We stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu for five nights in 2022. This review is meant to help you decide whether one of the biggest resorts in Waikiki is the right base for you: how much resort you are signing up for, what a standard room was like, what the pools and the lagoon are really like, and how to eat here without paying resort prices at every meal.
A quick note on how this stay happened, because it affects how you read the review. We booked the five nights ourselves, with Hilton points, and we booked the lowest room category we could. We ended up with a bit of an upgrade, an ocean and lagoon view room on the 22nd floor of the Rainbow Tower, which we hadn’t asked for. Everything below is from 2022, so check with the resort for what the rooms, pools and restaurants look like today.
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The short answer
- Worth a look if you want one huge, self-contained beachfront resort with several pools, a calm saltwater lagoon and a lot of places to eat at different price levels, and you don’t mind a lot of walking.
- Look elsewhere if you want a small, quiet hotel where everything is a few steps from your door. This place is huge, and finding your way around it takes a day or two.
- The biggest trade-off: size. Touring half of it was tiring enough that a nap was in order.
- The biggest surprise: how much is on the property: two Starbucks, a food court, a stretch of beach, DVD rental kiosks, and about 18 places to buy a swimsuit, by our rough count.
If that sounds like your kind of Waikiki stay, you can check current rates and availability for Hilton Hawaiian Village now, and read on for the details that decide it.
Our stay at a glance
| When | Five nights in 2022 |
| How we booked | Ourselves, with Hilton points, in the lowest room category we could |
| Room | A king room on the 22nd floor of the Rainbow Tower, an ocean and lagoon view we hadn’t booked |
| What we saw | Check-in, the room, a full walking tour of the resort, the pools and lagoon, and several of the places to eat |
| Not in this review | Other room types and towers, the spa, the luau and how the resort runs today |
How big it is, and how you get around
The resort describes itself as five towers, the Rainbow Tower, the Ali’i, the Tapa Tower, the Diamond Head Tower and the Kalia Tower, and it covers about 22 acres. As we understood it, a few of the other buildings are Hilton timeshare towers. On our first day we were still getting oriented, and on the second we spent a morning on a full walking tour and still felt like we’d missed things.
Maps are posted all over the property, which helps a lot. The easiest place to get your bearings is the area around the main lobby. The lobby is open air, with an enormous check-in counter and the concierge desk, where you can book tour packages and the Hilton luau. A short walk away is the Rainbow Bazaar, a food-court-style area with cheaper places to eat, souvenir stores, an ABC Store and an Enterprise rental car desk. The Kalia Tower holds the main spa, one of the Starbucks and an adults-only pool on the fourth floor.
Checking in
We arrived at the resort at about 10:45 in the morning, well before check-in time, so we left our bags at the front desk and went for coffee. We tried Lappert’s, which seemed a little more local than the Starbucks. We got into the check-in line early and were first in it, so once we were in line we didn’t wait long, and we were checked in around 12:30.
The general check-in line behind us was super long, probably at least 70 people deep. It’s a different line from the one for Hilton Honors members, even at the lowest level. We’re big fans of signing up for the rewards program of whatever hotel or rental car company you’re using, because a lot of the time there’s a separate line that saves a bunch of time, and it costs nothing. We also booked our ride from the airport through the Hilton app, which was handy, with no address to type in.
The room
Because this was a bit of a surprise upgrade, treat this section as a look at one lucky room and not what every standard booking gets. We were in the Rainbow Tower, on the 22nd floor, in a room categorized as an ocean and lagoon view room, and it had a king bed.
It was pretty much a standard hotel room. The bed was roomy and the room was clean, but the furniture was a little dated. There was a small coffee bar and ice bucket, a little refrigerator, a safe, an ironing board and iron, a pretty basic closet and a big TV. The bathroom was on the small side, but it had everything we needed, and we had no complaints. The room came with a card for renting DVDs, and there are DVD kiosks all over the resort. The balcony was the best part: a big one with a view of the lagoon and the marina. We could see the ocean, a couple of surfers and a paraglider.
The pools, the lagoon and the beach
This is where a resort this size earns its keep. The Super Pool is the biggest pool on the property. It runs through the middle of the resort, has beachfront views and a bar and grill, and it was always busy. The other pools aren’t as well known, so you may have better luck finding a lounge chair at one of them.
