Aloha,
Welcome to The Imperial of Waikiki! Located less than 100 yards from Waikiki Beach — world famous for its swimming and surfing — and only a short stroll from the main shopping, dining and entertainment district of Waikiki, The Imperial of Waikiki provides the best value for your vacation in paradise.
Star Rating:
Local Attractions:
Situated less than 100 yards from Waikik Beach. Near parks, bus stops, shops and restaurants
Hotel Reviews for Imperial Hawaii Resort at Waikiki
3.5out of 5Based on 223 guest reviews, Average
Based on 237 traveler reviews
Value
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Excellent
29
Very Good
113
Average
55
Poor
23
Terrible
17
Most Recent Traveler Reviews:
“Don't trust the housekeeping.”
May 21, 2013
Rmrmer
The Imperial is nice because its not far from the beach but other than that I hate it here. My boyfriend was planning this romantic gesture here in Hawaii. He...
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The Imperial is nice because its not far from the beach but other than that I hate it here. My boyfriend was planning this romantic gesture here in Hawaii. He bought me an engagement ring and had a beautiful evening planned. When he went back to the room to check on it, it was gone. He placed it in a hidden location so I wouldn't find it but I guess not that hidden since the housekeeping assumed it was left behind. We've been saying here all week and it doesn't make sense to me how someone would take something from the room when we haven't even checked out yet. We are here with our family and it was supposed to be a memorable trip and now I'm just heart broken. I know things can be replaced in this life but its so sad that someone would do this to people. I never even got to see what my ring looked like. So if your planning on staying at his hotel... Leave nothing behind!! Don't trust the hotel because they don't put YOU first. They honestly never even got back to me about the whole situation. I had to get the police to help. So just BEWARE of his place! « less
“Wonderful location and a great staff”
May 18, 2013
Dennis A, Bethesda, Maryland | Trip type: Couples
This hotel is old - definitely 'dated' - BUT - the location is great if you want 'in on the action' of downtown Waikiki Beach. Lewers Street has great restaurants...
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This hotel is old - definitely 'dated' - BUT - the location is great if you want 'in on the action' of downtown Waikiki Beach. Lewers Street has great restaurants and shops. You might have to walk a bit to get to a beach - but the pool at the hotel was fine and I can not say enough about how helpful the staff was - at the desk and throughout the hotel. There is a convenient laundry facility and rooms have a fridge and microwave, dishes, glasses, sink - We had a great time. I think the people who work there make the difference - they are very helpful and want you to enjoy the place. « less
“too old”
May 15, 2013
Za Maja V, Novi Sad, Serbia | Trip type: Family
The hotel is very old, it's almost going to fall apart.... At the location is good and the people are very kind.... I think hotel charged too much for such...
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The hotel is very old, it's almost going to fall apart.... At the location is good and the people are very kind.... I think hotel charged too much for such a look... hotel should be renovated and updaiting to... « less
“Convenient but showing its age”
May 6, 2013
desertscubadiver, Fountain Hills, Arizona | Trip type: Couples
First of all for ratings, I would give this place a 5 star for convenience and
friendly staff, but a 3 star for cosmetic and appearance.
IHVC- check in is...
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First of all for ratings, I would give this place a 5 star for convenience and friendly staff, but a 3 star for cosmetic and appearance.
IHVC- check in is not until 4pm, if you do not request early check in the staff will hold your bags until your room is ready, in our case we stopped at Safeway on the way in and they put our cold & frozen items in the fridge & freezer as well as storing our luggage, very accommodating. For Timeshare owners there is a REALLY nice Owners waiting/lounging area on the 26th floor with beautiful ocean views, T.V.'s, kitchen, pool table, etc.
