Park Shore Waikiki Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu

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Entrance to the open-air lobby

Though its standard rooms look somewhat dated (and still have old, tube TVs), some slight updates to the oceanfront rooms (including new flat-screen TVs) make the Park Shore one of Waikiki's best values. The hotel's best feature -- its location on Waikiki's eastern edge, facing the beach with prime views of both the ocean and Diamond Head -- is a significant advantage over similarly-priced hotels in Waikiki. Guests have traditionally ignored the worn rooms to get oceanfront views at motel prices.

The open-air lobby of the 18-story, 226-room high-rise has a few tropical-print couches (perfect for surfing the free Wi-Fi), the front desk, and a couple tour kiosks, but that's about it. Hawaiian music plays softly, while tropical leaf fans whir overhead; a mix of elderly couples, twentysomethings, and little kids chill out here at various points throughout the day. Valets and bellmen do their best to keep occasional homeless loiterers in front of the hotel moving along.

The building's ground floor also includes a Starbucks, an ABC convenience store, and the Japanese restaurant Yoshitsune (not affiliated with the hotel). Stairs at the back of the lobby lead to another hallway and the beachfront restaurant Lulu's, which is a popular local hangout.

Front desk staff is friendly and accomodating.

With no concierge, no room service, and extra charges for safe keys and Internet connections, it's a good thing every staff member seems to be abundantly friendly and helpful. On nearly every slow elevator trip a friendly maintenance man or housekeeper seems to hop on and offer a big "Aloha!" as if to make up for the snail-like pace. And my housekeeper Juanita (as introduced by a placard in the room) was the first housekeeper -- after more than 50 hotel stays -- to write a thank you note for her tip. Granted, I encountered similar friendliness at sister properties Aqua Palms and Aqua Bamboo, but the bottom line is that service should not be a deal breaker here.

• Front desk service is fast and efficient -- a request to move my room to a higher floor was quickly accommodated.
• Requests are handled promptly.
• No concierge (just a tour desk), but super-friendly staffers
• No room service
• Extra charge for Internet modems and safe keys

View on a Larger Map

The hotel is the last building along the eastern end of the Waikiki strip, on the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu Avenues facing Kuhio Beach. The Honolulu Zoo and Kapiolani Park are across Kapahulu. With no buildings in the way, the Park Shore has stunning views of Diamond Head crater.

The central section of Kalakaua Avenue is a 10- to 15-minute walk away. Kalakaua, a touristy, milelong stretch of shops, restaurants, and high-rise hotels that runs along Waikiki Beach on Oahu's southeast coast, 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 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.

• Across the street from the Kuhio section of Waikiki Beach
• Wide variety of shopping, dining, and drinking within a 10- to 15-minute walk on Kalakaua
• Kapiolani Park, an oasis of (relative) calm for people-watching and local flavor, is next door.
• Honolulu Zoo is next door.
• Two ABC convenience stores within a block
• Starbucks on ground floor
• Cheap and easy to get around Waikiki via "The Bus" ($2.25 per person to go any distance)
• Honolulu International Airport is a 20- to 25-minute, $35 cab ride.

A Queen Standard room

The Park Shore offers six room types across its 226 rooms; all but the standards have undergone a "soft renovation." Standards are a decent size at 235 square feet, but dated: old TVs, modest bathrooms, worn carpets and furniture, and utilitarian beds. You're much better off paying an extra $10 to $20 to upgrade to a renovated partial ocean view with new carpets, fresh paint, custom-designed bedding, new furniture with more drawer space, and a 42-inch flat-screen TV.

• Standard rooms have city views and feature a queen, king or two double beds; some have a sliver of ocean view; its tiny, narrow balcony has no furniture.
• Request a high floor to avoid noise -- even on the second-highest floor, the 17th, you can hear voices from the beach.
• Bathrooms are basic: hotel-brand toiletries, hair dryer, and some mildew in the shower and on faucets; towels are soft, but thin -- like what they provide at gyms, to ensure you won't bother stealing them.
• Standard room furnishings include a table with two chairs, an armoire, a mini-fridge, two closets, and lumpy beds, with two thin pillows and scratchy sheets; renovated rooms have much nicer bedding.
• Standard rooms have old, 27-inch Panasonic tube TVs with basic cable (no HBO); upgraded rooms have 42-inch flat-screen TVs; each room has an old safe large enough for a laptop, but keys cost $4 a day.
• No in-room Wi-Fi (there's free lobby Wi-Fi), but guests can obtain a modem for $5 a day; connections seemed to cut out several times.

View of "the wall" on the Kuhio section of Waikiki

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 Park Shore Waikiki is located across the street 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 is 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.

A view from the common balcony

There just aren't many on-site features to recommend this dated high-rise -- sister hotel Aqua Bamboo has a much nicer pool, and Aqua Palms has a small spa and fitness room. But then again, neither of those is a stone's throw from the beach.

• The small, kidney-shaped pool on the third floor has just enough height to have fantastic views of both Diamond Head and the beach, and the plastic lounge chairs we saw during our visit have been replaced with newer, nicer pool furniture.
• Free Wi-Fi in the lobby, and computers for 20 cents per minute, or 75 cents a printed page, but no in-room Wi-Fi or other business amenities
• $10 discount on lessons at the Hans Hedemann Surf School, to the immediate left of the hotel
• Valet parking is $20 a day.

The pool

With not particularly large rooms and no dedicated kids program, the Park Shore is not that great for families, though some may like the proximity to a calm beach, the nearby zoo, and Kapiolani Park.

• Connecting rooms are available; families should book larger Ocean Front rooms or suites for more space.
• As is standard in Waikiki, cribs are free and rollaways come with a charge ($30), though they're free in rooms that don't have two double beds.
• Decent, though nothing special, pool, and proximity to kid-friendly Kuhio section of Waikiki Beach
• On-site restaurant Lulu's has a kids' menu; other kid-friendly options like Teddy's Bigger Burgers, McDonald's, and Subway are about a minute away.

Housekeeping is cheerful and thorough, but this hotel definitely shows its age -- stained elevator carpets, dirty window crevices and mildewed shower fixtures are some common issues.

Fresh fruit and coconut bowl at Lulu's

Two independent local restaurants -- Lulu's Surf Club and the Japanese Yoshitsune -- are connected to the hotel, though only Lulu's gives guests charging privileges.

• 2nd-floor Lulu's fronts the ocean and is known for fantastic breakfasts; serves casual American fare until 2 a.m.; its bar features nightly live music and lots of local brews
• Yoshitsune is spread across two windowless rooms at the back of the lobby; menu is pricey.
• On-site Starbucks
• Teddy's Bigger Burgers, next door on Kapahulu, is considered one of Waikiki's top burger places.