Last month, my husband and I took our first trip to Hawaii! We stayed on the island of Oahu in Honolulu along Waikiki Beach at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel. If you are looking for a beautiful place to stay close to the beach, this could be the place for you. Keep reading for lots of photos of the hotel, including the restaurant, the pool and the incredible view from our room!
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Location
Queen Kapiolani is a two-minute walk from the beach. The beach closest to the hotel is also protected by a cement barrier, which keeps the waves at bay. This is the perfect swimming area, especially for kids. In late May, this part of the beach was somewhat busy, but never super crowded. Areas further down the beach where people surf were much busier.
The hotel is next to the Honolulu Zoo and the Waikiki Aquarium. It is also only a 10-minute bus ride to the bottom of Diamond Head Mountain. The photo below is the view from our room. Isn’t that gorgeous??
The rooms
Apparently this hotel was recently renovated, and I believe it! Our room was gorgeous! It was one of the smallest hotel rooms we’ve stayed in, but it was so well decorated. I loved the beachy vibe. (There are several options available if you want a bigger room with a kitchenette) Our room had an incredible view of the ocean, and if we looked straight down we could see the pool.
There was a fridge in our room, which was convenient for keeping water cold and storing breakfast food. One thing that was odd was there was no coffee maker in the room. I don’t drink coffee, but that was a bit inconvenient for my husband. According to the website the junior suites and the one-bedroom units have coffee makers. Many of the rooms have balconies, but ours did not.
Beach Chairs/Towels
Queen Kapiolani Hotel has complimentary beach chairs and towels for guests to use. They are available at the concierge desk, and you can help yourself. We never had a problem getting towels, but the supply of chairs can be limited. When we were there, guests were not required to sign out towels or chairs. You can take as many as you need for as long as you like.
Restaurant
The restaurant in Queen Kapiolani is called Deck, and it is located on the third floor next to the pool. We went to Deck twice, once for breakfast and once for dinner. The food was excellent! Queen Kapiolani also provides $5 and $10 vouchers for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the rooms. One of them is missing in the last photo in this section because we used it for breakfast.
Pool
As I mentioned earlier, the pool is on the third floor of the hotel next to the restaurant. There are lots of lounge chairs around the pool, which was awesome. We never had a problem finding a seat. The pool itself was a little cold for me. I preferred swimming in the ocean, but this was a nice place to relax and read a book. You can’t see it in these photos, but there are umbrellas around for shade.
Lobby
The lobby was one of my favourite parts of Queen Kapiolani. There are two entrances to the hotel: one beside the check-in desk and one at the other side next to the coffee shop and Dole whip store. There are actually no doors to the hotel — it’s always open to the outside! What I loved about the lobby was how beautiful it was! There is a lot of Hawaiian-themed art on the walls and nice couches. There is also a surf shop that offers surf lessons and an art gallery.
Top tip, be sure to stop by the Dole whip shop for some delicious Dole whip samples!
Activities
There are lots of activities at the hotel, including lei making, cocktail making and live music. All the info is on the Queen Kapiolani website, and there is also a schedule of events posted in the hotel.
Overall, we had a great time during our stay at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel, and would highly recommend it!
Love Hawaii? Check out these posts:
Guide to Instagrammable Murals in Honolulu
Guide to Hiking Diamond Head Mountain on Oahu
xo,
Andrea
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I just got back from Honolulu. This place looks really nice. Bonus for proximity to the beach. So many nice places, I’m going to go back to Hawaii for sure.
I definitely want to go back as well! This was my first time to Hawaii, and I’d love to explore another island!