Imperial Waikiki

[slip]

Well next Sunday, 8-23, we have our staycation at the Imperial. According to the Lt, Governor we may have a stay at home order starting next week so we’ll have to see if that affects us, if it happens.

it’s really only a couple of blocks from where we live but I am taking a couple days off and we were going to go a couple places to eat. We hoped to enjoy the pool but we’ll have to see if it is even open.

Shouldn’t be too many people there so we hoped to get a nice view. At least it will be a change of scenery for us.

I plan to try to call the Wednesday or Thursday to try to get some information from them.

Weather has been great here so I am kind of looking forward to this so hopefully we’ll still be good to go.

Here’s some pictures from today at our place.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Well next Sunday, 8-23, we have our staycation at the Imperial. According to the Lt, Governor we may have a stay at home order starting next week so we’ll have to see if that affects us, if it happens.

it’s really only a couple of blocks from where we live but I am taking a couple days off and we were going to go a couple places to eat. We hoped to enjoy the pool but we’ll have to see if it is even open.

Shouldn’t be too many people there so we hoped to get a nice view. At least it will be a change of scenery for us.

I plan to try to call the Wednesday or Thursday to try to get some information from them.

Weather has been great here so I am kind of looking forward to this so hopefully we’ll still be good to go.

Here’s some pictures from today at our place.

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Hi Slip,

We usually stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but we have stayed at the Imperial for a few weeks a number of years ago. It was not the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but I understand that they have gone through or are going through a major renovation so it may be much improved.
The pool is on the roof, so if it is windy during the winter months it can be uncomfortable to be up there wet. Since this is the summer it should be fine. The one thing that was very impressive about the Imperial was the 26th floor community room. There are some excellent closeup views of the Ocean from there. I hope the Coronavirus hasn't made that room off limits!

I do have a story about the 26th floor community room during our 2011 stay there. Back then you were able to reserve the penthouse community room which has a full kitchen for a party or get together when you stayed there without a cost. Well the night of March 10, 2011 we did. We had met real Aboriginies from Australia who performed at the annual Honolulu Festival the previous year and kept in contact with them. They were in Honolulu to perform at this years Honolulu Festival starting the next day. We invited them as well as some local Hawaiians that we know up to the 26th floor for a wine, beer, home made salad and 5 trays of lasagna dinner.

Things were going along fine when we started to run out of beer. So my husband went down around 9 PM to the ABC store on the ground floor of the building to get more. Well when he got there they told him they were closed and going home because there was a Tsnuami Warning due to the major Earthquake in Japan. He came upstairs and notified everyone. Well the Aboriginies said they had to go back to their hotel to shelter immediately. We gave them a tray of left over lasagna and they left. Since our timeshare was on the 16th floor of the Imperial we could shelter in the buidling and didn't have to leave. However, I was nervous since the previous year we were in Kauai when a Chile Earthquarke caused a Tsunami and we were mandated to leave since we were on the first floor of the Lawai Beach Resort Building. The Hawaiians invited us up to the safety of their house on a hill over looking Honolulu. So we went with them for the night bringing a tray of the leftover lasagna.

An Unforgettable Night at the Imperial.

 

[DaveNV]

I used to own at Imperial. Rooms are fairly small, since the place was built as a hotel and condo complex in the 70s. The unit views are ok, but frankly are nothing remarkable. The best views are from the Owners Lounge at the top of the building. I think it's one floor below the rooftop pool deck. Well worth making your way up there. Be aware the elevators are pretty slow, so it can take some time to get up or down. The Staff are wonderful, and will do everything they can to accommodate you.

The ABC Store next to the Lobby is very big, quite well run, and (when I was there) was stocked quite well with a surprising variety of items. On the other side of the Lobby, the Denny's restaurant provided typical fare that you'd expect from that chain. Beach access is convenient - down the block and cross Kalia Road, go to the Ewa side of the hotel at the end of Lewers (may be the Halekulani? I think that's the name), and there is a beach access walkway to the sand. Easy to use.