The Paradise Pool, by the Lagoon Tower, is where the water slides are. The adults-only pool on the fourth floor of the Kalia Tower is the quiet option, and it’s a little more zen. Right next to the Rainbow Tower is the saltwater lagoon, which you can swim in or snorkel in, and you can rent paddle boards and aqua bikes. It isn’t connected to the ocean, there are no waves and it is pretty shallow, which makes it a good choice for little kids. The beachfront beside the Super Pool is a pretty stretch of sand with palm trees and a dock where the resort runs some of its excursions.
Eating without resort prices
If you don’t want to eat at a resort restaurant every day, there are options. The Rainbow Bazaar has cheaper places to eat than the resort restaurants. Aloha Bowls and Tea sells poke bowls, acai bowls and boba tea, and it sits next to the Tapa pool. A poolside spot by the Paradise Pool does light sandwiches and a few drinks, and the take-out deli near the Super Pool wasn’t as cheap as we’d have liked, but it was cheaper than some of the other eateries. At the Tropics Bar and Grill on the beach they had live music while we were there, and you should expect resort prices.
Off the property, Duke’s Waikiki, an easy walk away, is one of Kelly’s favorite breakfast spots. It’s touristy, but the breakfast buffet is good and the views can’t be beat. On our first night we picked up poke bowls for dinner on a walk down Waikiki Beach.
Cars and parking
We planned to rent a car for only a couple of days so we could drive around the island, because renting it for the whole stay was expensive and we would have had to pay for parking. The nightly parking fee at the resort adds up fast, so think about how many days you really need a car. If you’d rather skip the driving and the parking entirely, the Oahu page on GetYourGuide lists the tours that can be booked on the island.
Who it suits
Here’s our read. A resort like this suits people who want a lot in one place: pools to rotate between, a lagoon with no waves for little kids, a beach, plenty of places to eat and an easy walk to the rest of Waikiki. It is probably not the right pick if you want something small and quiet, or if long walks through a big resort sound exhausting. The resort says it is renovating its rooms, so what you get may look quite different from our 2022 room.
What this review leaves out
This review doesn’t cover other room types or towers, the spa, the luau or how the resort runs today. We saw part of a resort this large, so treat this as a partial picture and check the resort’s own pages for the rest.
Before you go
- Treat 2022 details as history. The rooms, pools and restaurants may look different today.
- Give yourself a day to get oriented. The property is big, and the maps help.
- Think about walking. Comfortable shoes matter more than you might expect at a beach resort.
- Check the details with Hilton. Rates, fees, parking and restaurant hours change, so confirm them on the resort’s own page before you book around them.
Plan your trip
You can see Hilton Hawaiian Village on Booking.com to compare room types and current rates.
Frequently asked questions
How did you book this stay?
We booked five nights ourselves with Hilton points, in the lowest room category we could. We ended up in an ocean and lagoon view room on the 22nd floor of the Rainbow Tower.
How big is Hilton Hawaiian Village?
It covers about 22 acres. The resort lists five towers, and a morning walking tour covered only part of it.
Is there a swimming lagoon?
Yes. It’s a saltwater lagoon that isn’t connected to the ocean, it has no waves and it’s pretty shallow, so it works for little kids. You can swim, snorkel and rent paddle boards or aqua bikes.
Can you eat here without paying resort prices?
The Rainbow Bazaar food court has cheaper options, and there are two Starbucks on the property. Check with the resort for what’s open now.
Final verdict
Hilton Hawaiian Village gave us a big beachfront resort with a calm lagoon, a lot of pools, a balcony view over the lagoon and the marina, and more to explore than we could finish in two days. It is also huge, and the size is the thing you will either love or resent. I can’t tell you whether the price is worth it, only what the place was like to spend time in.
Read next: Conrad Bora Bora Nui: A Review and Planning International Travel: What to Research.
Image credits: the photo of the Rainbow Tower and the lagoon near the top is by Daniel Ramirez, licensed CC BY 2.0, and the article’s featured image, the beachfront boardwalk, is by Don Ramey Logan, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Both come from Wikimedia Commons. All other images are stills from our own videos.
