Which hotel: Halekulani vs. Moana Surfrider

We are going to Waikiki in Feb 09 and was wondering which one of the two hotels is better (quality, style, food, location). I%26#39;ve been reading some unhappy reviews about Moana, but love the pictures of the old Banyan wing. Any advice?

Which hotel: Halekulani vs. Moana Surfrider

We always stay at Halekulani...it fits all the criteria you mentioned. It%26#39;s all that it%26#39;s advertised to be-an oasis within Waikiki. Beautiful evenings at House Without a Key with Hawaiian music and excellent meals at all the restaurants---a great 5-star hotel.

Which hotel: Halekulani vs. Moana Surfrider

We always stay at the Moana Surfrider and LOVE it (a couple of times a year for up to two weeks at at time). We stay in the tower wing. We did stay in the Banyan Wing once a few years ago to try it, in an ocean view and it was a very noisy at night(could hear the people above and the band outside), so went back to the tower wing from then on, but those rooms have been completely renovated now so they may have fixed the noise problems, not sure, but have never had any problems in the tower wing. We love the location, the staff are so friendly, its lovely eating at the banyan verandah and the location is great. We can%26#39;t fault the place.

Moana Surfrider if you can get a room in the Tower. You don%26#39;t want the Diamond Head wing (which I hear they are going to tear down), and the original building ... we found the rooms too small for the beds and very small bathrooms. Suites may be a different story. The Moana does have live music and hula at night -- out on the veranda under the banyan tree.

That being said, Halekula gets excellent reviews for rooms and food service, and entertainment. I have never seen any discounts, though. Their neighborhood has improved greatly with the Beach Walk.

I love the Moana, it is a great property with lots of charm, but it isn%26#39;t even in the same class as the Halekulani.

I just got back from a week at the Halekulani and it is still the best hotel on Oahu by a large margin. It also has two of the best restaurants on Oahu with La Mer being the absolute best restaurant on Oahu.

It has managed to retain a lot of the charm of the old Halekulani while being a sleek, modern property.

We have just spent 5 nights at the Moana in what was supposed to be a large City View Room (Room 556) but the view was of the Tower rooms next door. Our room was quiet and did not have the mouldy smell, traffic noise or flooding showers that our fellow travellers experienced in their rooms. The hotel has a great historic atmosphere but the housekeeping was hit and miss. Sand and hair remained on the bathroom floor for two days! Our phone had to be replaced and even the staff member commented on how filthy it was under our bed. Personally, it would not be my first choice to return to given the expense of the rooms and variable standards.

I%26#39;ve stayed at both hotels and prefer the Halekulani but it is surrounded on 3 sides by construction. I just returned from Waikiki last week. There is no escaping the horrendous construction noise from the Trump Tower. When finished it will be 35 stories. It%26#39;s now at about 12 stories not counting parking garage.

Stay at the Moana Surfrider.

Funny, I just returned from a week at the Halekulani on Friday and didn%26#39;t notice any noise from the Trump Tower construction site.

Funny indeed. Perhaps the noise from the Trump Tower construction (38 floors not 35) is being drowned out by the lobby restoration that began last week at the Halekulani, or the restoration at the Outrigger Reef, Imperial, Waikiki Parc and one of the Ohana hotels. Construction is everywhere around Lewers, Helumoa and Kalia streets. The noise is unavoidable.

Moana Sufrider is not in the same league as the Halekulani. I rate the Halekulani as one of the best hotels in the world but unless you get an ocean front room during the construction taking place in and around the property you may be very disappointed.

The work on the lobby of the Halekulani started a week ago Tuesday and it wasn%26#39;t noisy at all. I didn%26#39;t hear it. Or any noise from Trump or the Reef construction.

When they built the Sheraton next door the noise from the pile drivers was constant and pervasive and the job mucked up the waters off the Halekulani for a couple of years, but I didn%26#39;t hear any noise this trip.

Oh, and the lobby work at the Halekulani is scheduled to be done by Christmas.