The Hyatt Credit Card awards cardholders a category 1-4 certificate every year. But since I don’t travel all that often, I usually look to redeem the certificate locally. And so here’s a repeat review: Hyatt Place Waikiki Revisited.
When Mr. and Mrs. J stopped by my home island of Oahu, they stayed at the Hyatt Place Waikiki. And if you’ve read this blog for the past two years (wow has it been that long already?!), you’ll likely remember Mrs. J’s hilarious review of the hotel and Waikiki. And you know what? I’m not gonna lie, she’s right. Waikiki is a crowded miserable place, but it’s somewhere I find myself more often now days. But more on that in future posts.
Hyatt Credit Card Certificate
This stay at the Hyatt Place Waikiki was my second one so far and likely won’t be my last. The property is a World of Hyatt category 3, which means you can redeem your Hyatt Credit Card annual stay certificate here. And since I prefer to burn my certificates in Hawaii, thanks to my inability to travel often, the Hyatt Place Waikiki is my best and only option. It is, after all, the only World of Hyatt category 3 property in the State of Hawaii. Of course some will say that’s not a good use of the certificate, and at $200-$300/night, the Hyatt Place Waikiki isn’t giving me the best value for it. But having to pay $500+ per person to fly somewhere else to use it isn’t exactly a great value either. So to me, getting $200-$300 in value from a $75 annual fee card is still good.
Location
As Mrs. J had mentioned, the Hyatt Place Waikiki is in bustling Waikiki a short walk from the beach.
But the beach and the zoo are just about all the property is near. As you can see in the above map, the Hyatt Place Waikiki is a good distance away from the main retail and dining outlets in Waikiki. In fact, its a good 10-20 minute walk away from the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and International Market Place. And while this usually means a quieter location, the property is located right next to the Waikiki Beach Marriott’s tour bus driveway. That and the fact that the Hyatt Place Waikiki seems to be popular with tour and school groups means the area is actually quite busy and noisy. Being located back towards Kuhio Ave. also means that expansive ocean views aren’t going to be possible here if that sort of thing is important to you.
Service
The service at the Hyatt Place Waikiki was always the property’s strong point, in my opinion. But this past time the service was quite a bit different in a good way. And I’m not just saying that because the day before we had poor service at the Courtyard Oahu North Shore.
When we checked in (early) the associate recognized my status instantly, thanked me for my repeated patronage of that property, took time to explain my new benefits under World of Hyatt, and proactively offered an upgrade. Once all was said and done, asked if he could personally call us after we had the opportunity to settle into our room to ensure we’re happy with it. And about 15 minutes after leaving the front desk, the associate called to see how we liked our room.
Oh, and during our previous stay, the front desk staff were equally friendly, though not quite as thorough. Last time, though, we were staying during the week and needed to leave by a certain time. And this being a valet-only property, the valets offered to have are car waiting for us every morning at our specified time. Nice!
Our Room
Unfortunately, the room we got this time wasn’t quite as good as the one we had last time. And it was nowhere near as good as Mr. and Mrs. J’s room. But it was on a high-floor, so it kept us away from the street noise.
Immediately upon entering the room, you’ll find the bathroom to the left. It’s divided into two separate segments, one with the sink, and the other with the shower and the toilet.
Toiletries on offer are the standard Provitamin variety. Additional items can be requested for free or a fee if needed as well.
Across from the bathroom was a small closet with the ironing board, iron, and a rather large safe.
Looking into the main portion of the room, to the left was the TV, the dresser, the bed, a radio/alarm clock, and a phone.
Across from room from the bed was the sofa, an ottoman with a tray, and the desk partitioned off from the rest of the room.
The desk contained the single-cup coffee maker, ice bucket and cups.
View? HAH!! Well, there’s at least a little sliver of ocean there.
Amenities
For a limited service hotel, the amenities at the Hyatt Place Waikiki aren’t bad. Mr. and Mrs. J already covered the complimentary breakfast, so I’ll skip it.
The property does also have a small pool, a fire pit, a small gym, and a laundry facility. And while there’s a nice amount of amenities here, its places like the pool that make it apparent that this property was converted from an older hotel. The pool looks like it wasn’t touched at all during the conversion.
And like all Gallery Host hotels, the Waikiki one has a Gallery Host, which is open 24/7. Though we didn’t order food from it this past time, we did the first time we stayed.
The food was surprisingly decent, though not something I’d order if I had a choice. But it’s nice enough and is far better than the stuff you’ll find at The Bistro in Courtyards.
Hyatt Place Waikiki Revisited Final Thoughts
The Hyatt Place Waikiki is a really mediocre hotel. For a limited service property, it actually has a nice number of amenities, but ones like the pool are very underwhelming. The service, however, is fantastic! It elevates a mediocre hotel a bit and reflects well on the brand. That being said, one element that makes the property difficult to recommend is crowding and noise. On our very first stay a big tour group was staying in the hotel. Our recent stay? A high school marching band was staying on-property as well. So both times the property was always bustling and NOISY. For some reason both the tour group and band had people making boise throughout the hallways. And the elevators… The wait times were SO LONG! Which is why I’m mixed about this property. Either way, I’ll be back so long as the property continues to remain a category 4.