# Opinion on HHV Lagoon Tower vs. Grand Waikikian



## BocaBum99 (Jun 7, 2009)

I am writing this message from the HHV Lagoon Tower.  We are in a 2br Oceanfront unit.  A couple of months ago, we stayed in the Grand Waikikian in a 2br full oceanview.  Both are 2br Premier units.

I can say that we much prefer the Lagoon Tower over the Grand Waikikian.

The view in the Lagoon Tower is way better than in the Grand Waikikian.  You can look up the coast toward Kapolei and you have a really nice view of the lagoon.  In the Grand Waikikian, you get a view of the Ilikai and the Marina.  No contest.  Lagoon Tower wins hands down.

The Lagoon Tower unit is much nicer, too.  The living room is huge and has 2 balconies.  When you are entertaining, it feels like a very large and spacious unit.  There is no jetted tub, but I don't miss that.  I would say that the furnishings are a bit higher end in the Grand Waikikian, but I am not much into that anyway.

Location within the resort in the Lagoon Tower is far superior to the Grand Waikikian, too.  You actually feel like you are part of the Hilton Hawaiian Village as opposed to being a part of Ala Moana blvd and the Ilikai hotel.

From now on, I will be staying in the Lagoon Tower.  It's the far better choice for us.


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## DEROS (Jun 7, 2009)

I will be staying in the Grand Waikikian during Thanksgiving.  I might need to consider changing to a Ocean View at the Lagoon.

Just came back from Waikiki beach.  Notice something going on in Fort DeRussy Park.  You know what it is?  It may be something you want to watch.  Big Marching Band type show.

Thanks for the observation.

Deros


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## dougp26364 (Jun 8, 2009)

I tend to agree. We were there for one week in the Lagoon tower in an 8th floor ocean view unit (6,200 points). After looking at the location of both towers, it's a no brainer to take the Lagoon tower, even if it is an older tower. 

Granted I'll take what I can get when exchanging into Hawaii but, if we have a choice we'll take the Lagoon tower over the Grand Waikikian anytime we can get it.


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## jestme (Jun 8, 2009)

No question in my mind, the Lagoon Tower is far better than the Waikikian, and much cheaper on points as well. The only time I would pick Waikikian is if the choice was between a Lagoon studio or a Waikikian 1BR, in Open Season,  assuming a 1BR Lagoon wasn't available. Like most people, we don't go to Hawaii to look at the room furnishings, the room's view is far more important to us. I'm sure the next upgrade at the Lagoon and Kalia will include new HD TV's, and if there was any furnishing upgrade, that would be the only thing I'd care about. 
I also agree about the feeling of being within the HHV. When we were in the Waikikian, we often used the ABC store outside of the HHV on Ala Moana because it was much closer than the one in the HHV itself. It's almost a pity not to use the HHV's internal walkways rather than the standard city street and sidewalk, but the location of the elevators isolates you quite a bit. They really need a walkway (with shops of course), to the rest of the village from the elevator end of the Waikikian, maybe at the convention center level of the parking building or something.
The only Lagoon drawback I've heard is that the new pool is noisy if you are on that side of the building.


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## ricoba (Jun 8, 2009)

I will have a better formed opinion when we come back from our upcoming trip at the end of the month.

We are staying 3 nights in a 2 bedroom Lagoon Tower Penthouse and 7 nights at the GW in an OV 2 bedroom.

Right now I am more excited about the 3 nights in the penthouse than I am about the 7 nights in the GW.


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## jeg (Jun 8, 2009)

You do have the ramp and stairway connecting the Waikikian to the Lagoon Tower that puts you at the end of the village through the Lagoon Tower. It doesn't seem that far away to me. Also, the check in is now at the Waikikian even if you are staying at the Lagoon. The views are definitely different. Only the Lagoon and Rainbow Towers have some full ocean views without obstruction.