IHVC is a high rise, 27 floors sitting amongst about 6 other high rises, so views are limited of the ocean unless you are on the 24th floor and above. The other floors you mostly see other high rises from the room windows. Main floor: the lobby, activities desk, movie rentals, Denny's restaurant, an ABC store (like a mini grocery/Target) and a few little trinket shops. 2nd floor: parking, laundromat 3rd floor: Hot tub, Sauna, workout facility, Housekeeping (available: small appliances, beach chairs, ice chests, extra towels, etc) 27th floor: the pool, patio, ice machine, penthouse room
Our room: we exchanged some of our timeshare, we were supposed to receive a 1 bedroom w/partial kitchen but were upgraded to a 1 bedroom with a full kitchen (small fridge, full stove/oven, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, counter, sink, dining ware amenities, SS frying pans, dish towels, etc. if you need anything else just call housekeeping there is a good chance they have it. There is a living room with a couch, T.V. & DVD, a very small balcony w/partial ocean view, a small dining table and chairs, a Murphy Bed (Qn), full bathroom w/tub/shower. The bedroom was small, Queen bed (not the most comfortable), small dresser, closet but you couldn't completely access because the dresser is in front of it and there is no place else to put it. A full bathroom w/ shower only, T.V., DVD, small outside balcony. The room has A/C, a safe, iron, ironing board, beach towels. The decor was dated and even though the room looked newly painted there were stains on the ceiling, the carpet looked like it could be cleaned and it had an overall aged worn look and feeling as well as the hotel in general. Even though IHVC is fairly close to the main drag noise was not much of an issue. Every now and then you could hear sirens or Harleys. I rarely ever heard other guests, never to the side or above us, only occasionally in the hallway. We were directly in front of the elevators (3), I was a little nervous when we first saw this but it was never a noise issue either.
IHVC sits on Lewers st 1 block West of Kalakaua ave at the north end of Kalakaua. Kalakaua is the main avenue of Waikiki where most of the shopping, International Marketplace, restaurants, Resort entrances, etc are. Kalakaua avenue is approximately 1.8 miles long ending towards the South at the Honolulu Zoo and Kapiolani Park. For the average person this is a great walking area and you can also pick up the local Trolley's for a nominal fee if you get tired or do too much shopping. Kalakaua is a one way street running North to South for vehicles. There are quite a few one way streets in this area, I would highly recommend getting a good map of the area and becoming familiar with the streets if you are renting a car. Also the IHVC parking fee is $20 per day.
Lewers is approximately .2 miles long from IHVC to Kalakaua ave (west to east). The following is on Lewers: several boutique shops, restaurants; The Yard House, Roy's, Giovanni Pastami (they deliver to IHVC & you offer a 10% discount if you pick up the cards at front desk of IHVC) Subway, Sushi restaurant, Cheeseburger's, P.F.Chang's, Ruth Chris Steakhouse and Nobu is around the corner. There is a Starbuck's on Lewers and a Starbucks and Tea House 1 block over on Beachwalk ave.
Beach: directly behind IHVC are 2 resorts which sit directly on the beach, The Outrigger and Sheraton. You can access the beach by walking on either side of the resorts or we also found you could walk through most resorts to access the beach they just frown on using their pool.
Because we exchanged timeshare time it is hard to compare IHVC based on pricing. As I said it is in a convenient location the staff is very friendly and it had all the amenities we needed away from home just in need of a facelift.
Notes: The following is additional info on some of the things we did, so you can continue reading if you like. Airport shuttle-We used Oahu Airport Express. On time. It was a flat $30. No other passengers just our party and luggage. You can only book 3 days in advance but usually not a problem. I requested in advance to stop by the grocery store and he was able to accommodate our request for an additional $15 (based on addt'l time). Once with him you can book your return and any other shuttle service you want on your stay. It took approx 40min airport to IHVC @ noon on a Wed (excluding 30 min store stop). 20min from IHVC to airport @ noon on a Wed.
Restaurants: (please remember Hawaii is more expensive so meals tended to be about 30-50% higher then what we normally experience in AZ) YARD HOUSE-reasonable pricing, good selection, very close, nice atmosphere, dining & bar, Happy hour 2-5:30pm M-F, casual FURUSATO'S-decent pricing, great sushi, fast food atmosphere but not fast food, on Kalakaua about 1 mile south (see review on T.A.), dining, casual NOBU-Expensive but good, sushi, beef, Kobe, restricted menu, very close, behind IHVC, hip atmosphere, pretentious, dining & bar, dressy GIOVANNI PASTRAMI-Reasonable pricing, good selection, breakfast also, dining, sports bar area, happy hour & 10% discount for IHVC guests,casual P.F.CHANG'S-Chinese, ok food, reasonable pricing, good selection, casual to dressy CHEESECAKE FACTORY-Reasonable pricing, Great selection, big portions, Love the CF, breakfast also, GREAT CHEESECAKES, about .8 miles South on Kalakaua, dining & bar, casual to dressy POOL SIDE RESTAURANT AT THE MOANA SURF-RIDER/SPA WESTIN HOTEL-Pricey, decent food, paying for the atmosphere, beachside and good entertainment, dining & bar, beachwear, casual KONA BREWING CO-reasonable, great food, best pork sandwich ever, good selection, dining & bar, casual, off Kalaniana'ole Hwy (10 miles SE) MOANA SURFRIDER HOTEL LANAI RESTAURANT-Buffet breakfast $32pp, cereals, breads & pastries, fruits, eggs, sausage, bacon, Miso soup & fixings, rice, potatoes, cooked to order: waffles, pancakes, omelets, french toast, juices, coffee, tea. Great selection, good food, beautiful ocean view.
