Waikiki was our first stop on our Hawaiian vacation and we loved our stay at this hotel the most. The room was extremely clean and the balcony (deluxe ocean view) looked out onto the beach and over the pool. At night, we had a better view of the sunset than when we went on a dinner cruise! We got a free breakfast with our package, and it was well worth it. The food was great, especially the french toast/pancakes with the coconut syrup. The hotel itself is right across the street from the beach, and is in a great location around several restaurants and shops. We never needed a car when in the city. We will be back!

Right from the initial check in the service was great. They upgraded us immediately because our room was not ready. We had booked a city view room and ended up with a 32 floor view of Diamond Head and the beach. We could have sat on the balcony the whole week and been in heaven. It was nice to have two choices for pools and there was always open chairs. Nice to swim with live music at night and the food at the poolside restauant was great. Best burgers, fries and ice tea in town. Salads were also very good. Wait staff very friendly and helpful. Location of the hotel was terrific. Beach right across the street and all the shopping you could want. We were traveling with an 18 yr old making the location perfect for beach jogging and the fitness room was great for the needed workouts. The hotel experience made our trip to Hawaii perfect.

I would definitely recommend this hotel to families. We stayed 5 nights at this Marriott with our 3 kids (ages 6, 4, and 4 months). Our kids enjoyed the swimming pool, although it wasn't a very large pool and did not have a very big "shallow end" for the kids to splash around in. As a parent, I found that to be disappointing, although it did not seem to bother the kids any. The hotel is right across the street (although you should be aware that it is a busy street, with crosswalks at stoplights) from a very kid-friendly beach (one that has a barrier for protection from big waves AND had great sand-castle building sand). It is also located very close to McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, ColdStone, Haagen Dazs, Cheeseburger in Paradise, and a number of other kid-friendly eating establishments that are much more affordable than "adult" restaurants. We found the hotel staff to be very helpful, courteous, and friendly. There was plenty of shopping available right in the hotel. There was also a grocery store only about 8 blocks or so away for anything you couldn't find (which isn't much!) at the ABC Stores located right inside the hotel. There is a bus stop right on the corner and the hotel had a "tour bus lobby" that was very convenient. I honestly can't think of much it lacked, if anything. It was clean. I really appreciated that it's a completely non-smoking hotel. We would definitely stay again. Our room was very sound proof to outside noise, which we found to be very helpful at bedtime.

At 8:05 AM I walked over to the elevators on the 6th floor to go down to check-out, and pressed the down button. At 8:15 AM one elevator stopped, but was completely full. I kept hearing elevators making the double chime (down signal) on neighboring floors, but not stopping. At 8:25 AM, I called the operator and was connected to security - when I explained that I had been waiting for 20 mins, heard elevators passing and wanted someone to personally asist me, I was told "It's just the busy time - but, we'll look into it." 5 minutes later, I called back, and was told they would contact security for me. Then at 8:35 (after 30 mins.) I called back again, and was told that both operators had contacted security and was transferred to a manager's voice mail. Then at 8:40 (after 35 mins.) I called and got ahold of a manager who then sent someone up to meet me, and escorted me via the service elevator. 40 minutes!!! 20 minutes after calling security. When I checked in, I waited in line for 1 hour with only a few people in front of me, and had 12 people behind me..... I transferred to the Ala Moana - the service was superb!!!!!!

If you are looking for a hotel in a big city - this hotel is for you, but if you want a secluded Hawaiian vacation get away, go to the islands of Maui or Kauai. This Marriott is located on the main 4 lane road that goes along Waikiki Beach, and the road is between the hotel and the beach. Other hotels (the Sheraton, Outrigger, and Westin to name a few) are on the beach side of the road, so choose those if you want direct access to the beach without crossing the road. The rooms at the Marriott are nice, the food at the breakfast buffet was excellent, and accommodations were overall a good value for the money. But this was not the experience I was lead to believe from the picture and description on Travel website.