All,
Just a quick posting while the Kindle finishes charging -- and then I head to the pool!
I walked by the Royal Garden at Waikiki this morning and went in -- I asked (the very pleasant) front desk person if I could see a room and they had security let me in to a Studio King room on the 8th floor.
This is a nice property -- a good addition to the Wyndham collection. It was very reminiscent of the Elysian Beach and I suspect Wyndham is going with this formula: Dark cabinets, granite countertops, dark wood furniture, it definitely had an upscale feel to it. I took pictures with my cell phone (terrible lighting) and will post as soon as I have more time. It was about a 5-10 minute walk (5 minutes if you're walking briskly) to Lewers St. and Waikiki Beach Walk so its' "closer to the beach" than the far walk that it looks on satellite cameras. But definitely 10-15 minutes walk to the beach.
The thing that struck me when I walked in was how different it was from other Hawaii timeshares -- the ones at least that preserve the open air lobby and "you're in Hawaii" feeling. When I walked in, I thought I'd walked into the lobby of an old East Side Manhattan hotel. The lobby had marble and a beautiful chandelier -- it really was elegant -- and just very different from Hawaii. It was beautiful though.
Will post the (bad) cell phone pics as soon as possible -- but keep this property in mind as an alternative for Waikiki. The front desk guy told me that most of the Studios are the King bed and not the J-Asian style (two twins).
Best,
Greg
