Simplicity that surprises.
Tucked in the center of Waikiki is a sanctuary of serenity and refined simplicity. Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani is known for its impeccable attention to detail and warm, personalized service.
Providing a home away from home and an unparalleled experience in the heart of Waikiki, the elegantly appointed guest rooms and suites feature furnishings in color palettes of white, gray, beige, and blue with pristine views of the Pacific Ocean.
Halekulani Bakery & Restaurant features locally inspired menus, highlighting ingredients from the bakery. The cuisine is light and healthy, accenting each natural component to a level of distinction and island sophistication.
My son and I spent 4 nights at the Halepuna and loved our stay. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful, especially the Bell Desk staff. We had a great view overlooking the ocean. Although it is a little loud on the balcony (HVAC sounds from hotels), it's easy to eventually block that out and enjoy the view. The location is great for shopping and eating. The room was comfortable and clean. We enjoyed breakfast each morning at the Halekulani (sister hotel) but I actually liked how the Halepuna was smaller/more intimate. The two things minor things I would comment on were that the room with 2 beds did not have a desk/table for sitting and working/eating (had a chair and side table), and the TV was mounted just above the dresser, so if you had anything on the dresser, it would block the view of the TV. Of course you could argue you don't come to Hawaii to work or watch TV, so those are minor! I would definitely return on my next trip to Waikiki! Thank you, Halepuna! …
No need to look at any other hotels. Beautiful hotel with wonderful staff. A level above the other hotels with simple and beautiful decor and not overrun by the crowds. This hotel is for the more discriminating traveler.
I was very impressed and touched by extraordinary service from Ms. Choi at the front desk. She helped my check-in & out. From the beginning to end, she welcomed me with big smile and was always professional. She carefully informed me of the hotel's information that I need, and thanks to she helped me arrange a room quickly I can stay at the room without any inconvenience although I arrived early. Thanks to her warm hospitality, I can remember Hawaii more beautifully.
We stayed at the Halepuna on a long layover in Honolulu. The only thing I can fault the hotel on was the size of the rooms. They are a little small. Other than that everything about our stay was excellent. The staff were accommodating of our early check in request. The pool are was one of the better ones in Honolulu. The hotel and our room was spotless. The location was amazing, close to all our favorite Honolulu restaurants and shopping. Will definitely stay there again for a quick stopover between Australia and the mainland. Would recommend upgrading your room to a larger room if you plan on staying more than a day or two.
First, I want to say I have contributed reviews on many hotels, tours, etc on Tripadvisor because I believe in this community to provide firsthand reviews from fellow travelers. I have had the privilege to be able to travel extensively for both business and personal across the world so I believe I have a good sense of what would be a great hotel for the star rating and price. Hopefully this review will help those deciding on where to stay in Waikiki, of which, I have been to countless times. I'll start with the good: • Waikiki has transformed over the past 20+ years that I have been going there where it is now at peak commercialization and engineered towards international travelers from Asia. If you like being at the center of luxury shopping, restaurants, and beach, Halepuna's location is very good and central. It's easy to get to the main drag of Kalakaua Ave most of it is within easy walking distance. If you don't have a car, main bus stops are within a few min walking distance from the hotel. • The hotel was recently renovated pre-covid when it changed its name from Waikiki Parc to Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani, likely to capture the money and clientele from its sister hotel, Halekulani, across the street. Compared to other hotels on Waikiki (I have stayed at a number of them over the years) this hotel is updated with modern furnishings, well-appointed bathroom with TOTO bathroom trims (automated TOTO washlet is a bit over the top but was nice having a heated seat at night), high tech system to operate the lights (touchpad next to the bed), and one-touch buttons to operate the sheer and blackout screens for the windows. It is important to note that the beds sleep on the firmer side but I like this but I know this may not be for everyone. • The hotel caters Asian clientele. You can see this in the rooms with the TOTO washlet, in-room provided slippers (I do love this), and with everything and I mean everything wrapped in plastic including the TV remote. • I appreciate that the hotel has installed two water filtration systems so you can refill water bottles with filtered water (lobby and 8th floor where the pool is). I also appreciated that they provide a beach bag and beach towels for your use during the day. Just don’t lose it otherwise they charge you $50. The bad and the ugly: Do not go by what is on the hotel website. There were many misleading details they do not disclose until you arrive and/or you don’t find out for yourself until you are there: • The hotel’s location is set back from the beach. There is no direct beach access, and the one that is the nearest to the hotel is laughable, I tiny little sandy area that is essentially not the main part of Waikiki. To get to Waikiki, best to cut through the Sheraton next door (there’s a parking garage with a footpath across from the front of the hotel so you can walk through to get there) to get access to the main part of Waikiki. • Because it’s set back, any “ocean view” room is obstructed with the Sheraton on the left and Halekulani on the right. For $500+/night before taxes, it’s a rip off. • The last comment I have on location is on a small side street that the front of the hotel faces – be careful, there were several “regular” homeless men that wander and sleep there and it did feel unsafe at night. I started entering from the backside that faces Halekulani. • If you pay to “upgrade” from standard to the Waikiki Mountain View – what you get is a view of a large parking garage and a live DJ rooftop bar (Buho) blasting club music that will keep you up past 1am for 5 of the 7 nights of the week. This is something they don’t tell you on the website but all the staff are well aware