Recently, Mrs. Island Miler and I attended a wedding in Waikiki. And thanks to excellent rates, we made a weekend of it by staying in a Courtyard Waikiki 1-Bedroom Suite. Unfortunately, our stay was a disappointing one.
Three years ago, I stayed at the Courtyard Waikiki for the first time since their renovation. Unfortunately, it was a last-minute stay that I needed to make due to a utility issue. As a result, we ended up in a base room that was, well, disappointing. So, I decided to the CY Waikiki another shot, this time in the 1-bedroom suite. After all, once upon I time, I did like this property, despite never being all that nice.
Location
The CY Waikiki is on the “backside” of Waikiki long Kuhio Ave, and unlike the Waikiki Beach Marriott, the CY Waikiki’s parking address is the hotel’s actual address on Royal Hawaiian Ave. Parking, by the way, is still valet-only and costs an atrocious $45/night. But, at least the place doesn’t have any resort fees, so at least there’s that.
As far as its location in Waikiki, the CY Waikiki is three blocks away from the Laylow Waikiki, the Hyatt Centric Waikiki, and Kona Coffee Purveyors at the International Market Place.
Check-In Experience
We arrived at the CY Waikiki a few hours before check-in. There was a short line at the front desk, which didn’t take long to get through. Once our time came, we were assisted by the front desk assistant manager. She was very friendly and personable and thanked me for my loyalty. Unfortunately, I couldn’t receive room upgrade since I was already booked into a suite (guess the penthouse isn’t available for upgrades). However, I did get a choice between F&B credit (can’t be carried over to the next day) or points and got to spin the bonus points wheel.
Despite our early arrival, our room was already available. So, after going over some property features, we headed up to the room. The CY Waikiki, by the way, has two towers, the one the lobby is in, plus the one across the parking lot. We were in the main tower, so we headed straight to the elevators across from the front desk.
1-Bedroom Suite
Our room was on 9th floor facing Kuhio Ave. near the elevators.
Upon entering a 1-bedroom, you’ll find a kitchenette right next to the door. There, you’ll find a microwave, a mini-fridge, a wet bar, and a coffee maker.
Walking further into the room, you’ll find the living room. In the living room, the Courtyard Waikiki features a sofabed, a work desk, and a TV.
Immediately after the kitchenette and to the left, you’ll find a short corridor with a closet at the end of it.
To the left of the closet is the bathroom, which is similar to the one in the standard room. However, the 1-bedroom suite bathroom has a larger vanity and a shower/tub combo instead of a shower stall. Oh, and the quirky thing about the bathroom is the fact that the light switch is outside next to the door. Oh, and while water pressure was decent, the water doesn’t get hot enough. That was especially frustrating, as the weather was unusually cold for Hawaii that weekend.
Across from the bathroom, you’ll find the bedroom. Here, you’ll find the bed (a king in our case, a dresser, TV, and another closet with the safe, iron, and ironing board. Unfortunately, like the standard room, though, the split air unit is right next to and blows onto the head of the bed. Fun. Speaking of which, the bed is on the harder side and not all that comfortable.
View
Despite being on a higher floor, we didn’t have much of a view. This isn’t surprising, though, as the Courtyard Waikiki has a few tall buildings between it and the ocean. We did have a large balcony, though, that spans the length of the entire room. I don’t recommend spending much time on it, though, as this portion of Waikiki is quite noisy.
Amenities
I went over the CY Waikiki’s amenities last time, and nothing has changed since then, so I’ll list them again here. The CY Waikiki has a heated saltwater pool, a lobby bar, a coffee shop, a Spada Bar & Restaurant, a Courtyard Market, and Spa Pure. What is new, as far as I know, is the little mini-putt course they have near the valet stand.
Unfortunately, it appears that one of my favorite shave ice spots, Lemona Hawaii, which was next door to the CY Waikiki has closed.
Issues
While I have no complaints about the service experience we had at the CY Waikiki, our stay was riddled with issues. One of those is the fact that the rooms have no soundproofing whatsoever. Our room was next to the elevators, and you could always hear them running. You could also clearly hear all of the street noise as is if the sliding door was open.
The worst part of the entire stay, though, was the malfunctioning fire alarm system. The alarms went off at around 7 am on Sunday, and then continued to go off throughout the day some more. No sleeping in, I guess!
Oh, and the WiFi at the CY Waikiki is awful. Coverage, even inside our room, was dismal, as is the speeds. Unfortunately, TVs don’t have Netflix, Hulu, etc. built-in either, so yeah.
Courtyard Waikiki 1-Bedroom Suite, Final Thoughts
Despite the good service and lack of a resort fee, I can’t recommend the Courtyard Waikiki. The 1-bedroom suites continue to have the same issues as the standard rooms, just with, you know, more room. So, despite the low room rate, the noise, lack of hot water, lack of good on-site dining options, and malfunctioning infrastructure of the hotel will keep me away. Plus, the Courtyard Waikiki is now a Marriott Bonvoy Category 6 property. Who the heck would redeem 50,000 points per night at this place?! Ouch.