Hotel Renew — Hotel Review Rating: 3.5 Pearls

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reporter: Hailey E.
Updated: October 5, 2009

 Scene

At the Hotel Renew, a 72-room boutique hotel on the quieter, eastern end of Waikiki, you get a lot for your money -- recently renovated, designer rooms, free breakfast and proximity to the beach -- with budget-friendly room rates.

A small, but beautiful lobby, classy touches like a cold towel and fresh pineapple juice at check-in, extremely stylish, Zen-chic rooms by San Francisco designer Jiun Ho, free breakfast, and a bar with a happy hour and niche top-shelf booze create an upscale feel.

Formerly part of the Aston Waikiki Beach (the building was its overflow tower), and once part of the Aqua hotel chain, Hotel Renew was created in 2008 after a thorough renovation of both the building and the brand. Jiun Ho didn't just design the guest rooms and the lobby, he also fashioned other details like the staff uniforms. As a result, the hotel has a consistent stylistic approach throughout -- relaxing continuity that's pleasantly surprising given the reasonable rates.

Of course, you can't have everything. There's no pool, on-site restaurants, business center, or fitness facility, but the hotel's clientele, mostly twenty- and thirtysomething singles and couples, don't seem to care. They'd rather discover a hole-in-the-wall ethnic eatery or head into Honolulu to dine at Alan Wong's. With such reasonable room rates, why not splurge on dinner?

 Service

The hotel's small staff goes out of its way to be helpful, and there are lovely, impressive service touches, given the price point. Even though there's no concierge, you won't miss it. The front desk ably assists guests -- they got a great rate on a rental car with far less hassle, and at a far better price, than the in-house rental car desks at the nearby Hyatt Regency Waikiki and Marriott Waikiki.

• Cold towels and fresh pineapple juice at check-in
• Turndown service available on request; items like toothpaste and extra towels available on request
• No dedicated concierge, but the young, hip staff provides more interesting recommendations than you get from some hotel concierges. Every staffer, from bartender to bellhop, offers favorite local suggestions.
• Lovely familial vibe: staff remembers guests' names and asks how dinner recommendations worked out.
• Doormen are ever present; help with luggage is quickly offered, and guests rarely open doors themselves.
• A small breakfast buffet is kept perfectly clean by multiple staffers each morning.
• No room service

 Location

The hotel is a block away from both the beach and Waikiki's main drag, Kalakaua Avenue, a touristy, milelong stretch of shops, restaurants, and high-rise hotels that runs along Waikiki Beach on Oahu's southeast coast and offers a curious blend of mainland creature comforts and local flavor. On the sidewalks, Japanese tourists intermingle with tanned locals, surfboards under their arms, on their way to the beach to catch a few waves after work. On both sides of the street, high-end retailers -- Tiffany, Cartier, and yes, even an Apple store -- are interspersed with indoor malls and streetside vendors hawking cheap seashell jewelry and T-shirts. Seemingly every mid-market chain restaurant can be found here -- Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Tony Roma's -- along with more than a handful of Starbucks and fast-food joints. And towering above it all: 40-story, thousand-room hotels dotting the landscape like pins in a cushion.

• Wide variety of shopping, dining, and drinking -- all within walking distance
• Kapiolani Park, an oasis of (relative) calm for people-watching and local flavor, is seven blocks away.
• Honolulu Zoo is less than 10 minutes by foot.
• Cheap and easy to get around Waikiki via "The Bus" ($2.25 per person to go any distance)
• Honolulu International Airport is a 20-minute, $35 cab ride.
• Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay, and Diamond Head Crater -- three of the most popular tourist sites outside Waikiki -- are all within 30 minutes by car.

 Beach

Loosely speaking, the entire 1.5-mile stretch of sand alongside Kalakaua Avenue is known as Waikiki Beach. In reality, it's more like three separate beaches, the borders of which vary depending on whom you ask. Hotel Renew is located a block from the Kuhio section, known to some as "the wall," for the 50-yard concrete pier that juts out from the sand at the corner of Kapahulu Avenue. (The kids who jump off the pier are known affectionately as "wall rats.")

Kuhio Beach is broader and far less crowded than its more famous neighbor to the northwest, Queen's Beach. The water's shallow and warm, and because the wall creates an artificial cove of sorts, it's also calm, making Kuhio the best place for kids to swim, according to the lifeguards there. On the other hand, the ocean bottom is a bit rocky, so tread gingerly.

