Halekulani

The resort offers several dining options ranging from Hawaii's longest, consecutively ranked AAA Five Diamond Restaurant, La Mer, with its award winning neoclassic French cuisine, to the more modest Orchids, Halekulani's casually elegant oceanfront restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner featuring superb Pacific rim cuisine. Orchids is considered by many to have the best Sunday brunch anywhere in Hawaii.

House Without A Key is Halekulani’s popular indoor/outdoor gathering spot for informal breakfast, lunch, cocktails, appetizers and entertainment. In the evening guests can enjoy cocktails, Hawaiian music and hula by a former Miss Hawaii under the century-old Kiawe tree.

Lewers Lounge is open nightly from 7:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. with entertainment Wednesday through Saturday. It’s a great spot for early evening cocktails or after-dinner drinks.

On Fridays the resort offers a complimentary "Back of the House" tour which I highly recommend.

Escorted by the resort's telecommunications manager Melba DeMello, this two hour tour takes a small group of guests behind the doors which are normally closed to visitors.

You'll walk through the beautifully decorated La Mer in the daytime and visit its kitchen, which in the morning is busy preparing the fruit plates which greet each new guest in their room.

You'll visit the resorts in-house bakery, florist, laundry and dry cleaning facilities as well as banquet rooms, room service control center, employee uniform room and several other interesting locations.

The tour concludes with a stop at Orchids for complimentary iced-tea and snack. The tour is a fascinating look at how one of Hawaii's top resorts works to stay ahead of the competition and keep every guest happy.

Well, Not Everything Can Be Perfect

Lest it be said that everything is perfect at Halekulani, I did notice a few things that could use some work.

Satellite TV reception was subject to frequent breakup and AM radio reception in my guestroom was non-existent. The temperature control in the shower is difficult to adjust. The initial/default setting is very hot.

Access to the hotel is not easy due to what is now constant area construction and changes in traffic patterns. Hopefully, most of the area work will be complete by the end of 2009.

Service at the morning buffet at House Without a Key was poor. When you pay for a buffet breakfast there is really little for the server to do. All I requested was juice and a glass of water. The juice arrived, but I had to ask three times for the water and it arrived in a small glass. Getting a refill proved impossible.

If you're looking for a resort with a great beach, Halekulani is not for you. This area of Waikiki Beach eroded many years ago. The resort has a small private beach inset onto their property, but it is very small. If you want to experience Waikiki Beach fully, you'll need to walk to another area.

While there is nothing particularly unfriendly for children, Halekulani is primarily an adult resort. There currently is no children's program.

The resort has a more defined dress code than most Waikiki resorts particularly in the evenings. Those who want to dine at La Mer are advised to bring a long-sleeved collared shirt or jacket.

Final Thoughts

Halekulani remains in the top tier for daily book rate starting at $425 per night for a Garden Courtyard room and up to $680 per night for a Diamond Head Ocean Front room. Suites are even more expensive. A number of special packages that provide for 4th or 5th nights free are available through December 22, 2009. All rates are subject to change.

Halekulani is a very popular resort with Japanese visitors, particularly couples. An early 2009 alliance between Halekulani Corp. and Imperial Hotel LTD of Tokyo provided for Imperial Hotel to provide reservations service, sales, marketing and public relations activities within Japan for Halekulani and its sister property, the Waikiki Parc Hotel. During my stay I would estimate that over 60% of Halekulani's guests were from Japan. While certainly not a criticism, it is something worth noting for potential English speaking guests.

Taken as a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed my brief, two-day stay at Halekulani. It was the perfect restful experience to conclude a busy ten day visit to Oahu. Once you enter the property it's easy to forget that you're in the center of one of the busiest areas of Waikiki.

As I said at the beginning of this review, Halekulani is very much an oasis and that's just what many visitors will like most about the resort. Combine the resort's privacy, excellent security, superb service, sophisticated decor and top restaurants; it's not hard to see why Halekulani is consistently rated as one of Hawaii's top resorts.

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_{As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with a complimentary stay for the purpose of reviewing the Halekulani. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.}