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Aqua Waikiki Wave
Rating Details »
2299 Kuhio Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(866) 406-2782
Honolulu, HI 96815
(866) 406-2782
- Price Range:
-
$$
41 reviews for Aqua Waikiki Wave
When I saw the complimentary foam ear plugs in the room I knew this hotel was in proximity to party central. Damn, Honolulu knows how to party - nightlife goes on until 4 a.m. and then some if there are after hours spots. Cocky L.A. has nothing on the rockstar that Honolulu is. Closing at 2 a.m.? Pssh..that's when the party just begins here, brah!
Aqua's dab smack in the middle of the Waikiki tourist action. You can walk right next door to Shack & Zanzibar in one direction, Lotus Sound Bar in the other, and just a stones throw away from Kalakaua Ave. Or, if you prefer, take Ala Wai Blvd. to the nightlife near Ala Moana. If you're not down with the party scene, don't stay here. The echoing sounds of the bass that goes BOOM and the early morning noise of Duke's alley and the International Marketplace will keep you up at night. But if you're like me and you don't have any intention of sleeping until 6 a.m., it won't bother you one bit because you'll be awake or out anyway!
The room is okay sized. DVD player came in handy - I had a sick friend who watched "Australia" with Hugh Jackman like 5 times in a row while she recovered in the room. Beds are COMFY! We had a lanai with a fantastic view of the dirty rooftops of the vendor carts in Duke's Alley. We kept our sliding glass door open at night instead of using A/C, but the garbage truck that rolls by at 6 a.m. wasn't music to my ears. Oh, and a view of the parking garage across the street. Guys kept on spying on us when we had our curtains open so be careful with that! haha. Bathroom small & kind of dingy, but it does the job. The staff is very nice and helpful. Happy Hour downstairs consisted of rum/pineapple & champagne/pineapple drinks and chips, chex mix, and grapes. There was also a DJ playing some music. Got pretty packed. We had a few drinks and the staff kept pouring more and offering us additional cups! LOL. I used the fitness center once (although I brought all my gym gear). They have a water cooler there so buy water once or bring a reusable bottle and go there for refills all week to keep hydrated. Free WiFi so you can chronicle your trip on FB and complimentary beach towels. Speaking of towels, the housekeeper must have hated us. My friend had these gnarly bloody noses and kept using the hand towels to soak it up. We had so many bloody towels in that room. She must have thought we were dirty bitches doing god knows what. LMAO!
Oh, and the Conair hair dryer is worth mentioning. Most powerful damn hotel dryer I've ever encountered! Free use of safe, fridge, microwave, and coffee maker a plus (for all those leftovers & booze we bought from the pharmacy!)
The elevator is SLOW. Sometimes the power on some of our outlets would shut off randomly and we had to unplug-replug back in for it to work. Size of the "flatscreen TV" is like a PC monitor. WTF. Not that we watched it all that much, but it's the principal of the matter! And the parking sucks. $20 a day and sometimes you can't find a spot down there. We used the elevator parking garage that you pass when you go down the alley way and they charged us $15! WTF?! They need more spaces, or at least not charge you when you can't find one.
Lots of places within walking distance came in handy: Food, shopping, pharmacy, bars, etc.
Last but not least, I find it necessary to discuss the HOOKERS who walk up and down the street at night. I was shocked at the obviousness of these skanks. One of them was in nothing but her skivvies and token acrylic clear hooker heels. She was with her pimp and she looked high. The ironic thing is that most of the hookers weren't Hawaiian. They were every ethnicity BUT Hawaiian. The rest of them just walk the street with their skin tight short cheap slut gear. Just look for the clear acrylic hooker heels and you'll have spotted a Waikiki street walker.
Yay to Aqua Wave for mandating the use of your room key to gain access to the hotel after 10 p.m. to keep the trash outside where it belongs!!
I'd really rate it 3.5 but no half stars here. We got a pretty good rate here for five nights so judging by the pics and positive aspects it wouldn't be that bad. We got an early check in which was nice after the 5 hr flight. Some of the staff was nicer than others but no one was downright rude. We were on the 9th floor, and sometimes the elevators took forever.
Easy walk to the beach and the towel rental was a nice touch. Didn't hear any noise the first 2 nights but we did the following evenings, like around 4 am (yelling, loud music) Definitely get a floor on a higher level or invest in ear plugs. Maid service was good, only issue with the bathroom is the shower curtain clinging to you while you're trying to shower. Close to the marketplace, different shops and restaurants. Me and my bf had fun playing spot the hooker on Kuhio (teehee) A decent choice when you're on a budget.