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## BocaBum99 (Jun 8, 2009)

jeg said:


> You do have the ramp and stairway connecting the Waikikian to the Lagoon Tower that puts you at the end of the village through the Lagoon Tower. It doesn't seem that far away to me. Also, the check in is now at the Waikikian even if you are staying at the Lagoon. The views are definitely different. Only the Lagoon and Rainbow Towers have some full ocean views without obstruction.



No matter how you spin it, the Grand Waikikian feels more like it is part of the Ilikai Hotel than the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

The walk from the check in desk to the elevator takes you away from the resort and it's a fairly long walk through a cold corridor.  The problem is that the parking lot separates the Grand Waikikian from the rest of the resort.


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## ricoba (Jun 8, 2009)

BocaBum99 said:


> No matter how you spin it, the Grand Waikikian feels more like it is part of the Ilikai Hotel than the Hilton Hawaiian Village.



This is one reason our friends are staying across the street at the Aqua Palms.  I couldn't tell for sure from a map, but it did look like they are actually closer to us at the GW then if they had stayed in say the Tapa Tower.


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## Blues (Jun 8, 2009)

ricoba said:


> This is one reason our friends are staying across the street at the Aqua Palms.  I couldn't tell for sure from a map, but it did look like they are actually closer to us at the GW then if they had stayed in say the Tapa Tower.



Well, there's no good place for them to cross Ala Moana, except up to Kalia or down to Hobron.  So no, Tapa Tower would be more convenient.  But your point is well taken.  GW feels like an orphaned add-on, though I'm sure the rooms are lovely.


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## ricoba (Jun 8, 2009)

Blues said:


> Well, there's no good place for them to cross Ala Moana, except up to Kalia or down to Hobron.  So no, Tapa Tower would be more convenient.  But your point is well taken.  GW feels like an orphaned add-on, though I'm sure the rooms are lovely.



Yes, I knew there only dilemma would be where to cross Ala Moana, but do you agree that GW is closer to Ilikai/Aqua Palms then it is to say the Tapa Tower?

It's been a few years since we were at HHV, but I remember the walk from the Lagoon Tower to the Tapa Tower Bus terminal for example was a good little hike across the property.


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## jestme (Jun 8, 2009)

jeg said:


> You do have the ramp and stairway connecting the Waikikian to the Lagoon Tower that puts you at the end of the village through the Lagoon Tower. It doesn't seem that far away to me. Also, the check in is now at the Waikikian even if you are staying at the Lagoon. The views are definitely different. Only the Lagoon and Rainbow Towers have some full ocean views without obstruction.


The Lagoon and Waikikian check in are sort of central to the two buildings, but the elevators at the Waikikian are still way down the hall from the check in. Once you find the stairs at the far end of the hall (even further down the hall from the elevators and check in), you realize how close you can be to Ala Moana. If there was some way to get into the village from that end of the building, it wouldn't be that bad. We often walked out that door, then walked around the end of the Kalia to head towards Kalakawa and Waikiki, skipping the HHV altogether. It is shorter, but you certainly do lose the HHV feeling.


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## jehb2 (Jun 8, 2009)

jestme said:


> I'm sure the next upgrade at the Lagoon and Kalia will include new HD TV's, and if there was any furnishing upgrade, that would be the only thing I'd care about.



In our last visit the Lagoon Tower units had great hd flat screen tvs.  Every evening we hooked up our Iphone to the tv and looked at thepictures we had taken that day.  It was really cool.


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## nonutrix (Jun 18, 2009)

deleted to start a new thread


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## WILLIFT (Aug 6, 2009)

*Question About Your Penthouse Stay*



ricoba said:


> I will have a better formed opinion when we come back from our upcoming trip at the end of the month.
> 
> We are staying 3 nights in a 2 bedroom Lagoon Tower Penthouse and 7 nights at the GW in an OV 2 bedroom.
> 
> Right now I am more excited about the 3 nights in the penthouse than I am about the 7 nights in the GW.



