Waikiki’s Hilton Hawaiian Village in Photos & Video

Finally, after many years of wanting to experience Hilton Hawaiian Village, we got our chance in February. Our perfect excuse for staying here was that we were both speaking at Pubcon Paradise which was held in the hotel conference center. The conference was a blessing and a curse in that it allowed us to be at Hilton Hawaiian Village, but didn’t allow us much time to enjoy the amenities. We didn’t even get to dip our toes into one of the many beautiful pools.

In between sessions, we tried to capture Hilton Hawaiian Village on film to be able to share with you. We’ll start with a breakfast photo – Bananas Foster French Toast with Macadamia Nut Ice Cream from Tropics Bar and Grill. Oh, my, this breakfast was so decadent and yummy. If your health allows, we highly recommend it.

We really like the location of Hilton Hawaiian Village. It’s almost like a private oasis within Waikiki Beach, with Fort Derussy Beach Park creating a bit of a barrier and setting Hilton Hawaiian Village apart from the main Waikiki hubbub.

Another plus for the Hilton Hawaiian Village location is that it’s on one of the widest stretches of white sand on Waikiki Beach. The hotel was at near capacity occupancy when we were there and the beach was never crowded.

The rooms were nicely decorated and kept clean and tidy. Here’s a room from the Tapa Tower.

Here’s a room from the Ali’i Tower.

We kept gravitating to beachfront Tropics Bar and Grill for breakfast, lunch and pupus. In the evenings, they had live music playing which was a nice touch.

The hit television series Hawaii Five-0 films scenes at Hilton Hawaiian Village quite often. The resort has embraces this connection. For example, I loved seeing the special “Hawaii Five 0” parking spaces in the parking garage. (By the way, I learned that anyone could park there. The signs are just for fun.) Another example is that Tropics offers a special Hawaii Five-0 inspired cocktail.

Then, at the end of the day, we enjoyed sunsets from the beach.

Be sure and check out our video tour of Hilton Hawaiian Village. It’s only 1 minute 34 seconds long, but gives you a great flavor of the resort.

(Email subscribers: use this link to view the video tour of Hilton Hawaiian Village.)

Notes and tips:

– With the salt water lagoon and Camp Penguin, it’s no wonder that Parents Magazine named Hilton Hawaiian Village to their list of top 10 family beach vacations.

– Make sure you know where to check in before you arrive. Some towers have their own front desks.

– If you look at a map of Hilton Hawaiian Village and see that some towers are set back from the beach, don’t worry. They may still have a spectacular ocean view. For example, we stayed in the Tapa Tower and had an outstanding view that’s shown in the top photo of this blog post.

– Generally, the higher the floor, the better the view. Also, the higher rooms shield you from street noise.

– Some of the oceanfront rooms must have ah-mazing views. Book’em if you can.

– Skip the buffet breakfast at Rainbow Lanai. It was ok, but not there’s definitely better in Waikiki. Our conference rate included daily breakfast for two at Rainbow Lanai, but we only ate there once and went to Tropics the rest of our stay.

– Make sure to make note of the where you park your rental car. We had a small adventure trying to find our car in the garage. Thankfully one of the nice security employees assisted us.  Use your camera or cell phone to snap a photo of the parking space number. Take note of both the number and color of the number.

– If you are staying at Hilton Hawaiian Village on a Friday, don’t miss the Friday night Waikiki fireworks.

– For more of our photos — see this link.

– For more reviews of Hilton Hawaiian Village, see this TripAdvisor link.

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Have you stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village? How was your stay?