PROs: convenient location - walking distance to shops, restaurants & beach; beach towel service; free wi-fi; in-room fridge, microwave, coffee maker; programmable safe; balcony; the maid never stole our stuff even when we forgot to lock our safe
CONs: small bathroom; view of a parking garage and the the Duke's lane merchant carts; there was a wad of hair on the back wall of the shower when we first checked in - so it was not the cleanest place; the water would not drain properly when taking a shower; a large "B-52" cockaroach roaming around our 5th floor room the last night we were there
I had a lot of expensive equipment with me: a digital SLR, a video camera, ipod touch, etc... i was stressing when I realized after we had left the room that i forgot to lock the safe. luckily when we returned, nothing was taken but our beds had been made up and our room was cleaned up. i don't think the bathroom was totally clean because of the wad of hair that was stuck on the back wall of the shower. the bathroom was hella small.
overall it was a convenient location. i slept comfortably despite seeing the cockaroach the last night. there was loud music i heard sometimes in the middle of the night which sounded like someone just bumping their music hella loud in the garage next door.
we had a rental for a portion of the time. parking is $20 per night with in and out priveledges. we would've actually saved money if we parked in the elevator garage next door since they charge $8 each time you park and we would only park twice in a day. anyway the elevator garage is an overflow lot and offer add'l parking for hotel guests when parking under the hotel is full at no add'l charge (you still pay the hotel the $20).
i used their computers downstairs to print up my boarding pass but the one i used was doing some system processing crap and didn't work. I wasted my $2 and the front desk refunded me after I told them that tech support was not answering the phone. it's 20 cents per minute to use their computers. i had to use another computer to print my boarding pass.
don't eat at the big kahuna downstairs... the food is mediocre. they have $2 mai tais according to the employee who yells at you when you walk by.
oh and it's a bitch to bring up your luggage as there is no ramp up front. they have some electronic wheelchair deal but you need someone to unlock it to use it.
Customer service goes beyond excellence. They build a great rapport with you from check-in and greet you by name.
We had issues with stalkers but they took care of everything and even moved us to a different room when we requested one. We came back the following years and they still remembered us.
It is located right next to the International Marketplace and a short walking distance to the Waikiki Beach. There are many restaurants around the area in addition to an awesome night-life for the party goers.
You get what you pay for!!
Pros:
- Fairly nice customer service (not from the counter workers)
- Great free wi-fi connection
- Decent 5th floor bedroom
- Location next for Waikiki nightlife is unparalleled (if that's what you're looking for)! (Club Zanzibar, Level 4, Lotus, etc)
"Smokin' hot touristy girls walking up and down the strip at night,
to and from clubs, some drunk, some not
Watch the nightstalkers, they're on the prowl in open light,
Their shoes--clear hooker heels, not the F-ME boots they got,
If that's your thing, beware the cops."
Cons:
- Elevator was broke over half the time there (although a couple maintenance personnel allowed me to use the service elevator a couple times)
- Not stingy about beach towel returns. Didn't really check carefully, but will still charge ~$15 if you don't return them.
-balcony view was of duke's lane of the tent streetshops, must get the kuhio street view next time
I haven't really stayed in tons of hotels, but the beds here were comfortable for me, wi-fi was excellent and 15" lcd tv screen was ok. Would i stay here again? sure.
I feel like I should be docking two stars instead of one for the plain fact that towards the end of our stay here we found several small roaches in the bathroom... Maybe if I had seen them from day one I would've? The factors that are stopping me from giving this place one star was our super nice cleaning lady who didn't steal the $60 I accidentally left in my room in plain view, and the suite we stayed in (last time I was here, I just had a regular room).
It IS a budget hotel, but it's close to EVERYTHING, and has comfy beds.
But the more I think about the roaches, the more I wanna take off that other star. Uggghhh, yeah. Okay. It's a roach! If there's several, there's millions!
EDIT: Also, I don't think the Wi-Fi is free anymore. :(
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/5/2008
I had a good experience here. While it's not the fanciest hotel, you get a lot for what you pay.… Read more »
Compared to the other Aquas I have stayed in in Honolulu this one SUCKED.
Very confusing to park the first time/when you arrive. No elevator from parking garage to rooms - unless you are escorted in the service elevator. $20 each night to park - avg in HI.
NO breakfast included and the coupon for Da Big Kahuna was a joke - that is the grossest breakfast I have ever had and paid for.
No lotion just one bar of soap, shampoo and conditioner. I called down for more soap (since I have to shower and wash my hands more than twice in 3 days) and for some toothpaste - 75 minutes and another call later I got soap no paste - they were out.
The also supply earplugs! How nice - this place is in the middle of downtown Waikiki and it can be LOUD - even on the 11th floor.
The 2 stars are for the room itself - nice enough, comfy bed and good shower pressure. mini fridge, microwave, balcony. No desk chair - just a stool.
Blocks away from the beach.,Bars and clubs around the corners,And plenty of places to grub. This has been one of the more updated hotels with decent furnishings and good air conditioning. I haven't been here more than a day but I can say it's a lot better than I expected. The price is decent for the area and I would recommend checking it out if you're staying in Waikiki. Dooooo it!
I started looking at hotels and I know first hand how pictures can be deceiving. I'm not one to care for ritzy hotels since I never spend more than a few hours there at a time. Hawaii would be no different. But since this was a special trip, I didn't want to get something super low-budget and cheesy.
