We have been to Waikiki twice: once for my birthday and once for our honeymoon. Both times we stayed at the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort and Spa (pricey, but I highly recommend it). Since I travel so much for work, I've become a hotel snob. I've seen and stayed at my fair share of crappy hotels, so when I'm not traveling for work, I like to stay at a place I know I'll be comfortable in. Contrary to what some people say, we actually stay in our hotel room more than just when we need to sleep and shower. I try not to schedule too much activity into each day so that I have time to unwind, putz, and nap in our room. It is, after all, a vacation.

Also, I ALWAYS sanitize the hotel room with anti-bacterial wipes and ALWAYS check for bed bugs no matter if it's a 5-star or 2-star hotel (yes, I've got issues). The only time I didn't do this was in San Francisco after spending an hour on the BART from the airport. I figured the hotel room couldn't be worse than how I felt sitting on those seats for that long (sorry, San Francisco, but ick).

[This was the view from our hotel room. We always stay on the SPG floor and get the full ocean view room. An added bonus is that it's right above the courtyard, so we can sit on our balcony and enjoy live island music until 10pm.]


[We hiked up Diamond Head for the views (and they did not disappoint!)]


[Hawaiian Shaved Ice is legit.]


[We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. No, I can't swim. Bring a lifejacket.]


[We rented a car and drove up to Turtle Bay Resort to try the snorkeling there (it was very murky!)]



[Nothing beats walking out of the hotel and being on the beach, though. We did a whole lotta nothing and it was heavenly.]


[Was introduced to Acai bowls]


[And Malasadas...lord help me]


[Had wayyy too many of these mango daiquiris.]



Waikiki is not for everyone. It can be crowded, too touristy, and overpriced (we did find an awesome, reasonably-priced food court to help bring the food costs down), but that's part of the reason we like it so much. We like the energy, like to people watch (creepy, I know), and like knowing that people are having fun. Fun - that's a good word to describe Waikiki, and isn't that what a vacation should be?

xo