Aqua Waikiki Joy Rating: 2.0 Pearls

Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu

The massage chair

This small hotel in the heart of Waikiki was rebranded as an Aqua property in December 2012, helping elevate the tired spaces to something a bit more livable. The hotel is definitely striving to cater to guests. From the koi and turtle ponds, to the welcome coupons and the fitness center... You can tell the hotel is trying. This is evidenced even more now that the hotel is an Aqua property. The rebranding included introducing new linens to the rooms, which greatly helped the drab interiors. Aqua also brought in new flat-screen TVs, mini-fridges, and coffee makers, as well as free Wi-Fi (throughout the entire hotel), Bose stereo systems, and Playstations.

The Joy caters to a largely Japanese clientele. With bilingual signage, a lending library filled mostly with Japanese titles, and a Japanese restaurant that doubles as a karaoke bar (plus 16 private rooms upstairs, open until 4 a.m.), the Joy does everything it can to appeal to its Japanese base -- and it does, for the most part.

But American travelers might prefer any one of the following hotels -- all of which have better amenities than the Joy, some of which are comparably priced, several of which are even cheaper: The Park Shore, the Aston Waikiki Beach, Hotel Renew, the Aqua Palms, the Aqua Waikiki Pearl, the Waikiki Parc, the Ohana East, or the Ilima.

View on a Larger Map

The Joy sits on one of the many side streets that span Waikiki's two major arteries, Kuhio and Kalakaua. So the immediate area is less heavily trafficked (by car or foot) than those main drags, giving it a decidedly suburban feel. Starbucks is across the street. Down the block is a Whaler's convenience store; around the corner, an IHOP. Indeed, were it not for the Nani Aloha Street store next door selling schlocky signs ("NO CLOTHES BEYOND THIS POINT") and Obama bobbleheads, you wouldn't even know you were in Hawaii.

A block away is Kalakaua Avenue, a touristy, milelong stretch of shops, restaurants, and high-rise hotels that runs along Waikiki Beach on Oahu's southeast coast. It 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
• Cheap and easy to get around Waikiki via "The Bus"
• Honolulu International Airport is a 15-minute cab ride

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 Joy is located five to 10 minutes by foot from the Fort DeRussy section, which is far less crowded than its more famous neighbor to the southeast, Queen's Beach. The water is shallow, warm, and calm, making Fort DeRussy a decent place to swim, especially for kids.

• 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
• Water sports equipment like surfboards and boogie boards available for rental at the Star Beach Boys stands

The Standard Room

The Joy's 93 rooms are divided between two buildings. The guest rooms are in one tower, the suites in the other. The main difference is size; either way, you won't be sleeping in luxury. The standard rooms start at about 320 square feet -- pretty, well, standard for Waikiki. They're bright -- credit the large sliding glass doors to the balconies -- and the new white linens that soar above the previous drab florals. But everything about these rooms still screams 1986.

• Beds are what you'd expect for the price. The Serta Monitor 266 mattresses are filled with polyester urethane foam. The result? Untoward springiness. Ditto the pillows (100% polyester fiber filling)
• The flat-screen TVs show about 35 channels of basic cable, as well as a Playstation
• Free Wi-Fi available
• The room's highlight is the jetted tub in the bathroom

The pool

The pool at the Joy is unfotunately very tiny, good for a quick dip to cool off but little else. The gym, meanwhile, is merely a converted guest room with a few cardio machines shoehorned in at odd angles. To be fair, the machines are modern and well maintained. There are no amenity fees.

• Well-maintained machines in the slightly awkward fitness center
• Shuttles to Hanauma Bay, Pearl Harbor, and the airport available, for a fee
• Valet parking charged per night -- pretty standard for Waikiki; there is no self-parking available
• Cappuccinos karaoke bar on-site
• Honor-system lending library, mainly stocked with books in Japanese (plus a few Danielle Steels and such classic beach reads as Business Policy: Text and Cases (Third Edition)

Rollaways cost extra per night and will fit only in superior-size rooms and above. Cribs are free and can fit in any room.

Balcony in the Standard Room

The hotel is mostly well-maintained, though the older property is showing signs of wear and tear.

Cappuccinos

The Joy's restaurant, Cappuccinos, an Internet cafe and coffee shop by day, moonlights as a karaoke bar. Cappuccinos is actually a fun place to spend an hour or two in the evening. Even if you don't plan to get tanked and belt out "Livin' on a Prayer," it's entertaining to watch fellow (mostly Japanese) tourists try it themselves.

• Cappuccinos serves decent and very reasonable Japanese food throughout the day. A bento box and large beer is well-priced and filling
• Free continental breakfast daily
• No room service
• Near the epicenter of Waikiki, so you can find pretty much anything within walking distance to match your budget and preferences