Review: The petite and comfortable Hotel Renew at Waikiki in Honolulu

Hotel Renew is a boutique hotel located steps from Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. That sounds like an advertisement, doesn’t it? Fact is, I just stayed there for six nights over Easter and it’s actually true.

I headed to Hawaii to celebrate two friends’ birthdays and this is where the majority of the group stayed. A few people followed their hotel status and points and resided elsewhere, but 95% of people were here.

Booking Hotel Renew

For what it’s worth, I must be a hotel’s worst nightmare when it comes to booking. My original reservation was made on 12 July 2021 and my One Full Bed room (the lowest category here) came in at US$1,280.58. More than I’d like to pay, but fine – I decided to keep an eye on prices.

Around two and a half months later on 24 September 2021, the price had dropped, so I rebooked for US$1,046.24. Happy days! That was more like it. These prices do include tax by the way, so keep that in mind.

Having had experiences with other hotels in the past where room prices kept dropping, I occasionally checked it out again. The price remained the same, until 27 November 2021.

Oh look, a Black Friday special. An automatic upgrade to the next room category when booking? Very nice! I rebooked again, this time it put me into a Standard King Room and all for the princely sum of US$780.32 for six nights. That’s a full US$500.00 saving over the first booking and I was delighted!

Standard King Room

I arrived in an Uber after my flight into Honolulu Airport sometime around 11pm to be greeted by a friendly desk agent. They had been waiting for me, she said, and “would you like the good news or the bad news?”.

Amused, I asked for the bad news, and it turns out their computer system was down for a maintenance period. The good news was they had already made my key. After they checked my credit card details, I popped into the lift and headed up to the seventh floor.

Usually I take pictures when I arrive, but I was so tired after travelling for almost 24 hours that my pictures are not that great. What I found was a nicely appointed and spotlessly clean room. The free Wi-Fi was strong and excellent, the mini-fridge cold, the TV worked, the bed… oh the bed!

So comfortable and with excellent pillows, meaning I had found a hotel where I could actually get a decent nights sleep. Bathroom, shower and products (shampoo, conditioner and body wash) were fine. Air conditioning was set to 74 (whatever that means, I’m a Celsius boy!) which I reduced to 70 each night for sleeping. Perfect!

A Tale of Two Views

Hotel Renew offers rooms with ocean views, others with partial views from the balcony and some with no ocean views. My room had no ocean view which is no surprise considering the rate I paid, and I was totally fine with that.

Various friends of mine were on the same floor and as you can see above, the ocean views are just like the hotel website advertises. The above was posted to my friend’s Facebook page, and I commented underneath that my view was better, along with my photo. You can make your own choice as to which you prefer!

Hotel Amenities

There is no pool. Before you start screaming about how on earth you could LIVE without a pool, let me stop you right there. The beach, as I said before, is steps away from the hotel. In addition, the hotel offers some pretty cool amenities to help that beach go well. You can get beach towels, chairs, snorkel gear and more from reception.

Just tell them what you want, they go get it and off you go. When you get back, you leave it at reception. Simple! Naturally we spotted the giant pineapple float in their back room and I couldn’t resist taking that for a spin. Good fun! Pool… who needs a pool with the beach right there!

Overall Thoughts

Hotel Renew is located at a quieter end of Waikiki near Queens Beach and close to the Zoo. The reception staff are lovely, helpful and were always happy to see us, greeting everyone in a manner like old friends, especially after a couple of days. Coming back each day was like coming home.

Rooms are spotless and are kept that way with the daily servicing, which was impressive and very welcome. The amenities were really cool to have and the location is unbeatable. Next door is an ABC Shop open until late for all your holiday needs, which is very handy. Would I stay here again? Absolutely!

Have you ever stayed at Hotel Renew before? Do you have a go to hotel on Waikiki? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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