What It's Like to Stay at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach Hotel in Honolulu

My husband and I decided to stay at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach hotel because:

1. It had good consumer and editorial reviews on several different websites.
2. Our credit card has a relationship with the Hyatt hotel brand, where I could accrue rewards points to be redeemed for travel reward discounts and perks in the future, through my credit card reward’s online portal.
3. I wanted to achieve World of Hyatt hotel member benefits in the future, and climb up the ladder to earn things such as free night stays (during off-peak times), room upgrades, and late check-out, to name some of the more salient perks.

As with most things in life, our stay at the hotel had pros and cons.

The Pros

1. The location: The location was only half a mile to the beach. To some, it’s not close enough if it’s not on the beach, but for us, it made a big financial difference. The hotels on the beach were much more expensive than the ones a little further away, and we didn’t find the walk to be far or unenjoyable. Waikiki Beach is a very popular beach, and as a result, prices for a hotel on the beach are higher than we’re comfortable with, even though we went during shoulder season.
2. The beach gear: We didn’t use all of the amenities offered at the hotel, but a small, though useful, perk we got was to borrow umbrellas and towels for the beach, which we used every day during our trip. It might seem like a small thing to enjoy, but when you’re out in the hot blinding sun reflecting off the sand and onto your skin and eyes, having a giant umbrella is a wonderful thing to have.

3. The hot tub: My husband and I are very much an aquatic couple, so lounging about in the hot tub, which is not a device we own at home, is extra-special when we go on vacation and have one. This hot tub was pretty big and had relaxing jets, which felt great after a long day of sightseeing. As a bonus, there were cabanas to dry off in and soft cushions to lay on after a nice dip in the water.
4. Small, but fun perks: A giant swing and hammocks in the lobby were a fun-to-lay-on experience. But since we were the only ones in the lobby room, plus the staff at their desks, I didn’t hang out long. If only those hammocks were in our rooms! Now that would be nice. Second, we got complimentary reusable water bottles too. These came in handy because we didn’t have to keep buying disposable bottles, and we could just get water and ice from the ice machine, in the hotel, and bring it to the beach every day.

The Cons

1. The wading pool: One of the first things my husband and I like to explore when going to a new hotel is the pool. Especially in a warm locale. While the pool was beautiful, it was only about 6-12 inches of water, so it was more for lounging in lounge chairs in, and not for swimming. It was a bit of a bummer. I noticed in other people’s reviews of the hotel that they experienced the same letdown. I think if the pool had been a normal size, it would have really improved the stay.
2. The “resort” fee: First of all, let’s make one thing clear: this place bills you as a resort, and yet it’s not really a resort. It’s a hotel. Let’s be honest. A resort includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, activities, sports, entertainment, and shopping, all on the premises. This hotel didn’t have an on-site restaurant, a swimmable pool, sports, entertainment, shopping, or even a working bar. There was a bar, before the pandemic, but they said it was never reopened after the pandemic. There is no room service. There’s beach chairs, umbrellas, and beach towels. There were some activities such as twice weekly yoga, but certainly not an extensive list of activities on-site like other actual resorts. They should not be charging a resort fee. Bottom line. So that was pretty disappointing.
3. The very expensive and impossible to park in parking garage: We rented a car for about two days when we had planned on renting a car for 6 days during our stay. One of the reasons we returned the car early is because we didn’t like paying $42/night for parking in a parking garage that was nearly impossible to maneuver a car around. We had a normal, compact rental car. However, the spaces were so tiny and there were large cement pillars in the way, and tons of other cars in the garage. So we had to circle around multiple times trying to find a spot to fit the car. And I consider myself a city driver, so I’m no stranger to fitting a car in tiny parking spaces. Also, $42/night to park is steep for our wallet. Needless to say, I returned the car early and told the front desk so we wouldn’t be charged further.
4. The shower: A known problem that a lot of other reviewers mentioned is that the shower is barely a trickle at times and runs either really cold or super hot and doesn’t seem to stay at one pressure or temperature for very long. We brought this up to the staff, who said they were going to bring someone in to look at it, but I don’t think anyone came by because the problem wasn’t fixed at any point during our stay. For what you pay, you would expect a functional hot shower. Taking a 3-minute shower because you don’t know how long you’ll have water pressure or heat is really annoying.

Overall, I would stay in a Hyatt again, and give it another chance, but I wouldn’t have high expectations, or stay in the same Hyatt Centric I did this time. There are other Hyatt levels I might be interested in trying, at different price points. So I think I’ll try them again but I won’t be expecting the moon and the stars.