i39249
TUG Member
My family and I recently spent 3 nights at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club (HGVC) at Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) in Waikiki, Hawaii. We had a 1 bedroom plus suite at the Lagoon Tower. We were on the 15th floor facing the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor. We landed at HNL and rented a car from Alamo. Getting our luggage at this airport was quick. By the time we landed, make a bathroom run and get down to the luggage pick up area, our luggage was ready to be picked up. I wish all airports were like this.
At Alamo (best price from Costco that I could find) there was a long line to pick up the cars. There were about 12 to 15 people ahead of me picking up cars as well. Their frequent renter counter had only 2 people in line. The cars from Alamo seems to have more mileage on them than from other car rental companies. I think mine had over 15,000 miles. They upgraded me from an intermediate to a full size without me even asking The only bad part is that the roads and parking stalls are narrow and having a big car in Honolulu isn’t the best, plus they guzzle up more gas, since we drove all over the island.
Ok let’s get to the HGVC part. We stayed at the Lagoon Tower and the view from our unit was awesome, if you don’t look down and behind. We had a great view of the Pacific Ocean and west of the hotel. I could see the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor as well as Ala Moana Beach Park and beyond. The sunset was gorgeous. The balcony was real nice and roomy. It had a table with several chairs to sit down. If you look down on the balcony, you will see major construction going on. On the west side of the parking structure, they are building a new timeshare building called the Grand Waikikian slated to open in late 2008. The Lagoon Tower pool is no longer there and you have to use either the Kalia Tower pool on the 4th floor or one of the other pools. On the east side of the building, where the reception is, they are also rehabilitating the lagoon, so there is construction on both sides of the building.
There was construction noise during the day, but hey, we are from Southern California and with the time difference of 3 hours ( Day Light Savings) we were up at 7:00 AM anyways. This gave us a head start on our sightseeing activities. By the time we got back to the room, the noise had subsided substantially.
Parking in the parking structure cost $20 a day self park and I believe $25 a day for valet park, except they charge you extra for service fee (TIP). They block off pretty much the 1st and 2nd and 3rd floor of the parking structure for Valet parking only, so you are required to park on the upper floors. The spaces are narrow so be careful. (I know they mark some of the spots ‘compact,’ but hey who drives a compact car now a days to a resort hotel……)
Checking in on Wednesday at 1:30 pm was easy. I was the only one. The staff was nice. Most of the employees seem pretty nice. A lot of them were Asian as this hotel caters to a lot of visitors from Japan. The room itself was nice and clean. We had a king sized bed with a sofa bed in the living room. There was plenty of room for my wife and I and my 6 year old son. It was HGVC standard.
There are 2 washers and dryers on every floor. This came in handy with the little guy.
The resort is huge with many different stores within. Your best bet is the ABC store located in the Bazzar adjacent to the parking structure. They have reasonable prices for supplies. For grocery shopping and etc. there is the Ala Moana shopping center nearby that has everything from a huge food court to all the shopping that my wife would want. Long walk, short taxi or short bus ride away.
Since we had a rental car, we drove around the island. We snorkel at Hanauma Bay and it was awesome. Saw lots of fish. It’s a must do if you ever visit the Oahu. We also drove to the Pali lookout and the view of Kaneohe Bay was breath taking. We visited north shore and stopped by the Giovanni shrimp truck where we ate garlic scampi shrimp for $12. For that price, they throw in 2 small scoops of white rice. It was a good snack during our long drive. We finished our tour of north shore by stopping at Haleiwa and visiting Matsumoto’s where we ate Hawaiian shaved ice. On the way back to Honolulu, we stopped by the Dole pineapple plantation and took the 20 minute small gauge train ride around the property.
The finale of our trip was on Friday night where there was a Hawaiian show at the main pool. If you want good seats and a drink for the show, there is a small fee. I think around $15. Or you can just find an area, where there is a good view of the stage and catch the fireworks ending at the beach right behind the main pool. Even though the fireworks show was pretty short, it was still cool nonetheless. Oh well. We’re off to the Big Island, where we will be staying at the HGVC Waikoloa. I’ll let you know how this goes……..