• Public beach
• Ocean bottom is rocky, unlike neighboring Queen's Beach.
• Lifeguards monitor the beach throughout the day.
• Free towels, provided by the hotel
• Umbrellas and lounge chairs must be rented from one of the many Star Beach Boys stands; chairs are $5 an hour, $20 a day; for two chairs and an umbrella, it's $10 an hour, $50 a day.
• Water sports equipment, like surfboards and boogie boards, available for rental at Star Beach Boys stands
• Respected Hans Hedemann Surf School is near the wall, where Kapahulu Avenue meets the sand.

 Rooms

Fashioned by San Francisco designer Jiun Ho, the small, tech-friendly rooms are some of the most stylish on the island in any price range. With dark woods, shoji screen window treatments and mood lighting, even in the bathrooms, they have a relaxing, urban Zen feel -- though they're not all that Hawaiian and most lack balconies.

Standard rooms, City View with Double, are small -- just 280 square feet -- and have only one double bed, no queen (higher categories have either one king or two doubles and are only slightly larger); by contrast, standards at the Lotus at Diamond Head, just outside of Waikiki, boast 455 square feet (though they don't include a free breakfast and are a bit more expensive).

• Only the smallest rooms, City View with Double, have balconies, and the lackluster views are a far cry from the Diamond Head and ocean views at the Lotus at Diamond Head, where all rooms have balconies.
• 32" Philips flat-screen TV or an 80" projection TV (typically in rooms with two doubles, though they are to soon be replaced by 50" flat-screens); more channels offered (about 70) than many Waikiki hotels
• Free Wi-Fi, but no iPod docks, though there are plans to add them (for now, the hotel lends them out, but doesn't advertise the fact)
• Great beds -- Serta mattresses atop wood platform frames topped with down featherbeds, 350-thread-count sheets, and down duvet offset by stunning orange blankets and poly-filled pillows.
• In some rooms, beds are pushed against a wall, less than ideal for two people sharing a bed.
• Beverage cooling units and separate recycling bins -- not common, and a nice touch
• Noisy air conditioners interfere with sleep.
• Cool bathrooms with button to cast a delicate mood light; Japanese ceramic glasses, towels topped with smooth stones, and fancy Face Stockholm toiletries -- another nice touch
• Showers with curved rods and sleek showerheads look better than they work.

 Features

Limited facilities are a drawback at this hotel -- there's no business center, pool or gym, but guests get discounts that can help make up for it.

• $10 day passes to 24 Hour Fitness, three blocks away; the hotel also offers a free "fitness kit" -- basically, a yoga ball and mat.
• 10% discount on services at the Spa Olakino within the Marriott Waikiki next door
• Significant (half off when I visited) discount at Enterprise Rent-a-Car along with transportation to pick-up -- a far better deal than those offered at rental-car desks within nearby mega hotels like the Marriott Waikiki
• Discounted tickets to the Bishop Museum (two for $15, instead of $15.95 each).
• Daily happy hour at Lounge Renew from 5:30 to 7 p.m. with $5 specialty cocktails and $3 beers
• An hour of free drinks and appetizers at a guest mixer held every Thursday

 Pet Friendly

• $25-per-night pet fee, plus $50 refundable deposit at checkout after room inspection
• Designated floor for dogs (2nd floor)
• Edible treats at check-in
• Kapiolani Park just seven blocks away

 Family

With stylish, but small rooms, few amenities, and nothing geared to kids, this is not the choice for a family vacation.

• Small rooms with similar layouts, averaging a tiny 300 square feet
• No rollaways or free cribs (like at most Waikiki hotels); cribs cost $25 per stay
• No pool
• No on-site restaurant, just a bar

 Cleanliness

For the most part, the chic rooms feel clean and fresh, thanks to a complete renovation in 2008. However, a few minor housekeeping issues led to rooms that were streaky, not squeaky, clean. There were significant streaks across my flat-panel TV, as well as the glass door leading out to the lanai (balcony), and the walls in the bathroom had odd streaks, suggesting some sort of water damage.

 Food

Although there's no on-site restaurant or room service, the hotel offers a daily, simple, free continental breakfast, and there are many restaurants within walking distance.

• The lobby's Lounge Renew offers a well-managed, free continental breakfast from 7 to 9:30 a.m; paper cups are provided for taking coffee and tea to go.
• The lounge becomes a bar from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. daily, offering classic cocktails ($9 to $11) that go beyond sugary mai tais; happy hour nightly from 5:30 to 7 p.m. with $5 specialty cocktails, $3 beers.
• On Thursdays, the hotel hosts a mixer with free drinks and appetizers for guests from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
• Plenty of restaurants, from casual chain to upscale, are within walking distance.

 Bottom Line

A top pick for those who want more than a budget hotel but less than a mega resort, this independent, recently renovated, 72-room affordable boutique a block from the beach is high on style, but short on amenities.