I recently spent two nights at the brand new Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. Many hotels on/near Waikiki Beach were priced more than I wanted to spend or required many points so this was an easy choice for me.

Location

Despite the name, Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach is not located on Waikiki Beach. It is actually about a half mile from the beach so if being on the beach is important to you, this is not the hotel for you.

The Hyatt Centric is located on Kuhio Avenue in the former Waikiki Trade Center and next to the new International Market Place mall. The building has a Jamba Juice and a Starbucks (the Starbucks was not open during my stay but it is opening this week). The hotel is right off Kalakaua Avenue, a busy street full of tourists, stores and restaurants – you are really in the middle of everything. A nearby ABC convenience store nearby is convenient to stock up on drinks and snacks.

This hotel is brand new. It officially opened in January and was converted to a hotel from an office building.

Check-In

The open air lobby and the check in desk are not on the ground floor- you need to take the elevator up to the lobby level on the 8th floor. Upon check-in, the employee mentioned a $25 resort fee. We did not protest the fee at that time and it turns out we never had to. Although I’m not sure why, we were not charged the resort fee upon checkout. We were not given a free welcome drink that was part of the resort fee but an evening happy hour was mentioned. Unfortunately, we were unable to make it to happy hour.

Resort Fee

I know some people hate resort fees and avoid hotels that charge them. Even with the resort fee though, the Hyatt Centric is one of the more affordable hotel options in Waikiki. Here is a link to what is included in the fee which I copied below:

• Premium Internet throughout the property.
• Pool & Beach Towels/blankets and toys
• Beach Chairs
• Hawaiian Welcome drink is offered upon check-in
• Fitness Center
• Two gifted logo’d sports bottles
• Filtration Stations
• Complimentary Sunscreen available
• Complimentary After Sun lotion at the pool area
• Local and 800 Calls
• Pressreader; offering choice of over 4,000 electronic newspapers and magazines
• Afternoon Pool Delighters
• Cultural Hour. Four nights a week guests are offered uniquely local experiences

Room

We ended up in a queen room with an ADA shower. It was actually nice since the room was much larger than other rooms.

Our room had a connecting door to another room but fortunately it was not a problem as I never heard any noise from other hotel guests.

I liked the room and found it very clean and modern. We could see a little bit of the ocean from our ocean front view but most of the view was blocked by buildings. Regardless, I still recommend an ocean view room because it is more quiet.

In an effort to be environmentally friendly, the hotel does not provide bottles of water. Instead, there are two reusable bottles in the room you can fill at filtration stations. Filtration stations are not on every floor though.

Free high-speed internet is available in the room and included in the resort fee.

There is an empty mini-fridge you can adjust. I was pleased that unlike many hotel fridges, it did keep my drinks cool.

Hotel Amenities

The hotel amenities are all on the lobby level. Amenities include a business center, gym, pool, outdoor deck, bar and The Lanai restaurant.

There is a spot in the lobby to take selfies.

The small shallow pool is not for swimming-it is just a wading pool.

On a positive note, the pool area was always pretty empty.

The business center consists of two desktop computers near the pool area.

The gym is open 24 hours a day. It is very small but does have a few cardio machines and free weights.

Breakfast is served at The Lanai restaurant but it is not complimentary.

Since the breakfast buffet was not free, I ordered breakfast from room service. The order came packed in Styrofoam takeout containers complete with disposable utensils all in a paper bag. Although some might not like their room service delivered in a paper bag, I preferred the less formal service- no need to deal with a tray and calling for everything to get picked up.

Overall

Despite the $25 dollar resort fee, I would stay at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach again. I liked that the hotel is brand new, clean, modern and that the mini-fridge kept my drinks cool (yes, I like cool drinks). Personally, I didn’t care about being on the beach or using the pool on this trip, but for families looking to spend most of their day in the water this might not be the right hotel. The hotel is a better choice for business travelers or those who want to stay in Honolulu as a base for sightseeing and other outdoor activities.

To summarize the pros and cons:

Positives include:
• New and very clean
• Central location in Honolulu
• Mini-fridge kept drinks cool

Negatives include:
• $25 resort fee
• Not located on the beach
• Small pool and gym

Click here to see the latest prices.

For those looking to use points, Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach is a Category 5 Hyatt property (out of 7 categories) so an award in a standard room is 20,000 Hyatt points.

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