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Bamboo Queen Room
326 sq. ft with a Queen bed.
A Waikiki view.
Classic King or Queen Room
270 sq. ft with a King bed or Queen.
A Waikiki view.
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Oyster Review Summary
Photos and review by Kate M., Oyster Expert Hotel Investigator.
Updated: May 11, 2010
Pros
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Cons
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Bottom Line
This 68-room boutique along noisy Ala Moana Boulevard isn't much to look at. And though the ocean is across the street, views of it are mostly blocked by taller buildings. But the rooms are stylish; the small staff is friendly and accommodating; the beach, the business district, and shopping are all within walking distance; and the rates are reasonable.
Oyster Hotel Photos
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The Equus - Oahu, Hawaii
The Equus - Oahu, Hawaii
Rooms at The Equus
Best Price Guarantee
Learn More »
Learn More »
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Bamboo Queen Room
326 sq. ft with a Queen bed. A Waikiki view. |
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Classic King or Queen Room
270 sq. ft with a King bed or Queen. A Waikiki view. |
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Tower Partial Ocean View Room
370 sq. ft with a King bed or Queen. A Partial Ocean view. |
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Tower Deluxe Ocean View Room
370 sq. ft with a Queen bed. An Ocean view. |
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Tower City View Room
370 sq. ft with a Queen bed or 2 Doubles. A Balcony / Patio and a Waikiki view. |
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Classic Executive Room
326 sq. ft with a King bed. A Partial ocean view. |
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Classic Double Double Room
270 sq. ft with 2 Doubles beds. A City or partial ocean view. |
Oyster Hotel Review
Contents
Scene
A small boutique on a busy Waikiki thoroughfare, with friendly service, stylish rooms, and unique perks. Not much to look at, inside or out, but the location's convenient and the price is right.
Ralph Lauren-inspired decor
The Equus is an odd duck. Er, horse. Looking at its website, you might envision a secluded, sun-dappled ranch far from the Waikiki strip. It touts its "equestrian roots," "Ralph Lauren-inspired décor," and unique features like free polo tickets and guided beachfront horseback rides.
In reality, the 10-story, 68-room hotel is on a noisy commercial thoroughfare across the street from the water (but not the beach) in Waikiki -- but mostly blocked by a taller hotel. And it looks a bit like a parking garage from the outside and like a middle school (replete with cinderblock walls and industrial glass sliding doors) on the inside. The small pool is surrounded by tall buildings and parking lots so that it's perpetually in the shade.
But the hotel does have its special boutique charms. The small staff is warm and friendly. The horse theme was dreamt up by the longtime owner, a polo aficionado, and manifests itself in historic photographs of polo players and Hawaiian cowboys on the walls, and interesting equine-themed furniture in the lobby and in some rooms. The small lobby includes a lovely terrace with umbrellas and tables that are perfect for enjoying the free continental breakfast buffet. All but eight rooms were redecorated in 2007 in a palette of crisp whites, yellows, and reds with appropriately equestrian brown leather touches.
The hotel became part of the local boutique chain Aqua in 2007. Compared with other Aqua properties, including the Park Shore, The Palms, and Waikiki Wave, the ambience of the Equus feels a bit more staid and grown-up, perhaps owing to its smaller size and proximity to business areas. To be sure, it's cheaper than the Hawaii Prince across the street and the Aqua Palms around the corner, but it also has less to offer. Unless, of course, you're a horse enthusiast.
Service
A small, friendly staff offers limited services. No concierge and no bell hops, but the front-desk staff does its best to help guests out. A weekly manager's cocktail party puts everyone on a first-name basis.
Friendly housekeeping staff
The hotel staff is warm and friendly, but also just a step above skeleton. There is always at least one person at the front desk, and I frequently spotted one gentleman cleaning the lobby. But there is no concierge and no bell staff -- so you're on your own schlepping bags up the stairs from the entrance to the second-floor front desk.
At times getting information felt a bit like pulling teeth. At check-in, no one mentioned needing a key for the safe, or that I needed to borrow a modem to use the Internet in my room. I tried two different modems and neither worked, meaning I made three separate trips down to the front desk, and no one offered to come up and take a look.
Still, the front-desk manager thoughtfully answered my questions every time I stopped by and gave me the warmest of goodbyes when I checked out. I also just missed the weekly manager's cocktail party, which is held in the lobby on Tuesdays from 5 to 6 p.m.
Location
Noisy, convenient for those with cars, and about a 10-minute walk to Waikiki beach, the convention center, and Hawaii's nicest shopping mall. Across from the water, but blocked by taller buildings.
