We just returned from a 6 night stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The Hilton needs to work on their Keiki (children’s') Club marketing program. Our sole reason for picking this hotel, in Waikiki, was so that our 6 year old could have "kid" time at the Keiki Club and we could have "couples" time for ourselves. What Hilton doesn't tell you is that there is no guarantee your child will be included in the daily activities. We arrived at check-in time on Friday. We immediately went to sign our kid up for a few days during the week. Much to our dismay, the slots were full until our last day there, Wednesday. You can only sign up your kid once you check in. For a hotel that has, what, 2000 rooms, it is a total bait scheme. Get the tourists in, but don't provide them with what they thought they were paying for. Who would assume that you could not get your kid in to the advertised kid activities? A computer sign-up for the kids club as you book your hotel is in order. That way, Hilton could staff their Kid Club and all kids could participate. Having 15 or 20 slots open per day in a hotel this big, and one that markets to families, is ludicrous. Unfortunately, neither we nor our child had an optimum trip.
The service we received was less than average as well. We had valets who were too bothered to answer our questions, maids who made up our room in the most mediocre of ways, and information clerks who would barely speak, much less provide any information we couldn't figure out on our own.
We were prepared to book a trip to the Hilton at Squaw Pointe in Arizona, but will not do so now. That hotel markets to families as well, and we have no confidence that any Hilton program will be available to our child. When we return to Hawaii (for the 15th time), we will go back to Maui or Kauai and get a condo.