After a lot of searching and I do mean A LOT, I found the Aqua Waikiki Wave. It is right in the middle of all the action that is Waikiki, it's close to everything, it isn't super cheesy and guess what? It was only $105/night. That's right folks. $105 a night!!!!!!
We were on a high floor facing the city, our room had a balcony and we could see the ocean from it. It had two queen beds and a desk, FREEEEEEEEEEE wi-fi that was pretty fast. It also had a small flat screen tv with about 20 cable channels. The bathroom was nothing special but the water was always hot and you could adjust the pressure.
I would DEFINITELY recommend this hotel to anyone who is coming to stay in Waikiki who might be on a budget, but still wants a room that looks fairly new. Yeah, it isn't the nicest and the amenities aren't top notch, but who cares! You are in Hawaii! You shouldn't be spending too much time in your room anyway!!!
And another great thing about this place. Every single staff member was nice. Really nice.
Takes a while to warm up to the place.
So let me explain parking the best I can. When you're on Kuhio, and the hotel is coming up on your right hand side, and you pass by Jamba Juice, International Market, then the hotel, you turn in RIGHT AFTER you spot the hotel and you'll see a sign that says $8 flat rate parking (something along those lines). Then follow the street into the back of the hotel.
Elevator does not go down to parking level. To have all day access to parking it's $20, but parking in itself is first come first serve; one floor of parking for a 14 floor hotel. What happens if there's no parking you ask? Apparently next door, that flat rate parking garage (which is pretty cool by the way), if they see you bought your $20 ticket, then they'll park your car for you. Parking could get a little tight, but they give tickets when jerks can't park within their own lines. Justice, ahhh.
The room was great. THE BEDS! Definitely the best thing to come back to after a wonderful day in Hawai'i. Bathrooms were dingy though. Apparently one side of the hotel has handicap accessible rooms, while the other side doesn't--we got stuck with the handicap rooms.
Room attendant was awesome and very respectful. She greeted us every morning.
Free wi-fi. Internet took a while to load on our macbook, but once it "warmed up," it was impressively fast than what I thought it would be.
Beach is reasonably walking distance, as well as restaurant and shopping places, so that was definitely a plus.
I thought the guy that helped us the very first night was a totally condescending jerk to us and other guests. He was cocky & boastful and I just DID NOT like him. Where's the aloha spirit? Very bad first impression and he is the reason why I gave this place two stars, when in actuality the hotel itself gets a 4.
It was definitely an affordable place to stay and made our stay in Oahu enjoyable.
It's NOT the fanciest or the most sophisticated hotel at Waikiki, but it is SMACK in the middle of everything! International Market Place is right downstairs. Two blocks from the Waikiki Beach and Shopping Strip Mall. The yummy and infamous Puka Dog is down the steps of the hotel lobby, turn right, pass Lotus, and you're there!
My friends and I recently stayed for two nights, June 19th-20th, to check out Wakiki's night life instead of driving 30-40 minutes away from our vacation rental at Ko 'Olina. It is AWESOME location wise! Never had to take the car anywhere! Some of the locals advised us to hit up the Shack and Level 4 - all within close walking distance. The Shack was literally 800 feet and Level 4 was 2 blocks away. Jack N' Box across the street. Duke's Restaurant 2 blocks away. EVERYTHING was soo easy to get to.
Besides its prime location, the building itself was alright, jussst alriiight. Pale Pink painted balconies that made the hotel look old. However, we were ever so reluctant to get a corner room & get TWO balconies, which dreadfully overlooked the dirty infested hotel swimming pool & Duke's market (:
Like previous reviews, it does get pretty loud during the day & night. We stayed on the 2nd floor and pretty much heard everything! Ask for a higher floor if you would like to avoid the racquet! We had garbage disposal pick up at 5AM?!! The sound of the market during the rest of the day, and bass from music from the nearby clubs at night.
Customer service was cool. Asked for ton's of towels and they promptly came. Another upside, hotel rooms come with a refrigerator and coffee maker. I was able to take back to the hotel extra yummy Hawaiian food to re-heat the next day.
Overall, I thought it was a pretty decent, low-priced hotel room, that got me everywhere within walking distance.
ps - hotel parking $20/night per car. If you can't find parking inside the hotel parking structure, the hotel will comp your parking fees at other designated parking structures..
Whoa this place is not what is advertised. Granted we stayed there 2 years ago when they just opened but it was rough and we switched to a different hotel after one night stay.
The Website is very misleading about how they advertise the place. The website says 4 stars, maybe they are using 3rd world standards buts its not 4 stars. To me it looked like they took an old run down motel, slapped different colors of paint on the walls and installed small flat panel tvs in each room. The lobby is the size of our bathroom and the elevators felt like they were going to break.
This place is still advertising rooms for $80.00 a night, but for $100 you can get a room at the beachcomber or the Sheraton next to Macys and its definately worth it.
OK...needs a lot of upgrades, but it's on the cheaper side.