The Equus is on busy Ala Moana Boulevard among Waikiki's high-rise hotels, motels, and condos. The location is semi-convenient to the beach, shopping, and the convention center, but the setting is less than picturesque. For guests with cars, the hotel's location on the western edge of Waikiki makes it a lot easier to get around the island without the traffic snarls of central Waikiki. Garage parking costs $18 a day.
The hotel is across the street from the Hawaii Prince Hotel and the Waikiki Marina. Waikiki Beach at the Hilton Hawaiian Village is about three blocks and a 10-minute walk. The enormous Ala Moana Shopping Center is 5 to 10 minutes further down Ala Moana, and there is more beach swimming across from it at Ala Moana Beach Park.
The hotel is about a 15-minute, $20 cab ride from Honolulu International Airport.
Beach
Two beaches -- one action-packed, one quiet -- are each a 10-minute walk in opposite directions.
Though the water is right across the street at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, the two cloeset swimming beaches are each about 10 minutes away. The Equus is an equidistant walk from the Fort DeRussy section of Waikiki and Ala Moana Beach Park. The park is quiet, grassy, and doesn't allow vendors or concessions.
To get to Fort DeRussy Beach and the public lagoon at Hilton Hawaiian Village, guests must walk down and across hot, congested Ala Moana Boulevard.
Although the Fort DeRussy section of Waikiki Beach is far less crowded than its more famous neighbor to the southeast, Queen's Beach, it's still relatively packed with beachgoers, water-sports rental stands, and umbrellas. The water is shallow, warm, and calm, making Fort DeRussy a decent place to swim, especially for kids. But the ocean bottom is a bit rocky, so tread gingerly. Lifeguards monitor the beach throughout the day.
The hotel provides guests free towels, but you'll need to rent umbrellas, chairs, and water-sports equipment from one of the many stands that dot the beach. Generally, chairs are $5 an hour, $20 a day; for two chairs and an umbrella, it's $10 an hour, $50 a day.
Rooms
Clean and modern, most rooms were redecorated in 2007 in an equestrian "Ralph Lauren-inspired" motif. Flat-screens, free safes, and free Internet are nice features, but noisy location and cinder-block walls disappoint.
The Bamboo Queen Room
Rooms are generally clean, comfortable and stylish, with dark wood accents, flat-screen TVs, and a sophisticated color palette. But for some guests this may not compensate for the industrial-looking, glass balcony doors, cinder-block balconies, and external hallways that give the place an institutional feel. The views, meanwhile, are lackluster.
Most of the Equus's 67 rooms and suites were redecorated in 2007 in what the hotel calls a "Ralph Lauren-inspired" décor. Whereas before they were colorful and tropical, now they are cleaner and more sophisticated. Fabrics in soft shades of yellow and red complement dark wood antique furniture and equestrian-themed lamps and artwork.
- Standard rooms, known as a "City View Double/Double" or "City View King" range from 280 to 330 square feet; the rooms with King beds come with balconies.
- All rooms include 28-inch or 32-inch flat-screen TVs (mine was LG, but the two I saw in other rooms were Philips) with basic cable but no HBO. Every room also comes with a DVD player.
- A mini-fridge and a coffeemaker in every room
- Free access to an in-room safe
- Beds are soft and come with six pillows and high-quality cotton bedding.
- Bathrooms are a bit small and a bit dark. There is a separate sink area from the toilet and shower (no tub). In my room there were only sliding doors between the bathroom and the entryway.
- Toiletries are the standard Aqua brand with shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and soap.
- Rooms don't include hair dryers, but they can be obtained from the front desk.
- Tip: During my visit I stayed in one of only eight Bamboo Queen rooms, which feature the old, tropical-themed décor; the hotel chose not to renovate them with the others because return guests often request this room type. Apparently some people think it's charmingly "old Hawaii." Maybe, but I'd recommend booking one of the new rooms instead.
Features
Free polo tickets and discounted beachfront trail rides make the Equus unique, but the pool gets little sunlight, and there is no gym on site.
Small pool with no sunlight
Features at the Equus are certainly a little off-beat. On-site, there's little more than a pool. But the hotel does provide free tickets to polo matches during the polo season (April to August). And guests receive a 30% discount off beachfront trail rides at the Hawaii Polo Club. The catch: Guests are responsible for getting themselves to the Polo Club on the North Shore (about a 45-minute car ride).
On its own, the pool is reasonably large and attractive. But zoom out a notch, and you realize it's completely surrounded by tall buildings and parking lots. Construction noise and traffic sounds drift in from every direction. And the water is quite cold, and the area is in perpetual shade. There aren't even any lounge chairs by the pool. Guests may lounge at the pool next-door (across another parking lot) at the Aqua Waikiki Marina condo.