Once at the beachfront, the boardwalk walkway toward the Hilton takes you along the water to that area. Stop at the Hale Koa beachfront bar for a beverage - it's run by the military, but is open to the public. Great place to watch the Friday night fireworks at the Hilton. If it's open, the Outrigger Reef hotel on the Diamond Head side at the end of the beach access walkway had a great beachfront bar and restaurant. Their Happy Hour was pretty great.

All in, Imperial was a great place to use as a base camp for exploration of the Island, mostly due to its great location. Not sure how much you'd be doing of that, given where you live. But it'll be a nice diversion from your day to day life.

Have a great time!

Dave

 

[Tamaradarann]

I used to own at Imperial. Rooms are fairly small, since the place was built as a hotel and condo complex in the 70s. The unit views are ok, but frankly are nothing remarkable. The best views are from the Owners Lounge at the top of the building. I think it's one floor below the rooftop pool deck. Well worth making your way up there. Be aware the elevators are pretty slow, so it can take some time to get up or down. The Staff are wonderful, and will do everything they can to accommodate you.

The ABC Store next to the Lobby is very big, quite well run, and (when I was there) was stocked quite well with a surprising variety of items. On the other side of the Lobby, the Denny's restaurant provided typical fare that you'd expect from that chain. Beach access is convenient - down the block and cross Kalia Road, go to the Ewa side of the hotel at the end of Lewers (may be the Halekulani? I think that's the name), and there is a beach access walkway to the sand. Easy to use.

Once at the beachfront, the boardwalk walkway toward the Hilton takes you along the water to that area. Stop at the Hale Koa beachfront bar for a beverage - it's run by the military, but is open to the public. Great place to watch the Friday night fireworks at the Hilton. If it's open, the Outrigger Reef hotel on the Diamond head side at the end of the beach access walkway had a great beachfront bar and restaurant. Their Happy Hour was pretty great.

All in, Imperial was a great place to use as a base camp for exploration of the Island, mostly due to its great location. Not sure how much you'd be doing much of that, given where you live. But it'll be a nice diversion from your day to day life.

Have a great time!

Dave

I agree with your review of the Imperial and the area. What you refer to as the Owner's Lounge I called the Penthouse Community Room. We stayed there on an RCI exchange since we do NOT own at the Imperial but as long as we were staying there we had access to that area. However, during the Coronavirus a number of the things you mentioned may not be available. The Owner's Lounge, the Hale Koa Beachfront Bar, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village Fireworks. Also, the Beaches seem to be month to month as far as Open or Closed.

 

[DaveNV]

I agree with your review of the Imperial and the area. What you refer to as the Owner's Lounge I called the Penthouse Community Room. We stayed there on an RCI exchange since we do NOT own at the Imperial but as long as we were staying there we had access to that area. However, during the Coronavirus a number of the things you mentioned may not be available. The Owner's Lounge, the Hale Koa Beachfront Bar, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village Fireworks. Also, the Beaches seem to be month to month as far as Open or Closed.

Your post came in as I was typing mine. I don't have any idea what's open or closed right now, so my comments were meant as best-case scenario stuff. From where Slip lives, the Imperial is so close, it's almost like they'd be staying at the neighbors house.

Dave

 

[slip]

Hi Slip,

We usually stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but we have stayed at the Imperial for a few weeks a number of years ago. It was not the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but I understand that they have gone through or are going through a major renovation so it may be much improved.
The pool is on the roof, so if it is windy during the winter months it can be uncomfortable to be up there wet. Since this is the summer it should be fine. The one thing that was very impressive about the Imperial was the 26th floor community room. There are some excellent closeup views of the Ocean from there. I hope the Coronavirus hasn't made that room off limits!