Rented a Scoot Car (2 seater) 2 cycle engine for 24 hours -$150 (price can vary to $250 based on availability), cannot use on Freeway, big hills are a little challenge but better than a scooter you might want to opt for the 4 cycle but it was out when we decided to rent, a little squirrely but tons of fun. Rental is located on Kuhio just South of the backside of the International Marketplace I believe just after Ka'iulani St. We drove the scoot car SE as far as possible for our time frame and then headed NE past Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay ending up at the beach across from Sea Life Park, nice drive, beautiful scenery. We ran across the Farmers Market at the Kapiolani Community College, GREAT place to stop, free to get in. Wonderful foods from all over, fresh veggies & fruits, bakery goods, beautiful fresh flowers, highly recommend, runs on Sat not sure of any other day. We had lunch at Kona Brewing Company on the way back and had a great meal. Slab on some heavy duty sunscreen, bring a hat, cover up, etc. you don't realize how much sun you are getting with the breeze keeping you cool.
There is also a pineapple store just a few doors up from the scooter guy, GREAT fresh pineapple, pineapple juice and smoothies, absolutely worth stopping in for, average cost is $5 for each of the above.
Moana Lani Spa @ the Moana Surf-Rider Hotel-Great spa, great therapists, on Kalakaua, just south of Cheesecake Factory (See review T.A.)
Pearl Harbor & historic Honolulu Tour-We purchased through the activities desk at IHVC because tickets were already sold out online. If you want to visit on your own time, I would recommend purchasing tickets a few weeks in advance, otherwise Discover Hawaii Tours was absolutely wonderful and you can relax while they fight the traffic. Our tour guide ???(Misty Heaven in english) was so funny, informative and just an absolute kick. I would highly recommend. Cost about $40 pp including transportation & entrance fees.
Shopping-It is a shoppers paradise here. If you are looking for great deals though I would recommend going to the swap meet on the weekend. Otherwise pick up the little books you see around town, i.e. Collections, Best of Oahu, etc, there are discount coupons that could have saved us at least $100 had we picked them up early on.
Aloha Landing-This is located just to the side of IHVC in the Sheraton semi-underground area (less than 5 min walk). It is where all the tour buses and shuttles pick up for tours. This is also where you can catch a FREE shuttle through Hilo Hattie's (local Hawaiian store). This shuttle takes you all around the Waikiki area and over to the Ala Moana Shopping Mall. A very nice outdoor mall with a few unique stores but most stores are typical mall stores of the Mainland. Still a nice afternoon or evening place to walk around. I believe the shuttle runs every 30 mins and it's FREE!
Transportation-We did not rent a car. We periodically used a taxi service, Hubby tore his calf muscle right before coming so on crutches. From IHVC to the South end of Kalakaua Ave a taxi cost us approx. $10 including tip. Going North the cost was around $12-$15 because of the one way streets. You can also buy a weekly pass through the trolley service for about $50 with unlimited usage for 7 days. If we had known sooner we might have rented the little ride along mobility scooters from Honolulu Hawaii Wheelchair & Scooter Rentals 808-772-9723. For anyone with a disability this would come in handy for this area. About $250-$300 for a week.
I think that about covers it, hope it helps your vacation to be an easier one! « less
“Good location for urban type travellers”
Apr 22, 2013
Shannon D, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Trip type: Business
This hotel is great for those travellers looking for a value priced room one block from the beach and in the heart of all the action. If you want to...
