation anyway.

The hotel is in a great location. We walked down the main drag a few blocks to where the more posh stores were (down on the west end of Waikiki). It's a quick walk to the zoo and aquarium. You could walk to Diamondhead too. But the concierge gave us a great tip: we actually took a cab to DH (around $10) and he dropped us off right at the parking lot inside the crater. So then we did the trail to the top, then came back down. Then we walked back to the hotel. This saved us some time, plus the walk to DH is uphill. So we had it easy on the way back. I've heard people say they walked there, but I was hesitant because I know you have to go through a tunnel to get inside the crater. So that's why I felt better taking a cab. But it really wasn't that scary. One side of the tunnel has a pedestrian walkway. Just make sure you're not wearing all black if you decide to walk through it because it's not lit. I believe the walk from the hotel to the entrance of diamondhead (outside the crater) was about 1-3/4mile. Then maybe another 1/2 mile to get to the start of the trail (inside). And the neighborhood between DH and the hotel felt perfectly safe.

We didn't use the spa or pools. Though the pools never seemed crowded. We did eat at DK steakhouse which was really good. Yes expensive, but that's what I expected for Honolulu prices. But there are plenty of restaurants that you could eat at for less. The pool bar was very nice. We just had drinks and an appetizer there one night. Great service there. The breakfast buffet was ok. The food was pretty decent, but there wasn't a whole lot of variety and the ambiance of the restaurant wasn't really worth the price. We enjoyed LuLu's for lunch which was on the next block, above Starbucks.

The ground floor of the hotel had a bunch of shops. The ABC store was a lot of fun. They have everything that you could ever need or want. Great souvenirs, snacks, towels, beach toys. There were several beach wear shops if you need a swim suit or some flip-flops or a Hawaiian shirt or dress. And they weren't expensive. I was running all over town at home to find some flip-flops to match some sun dresses and couldn't find any. But found a perfect pair at the ABC store for about $6 bucks!

There's a Seattle's Best down with all the shops. That became our go-to place for a cheap breakfast. There's also a water sport store there where you could rent gear or go on snorkeling/diving tours. We booked the snorkeling tour and I wouldn't recommend it. It was $50pp and there was only one dive stop to see turtles. We did see turtles and some of them were very close, but that's all there was to see. Really after about 20 minutes, I was ready to be done.

I can't really think of much more to add. I know people have said this really isn't a resort. I would agree with that. It's a very nice hotel. But it's not fancy. It's not the place to go to get pampered. Though I don't really think Honolulu is the place for that anyway. I personally wouldn't spend more than a few days in Honolulu. We really enjoyed it while we were there, but now it's sort of "been there, done that". If we do ever go back to Honolulu, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at this hotel again.

This Marriott hotel is right in the hub of the Waikiki Beach strip. We chose it because we wanted to view the New Year's Eve fireworks from a balcony.

The hotel was clean and comfortable, and the staff friendly and accommodating. We had a king room overlooking the beach and it was very spacious. The only disappointment was the quality of the in-room coffee.

The pool area was wonderful with lots of comfortable loungers and pool-side service for beverages and lunch.

We would recommend this hotel for long or short stays. It's walking distance to several attractions and first class shopping.

to be up front - I paid with points. Nothing special standard Marriott though very good location at the Diamondhead end of Waikiki beach. Pretty massive place - two towers. My so called double-upgrade resulted in a typical Marriott room (nothing wrong with that, nothing special either) in the beachfromt tower, with an excellent view of the Ashton hotel next door - fully blocking any Diamondhead view. I should have heeded previous reviews that said ask for the rear tower.
Nice pools, ok pool bar where I watched the Giants win the Superbowl and the sun set, all without leaving the stool
Ate at the Sansei restaurant which was quite good and very reasonable.

Was working in Honolulu, and this hotel was the corporate hotel for us. Turns out there are plenty of other business folks that use this hotel.

Due to having Platinum status with Marriott, I think that I was treated a bit better than the average (non-status) traveler. So when it comes to rooms, I noticed that my room and my co-workers rooms were quite different. I had a high floor with views, my co-workers without status, had low floors with no view.

The hotel is right across the street from Waikiki beach and is very convenient to most of Waikiki, although being at the Diamondhead or Zoo end of Waikiki, I think is a bit quieter than being by the Royal Hawaiian or over closer to Ala Moana.

There are two Hotel Towers (I can't remember the names) but in effect there is a building that is close to the beach and one that is set back closer to Kuhio Street. The Beach front building of course is closer to the ocean, however if you are on the Diamondhead side, you will have to content with the music from the Tiki Bar in the Waikiki Beach Hotel. Not to mention the noise from the street below. Even with the lanai doors closed and curtains drawn, you can still hear the din of the street noise as well as the Tiki bar music below.

There are a couple of restaurants on the property. DK's Steakhouse, Sensei, Arancino di Mare, and the Pool Side bar, All were decent places and albeit a bit on the pricey side, were all in line on prices for Waikiki. Let me put it this way, there are more expensive places and there are less expensive places. There are a plethora of choices for food in Waikiki and all within an easy 5-10 min walk.

Since I stayed at the hotel for extended periods of time (ie: 2-3 weeks at a time) and I found that the staff were very friendly and helpful. Housekeeping would regularly stock the room with additional towels and even with the mess of having 2-3 weeks worth of clothing in the room, they would make efforts to make sure that the room was cleaned and tidied.

If you decide to get a rental car, go for the extra couple of dollars to do Valet. The parking structure is narrow, stalls are tight, and most times, there are very limited numbers of stalls. Most times, I had to park near the roof top level.

I have stayed at a couple of other properties in Waikiki. The Marriott is a clean and well run hotel. Its a large hotel so don't expect many personal touches. Staff are friendly and helpful. Hotel is conveniently located, but Waikiki is noisy and it doesn't seem to matter which building you are in, or which way your room faces, you will be subjected to the noisy surroundings.