I'll try to post both reviews when I get back home.
At Alamo (best price from Costco that I could find) there was a long line to pick up the cars. There were about 12 to 15 people ahead of me picking up cars as well. Their frequent renter counter had only 2 people in line. The cars from Alamo seems to have more mileage on them than from other car rental companies. I think mine had over 15,000 miles. They upgraded me from an intermediate to a full size without me even asking The only bad part is that the roads and parking stalls are narrow and having a big car in Honolulu isn’t the best, plus they guzzle up more gas, since we drove all over the island.
Ok let’s get to the HGVC part. We stayed at the Lagoon Tower and the view from our unit was awesome, if you don’t look down and behind. We had a great view of the Pacific Ocean and west of the hotel. I could see the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor as well as Ala Moana Beach Park and beyond. The sunset was gorgeous. The balcony was real nice and roomy. It had a table with several chairs to sit down. If you look down on the balcony, you will see major construction going on. On the west side of the parking structure, they are building a new timeshare building called the Grand Waikikian slated to open in late 2008. The Lagoon Tower pool is no longer there and you have to use either the Kalia Tower pool on the 4th floor or one of the other pools. On the east side of the building, where the reception is, they are also rehabilitating the lagoon, so there is construction on both sides of the building.
There was construction noise during the day, but hey, we are from Southern California and with the time difference of 3 hours ( Day Light Savings) we were up at 7:00 AM anyways. This gave us a head start on our sightseeing activities. By the time we got back to the room, the noise had subsided substantially.
Parking in the parking structure cost $20 a day self park and I believe $25 a day for valet park, except they charge you extra for service fee (TIP). They block off pretty much the 1st and 2nd and 3rd floor of the parking structure for Valet parking only, so you are required to park on the upper floors. The spaces are narrow so be careful. (I know they mark some of the spots ‘compact,’ but hey who drives a compact car now a days to a resort hotel……)
Checking in on Wednesday at 1:30 pm was easy. I was the only one. The staff was nice. Most of the employees seem pretty nice. A lot of them were Asian as this hotel caters to a lot of visitors from Japan. The room itself was nice and clean. We had a king sized bed with a sofa bed in the living room. There was plenty of room for my wife and I and my 6 year old son. It was HGVC standard.
There are 2 washers and dryers on every floor. This came in handy with the little guy.
The resort is huge with many different stores within. Your best bet is the ABC store located in the Bazzar adjacent to the parking structure. They have reasonable prices for supplies. For grocery shopping and etc. there is the Ala Moana shopping center nearby that has everything from a huge food court to all the shopping that my wife would want. Long walk, short taxi or short bus ride away.
Since we had a rental car, we drove around the island. We snorkel at Hanauma Bay and it was awesome. Saw lots of fish. It’s a must do if you ever visit the Oahu. We also drove to the Pali lookout and the view of Kaneohe Bay was breath taking. We visited north shore and stopped by the Giovanni shrimp truck where we ate garlic scampi shrimp for $12. For that price, they throw in 2 small scoops of white rice. It was a good snack during our long drive. We finished our tour of north shore by stopping at Haleiwa and visiting Matsumoto’s where we ate Hawaiian shaved ice. On the way back to Honolulu, we stopped by the Dole pineapple plantation and took the 20 minute small gauge train ride around the property.
The finale of our trip was on Friday night where there was a Hawaiian show at the main pool. If you want good seats and a drink for the show, there is a small fee. I think around $15. Or you can just find an area, where there is a good view of the stage and catch the fireworks ending at the beach right behind the main pool. Even though the fireworks show was pretty short, it was still cool nonetheless. Oh well. We’re off to the Big Island, where we will be staying at the HGVC Waikoloa. I’ll let you know how this goes……..
I'll try to post both reviews when I get back home.