I do have a story about the 26th floor community room during our 2011 stay there. Back then you were able to reserve the penthouse community room which has a full kitchen for a party or get together when you stayed there without a cost. Well the night of March 10, 2011 we did. We had met real Aboriginies from Australia who performed at the annual Honolulu Festival the previous year and kept in contact with them. They were in Honolulu to perform at this years Honolulu Festival starting the next day. We invited them as well as some local Hawaiians that we know up to the 26th floor for a wine, beer, home made salad and 5 trays of lasagna dinner.

Things were going along fine when we started to run out of beer. So my husband went down around 9 PM to the ABC store on the ground floor of the building to get more. Well when he got there they told him they were closed and going home because there was a Tsnuami Warning due to the major Earthquake in Japan. He came upstairs and notified everyone. Well the Aboriginies said they had to go back to their hotel to shelter immediately. We gave them a tray of left over lasagna and they left. Since our timeshare was on the 16th floor of the Imperial we could shelter in the buidling and didn't have to leave. However, I was nervous since the previous year we were in Kauai when a Chile Earthquarke caused a Tsunami and we were mandated to leave since we were on the first floor of the Lawai Beach Resort Building. The Hawaiians invited us up to the safety of their house on a hill over looking Honolulu. So we went with them for the night bringing a tray of the leftover lasagna.

An Unforgettable Night at the Imperial.

Excellent story and of course, the best part was no Tsnuami.

I owned at the Inperial for a few years but I always either exchanges it or rented it. But so did research what it was and it’s short comings.

We are hoping to be able to use the owners lounge and pool but things have changed rapidly and I will have to wait and see.

I booked this a few months ago because it was cheap and I always wanted to see what I had owned. Plus, I new I was only going to take a couple of days off, my commute to work is practically the same as from home.

Right now, we would be happy to be able to go up and see the owners lounge. So hopefully we can. We don’t expect too much from the units. Probably similar to our apartment. It would be nice to get an ocean view since ours at the apartment is a couple blocks away.

 

[DaveNV]

Excellent story and of course, the best part was no Tsnuami.

I owned at the Inperial for a few years but I always either exchanges it or rented it. But so did research what it was and it’s short comings.

We are hoping to be able to use the owners lounge and pool but things have changed rapidly and I will have to wait and see.

I booked this a few months ago because it was cheap and I always wanted to see what I had owned. Plus, I new I was only going to take a couple of days off, my commute to work is practically the same as from home.

Right now, we would be happy to be able to go up and see the owners lounge. So hopefully we can. We don’t expect too much from the units. Probably similar to our apartment. It would be nice to get an ocean view since ours at the apartment is a couple blocks away.

I'd suggest calling the Front Desk and asking if the Owner's Lounge is open for guests - if only for sightseeing. The view from the rooftop pool deck isn't as good.

Dave

 

[slip]

I used to own at Imperial. Rooms are fairly small, since the place was built as a hotel and condo complex in the 70s. The unit views are ok, but frankly are nothing remarkable. The best views are from the Owners Lounge at the top of the building. I think it's one floor below the rooftop pool deck. Well worth making your way up there. Be aware the elevators are pretty slow, so it can take some time to get up or down. The Staff are wonderful, and will do everything they can to accommodate you.

The ABC Store next to the Lobby is very big, quite well run, and (when I was there) was stocked quite well with a surprising variety of items. On the other side of the Lobby, the Denny's restaurant provided typical fare that you'd expect from that chain. Beach access is convenient - down the block and cross Kalia Road, go to the Ewa side of the hotel at the end of Lewers (may be the Halekulani? I think that's the name), and there is a beach access walkway to the sand. Easy to use.

Once at the beachfront, the boardwalk walkway toward the Hilton takes you along the water to that area. Stop at the Hale Koa beachfront bar for a beverage - it's run by the military, but is open to the public. Great place to watch the Friday night fireworks at the Hilton. If it's open, the Outrigger Reef hotel on the Diamond Head side at the end of the beach access walkway had a great beachfront bar and restaurant. Their Happy Hour was pretty great.

