Where to begin! I have been to Waikiki 7 times and in all my trips have stayed at an Aqua Resort, including the Aloha Surf. The first time I stayed there was great, so much so I talked the rest of my family into staying there on our return trip. I was offered a good rate for being a returning customer, however if they would have told me that I would be treated so poorly, I probably wouldn't have taken the offer.

The first problem was a combination of miscommunication on both my part and theirs. We had got the dates of our arrival mixed up, and we turned up a day before they were expecting us and they had no rooms. I had called the hotel twice prior to arriving to confirm and not once anyone mentioned that they had a different date for us. Because of this, my mother, grandmother, sister in law and brother in law, my partner and my 5 month old baby and myself (6 adults and a baby) had to stay in one room for the first night. No one was overly apologetic for this, however at least we had somewhere to sleep. The next issue we had was our airconditioner was extremely loud, as well as our toilet, as they had maintenance issues with it, so we could not flush at night as it would wake our baby, it was that loud.

I was also called at 10pm at night to go down to reception to sign a form in regards to beach towels etc, which they forgot to ask me to sign on check in. When I asked if I could come down in the morning as I was trying to get my baby to sleep, they said no and that I had to go down once the baby was asleep, nevermind I was in my PJ's and dead tired. This was my 2nd night so its not like they couldn't get me to sign it in the next 10 days we were there!

It is in a loud location, so I wouldn't recommend anyone with a baby to stay there. However, it is close to the supermarket and not far from the beach.

They take $100 bond on check in, which is fine, but we then realised they had not only taken $100 for a bond but $1000 on top of this. When we asked them about this they said it was hotel policy, so too bad if we wanted to access that money while we were there and to pay by another form of payment. They didn't mention this to us either on check-in, only discovered it when checking our account. This also caused problems on checkout as the money had been frozen (because of them) and then when we went to check out they couldn't unfreeze it and then asked for another credit card to finalised payment. We ended up walking out to catch our flight and leaving it with them to sort out as it was 5.30am and they wanted us to call our bank (in another country) to get the money unfrozen, which again, they froze in the first place without our permission. For the entire stay I felt like I was a pain, even though we asked for nothing from them and didn't complain about anything while we were there. I'm not sure what has happened with the Aqua chain over the last couple of years but it wasn't what I have remembered and would not recommend anyone staying there again.

This hotel would rate a 21/2 stars in my book. It definitely "grew on us" as our stay went on. Location (just a couple of blocks from Waikiki Beach and shopping and restaurants) made it a good find forus. The staff is friendly and helpful. We would return, but yo need to be aware that it is not on the beach and the rooms are small. We were not in Honolulu to spend time in our hotel room, so the cost and location made this a perfect find for us...clean room...nice staff...decently quiet and good price.

Hotel was close to everything, the beach, the shops and the restaurants all were within 1 to 3 blocks of hotel. Front Desk personal were very helpful and we were checked in and out very quickly. We also received a free breakfast everyday. The hotel room was clean and it came with a refrigerator, microwave and a safe all included for no extra charge. The room was also equipped an internet cable to connect to the web for free and free Wi-Fi in lobby. Overall a great value.

My family and I stayed here on our first trip to Oahu last year. When we arrived, their were two employees behind the desk. One was helping another customer the other seemed to be avoiding helping us. She walked away from the desk a few times, then unhappily asked us if we needed help. When she looked up our reservations (made 6 months in advance) they were nowhere to be found. She then told us they didn't have any rooms available. After a 10 minute wait, she was able to find a room for us.
The room was tiny. The couch in the room was covered with stains it was disgusting.
The bathroom was also tiny, it will only accomodate one person at a time. Their was no tub for my children to bathe in. The bathroom didn't even have a normal door. It was a sliding wooden door without a lock that didn't even shut completley.
The balcony is no place for children! I piled up all the luggage infront of the door to make sure the kids didn't make their way out there.
During our stay, people were running up and down the halls, yelling, and slamming doors well into the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully the kids never woke up but I didn't get much sleep.
The area the hotel is located in can be a little scary at night. Paking is minimal and expensive. Elevators were slow.
This is not the place to stay if you have kids. Perhaps young adults on a budget would find this hotel adequate.