Ohana East Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu

Lobby display of Hawaiian hula instruments

Though not priced as low as some of the true budget properties in Waikiki, the 441-room Ohana East certainly doesn't rise much above them. There's a poorly equipped fitness center jammed into a converted suite, unexciting decor (those old tube TVs don't help), smallish rooms, and some missing basics -- like no tubs in the bathrooms, for instance. And it's a solid five-block, or 10-minute, walk to the beach.

Luckily, the friendly, competent service, three restaurants (one of which is fantastic), and little extras, such as 15 minutes of free in-room phone calls, redeem things a bit. The lobby has touches of Hawaiian art and displays, and while the pool isn't very big, it's well maintained and gets the job done for younger kids.

But the Ohana East has some stiff competition, which makes it a tough hotel to recommend over others. Its standard room size is roughly equivalent to lower-priced properties. Right down the street and equidistant from the beach, the Aqua Wave offers similar amenities (pool, on-site restaurants, in-room Wi-Fi, though no room service) and usually costs a bit less for similar-size rooms. You can be right across from the beach in bigger rooms with flat-screens for a similar price at the more centrally located Waikiki Parc Hotel -- and it has a branch of Nobu in the lobby.

For just a few dollars more, sister property Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber, in the same vicinity of the Ohana East and across from the beach, has bigger rooms and much better amenities. Hotel Renew is also closer to the beach, with roughly equal-size standard rooms that are much more stylish with flat-screen TVs and better toiletries and bedding. Going a little farther from the beach and giving up most amenities (like a pool and restaurant), you can get outstanding prices for updated, stylish rooms in the Aqua Waikiki Pearl. Finally, for more square footage, updated technology, and quieter rooms at roughly equivalent rates, you could consider the Best Western on Ala Wai Canal. It's a slightly different location, but offers some of the area's largest rooms in this price range, plus free breakfasts.

The tour desk

The level of staff attentiveness is impressive at this midpriced property -- sure, there's not the dedicated concierge or nightly turndown that you'd find in higher category hotels, but the porters are vigilant, the 24-hour reception desk staffers have great attitudes, and there are some extra services beyond what you'd typically find. On more than one occasion a staff member approached me near the entrance to ask if I needed directions, a taxi, or even suggestions for what to do or where to eat.

• 24-hour reception desk with friendly staff
• Daily housekeeping
• No concierge, but an Outrigger Activities desk, open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., where guests can get tickets for excursions, luaus, and the like.
• A free trolley -- known as the pink line -- stops across the street at Ohana Waikiki West, makes stops throughout Waikiki, and ends at the Ala Moana Shopping Center; guests show room key card to board.
• Same-day laundry and dry-cleaning service for items brought to the the front desk by 8 a.m., except on Sundays and holidays.
• Room service, a rarity in Waikiki, is available from 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and is provided by the on-site Thai restaurant
• Self-parking is $18 a day.

View on a Larger Map

The Ohana East is located on the corner of Kuhio Avenue and Kaiulani Street in the eastern section of Waikiki about five blocks from Queen's Beach. The immediate area surrounding the hotel is especially heavy with souvenir shops; an entrance to the somewhat tacky International Marketplace is a block away. Nearby Kuhio is busy with traffic, but not so loud that you can't get to sleep.

The hotel is four blocks away from Waikiki's main drag, Kalakaua Avenue, a touristy milelong stretch of shops, restaurants, and high-rise hotels that runs along Oahu's southeast coast. 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 midmarket 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.

• Five blocks from the popular, and crowded, Queen's Beach section of Waikiki Beach
• Wide variety of shopping, dining, and drinking -- all within walking distance
• Near an entrance to the International Marketplace, where you can find Obama bobbleheads and puka-shell necklaces for sale
• Kapiolani Park, an oasis of (relative) calm for people-watching and local flavor, is 15 minutes by foot.
• Honolulu Zoo is 15 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.

Ohana East's small City View room

There's nothing particularly remarkable about the Ohana East's rooms. The standards are small (240 square feet) for this price-level in Waikiki (the Aqua Waikiki Wave, Best Western, Ilima, Aston Waikiki Joy, and Waikiki Parc all have larger standard rooms). Decor is fresh, but unexciting -- furniture is cream-painted bamboo, bedspreads feature floral prints, and old tube TVs make them feel more dated than they are.

