Grand Waikikian By Hilton

Lagoon Tower is overcrowded, outdated, mismanaged, and not up to other HGV standards. Unless you can afford the Penthouse, pick another hotel. To start, the pool situation is crazy. (The photos are a LIE because they look empty). It is entirely overcrowded and not designed to accommodate ALL the towers that are Hilton and apparently have access. There is no monitoring to even enforce that ONLY Hilton people are entering the pools. We watched as several people snuck in over and over again. They give out bracelets but don’t enforce wearing them so it’s pointless. And because there are just SO many people, the pools are gross (hair, film, all sorts of things floating). The big pool had about and inch of sand on the bottom from people coming off the beach and not being required to rinse their feet. The hot tubs say max 9 people and have upwards of 15. People are like vultures trying to get chairs because there are simply not enough pools to accommodate all the people. Each tower should have their own pool and access should be restricted for other guests to join other pools during certain hours. Oh and I forgot- the slides that you advertise, don't even all run at the same time! My daughters waited 40 minutes to ride one slide while the others closed down. Hours are SO limited- it is actually ridiculous. Every water slide should be open all day during open pool hours. The laundry situation is terrible. Laundry is not found in the room but instead shared on each floor. We are used to Hilton 1 bedrooms featuring in-room laundry, so not only is this an inconvenience but 2 of the machines on our floor are broken/out of service, and the only working washer smells moldy and has small brown filth that stuck to my clothes from lack of washing machine cleaning. Washers are supposed to run a clean cycle every 30 washes. These have clearly NEVER been cleaned. So I went up to several other floors to check if their laundry situation was better and it was not! One of the dryers even had laundry detergent in the dryer and the washer I used yesterday took SO long. I sat in the room and the timer kept adding minutes while the washer in use next to mine, decreased in time. After 1.5 hours I had to stop the washer, remove my clothes and put them on the next washer. Will be rewashing all my clothes when I get home. The kitchen is INCREDIBLY small in the 1 bedroom. Literally not even a drawer for utensils as they were found in the cabinet next to dishes. Some of the dishes were dirty upon arriving probably due to the low quality dishwasher that is SO loud and outdated and barely washes things. Our king sized bed was comfortable but my daughters slept on the pullout couch. I felt terrible because there was such a steep incline or maybe decline technically to the bed, that every morning I would find them all the way at the bottom. They reported it was the worst bed they’ve ever slept in. The TVs cannot stream your favorite networks. You need to jump through all these hoops and do all these steps only to repeatedly get an error sign. What other reviewers say about the elevators also true. They take forever and are again overcrowded. Finally, I don’t recommend doing the luau there. There are so many better ones if you just look online. At Hilton, you will be surrounded by hundreds of people in bathing suits mooching off your show with their video cameras surrounding you. (Look up Aloha Kai Luau for an amazing one in a beautiful peaceful spot). Overall, the building is just not to the Hilton standard we expected and I will never return to this property.

The property could use updating. Parking prices are OUTRAGEOUS. Yet, I keep coming back because being on the balcony here is near perfect.

My relatives used to be a lagoon tower owner like from 2000-2022. Selling the timeshare was a major pain but that is another story. :) for those who don’t know, Hilton grand vacations (HGV) is a separate timeshare company that uses the Hilton name, but they do business differently in many ways. I’ve stayed here like 8+ times since my childhood, but this was my first trip back since 2019. I was annoyed by calls and texts asking to attend a sales presentation, even though I already declined. We arrived 2pm and they had the room ready just in time 4pm for their stated time. Checkout 10am seems harsh compared to other hotels. They use text to communicate with you which is convenient. They usually replied to me within 30 min. We got a 2BR unit for quite cheap like $450 per night in high season (I’ve also seen it for as high as $800). But there are resort fees and lots of taxes. We did pay the rip off $70 per night for parking but we needed a car to see the other sites in Oahu. Self park starts off confusing but you get used to it, and the garage was never full. Traffic around the lobby and parking garage can be nasty around checkin time 2-6pm. But the extra space of a 2BR, plus kitchen and washer dryer is really convenient for families and saves money. Also lagoon tower is quite close to parking and the beach, so that helps with walking time versus some of the towers further in the back. It is easy to go to Ala Moana mall or kalakaua shopping and restaurants. Overall, the Hilton Hawaiian village has a ton of rooms and is crowded like heck. I know that is part of the deal for Waikīkī, but it feels worse at HHV. Some narrow walkways are slammed with people, and restaurants can have long waits. Definitely do reservations or go at off hours. Use the pools in the morning before they get gross from the biofilm from customers. :) People hate the lagoon tower elevators and I get it, but it wasn’t that bad for us. People on floor 5 or lower just need to use stairs unless they have heavy stuff. It is good for their health and the down elevators are totally full as they go down from floors 24 to around 5-10 anyway. So if you have strollers or whatnot, ask for a high floor or you’re cooked. It was never a problem getting an up elevator from the lobby. One day, an elevator was down for repairs and that was terrible (only 2 left working). Try to avoid “rush hour” like 9-10am when people start their day, and 5-6pm before dinner starts. The bathrooms are old 1990s style and it was annoying the shower wand mount was put in the corner of the shower so the angle was weird. Instant hot water though, and toiletries were fine. The beds were comfy. A decent amount of noise from car honking and maybe parties/luau on the great lawn below. I think it’s annoying that you need towel cards to check out towels. My wife used the gym and spa and liked them. People say the staff is bad but I had good interactions with them. My family likes this spot, so we may go again - because it is more enjoyable that we know all the travel hacks. But I think grand waikikian tower might be more pleasant and newer. I stayed at grand islander once and it’s the newest with private pool, but located very far in the back of the property.