All in, Imperial was a great place to use as a base camp for exploration of the Island, mostly due to its great location. Not sure how much you'd be doing of that, given where you live. But it'll be a nice diversion from your day to day life.

Have a great time!

Dave

You helped me by answering some of my questions years ago when I was looking into picking up my week there. It all worked out but I ended out just concentrating on my Kauai and the couple weeks of Maui rentals. I got rid of my Oahu and Big Island weeks a few years ago.

We had hoped to be able to stop at a couple places along the beach to get some lunch or dinner so hopefully we can still do that. Most everything else is closed, fireworks and beaches.

I’ll get some pictures so you can tell me what has changed since you and Tamaradarann have been there.

 

[slip]

I'd suggest calling the Front Desk and asking if the Owner's Lounge is open for guests - if only for sightseeing. The view from the rooftop pool deck isn't as good.

Dave

I planned on call Wednesday or Thursday. I wanted to wait to see if the Governor was going to make any changes.

 

[DaveNV]

I planned on call Wednesday or Thursday. I wanted to wait to see if the Governor was going to make any changes.

Good idea. It's been enough years since I owned there, they may have upgraded the units. I don't expect they could have done anything about space, however. They're pretty small. But as it stands, Imperial is best for its location. I don't think you can get any closer to the beach in a Waikiki timeshare unless you're staying at the HHV.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

We had hoped to be able to stop at a couple places along the beach to get some lunch or dinner so hopefully we can still do that.

Is Duke's open? That was always a favorite meal stop when I was staying in Waikiki.

Dave

 

[slip]

Is Duke's open? That was always a favorite meal stop when I was staying in Waikiki.

Dave

Yes, it is and that was part of our plan too. At the very least we will be closer to some places we like to go. So that will save my wife some walking.

The Ruth Chris is really close too so we may go there also.

We’re not hard to keep occupied. I have never stayed in a timeshare where I will be going to work also so that will be different for sure.

 

[DaveNV]

Yes, it is and that was part of our plan too. At the very least we will be closer to some places we like to go. So that will save my wife some walking.

The Ruth Chris is really close too so we may go there also.

We’re not hard to keep occupied. I have never stayed in a timeshare where I will be going to work also so that will be different for sure.

If it's open, the P.F. Chang's on Lewers is really good.

Dave

 

[slip]

If it's open, the P.F. Chang's on Lewers is really good.

Dave

I don’t know if that is open but I will check. There are a lot of places really close in that area so it will work well.

I know the Yard House is open, there is a Cheeseburger in Paradise type place there too. Giovanni’s Pastrami is there and they are all on the same block.

 

[slip]

I took a couple more pictures from our apartment just to see where we are compared to the Imperial.

This first picture Is of the back side of the Royal Kuhio. The back side of our building is a block from the backside of the Royal Kuhio.

These two are a closeup of where the Imperial Waikiki is from our apartment. Our building is about a quarter block away from Lewers and the Imperial is on Lewers about 3 blocks toward the ocean.

 

[DaveNV]

I'm not sure that's the Imperial. It looks like there are unit balconies on the mauka end of the building. As I recall, Imperial only has units on the other three sides, and nothing on the mauka side.

Dave

 

[slip]

I'm not sure that's the Imperial. It looks like there are unit balconies on the mauka end of the building. As I recall, Imperial only has units on the other three sides, and nothing on the mauka side.

Dave

I was thinking the same when I wrote on that photo but that is down Lewers and the Imperial is 27 stories high. Maybe there is a building mauka of the Imperial. I’ll take pictures when I’m there.

 

[Tamaradarann]

I was thinking the same when I wrote on that photo but that is down Lewers and the Imperial is 27 stories high. Maybe there is a building mauka of the Imperial. I’ll take pictures when I’m there.

Yes, it is and that was part of our plan too. At the very least we will be closer to some places we like to go. So that will save my wife some walking.

