One morning, out of the blue, my husbands cousin rang and asked him if he wanted to commit to one of the most gruesome open ocean paddle races in the world. The Molokai Challenge, is an open ocean ski race from the island of Molokai in Hawaii to Oahu. Most contestants are Olympians, Triathletes, Champion Paddlers…and then there was Tim and Robbie!!
The Hawaiians refer to a passage in the race as “The Channel of Bones” and still that didn’t seem to deter my husband. He had locked himself in to what would be a massive challenge. How does this relate to holidays in Hawaii? Well, my children quickly realised that the race was on during the school term, which meant they would have to remain behind with my amazing parents. A family discussion resulted in us agreeing to a pre race holiday in Hawaii, where the boys enjoyed all that Hawaii had to offer and daddy practised paddling.
We booked 2 trips to Hawaii. The first being for 3 weeks in the March/April school holidays and the second for 12 days in May/June. Such a great experience having so much time in the one place. I now know Oahu like the back of my hand and let me tell you, it really is a great place.
On our first trip, that being the family holiday, we spent the majority of our stay at The Hilton Hawaiian Village. We much prefer small boutique hotels and resorts but having our little men in tow meant that we had to be realistic. To be honest with you, I would never stay there without the children but it really was the best option for them and if they are happy it makes for a better holiday all round.
We opted for the Ali’i Tower, which is the most upmarket and offers some special privileges. The main advantage is the private check in. The Ali’i Tower has its own reception and concierge. Now this might not seem like a big deal but let me tell you it was. The sheer size of this place is mind blowing. We walked past hundreds of people lining up daily to check in or check out. Think the Business Class line versus the Economy Class line on a massive airplane. We were also entitled to a “first available table” priority at the dining establishments. Once again, the lines were usually out the door and we were fortunate enough to be able to skip the queue.
We had to decide between a large suite or interconnecting rooms. We decided on the interconnecting rooms for several reasons and I was glad we made that decision. The rooms were very spacious and well appointed with Play Stations, Coffee Machines and a twice daily service.
The best thing about the Village is the land size. I don’t mean to contradict what I have previously said in terms of preferring a smaller established. Please allow me to explain. It is still on the strip of Waikiki but it is right down the end with a massive sandy beach and a seperate lagoon area with non motorised water sports. Every day we would walk up the beach and some hotels barely had any beach at all. For the hotels that did, everyone would be squashed in together. There was plenty of room for our children to run and play without fear of them running into someone or losing them.
We took the children to the Honolulu Zoo which they loved. Not too sure whether the conditions are what you would hope for but we were surprised by the large variety of animals. The admission was much less then a theme park which was a nice surprise but perhaps they could charge a little more and put that money back into the park.
Another day trip was to the Pearl Harbour Memorial. It took us about 40 minutes to get there from the hotel. Either Taxis or Uber is your best option for travel. I thought that it might go over our children’s head but they were fascinated by the big battle ships and had a walk around the USS Missouri. I actually think they quite liked it but we didn’t make a long day of it and therefore missed out on seeing other parts of the memorial.
We hired a car and took a drive to the North Shore. My husband is a very keen surfer so he was dying to see some of the breaks. There are some beautiful beaches to be enjoyed and more laid back then Waikiki. He and my dad also set a very good example for our boys by rock jumping at Waimea Bay. No Comment!!! Lol!
In closing, I would like to give you a couple of tips that might help with planning.
We flew all through the night and I unfortunately was unable to sleep at all. The boys all slept for about 5 hours of the flight. When we finally arrived at the hotel we were absolutely exhausted! Dying to take sanctuary, we arrived at the Ali’i Tower with hopes of crawling into our beds. The gentleman at the desk informed us that the rooms would not be ready until 3pm. This was at 11:30am and 3pm seemed to be a lifetime away. I explained that if we could just have one of them earlier, it would be greatly appreciated as we had travelled all through the night. He went on to say that we should have booked our rooms from the day earlier. I myself use to work in what would arguably be the best hotel on the Gold Coast. I have been fortunate enough to stay in some of the best hotels in the world. We were a guest who had paid for two ocean front rooms for 18 nights and a third room for 11 nights for my parents who were holidaying for their 40th wedding anniversary. I really felt quite disappointed by the service and lack of regard. We did not get into our rooms until 3pm that afternoon. We went on to stay at the Kahala for the final 4 nights of our 22 nights in Hawaii. I will write a separate article on the Kahala but what I can say is that all 3 rooms were ready for our 10am arrival and the service was spectacular.
One of the main attractions for us at the Hilton Hawaiian Village was the Kids Club. Most of the other hotels that we interested in, just could not compete with “Club Penguin” which is the impressive Kids Club at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Usually holidays are about relaxing, taking things one day and a time and not being stressed out by rigorous planning. Our boys love the Kids Club but we never force it on them and most days they will go for a couple of hours at whatever time they are losing interest in what we are doing. “Club Penguin” was booked out for the first 6 days and we were told that it would be best to plan and book at least 5 days in advance. They had 2 sessions which were either a half day or a full day and at the rate you were paying, you wanted you child to attend the entire session. This is not something we have ever experienced before and I felt sorry for parents who had saved hard to take their family their for a long weekend and were unable to get their children into the Kids Club for the entirety of their stay. Just something to be aware of.
Another thing that surprised us was that there was no In Room Dining. You could have meals delivered by a food delivery service but if you were expecting a beautiful cut of meat with sides, followed by some exotic dessert, unfortunately that holiday indulgence is not on offer there.
I think the Hilton Hawaiian Village is great for group and family holidays. Taking everything into account, I would recommend it over the other hotels on the Waikiki strip, if a family friendly holidays with younger children is the top priority.
Be sure to take in a Friday night on your stay. The Hilton puts on a very impressive Fire Works display every Friday night which really is enjoyed by all.
For further information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at rebel@myrebelhart.com.au
Safe Travels,
Rebel x
