On Walkabout Recommendation: The Hilton Hawaiian Village

The hotel I stay at whenever I am on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu is the expansive Hilton Hawaiian Village located along the world famous Waikiki Beach:

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The Hilton Hawaiian Village is an older hotel since it was built in 1957, however despite its age it is still the largest hotel in the Hilton chain since it houses 3,386 rooms.  The hotel also has everything you would expect from a tourist resort such as a spa, great restaurants, pools, beaches, etc.

I stay here because I have a lot of Hilton Honors points first and foremost, but I like the central location of the resort, the friendly service, and the clean and spacious rooms.  Here is a look at a standard hotel room:

The bed was very comfortable and the room had a refrigerator and coffee maker:

Here is the restroom:

Here is the view from my room looking across the hotel complex:

The grounds of the hotel has a very Japanese flavor to it and considering the amount of Japanese tourists that stay here it is easy to understand why:

The Japanese village has a number of shops that are actually fun to look around, but be warned everything is overpriced compared to what you can find in other shops in Waikiki:

One of the downsides of the resort is that it is pretty isolated from the rest of Waikiki meaning it is a long walk to check out restaurants other than the ones on the resort’s property.  Even if you have a car it is still better to walk to another restaurant because of the parking situation in Waikiki.  There is nothing wrong with the restaurants on the hotel’s property other than how expensive they are.  In fact the Japanese restaurant, Benihana of Tokyo is quite good:

However, expect to pay $30 or more a person if eating there.  You can find comparable or even better food in Waikiki for much less if you are willing to walk.  At night though the Hilton is well known in Waikiki for its Hawaiian music concerts:

The concert is really quite good and we both enjoyed it, much like our stay at the Hilton itself.