of since the night manager has to measure the decibel level of the music every night with a decibel meter. How do I know? Because I went with that manager with it when I complained about the noise. They get many complaints about it and seem to have to regularly call the police who can’t do anything about it because the bar has a permit to do it. When I checked in, I told the front desk that I’m a light sleeper and need a quiet room and this is what I got. That night manager (who was the only amazing staff member who was helpful during my stay) told me that they should have never put me in that room after I disclosed that I was a light sleeper. • The rooms are on the small side and surprisingly are around the size of rooms in NYC. If you need a room with 2 beds and have more than 2 people, you will feel cramped. I have no idea how a family of 4 could stay in there. • Break out your measuring tape everyone because the hotel does not disclose on the website that most of their rooms do not have a lanai (balcony). Their own website say rooms have a lanai but how they get around this is that they disclose the square feet so that you are supposed to measure that to see that it’s not a lanai but a glorified patio door window. Dictionary.com says a lanai is a veranda, especially a fully furnished one used as a living room. This is not that. If you want a proper lanai where you can sit outside, have a coffee in the morning or enjoy the sunset, you have to book an ocean view room. Funny enough, the ocean view rooms do not get the live DJ rooftop bar noise. I made this complaint when I after seeing the room and got nowhere with the arrogant management – they wanted me to pay to get an ocean view room in order to get a room with a lanai which I found to be condescending and rude. What I should have done is left the hotel and booked elsewhere but I thought it would be hard to find a room during peak travel. Unless you are Japanese, don’t expect service of any kind. • The pool is on the 8th floor, it’s small which is fine but it closes at 6pm including the hot tub??!! I was looking forward to using the hot tub in the evening, especially after a long day of walking, hiking, etc. This was a major disappointment. The only upside here was the pool staff – very lovely and accommodating as to whether you want sun, shade or both. The fitness room, also on the 8th floor, is a joke. It’s so small I wouldn’t bother. • The hotel deceptively markets itself as a 4-star hotel. I don’t know how they get away with this. There are no onsite amenities that would make it 4-star: no onsite restaurant, no lobby bar, no coffee shop, no room service, no onsite sundry store or shop and no concierge to help book activities, restaurant reservations, etc. What they will try to tell you is that all of that is across the street at the Halekulani, where ANYONE off the street can use the restaurant, bar, shops, etc. No privileges are extended to hotel guests like same day reservations at House with a Key (booked for weeks in advanced for dinner, they tell you to go on OpenTable like everyone else) – the only benefit is you can charge things back to your room. And on top of that you can’t use the Halekulani pool. There is no benefit here – at best this is 2-3 star hotel without any of those typical onsite amenities. • Besides the one night manager and the wonderful pool staff, most managers are highly arrogant and will only provide service to Japanese guests. I found this extremely distasteful and prejudice and if you read some of the other reviews for this hotel, I am not alone in my commentary. This hotel does its best to make sure to not go out of their way to make your stay an enjoyable one. I decided on this hotel because it looked newer and I wanted to try something more boutique (something I enjoy in boutique hotels in NYC). Make no mistake I will be back to Honolulu but I will never go back to Halepuna. I’ll go back to the larger hotels where exceptional service and making ALL guests feel welcome are at the top of the list. For the price that the Halepuna charges, I rather go back to the Royal Hawaiian, Moana Surfrider or even the Hilton Hawaiian Village where there is better value for money.…
We recently returned from a week in Waikiki and can’t speak highly enough of our stay at Halepuna Waikiki. After a taxing flight, we arrived at 9.30am with shattered teenagers and were incredibly grateful when told our rooms were ready for us! The rooms are beautifully styled, clean and modern. The housekeeping is very efficient and the staff on the front desk are always friendly and helpful. The pool area is magical at sunset and we found the pool staff very attentive. Was great having a self service laundry available and a well equipped gym too. We were very happy with the location of Halepuna Waikiki as it is central, close to all the retail stores and restaurants, and away from the busy Diamond Head end of Waikiki. As we are past the stage of young kiddies, it was nice to be in a more peaceful, relaxing environment. All in all, Halepuna ticked all the boxes for us and we won’t hesitate to book here again in the future.…
Halepuna provides excellent accommodation in Waikiki. Close to the beach and a short walk to the central shopping streets. Modern facilities and service was great. So good also to be able to get a good flat white coffee next door in the bakery cafe.
My first time in Hawaii and wanted a central location and this hotel definitely fulfilled it! The staff always smiling and greeting you, place is clean and I must say the toilets are one of a kind with heated seats. My family of 6 is having a blast here!
The Halepuna is the across-the-street boutique cousin of the extremely luxurious and $$$$$ Halekulani. Accordingly, it is plainer in design with far fewer amenities. It’s nice, efficient, clean, and comfortable, plus it offers guests full access to the Halekulani amenities — you just must cross the street. We found the 8th floor infinity pool to be perfectly adequate after 3:30 pm each day, when the sun emerges from behind the neighboring Sheraton. The pool’s bar is tiny, yet absolutely superb, with all drinks delivered graciously and quickly by their highly professional and attentive attendants. There is a popular bakery on the ground floor, but the full restaurant has not been re-opened post Covid, a rare disappointment here. We definitely will return.
Amazing location and views to the ocean. Staff are very professional and friendly. Our stay was comfortable and we were blown away by the quality and service. This is a 5 star hotel with amazing ocean and mountain views. We felt like movie stars every time we walked in.
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