Your very basic hotel with very basic amenities. They really need to give a facelift to all the rooms. The rooms all have a balcony with two plastic chairs, which is nice. I seriously disliked the small crampy bathrooms with crappy showerhead (but at least it had adjustable pressure!). It's so small it's one of those awful situations where the shower curtain keeps touching you. Gross. And the TV in the room is UNBELIEVABLY small - I mean, talk about cutting corners in cost while making a hotel...I would imagine it's smaller than a TV that would be present in a motel. Bonus - they have a mini fridge and microwave to store and heat up any leftovers!!!
The maid service is nice. If you leave them tips, they leave notes thanking you for the tips. :)
We were easily able to access the free wi-fi, but it wasn't a very strong signal...
The two elevators are small and slow.
It's on a busy street with lots of action - so it can get noisy. Get one of the upper floors to help avoid this, but at any level, you might not be able to sleep with the balcony door cracked open because of the noise.
It's a good 3 (maybe 4?) blocks away from the beach. It's a nice little walk...pass by the restaurants and some shops on your way. But it's really not that close to the beach. And the hotel will provide you with white beach towels that you can check in and out.
Parking is ridiculous in this area. They tell you you can park in their parking garage for $15 with in and out privileges - but you can never park there when you want to park there (after a day's expedition or night outing) - so you can pay $15 overnight at the garage next door WITHOUT in and out privileges. Street parking in the area within a 4block radius is hard to come by. So be prepared to pay the parking garage next door.
I personally do not prefer to stay here again, but if you want something OK, cheap, with the very very basics, then this is a good choice.
The Aqua Waikiki Wave is a solid 3 star hotel, however the service and management offer probably 4-5 star service, so averaging to an overall raiting to 3.5ish...
The entrance of the hotel is very barebone, and the lobby area is very simple; the building is old and basically got a simple facelift with new paint and furnishing on the inside, but here are the pros and cons of the whole place..
Pros:
+ concierge is extremely helpful; we got a great deal for $15 for snorkeling gear and transportation package to Hanauma Bay through them. They also were very helpful in showing us the bus routes to and from Waikiki
+ microwave in the room
+ fridge in the room
+ free coffee & tea in the room
+ free internet (wifi)
+ free newspaper daily
+ on Wednesdays, they have a reception for their guests including juice, and fresh fruits, in their lobby area
+ free mini gym and the gym has free purified water as well
+ dvd player..bring your own movies!
Cons:
- between a lounge & a club by night, so it might get loud if you sleep early
- the lobby area is very boring and not that nice to lounge in
- their "business center" is a total ripoff, it costs 40 cents to print a sheet of paper, and 20 cents a minute to use the computers..- bring your own laptop and use their free wifi instead!
- no pool, no bar.
- the tv is the size of a computer screen
Overall, I would probably come here again just because its situated in the center of Waikiki, 2 blocks away from the beach and right by the bus stop! The hotel itself is nothing spectacular, but the rooms are clean and tidy and I like that they have free wifi and equipped w/ microwave/ coffee ..it really made my stay a lot cheaper and saved $$ on morning coffee and sometime could re-heat up my take out :)
I saw this listed as a 3 star hotel, and i think it fit. Staff was always friendly, and helpful. They left the newspaper in front of the door everyday (even though i dont read it). Minus the handicapp shower stall, i had a good experience at this hotel. Definitely got what i paid for.
Be aware though this hotel is across the street from a bar which can get noisy at times. Try to get a room facing away from the alley and on a higher level if possible.
This place is fine. Our room and the hotel was clean and it was affordable for waikiki beach. Unless you plan on going on a ton of sight seeing you really do not need a rental car for the location of this hotel. You are a 5 mintue/2 block walk to the amazing waikiki beachfront and you are surrounded by alot of great places to eat/shop. If you do have a car I think it was like $20 to park the car in the garage there a day which seems a bit much. The customer service was good and they are pretty accommodating. The rooms are semi-modernized. It seems like they did a "modern remodel" but did it very cheaply. The bathrooms are really small and the bathtub/shower is ridiculous small I hit my elbow on the wall every-time I took a shower and I am petite and 5'2". And the tv's in the room are the size of a computer monitor,but they are flat screen. Luckily we didn't watch much tv &the view of the nasty parking garage across the street was a bummer too for our honeymoon. The worst part was one of the elevator's was broken the whole time we stayed there so the entire hotel was working on 1 elevator and sometimes you could use the workers elevator which was out of storage closet. So it would literally take at least 8 minutes to wait for the elevator to stop on your floor- half the time we ended up taking the 8 flights of stairs instead. overall it was fine but next time we are in honolulu I think we will spend the extra money to stay in a nicer place.
The lotion they leave you in the bathroom, smells soooooo good!
My parents stayed here on our last trip back to hawaii. I hung out in the room a few days, and the view from their room was pretty nice. The noise at night is a bit loud, but tolerable.
The parking is kinda bad, but the service here is good.
At first I thought it looked dingy. The elevators small and the hallways painted a weird green color.