Guests are also entitled to use the condo's coin-op laundry facilities and its single tennis court.
For $10 a day, guests can get a pass to work out at the 24-Hour Fitness gym 10 minutes down the road at the Ala Moana Center. The hotel also has a partnership with nearby Spa Hawaii, which provides free transportation to guests.
Though the Equus's website touts free Internet throughout the hotel, I couldn't use it anywhere. In contrast to every other Aqua property I've stayed at, there is no free Wi-Fi in the lobby. A single computer in the lobby costs 20 cents per minute, and 75 cents per printed page.
Family
A boutique hotel on a busy road, 10 minutes from the beach, with no on-site restaurant is less than ideal for kids. There are far more family-friendly places elsewhere in Waikiki.
With smallish, modern rooms and a location on a very busy street, the Equus isn't exactly the most kid-friendly place in Waikiki, or even along Ala Moana. Cribs cost $20 a day; rollaway beds are not available. Furthermore, the pool is small and cold, and the beach is about a 10-minute walk, across busy Ala Moana Boulevard. The lack of an on-site restaurant is also less than ideal, although family-friendly chains like Red Lobster and Outback Steakhouse are nearby.
On the plus side, the hotel does provide a nice, free continental breakfast buffet with assorted pastries, fruit, coffee and juice.
Cleanliness
A hard-working maintenance and housekeeping staff keeps rooms and common areas pristine.
The cinder-block walls and single, dark elevator feel institutional, but the hotel is well maintained. I frequently saw staffers cleaning public spaces. I had no cleanliness issues with my room.
Food
No restaurant on-site, but an above-average, free continental breakfast buffet. More than 10 eating options within a block, and dozens more just steps beyond that.
Free continental breakfast
The Equus does not have a restaurant on-site, but provides a free continental breakfast buffet each morning in the lobby from 7:30 to 9. With multiple varieties of muffins (including local specialty banana macadamia nut), taro rolls, and fresh fruit salad, the selection is a bit more robust than the free buffet I had around the corner at Aqua Palms. Coffee and juice are also on offer.
Many restaurants are within walking distance, the closest being McDonald's and Starbucks half a block away. Red Lobster and Outback Steakhouse are across the street. And a number of inexpensive local dining options can be found in the small shopping center behind McDonald's, including the highly recommended (and cheap) Aloha Sushi. Margaritas Beach Bar on the same block serves delicious fish tacos.
The hotel's owner heartily recommends the Chart House Restaurant across the street in the marina, maintaining it has both "the best happy hour in town" (including live music and hula dancers) and "the best blackened Ahi in the state." Guests who stay in $145 per night Executive Suites earn a $25 dining credit at the Chart House.
Green Initiatives
Member of Green Hotels Association since 1997
The Equus has been a member of the Green Hotels Association since 1997. According to the management, this requires regulation of water flow, use of eco-friendly cleaning materials, and recycling. The hotel also keeps air-conditioners in all unused rooms turned off (which annoyed me when I first entered my hot, stuffy room -- but I appreciate the gesture).
Bottom Line
This 68-room boutique along noisy Ala Moana Boulevard isn't much to look at. And though the ocean is across the street, views of it are mostly blocked by taller buildings. But the rooms are stylish; the small staff is friendly and accommodating; the beach, the business district, and shopping are all within walking distance; and the rates are reasonable.
Hotel Features
| Number of Rooms: | 68 |
| Pool: | Yes |
| Fitness Center: | No |
| Spa: | No |
| Internet Access: | Yes |
| Pets Allowed: | No |
| Cribs: | Yes |
| Kids Club: | No |
| Jacuzzi (in room): | No |
| Casino: | No |
Hotel Information
| Location: | Oahu, Hawaii |
| Toll Free Bookings: | 1-888-776-9783 |
| Address: | 1696 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, Hi 96815 (See Map) |
Travel Guide
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Things You Should Know About The Equus
Address
- 1696 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, Hi 96815
Hotel Is Also Known As...
- The Equus - an Aqua Boutique hotel
- Equus An Aqua Boutique Hotel
Room Types
- Tower City View Room
- Bamboo Queen Room
- Classic King or Queen Room
- Classic Executive Room
- The Equus One Bedroom Suite
- Polo Photo Finish Room
- Tower Partial Ocean View Room
- Polo Ocean View Room
- Classic Double Double Room
- Tower Deluxe Ocean View Room
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