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This hotel is great for those travellers looking for a value priced room one block from the beach and in the heart of all the action. If you want to go out for late dinners or go to a nightclub this is definitely your hotel because it is located across the street from "The Yardhouse Pub" which is very popular with the party set. We are beyond the age of "clubbing" and travel with our young daughter so the noise was audible every night (moderate). We were on the 7th floor facing the pub so the location of our room was likely a factor. I got up at 4 am (due to time change) and went to the 24 hr Denny's on the main floor of the hotel to grab a coffee. The restaurant was busy with inebriated patrons that had come over from the pub after closing. In the following days I noticed that when we went for breakfast at 6am the entire restaurant was filled with family type patrons so we were never concerned about having our daughter be in a "morning after the night before" type of environment. The rooftop pool was small but very warm (unlike the Hawaii Hilton Village where we spent the day to use the pools-you can rent a day room there when available, but the pools were unheated so it was a waste of time/money because my daughter and I barely got wet...just too cold). The Imperial pool had some fantastic views and was surrounded by chaise lounge chairs. There is also a third floor sauna and whirlpool which we often got to use alone because it seemed to be rarely used. There were numerous restaurants which we enjoyed within close walking distance from the hotel and the high end stores too numerous to count. You don't need a car, but our best day was when we rented a car and went to the North shore for some peace and quiet. We much prefer the non crowded beaches filled with locals surfing. We also saw turtles at Turtle Beach (1.5 hr drive from the hotel) and ate at a fantastic beach grill that served my favourite coconut shrimp. So in summary, perfect hotel for city type travellers that don't mind some noise (deliveries to stores/restaurants happens in the middle of the night also...so all night long you hear "beep, beep, beep" when the trucks are backing up....can be annoying for people like us that prefer silent tranquility on a trip). We were perfectly located for the conference I was attending but if you like quiet, the North shore would be preferable. « less
These reviews are the subjective opinions of individual travelers and not of TripAdvisor LLC nor of its partners.
Details
Check In:
04:00 PM
Check Out:
11:00 AM
Year of Last Renovation:
1996
Floors:
26
Rooms:
251
Non Smoking Rooms:
0
Handicap Rooms:
Suites:
251
Room Windows:
Windows Do Open
Meeting Rooms:
0
Policies / Expenses
Cancellation: Individual Reservations must be cancelled 6 days prior to reservation arrival date.
Group Reservations must be cancelled 30 days prior to reservation arrival date
Nightly Parking:
$25
Total Taxes:
13.96%
Total Misc Fees:
$6.00 USD (mandatory resort fees/taxes)
Amenities - Imperial Hawaii Resort at Waikiki
Air conditioning
Airport Shuttle
Alarm clock
ATM
Baggage storage facilities
Car rental
Central location
Clothes drying
Concierge service
Credit card accepted: Mastercard/Visa
Credit card accepted: American Express
Credit card accepted: Discover
Credit card accepted: Diners Club
Credit card accepted: JCB
Electronic key card
Elevator
Facilities for the disabled
Fax available
Fitness and health center
Garage
Hairdryer available
Handicap accessible
Ice Maker
Jacuzzi
Kitchen facilities
Laundry facilities
24 hours opened
Radio in room
Refrigerator
Restaurant
Safe in rooms
Sauna
Self controlled heating/cooling system
Shop
Shower
Swimming pool - outdoor
Tea and coffee making facilities
Telephone
Telephone in all rooms
Television
VCR or VCP
Voicemail
Pet Friendly?
Sorry, pets are not allowed.
Airport & Shuttle Information - Imperial Hawaii Resort at Waikiki
The Imperial Hawaii Resort is located in Waikiki approx. 10 miles from Honolulu International Airport. Shuttles from the Airport may be pre arranged at $10 per person
Airport Shuttle? Yes! There is an airport shuttle.
Testimonials: Why use Hotel Planner?
"Thank you, and thank you for such a wonderful service. This service saved me a great deal of time. I will be using it again in the future as we are thinking about a couples retreat sometime next year." P.J. - Troy, MI
"Your service is a wonderful find. I will certainly use it again and recommend to others. What makes it even better are the people you actually work with at the property that make it so much more worthwhile. Your service saved me many hours of work and frustration." M.H. - Atlanta, GA