But we were given a suite instead w/ 3 full size beds and 2 flat screen TV's. Score! The room itself was not bad at all. The beds comfy, the sheets smelled clean. the bathroom can use a remodel, but at least the tiles were not that moldy.
Staff was really nice, but the Continental breakfast sucked big time. All they served was just fruits, juice, rolls and breads. That's it. I was so disappointed.
I liked how the lobby gives you beach towels and you can check them out when you head to the beach. But for the price that we paid, I thought this was actually not a bad hotel. It's located right next to the International Marketplace, 3 blocks or so from the beach and just right behind the main strip. Not bad at all.
It's more like 3.5 stars tho, but I feel bad giving it 3 stars b/c that meant it really wasn't up to standards, which isn't true.
All I can do really is back up the previous reviews. We stayed here for 10 nights and had a lot of fun on our first trip to Hawaii. And for the price we paid, and considering we needed two rooms, the Aqua Waikiki Wave was a good choice. However, if you're going to Hawaii and you want a relaxing, resort-like hotel, this is not the place to stay.
The rooms are just so-so. Pretty plain. Comfortable beds, decent amenities, but that's about it. Nothing fancy. One big complaint I had too was that room cleaning service was very unpredictable. There was a few nights where we got back round 5pm and they were cleaning our room or had not cleaned it yet. Then there was another morning when they knocked on the door at 8:30am! Check out time is noon and check in time is 3 so I don't know why the time is so random.
My other big complaint about the cleaning service is that they sometimes didn't change our bed linens. My fiancee spilled chocolate ice cream on the blanket one night, and the next night I saw the stain but on the bottom of the bed. All they did was rotate the blanket. Kind of lame!
Another huge huge complaint is the noise. Like all the other reviews say, it is LOUD at night. This hotel is about 3 blocks from the beach and it's sort of the "downtown" Waikiki area. Lots of bars (i.e. pull up a stool bar) and night clubs, and they don't close until 4am. Some nights I would wake up around 3 or so and it was still very loud. And we were on the 15th floor! Then around 7am you will likely hear the sound of trucks and buses. This is definitely my main complaint and was the biggest bummer about our trip.
Other than that, it's a decent hotel. Front desk staff was very friendly and helpful. And, like I said, for the price (we paid about $150/night for the 15th floor) you get a decent room in paradise. It's not the best, but considering that beach front resort hotel rooms go for like $650/night, this is a good place to stay.
I just returned from an amazing stay here. I booked the hotel after reading the reviews here and was not disappointed. I was confident of my decision because of their general manager, Lynette. I have not seen anyone else who cares as much as her to respond to the reviews here as well as thank us for any suggestions of improvement. Not only have I found her responses helpful but extremely professional.
I used to feel that when I travel, it wouldn't matter what kind of hotel I got since I won't be in it much but I don't think that's true anymore. After a whole day of sight seeing, snorkeling, shopping, hiking, I felt so relieved to come back to the Aqua Waikiki Wave. It truly felt like our home away from home. Everything was clean and comfortable.
The pictures of their rooms really speak for themselves. I think the rooms are the quality of at least a 4 star hotel. The bedding was amazingly comfortable and everything was brand new since they have just recently remodeled. The carpet really impressed me! I did not experience a "squishy bed" even though my mattress at home is quite firm.
The staff was also extremely nice. They smiled at us everytime we walked by the front desk. When we asked for directions to popular attractions like the Ala Moana Mall and Pearl Harbor, they quickly handed us preprinted maps and directions to the specific location! Even the maid was friendly and said hi!
Location was great here too. It was a quick walk to the beach and if you are into fancy name brand spending, Honolulu's version of Rodeo Drive is just steps away too. If you want cheaper souvenirs there is the International Market. By the way, it is true that the Aloha Stadium swap meet sells the same exact items for much cheaper! Negotiate!
The bathroom had nice, soft towels and my favorite was the heavenly smelling shampoo, conditioner and soap they provided.
We even found yummy coconut macadamia cookies on our bed the night before we left!
Oh and let's not forget about the free wireless internet! That was such a great added bonus. We brought a laptop and were able to email our friends and family the awesome photos we were taking on vacation. The speed was great. They had a safe big enough to fit our laptop perfectly in the closet. Easy to use and free.
I will definitely recommend this hotel to all our friends as well as come back when we visit Oahu again.
A great hotel for the price and amount of time my friends and I stayed. The hotel itself is in the process of remodeling(so it seems). The view from the room we had was of the public parking garage. That was on the loud side during the night. The hotel is in the heart of the city so keep in mind that there will be drunkards out at night trying to find their way back to their hotels.
The staff here was very friendly and big thanks to the conceirge and the doormen for helping us plan our activities and help with our bags filled with souvenoirs. The rooms were nice with mini fridge, microwave, and coffee maker.
Not a fantastic hotel but a decent hotel that is a great value.
I moved to Oahu without having housing all set up and lived out of a suitcase for a bit.
