The Royal Hawaiian Hotel
Waikiki Beach, O'ahu

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, located on Waikiki Beach, is a landmark in Hawaii. The property is known as the "Pink Palace of the Pacific" or the "Pink Lady" She is a majestic property with lots of charm and history.

This Hotel is part of the Starwood family and is run as a Sheraton property. For a romantic vacation, family vacation, or a Hawaii honeymoon it is one of our favorite vacation ideas!

Everything follows the theme of Pink - even the bed sheets and towels are pink!

It is a majestic historic hotel that we loved when we visited in July 2007.

NOTE**** The Royal Hawaiian will be temporarily closed from June 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 to undergo a $110 million renovation and will become a member of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts' elite coterie of Luxury Collection Properties.

History of the Pink Palace

The Pink Palace was one of the first hotels in Waikiki and opened it's doors, with a black tie affair, on February 1, 1927.

It was opened by Matson Navigation Company, s steam ship travel company. They wanted to lure the wealthiest families to Hawaii. It cost $4 million USD and took a year and a  half to build. It is pink due to the popular American obsession of the era of the color pink.

Since then it has held court to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as his residence and the "Western White House" during WWII and houses the bar that invented the drink - the Shirley Temple.

During WWII it housed the US troops when they were on R&R and was closed to tourists. Its hard to imagine today the barbed wired planted in the sand on the beach to protect the troops!

The hotel was sold to the Sheraton Corporation in 1959.

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Beaches and Pools

The property has a private section of the beach, with pink umbrellas and beach chairs. The area is roped off with a chain to show guests and beachcombers where the boundaries are. The location on the beach is quite central. You can go to Duke's next door easily, or wander down to the Moana Surfrider.

If you prefer the pool, they have a small beach side pool with chairs and cabana's to rent. and again everything is PINK! The pool is 3 ft. deep at the shallow end and food and beverage service is available.

This video shows you the beach and pool at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel from a Tower Room Balcony.

Rooms, Restaurants and Bars

There are 2 sections to the hotel, the original section and the newer (it comparison to the original hotel) beach tower. The rooms in the tower all have an ocean view and balconies. The older section has more charm, larger rooms, but fewer ocean views. You have many choices of rooms and suites.

The restaurants at the Royal Hawaiian include: The Surf Room for fine dining the Royal Hawaiian Beach Club cafe, the "legendary oceanfront luau" and the world famous Mai Tai Bar.

When you stay at the on this property, you are centrally located in Waikiki on Kalakaua Avenue. There are many different type of restaurants and bars within walking distance. Including the Cheesecake Factory and Duke's (famous Hawaiian restaurant).

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Our Experience at the Hotel

We chose the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach because it's history, and to be honest we could use our Sheraton Points. We used the Cash and Points options with Starwood and paid very little for our room.

We stayed for 3 nights before our Pride of Hawaii cruise. We loved this hotel for it's charm and location.

When we checked in we asked to be upgraded to a balcony room. They couldn't accommodate us for the first night so we had a suite in the original building. We then moved to an ocean view balcony room in the tower. I was happy to have had both rooms as it gave us a taste of both types of accommodation.

My first impression of the Pink Palace was one of awe. We were greeted at the valet parking with Lei's and an escort to the front desk. I felt like I was in a movie! The charm was incredible!

The room in the original building was charming and older, but didn't feel old or run down. Our room in the Tower felt very 60's ish, as we found a lot of Hawaii felt. You could access the beach and pool much easier and faster from the Tower.

We didn't eat in the restaurants, but used the mini fridge to store milk, fruit and cereal for breakfast. We ate out of the hotel for lunch and dinner. (We love the Cheesecake Factory which is a 5 minute walk from the lobby of the hotel.)

We did however, rent a cabana for half a day by the pool. It was great fun and came with playing cards, and a fruit tray. We love to splurge on cabana's every so often, especially as we aren't big sun worshippers.

Overall we would stay here again!

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