• 26-inch Zenith tube TVs with about 30 channels (fewer than offered at many others hotels in Waikiki); sets include a Nintendo GameCube, with games for $6.95 plus tax per hour.
• A nice extra: the first 15 minutes of any phone call to the mainland and Canada are free, as are local calls and those made to other Hawaiian islands (just be sure to watch the clock).
• Well-maintained bathrooms don't have full bathtubs, only a shower stall.
• All rooms have balconies.
• Coffee pot with free coffee provided; in-room safe; mini-fridge
• An upgrade from a standard room (with a pool view) to a city and beach view room of the same category is only $10 (most hotels in Waikiki charge more than that for a bump up to better views).

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. The Ohaha East is located less than five blocks away from the section called Queen's Beach, which is the part you see on postcards of Waikiki: manicured, palm-tree-dotted lawns leading to a sunny white-sand beach. Children splash about in the shallow water near the shore, while surfers and standup paddle-boarders (the rad new thing to do) parole the outer waters.

To summarize Queen's Beach in one word: packed. Packed with energy, packed with activity, packed -- most significantly -- with people. Towels carpet the sand like blankets at a sold-out concert. Families with small children, honeymooning couples, even locals taking lunch breaks -- they all merge here, sunning, swimming, and sandcastle-building, all the while doing their best not to kick sand in each other's faces.

• Public beach
• Warm, shallow water -- a decent place to swim, especially for kids
• Sandy, not rocky, ocean bottom -- unlike neighboring Fort DeRussy to the west and Kuhio (aka "the wall") to the east.
• 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

Catch the free Waikiki trolley across the street

There's not much that's special about the features offered at the Ohana East, but the fact that they're offered at all puts it a leg up on some of its competitors. The pool -- roughly equivalent to that at the Waikiki Parc and better than what the Aston Waikiki Joy or the Best Western offers -- is clean and has plenty of lounge chairs. The tiny "gym" in a converted suite is pretty poor, but some properties, like Hotel Renew, don't offer one on-site at all. Overall, facilities are usable and fine, but nothing special.

• Three on-site eateries including a branch from celebrated Thai chef Keo Sananikone that provides all-day room service -- a rarity for Waikiki
• Free lobby Wi-Fi and in-room wired Internet; it costs $9.95 a day at the Waikiki Parc.
• Free 15 minutes of long distance phone calls to neighboring islands, the continental U.S., and Canada
• Unlimited free access to the pink trolley which runs throughout Waikiki and to Ala Moana Shopping Center (just show the driver your room key)
• Smallish pool; beach towels available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the front desk; $20 fee for lost or unreturned towels
• Small gym, open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., is located in a converted suite with a single treadmill, an elliptical machine, and a stationary bike, along with some weight-lifting equipment.
• "Business center" is really just a few PC kiosks in the corner of the lobby, and costs 20 cents per minute; there are also several kiosks available in the attached KimoBean coffee bar ($3 for 15 minutes, $11 for an hour).

The Jacuzzi

This isn't a terrible budget choice for families, but there are much better options. While the spacious rooms are a boon to those with kids in tow, the five-block walk to the beach is a hassle with younger children.

• No tubs in the bathroom
• Five-block walk to beach
• Suites have pullout sofa beds; as is common in Waikiki, cribs are free and rollaways cost extra ($30 a night).
• Each TV has Nintendo GameCube ($6.95 plus tax per hour).
• Clean, well-maintained, uncrowded pool
• Kids' menus are available at all the on-site restaurants; kid-friendly food options are plentiful.

In the past few years, all rooms have been refurbished; overall, it's fresh and clean.

Spring rolls at Keoni by Keo

Three solid on-site options -- including an outpost by celebrated Thai chef Keo Sananikone called Keoni by Keo -- are more than most budget hotels offer.

• Keoni by Keo: Serves great Thai and American fare for three meals a day; handles room service from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Local institution Chuck's Cellar, in the basement, is famous for hearty dinners of surf and turf, draft beer, and nightly live music.
• National chain Round Table Pizza is open for lunch, dinner, late-night snacks, and delivery from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
• KimoBean, a Hawaiian chain, serves great Kona coffee, as well as pastries; offers computer stations with Internet for $3 for 15 minutes or $11 for an hour.
• Lots of food options within walking distance on Kuhio and Kalakaua