After I used up tons and tons of "Starwood points" and a fair bit of money to stay at the W, I ventured into the somewhat scary world of budget hotels in Waikiki....
The Aqua Wave was a pleasant surprise. The lobby is nothing and there is a horribly cheesy restaurant next to it, but the room was decent. The decor wasn't bad at all and the beds were actually quite comfortable. Not "W Heavenly Bed" comfortable but much better than average.
And they have free wifi.
It is quite close to the beach and would be a good location for a vacation in Waikiki.
Negotiate price!
They might try to tell you the rooms go for $200+ but the website has specials and if you work it you can pay $100 This review is Definitely based on paying ~$100 a night.
First time in Hawaii and I find myself in a hotel that isn't on the beach shore, but perhaps the second best place to be. Two blocks away from the beach shore, a great location to be picked up by tour shuttles, taxis (either theCab or other taxi services), and theBus system, this hotel was a pleasant experience.
Located on the second street of the night life Honolulu and Waikiki have to offer (Zanzibar, Scruples, um, other stuff nearby), next to the International Market and the Food Court (your alternative to eating at restaurants), with an ABC Store (your friend in need) next door, a 24 hour Jack in the Box across the way, and two Starbucks on either direction of the street, and more stuff to mention, this hotel had a wonderful section to be located at.
The staff is friendly, nice, receptive, and very helpful on information. There's an internet lounge area for people who are willing to pay money per minute for internet usage. A Chinese restaurant is also located inside the lobby as well as a few shops (for humans, for pets, and even an art gallery), and right outside on the right handside is a bar / lounge / restaurant that is open from 7am - 4am. That's right. 4am. So if you want to stumble in back to your hotel room from the bar, just stumble up the steps of Aqua, and the staff might help you up.
There isn't a bad view (or a real great view) but the view at night can be wonderful with the lights and the traffic. And the higher up you are in the building, the less street noise you hear. The room are great, the closet space was huge, and the fridge, microwave, and coffee maker were great pluses for the room but the balcony helped make it even greater. To step outside at night is wonderful and to sip on your caffeinated or hot drink in the morning before stepping out to do some insane tours can be relaxing.
There are a few things to mention that aren't so great about the hotel -- the entrance is a bunch of steps. Not so great. But I'm not sure if the garage level has an elevator. I didn't drive in Hawaii when I was there. Second, the bathrooms do seem a bit small, but eh, who spends that much time in the bathroom anyway. And third, the elevators can be a pain. There are only two elevators (there are only 15, technically 14 floors) that run the hotel. And, I wish there was a swimming pool. But there wasn't.
But, the hotel isn't huge, and it isn't necessary to run plenty of elevators. And, in some ways, it makes it a nice less crowded, less noisy hotel than the other bigger hotels. After all, I only stayed in the hotel to sleep. And, the money I didn't spend on a more expensive hotel I spent on other things like drinks and riding taxis and more fun things.
I'd stay here again when I come back.
Some website listed this as a 4 star hotel, I must disagree. Its OK, but really need lots of improvement. The room has a microwave & a fridge w/c was nice. But there was a patch of mold above the vent & the paint was chipping in the bathroom. Their website mentioned a flat screen & DVD player in all the rooms. The TV was the smallest flat screen ever & the DVD player is the cheap kind you find at Big Lots. This hotel also didn't provide lotion, however they did provide beach towels. Another thing they lack is a swimming pool. All in all the staff were very nice & accommodating.
I found this place on http://tripadvisor.com and it got 4.5 stars out of 5 and everybody raved about it on that site so I thought I would give it a try instead of staying at my usual beachfront and much more expensive Outrigger hotel.
My plane got delayed 3 hours coming over, so by time I got here it was like 11 when I checked in and the guy who checked me in waived the first night $18 parking fee! That was really nice. Yes the parking garage is small though.
The rooms are really big, yes the elevator is fast, the free wifi is working great as I am sitting here writing this review in the hotel. It's been very quiet and I'm on the 4th floorr and with the door open and hear nothing. My view is of the parking garage next door but that's what you get for $127 a night.
The entire 2 block deep 10 block line stretch of Waikiki Beach is filled with hotels so it's very competitive and easy to find a good rate. I am very happy with this hotel, however I have not checked out the pool. Why would I? I snorkel...and there is no roomservice. There is however the AquaSpa onsite...massages and facials anyone?
I've stayed in many hotels in Waikiki and I got used to the old, outdated rooms. The Aqua Wave is a newly remodeled hotel that was a pleasant surprise for us.
This is a great Hotel in Waikiki that didn't cost a fortune! We lucked out and were given the corner room with two queen beds and two balconys. Room 905 had great views, check out my pics. Hotel staff and housekeeping were very friendly. Everyone said hi as you passed. The hotel is centrally located in Waikiki right next to the rear Kuhio entrance to the International Market. This is a plus because Kuhio seemed to be a little more quiet than Kalakaua. All the food and shopping we needed was withing a 3 block radius from this hotel. The beach was only a short 2 block walk.