The Ruth Chris is really close too so we may go there also.

We’re not hard to keep occupied. I have never stayed in a timeshare where I will be going to work also so that will be different for sure.

With your wife's walking problems I totally understand your need to get closer to the restaurants, as well as your desire to vacation and then retire to car oriented places rather than walking type paces like Waikiki.

While we did desire the opposite, this Corona Virus is now having us thinking differently. We are so glad to be in car oriented Long Island rather than Waikiki so we don't need public transportation, don't walk or ride elevators near anyone, can drive our cars right up to where we want to go, have no problems parking.

The world has changed, at least temporarily. Perhaps it will NEVER be the same again and we will never be the same again.

 

[slip]

With your wife's walking problems I totally understand your need to get closer to the restaurants, as well as your desire to vacation and then retire to car oriented places rather than walking type paces like Waikiki.

While we did desire the opposite, this Corona Virus is now having us thinking differently. We are so glad to be in car oriented Long Island rather than Waikiki so we don't need public transportation, don't walk or ride elevators near anyone, can drive our cars right up to where we want to go, have no problems parking.

The world has changed, at least temporarily. Perhaps it will NEVER be the same again and we will never be the same again.

Yes, this was cheap and I am taking advantage of some weeks that would never be available as bonus weeks. My wife’s walking problems were exactly what I was thinking of. Too bad the beaches got closed. It would have been nice to sit out there a couple days.

The only change I have made because of the virus is wearing masks. It is mandatory here. Everyone has to deal with it in there own way and for many people things have changed drastically. It is going to take Hawaii years to overcome the economic impact to this.

Hopefully there will come a time when you are comfortable returning and then you can enjoy your place that you two have worked so hard for. No matter what, I’m sure at least your first visit back will not be the same as you remember it being. Hopefully it will get back to normal over time.

I have been watching the bonus week section for more Oahu weeks in case the inter-island ban is still in force over Thanksgiving. We planned on two weeks on Molokai then. If we can’t go, I will try to at least look for one week on Oahu again. I still have 4. Onus weeks left anyway.

 

[slip]

We had a little rain tonight so you know what that means.

 

[DaveNV]

That's pretty cool, and pretty perfectly located; It's right over top of the Rainbow Drive-In. How did you do that?

Dave

 

[frank808]

I was thinking the same when I wrote on that photo but that is down Lewers and the Imperial is 27 stories high. Maybe there is a building mauka of the Imperial. I’ll take pictures when I’m there.

Could that be the Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk resort that you circled is the Imperial? From your home the Wyndham is before the Imperial building. Right across the street in your second photo on the right edge is the Hokulani. In front of the Hokulani is the Halekulani on the beach (top right edge of your photo).

 

[slip]

Could that be the Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk resort that you circled is the Imperial? From your home the Wyndham is before the Imperial building. Right across the street in your second photo on the right edge is the Hokulani. In front of the Hokulani is the Halekulani on the beach (top right edge of your photo).

Yes, I believe that’s right. I really can’t see the Imperial because of the building in front of it. I’ll take a picture when I’m right there on Sunday or Monday. Those two are very close together and Imperial is blocked from my straight on view.

 

[slip]

Well, I started my long weekend and we check-in to the Imperial tomorrow. We decided to make a reservation at Ruth’s Chris for Monday evening. It’s really close to the Imperial and we haven’t been there. I tried to go when I arrived last year when I was by myself but couldn’t get in until after 9pm on a Tuesday.

We checkin at 4pm and we are just going to bring some snacks since we will be eating out or doing some takeout more this week.

I’ll post some pictures after we checkin.

 

[slip]

Just checked into the Imperial. There are some people here. We did pretty good with a room. We were upgraded to a one bedroom two bath, 1807. A little higher would have been nicer but the owners lounge is open until 5pm. I headed up there before it closed and no one was there. I’ll post a couple videos of that later.

Here’s a few of our unit.