Everything about this resort was amazing. There was no need to even leave the grounds if we didn't want to. The view, the beach, the pool, the entertainment...all were amazing. I count the days until I can return.

Since my husband was on Oahu for business purposes, his company made the hotel reservations. We were in the Tapa Tower on the 10th floor. Looking from our lanai one way we had a partial ocean view and a view of the lagoon; looking to the right we had partial mountain/city view. This is fine with us since we don’t spend that much time in the room anyway! The room was one of the biggest hotel rooms I have been in. There was a king-sized bed, a desk, chair, and armoire area, another chair and footstool, plus a small table and chairs set that could be used for dining. Separated by a wall, there was a counter/sink area that included a small refrigerator and coffee pot along with the mini bar.

Across from this was a double closet and another chest for storage. The bathroom was off this area with a tub/shower, another sink and the toilet. The curtains on both the window and the sliding door had room -darkening features. There was plenty of space in the room plus two luggage stands for use. This was a great hotel room. The grounds of the Hilton Village are beautiful with winding pathways, lush plants, waterfalls, and ponds complete with koi and other small fish. The kids will get a kick out of the penguins and flamingos! There are several restaurants and lounges with entertainment nightly. You could spend your whole vacation here (but don’t! There is plenty to do outside the Hilton grounds!) The beach area is large and you can rent umbrellas, chairs and chaise lounges for a daily fee. There are also beach activities available along with the Atlantis boat dock right on site.

The Hilton Hawaiian Village is a hotel to visit if you want everything in one place. I would recommend this hotel for families and older couples. There were plenty of activities for kids at the hotel, like lei making. I would not necessarily recommend the hotel to honeymooners, as there are much more romantic hotels in Waikiki.

On this visit, we stayed in the Tapa Tower Room 3548, which is on the top floor of the Tapa Tower. We got a "Full Ocean View" room, which did allow for a full view of the ocean if you stood on the balcony and looked left. Directly in front of us on the balcony was a view of the city. To the right was a view of the mountains. The room was a nice size and had luxury bath items such as Crabtree & Evelyn soaps and lotion. Mouthwash was also provided. The bed linens were very comfortable. The cleaning staff did a good job of cleaning the bathroom, emptying the trashes and making the bed. It does not appear that they vacuumed daily. I did leave a daily tip in the amount of $3 to $5, depending on what I had in my wallet at the time. The cleaning staff appeared to appreciate that, and often left extra bottles of lotion or conditioner for me to use.

The shops in the hotel were fairly overpriced, as evidenced by a 7-ounce bag of Kona coffee, priced at $30 versus the same bag sold at Hilo Hattie's for $18.

One thing to note: the hotel charges $50 per day for the rental of two beach chairs, towels, and an umbrella. You can get these for about $25 a week at any local rental spot, like Snorkel Bob's.

If you want towels only for the pool, they are free but must be registered at the hotel pool. Towels must be returned by 5:30pm, or you will incur a room charge of $10.

One bonus of HHV is that there is a convenient tour pickup area by the Tapa Tower. Tours booked through the hotel or other vendors all pick up here, so you are less likely to struggle to find your pickup spot than at some other hotels.

Overall, I recommend the hotel, but that said, I will likely not stay here again. The hotel was nice, but not our flavor. They do everything they can to get you to do everything at their hotel…when you should really be renting a car and touring the island or at least booking a tour outside of the hotel. Nice amenities, but if you like to explore, stay somewhere closer in town like the Waikiki Beach Marriott, the Sheraton or the Royal Hawaiian.

I had a partial ocean view room in Rainbow Tower that was great. It looked out over their lagoon and was a great sunset view of the ocean. The grounds were well-kept, and they had some shows several times.

Rooms were in need of a face lift. Our first room we had was not a garden view, even though they said it was... you had to stand on the lanai and lean over, look to the right, and you could see a corner of the garden. There was a dirty fork in the room on our arrival, and the carpet had not been cleaned very well, as there was a cap to a water bottle in the middle of the room!

The size of the room was acceptable, and storage space was abundant in the first room tower we were in. After being moved to the Rainbow Tower because we complained about the room, we couldn't even unpack all our clothes because there is little storage space.

They charge $3.25 for the coffee in the room, $20 for each lounge chair, and $10 for a beach umbrella you want to use on the beach in front of the resort.