The only issues were the expensive parking ($18 a day... but its like this everywhere in Waikiki) and the tiny flat panel TV. Other than that it was a perfect place to stay.
We stayed here in 2006. I think it just underwent some renovations. We liked it. Here is my review that I posted on tripadvisor:
THE BAD: (and somewhat minor) The maids suck. Not only do they not do a good job but someone stole a brand new macy's BCBG tanktop from me. The person who cleaned my room on Tues Dec 16th. Also, the second day we were there, the maid knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a response....good thing I had the door stop/thingy otherwise she would have seen my okole! This is the first hotel where I felt that they don't deserve any tips...but we did on xmas and the place was beautiful...extra towels, everything was placed nicely (once all our stuff on the counter was knocked over) and beds were made properly. The Housekeeping is the main reason why I gave it 4 stars and not a 5.
THE GOOD: Trevor, the front desk guy, among others, were great to work with. He helped us with everything. Giving us free ice, giving us directions to a great poke place, just overall, a very friendly guy. At the end of our stay, we wanted to tip him but he wouldn't even take it. My hubby then forced it on him...telling him how helpful he was! The other guys are great too. On xmas I had a ton of stuff to bring down and the hubby was picking me up from the hotel and one of the porters came out of nowhere, even though he asked me if I needed some help. I was gonna make 2 trips. He was great too. Hotel was brand new so everything seemed clean...the BEDS WERE A BIT SOFT for me though. TVs were nice and t here were decent channels. Fridge and microwave were wonderful. We saved so much money by eating a huge dinner and then having the leftovers for breakfast the next day. LOCATION was great too. a quick walk to the cheesecake factory and to this chinese restaurant...FATTY's. food was readily accessible and so was beach access. We both got a really great tan.
WOULD I STAY THERE AGAIN: absolutely!
RECOMMENDATION: get a room on the higher floors if possible and on the west side (away from diamond head) if on the lower floors. The East side faces a parking garage and the garbage guys pick up garbage on that side so it can get kinda noisy.
MAIDSERVICe: I believe tipping is earned and not just given.. I hope you don't have the same maid I had..I'm going to get her fired. Lazy lazy and oh yeah, thief!
We stayed in room 310.
their service SUCKS. the front desk was unaccomodating, reluctant to please their guests, and generally on the careless side. i guess you get what you pay for.
the room is actually pretty nice, it wasnt too shabby. the room interior was nicer than whati had expected. the bathroom was the only problem, i had to take lukewarm showers most of the time. the only time it was warm when i went to take an early morning shower otherwise the water was luekwarm/cool. i would probably come back here just because it was a pretty decent room and close to everything in waikiki.
my friends stay at the shearton prince kuiho, and pay the same amount i did, but it's like heaven and hell difference. The hotel is just bad, the bathroom is dirty, the bed is dirty even after house keeping, the floor is dirty, and the worst of all there are hookers right in the front of the hotel every night after 10pm. there were fights when i stay there. man it was just very bad. not recommended.
READ JAY M'S REVIEW 1ST - I think it's been a while since Jay M. stayed at the hotel cuz we definitely didn't have the same experience, or anything even remotely close. Though hearing the hookers next door coulda been an interesting selling point to all our mainland friends. ;-)
My friend called earlier in the day and asked for an early check-in. We were told we could check in at 2p, rather than 3p. Great! Bonus: While investigating our room, we realized it had a refrigerator, albeit not stock full of booze, but we brought our own. And we didn't discover any helicopter-sized cockroaches. Double bonus! The balcony we had had a partial view of the ocean and the 2 full-sized beds were comfy. Shower pressure was ok. (At least it didn't feel like someone was spitting on you.)
Affordable, walking distance to the beach and tons of restaurants. Though if you're looking to get away from the tourists, you may need to walk or drive a bit further. But hey, you're in Honolulu, guess what? You're gonna see tourists.
My wife and I were in Honolulu two weeks ago and we rested at the Aqua Wave for about two hours. I read the reviews on here and went there with an open mind. The hotel staff that we saw there was nice. The reason I give it a three is because of the room. When they said it was renovated, I was expecting a lot more that a new fresh coat of paint. The room we had booked was sold out, so they gave us a suite. This was not sweet! Luckily, my wife called the agents and refunded our money and didn't gt charged for the rest. This is a good place to stay if you are going to be out and about while there. The pictures of the room were acurate. The parking garage is low so becarfl if you rented an suv. Our xterra hit the ceiling while drivng in and out of the garage.