We're about to book the Studio Lockout on a Penthouse Unit in the Lagoon Tower. We wanted a unit in Kalia with a balcony but nothing is availabble in May 2010. We're rerenting through an associate so I don't know much about the unit. Do you have any insite on the Studio Lockout portion of the Penthouse.

Any help will be appreciated

PJF


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## alwysonvac (Aug 6, 2009)

WILLIFT said:


> We're about to book the Studio Lockout on a Penthouse Unit in the Lagoon Tower. We wanted a unit in Kalia with a balcony but nothing is availabble in May 2010. We're rerenting through an associate so I don't know much about the unit. Do you have any insite on the Studio Lockout portion of the Penthouse.
> 
> Any help will be appreciated
> 
> PJF



I haven't stayed in the studio penthouse unit but I believe the only difference is that it's on the penthouse floor and has a balcony (which the others don't). See this thread for details about the HHV units -  http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95233 (see post# 5, 15, and 35). 

I'm just not sure how a HGVC owner would know that he/she is reserving a studio on the penthouse floor. I could be wrong but as far as I know we can't reserve it online. The actual room assignment doesn't occur into check-in.


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## Sandy VDH (Aug 6, 2009)

The phone reservation agent can tell which one is a penthouse vs any of the other studios.  There is no way to tell online.  

I did not know this either until I called HGVC today.


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## alwysonvac (Aug 7, 2009)

Sandy Lovell said:


> The phone reservation agent can tell which one is a penthouse vs any of the other studios.  There is no way to tell online.
> 
> I did not know this either until I called HGVC today.



Thanks that's good to know


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## BWV Dreamin (Aug 8, 2009)

BocaBum99 said:


> I am writing this message from the HHV Lagoon Tower.  We are in a 2br Oceanfront unit.  A couple of months ago, we stayed in the Grand Waikikian in a 2br full oceanview.  Both are 2br Premier units.
> 
> I can say that we much prefer the Lagoon Tower over the Grand Waikikian.
> 
> ...



I will be doing a private exchange for the Lagoon Tower HGVC in May 2011. I am excited to read about your reviews. Anything you can mention about your stay, the hotel, proximity to attractions would be very appreciated!! Enjoy your trip!


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## alwysonvac (Aug 8, 2009)

BWV Dreamin said:


> I will be doing a private exchange for the Lagoon Tower HGVC in May 2011. I am excited to read about your reviews. Anything you can mention about your stay, the hotel, proximity to attractions would be very appreciated!! Enjoy your trip!



If you haven't also take a look at the following online reviews. 
(1) TUG Reviews on the Resort Database - http://tug2.com/RnR/TabResortDescription.aspx?ResortGUID=7311ef99-2904-4a7f-9ac4-44d4e665e2a9
(2) Tripadvisor Reviews & Photos 
- (for the HHV HGVC) http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...on_Hawaiian_Village-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html 
- (for the HHV resort) http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...ge_Beach_Resort_Spa-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html
- (for the HHV Grand Waikikian) http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...ikikian_By_Hgv_Club-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html

For more info about the resort see the Hilton Hawaiian Village main website - http://www.hiltonhawaiianvillage.com/

Have a Great Trip


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## BWV Dreamin (Aug 9, 2009)

Thanks for the links! This will be our first ever trip to Hawaii. Getting all the info I can. Thanks again!



alwysonvac said:


> If you haven't also take a look at the following online reviews.
> (1) TUG Reviews on the Resort Database - http://tug2.com/RnR/TabResortDescription.aspx?ResortGUID=7311ef99-2904-4a7f-9ac4-44d4e665e2a9
> (2) Tripadvisor Reviews & Photos
> - (for the HHV HGVC) http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...on_Hawaiian_Village-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html
> ...


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## alwysonvac (Aug 9, 2009)

BWV Dreamin said:


> Thanks for the links! This will be our first ever trip to Hawaii. Getting all the info I can. Thanks again!



Also take a look at this recent thread - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103907


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