Castle Waikiki Shore Resort

This was an extremely bad experience. There was a cockroach in the refrigerator, it was very noisy because of construction in the neighborhood, no pool, they charge you for the crib, old furniture, dirty, when you use microwave, the electricity was shut off ( and it was a penthouse!).

However the worst was our very first day, when after a long fly from San Francisco, after being stuck in traffic on the way from Honolulu airport we finally have to walk with all our luggage and crying 3-year-old boy. I asked the receptionist if my son could use a restroom. The answer was, "Sorry, we do not have a public restroom. There is one in next hotel near the pool." I was staying there with several bags, my son was crying that he "wanna go to the potty", and she suggested me to walk around a huge hotel (possible like a block long) Still polite, I explained that we are going to stay in that place for 7 days, we had reservation, I gave her our last names, and asked which restroom she uses when needs it. "Employee's restroom," was the answer. Can I use it? She replied, "No." At that moment I lost my temper. I just cried out loud for manager, who came really fast, I admit. I explained the situation, and my son was able to use restroom, which was 1 foot from the receptionist door. And that was our first day, of course I felt very angry.

We upgraded our room for an extra $85, because it was very noisy in the room we booked. However, before we booked it, we called and asked about construction around, they lied that noise level is not bad at all! We had a deal 6 nights plus the 7th free, and the same person charged us for 7th night. When my husband showed her mistake, she insisted that she was right. The manager been called in again and fixed it. They had an unbelievably unprofessional staff who did not even apologize for our very bad experience with them.

If you have a small family like us, a 2 and 4 year old, this is a great place to stay on Waikiki beach. This "condo/apartment" use to be part of the Outrigger resort right next to it, but now there are residents living there and they still rent out the rooms. I highly recommend getting the rooms with a full kitchen, it has everything you need, wine glasses and a rice cooker, even.

However, I must warn you, a one bedroom isn't truly a one bedroom, only a hanging pull out partition that doesn't even touch the floor or close all the way, but it was enough to give us some privacy.

You won't get a pool or much of the other amenities you'll find in a hotel (go to Outrigger next door and use theirs, like the Starbucks, Jamba Juice and four restaurants), but that's OK if you want the more necessary amenities for you and your family. Also, their furniture is a bit outdated, but the service staff is great.

We would go back.