This place is a good deal! While they may not be the newest looking rooms, they are still nice. Not to mention, they have great prices for a hotel in Waikiki. The rooms have always been very clean and the maids keep it that way! The staff there is incredibly friendly and if you have questions, definitely talk to them! And the beds are really comfortable! I always sleep really well when I stay there. The hotel is walking distance to the beautiful Waikiki beach, and is practically right in the International Marketplace! Only downside- PARKING SUCKS! They charge $20 a day to park in their tiny lot. Any overflow goes to the elevator lot just outside. The guys that work the elevator lot are really nice, but if you need access to your vehicle late at night or if you come back to the hotel late at night, you are kinda out of luck. Anyhow, still worth staying there! I recommended my parents stay there on their last visit out here, and they actually liked it, and they can be sort of particular about their hotels. So... score!
went to hawaii with my boyfriend and family. heard about the aqua getting a new renovention and its a prime spot at waikiki beach.
i loved every bit of our stay. the wifi was VERY slow. but it was ok.
my favorite thing about the aqua was the workers and their amazing guest service:
one morning when we woke up, we noticed one of our chairs were missing in the patio. and the room next to us had an extra chair. he did mention to me that he heard a loud noise in the middle of the night. as a concerned guest of our safety i immediately called front desk and told them about the situation. they managed the situation very well and they assured us they wouldn't be bugging us anymore because THEY GOT KICKED OFF OF THE PREMISES!!!!!!
so ya.. i felt bad about that but HECK, i got scared!!!!!!!!
we were staying with a handicap family member and the hotel was able to accomadate us last minute with a handicap room. what we loved the most was the help from the parking garage on the elevator and they even had a contraption at the front of the hotel for guests in wheelchairs. it made our stay extremely easier for us. all of the workers are extremely nice and helped us so much. one time, we asked for something from room service 5 times in one hour. but of course, they didnt mind even though we felt bad.
tv and dvd in the room. fridge was extremely useful. huge beds. amazing view. we were so comfortable!!
right next door to abc stores and the int'l market place and PUKA DOGS (see my review!) and only a couple blocks away from the beach.
we're going back to hawaii at the end of the year again and we're definately staying here.
From RAVE reviews on different sites, I was expecting something better. Don't get me wrong- the room was huge (we had a junior suite), but the layout was odd and the TV was super small. It also did not look as NEW and clean as I thought it would be considering it was JUST renovated. The staff was nice enough, but not exceptionally so. WiFi was sometimes slow, sometimes fast depending on what time you were on I guess.
Although the parking garage is really small, the valet next door at the parking lift will find a spot for it. TIP: you don't need in and out privileges throughout the day, the lift is only $10 overnight if you don't go through the hotel.
The working ladies try to drum up business on this block which I actually don't mind, it's pretty entertaining actually.
I remember staying here with my family when it was the Aston Coral Reef.
I came back here last December 2007 and I guess you can't relly complain for the price. Its decent and its right above the International market place. There are Abc stores everywhere and only about three blocks away from the beach. The only thing that I didn't like was the showers.The shower heads were not strong enough. But it was only a place to stay at night. Though we had a shitty view from our balcony its still great for the price and the place is clean!!! You won't be dissapointed!
I stayed here on a recent family trip and I would classify this place as a boutique hotel. The rooms are huge. We ended up with three queen sized beds in ours. There is free wi-fi throughout the hotel and for the most part it was pretty reliable. There were a few nights when I had to piggyback onto a signal from another floor. The rooms have tiny LCD TVs and a fridge. There are a few supermarkets in the area but I would take the bus to the Don Quiote or Walmart to stock up on supplies. The pool is small and why would you swim there when you have the magnificent ocean just a few blocks away. The hotel offers free towels at the front desk. The bus stop is right in front of the hotel and there are restaurants all along Kuhio Ave. The international marketplace is right next door and there are ABC stores almost every block. I stopped counting after 30.
The wave is the better hotel of all the Aqua's. Their rates are reasonable and cheaper than most. Spacious roms, fast elevator, free wifi, comfortable beds and good customer service. They have renovated most of the rooms and currently renovating the 2nd floor. Our room had mini fridge with freezer, microwave, and (2) LCD TV. The location is 2 blocks from the beach and right next to Intl market. Their parking spaces are limited and will cost you $20/day. Jamba, starbucks and ABC stores are located everywhere. The only cons are the sliding glass doors and windows are paper thin. We were on the 15th floor and we were able to hear all the cars, buses and drunks yelling at night. For its price, location and convenience I would definitely come back.
After looking at the website and how it was newly renovated in September, I thought it was going to be nice when we stayed in December. It was decent but it didn't look as clean as it does on the website. It is a really convenient location, it is close to everything, it overlooks the International Market. For the price, I think it was a good place to stay.
not a high class swanky hotel but it was clean and had what we needed... it was decent for the price we paid, $115 a night for 3 queen beds,plasma tvs, and balcony. the bedroom window faced the beach and i could see the sunrise laying in my bed. within walking distance of shopping areas and waikiki beach. the staff is real helpful and really nice. we also missed our flight home and they were able to give us the same type room for the same great price we paid. BUT this is on Kuhio street, a busy street and there are at least 2 prostitutes in the area at night. i wouldnt recommend staying with family near or on this street but it really wasnt that bad. we were only at the hotel to sleep and get ready to go out and that was it. we didn't need any extra amenities....i would stay here again.
