Sheraton Waikiki Hotel Honolulu

Wow, I didn't realise how good this place was until I started filling out the 'Detailed Ratings'.



If you are anything like me, the view from this hotel will blow you away. I walked into the room, after a few seconds I picked up my jaw, dropped everything in my hands (except my camera), and ran straight out to the balcony. What a fantastic view! I cannot remember looking at anything else in the room, but I must have because I do have a couple of photos of things other than the view.

The Sheraton Waikiki sits on the shores of the Pacific Ocean overlooking Waikiki Beach; our balcony also overlooked the hotel pool (open between 8:30am – 6pm) where, on the night we stayed, was a free screening of a family movie on a giant screen. Hotel guests are invited to pull up a lounge chair by the pool, float around in the pool, or watch the movie from your balcony. Guests have access to the private beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian, another Sheraton hotel right next door. All Sheraton guests have full access to all the facilities of all four Sheraton hotels in Waikiki and have the ability to charge meals at the other three to your room.

After I had soaked up my fill of the view, I came back into the room where we had two double beds, a wall mounted television and a shelf along the wall as the room was too small for a desk or table. In the wardrobe was a large safe for us to store our valuables. We needed to set the coffee brewer up on the shelf between the bathroom and the bedroom, but they did supply Royal Kona coffee. There was a shelf between the bathroom and the bedroom because there are a couple of folding doors that allow you to make the very most of the magnificent view and could see from the bathroom out through the room to the ocean. Even the shower curtain is designed with the view in mind, with the top portion see through so if you have the folding doors open, you can still see the glorious view. We ‘only’ had the ocean front view, not the Deluxe Ocean Front Room that would have given us uninterrupted views to Diamond Head, but you didn’t hear us complaining. There is also one other outlook of the mountains facing away from the beach.

You have a great choice of restaurants at the Sheraton Waikiki. Mel and I ate at ‘Ingredients’ when we first arrived. We were greeted on arrival with a gorgeous flower lei by an equally gorgeous Hawaiian girl and because we arrived earlier than we expected, our room wasn’t ready, but the friendly reception staff gave us a complimentary voucher for lunch in either ‘Ingredients’ or ‘The Sand Bar’. Ingredients advertise as ‘some assembly necessary’, but all that means is, you wait at the counter while your meal is prepared. Both Mel and I ordered a gourmet sandwich, and while the ‘sandwich lady’ was preparing our sandwiches, another couple ordered one of the gourmet pizzas, so we watched the ‘pizza man’ assemble that as well. We sat on the terrace to enjoy the view while we gobbled down our sandwiches and fruit juice. The only other time we ate in this hotel was breakfast in the Ocean Terrace Restaurant, where a buffet breakfast is served daily between 6 to 11 am and menu service is available between 7 and 11 am. There is also the Rum Fire; an oceanfront hideaway that offers the largest selection of vintage rum in the United States and apparently some pre embargo Cuban Cigars, an exotic blend of tapas-style cuisine and has fire pits scattered through the garden with seats around them. The HanoHano Room is the fine dining restaurant that sits high above Waikiki on the 30th floor with magnificent views to Diamond Head and live music every night.

I thoroughly enjoyed my short stay here and would definitely come back and stay again. The Sheraton Waikiki catered well for all types of quests with a great mix of activities for kids to participate in, but it is still special enough for couples to enjoy a romantic getaway, or the perfect base for a couple of single gals who want to let their hair down on a girl’s week away.