For this trip, we traveled and stayed in Waikiki. We know Waikiki well. It’s easy to maneuver through town, and it’s comfortable for my hubby, who is now living with mobility issues. Yep, a complete bummer. Still, we have found ways to help him enjoy—or sometimes simply tolerate—travel. (More on traveling by air in another post) As for our hotel stays, well, that requires a bit of finesse.
The Room Across from a Jet Engine--Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki
We’ve stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki multiple times but never in an accessible room. We chose this hotel based on its location and price. It’s not fancy or elegant. This Hilton is the typical middle-of-the-road, comfortable lodging option. Still, it can be noisy at night since it’s in the middle of the action.
It does have some useful perks, though, such as free sunscreen, an excellent on-site restaurant, and a HoloHolo store (similar to ABCs stores).
Since my hubby primarily uses a three-wheel walker, we require an accessible room. Typically, these rooms are like all others with the addition of mobility, hearing, and sight modifications. These types of rooms may be limited in quantity and quality. (This is where the finesse comes into play)
Our tiny room had a partial city/ocean view, which could have been great except for the high-rise building it faced. Yikes! Lovely building, but man-oh-man was it loud! Every room had a window-mounted air conditioner directly facing our room, running full blast day and night. Honestly, it sounded like we were on an airport runway.
Now, on to the negative issues for mobility-challenged guests.
The room was well equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, etc. The bathroom was as expected for an accessible room with grab bars inside a walk-in shower. Even though there was a border between the shower and the remainder of the bathroom floor, the shower water still sprayed into the room, getting the floor wet. This is a slipping hazard. My hubby required assistance walking out of the bathroom. Also, the room lacked towel bars near the shower. Grrr… Do room designers assume the mobility-challenged don’t use towels? Hmmm.
However, I LOVE the ‘Zero’ toiletries the hotel provides. I have sensitive skin, and the Zero brand was like a warm blanket on a cold night—yummy.
Possible Solution
Because we collect enough loyalty points throughout the year for multiple stays, and it’s easy to choose “use points,” we booked our room directly from the Hilton website. However, we found it’s best to follow up with a live hotel agent after booking to consult about the type of room we’ve chosen. If we had, we would have found that we could have chosen a quieter room.
Lessons learned.
So this is how the wealthy live? Hyatt Regency Waikiki
I’ve always admired the elegance of the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, with its first-floor waterfalls, gardens, and upscale shops. Still, I’ve never stayed. Well, now I can say that we did, and enjoyed it.
Wait, this is our room?
When we opened the door, I thought … “Wow!” Sure, it looks like the average room, but the views were great, it was much quieter and more comfortable. The room amenities were great, except for a microwave and an electric kettle. I called the front desk, and they were both delivered within minutes—my dream hotel service.
The hotel itself is a masterpiece of beauty, activities, and luxury. With the first-floor waterfalls, twice-weekly farmer’s market, sumptuous restaurant meals, and…uh, wow. Because we use a Hyatt credit card, we earn points, lots of loyalty points. Some of those points allowed us to use the Hyatt Regency Club for each day we stayed, roughly a $50 per-day value.
This lounge is comfortable with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. It’s open all day through early evening, offering free breakfast and what I consider dinner, with an afternoon snack thrown in for good measure. The reasonably priced wine is sold by the glass, and it tastes delightful.
Other hotel amenities are the large gym and open-deck pool. The pool area is replete with an attached restaurant. Directly next to the pool is an on-site luau for an additional cost. The area is also used for social events, like weddings/receptions.
Now, on to the negative issues for mobility-challenged guests.
The room was large enough for a wheelchair and even had a small ramp for a user to roll onto the small deck. Unfortunately, a table and chairs block much of the deck, so there’s little room to maneuver a chair in such a tight space. It’s a shame.
The bathroom was as expected for an accessible room with space for a wheelchair to sit under the sink, and there were plenty of grab bars. But those bars were mounted inside a high-sided tub, not exactly the best for a mobility-challenged person. My dear hubby required assistance in and out of the tub.
Possible Solution
The mobility issues in this room weren’t a problem for us. I would rather have had a walk-in shower for hubby, but the view from our window overshadowed any other concerns. I’m able-bodied and can easily help him in and out of the tub.
Will we return?
We’ve stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn plenty of times and have no reason to return. It’s time to say farewell. However, our new love affair with this particular Hyatt is in full bloom. If I could return today, this very second, I would—happily so. One important reason is location. The Hyatt is directly across from one of my favorite Waikiki beaches, and a few blocks from the Queen KapiĘ»olani Regional Park and the Honolulu Zoo.
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