The Royal Hawaiian, A Luxury Collection Resort

My daughter and I have been visiting Oahu on an annual basis for the last twenty years and in those twenty years we have never experienced insects in our room let alone in our beds. To make matters worse, when we contacted the front desk to notify them of the ants in our beds it took 2 phone calls and 1 hour before they made it up to our room. Once housekeeping arrived he was extremely condescending and rude telling us that we just had "sand" in out beds. When I showed him the video I had taken of the "moving sand" he angrily asked if we had left the window open. When we responded with a resounding "no" he promptly left the room without saying a word. What just happened? Are we staying at a luxury resort or the motel 6? My daughter and I were astounded by the help we received to resolve the insect infestation in our luxury, ocean view room. At this point, we decided to look for the source and discovered a trail of ants streaming from the window, across the sill, down the wall and up the curtain that was touching the bed. There were literally hundreds of ants. To avoid the ants being mistaken for sand, we video taped them in motion. My daughter and I were so revolted by the condition of our accommodations we decided to pack up and find another place to stay. Once again we called the front desk to inform them of our plans to vacate and again we were treated with rudeness and disrespect. Roughly 20 minutes later a very nice young man, unfortunately I don't recall his name, contacted us to apologize and inform us that he found another room and the bellmen would be up shortly to move our things. We were moved from an ocean to a garden view room, but at least this space was free of any visible ants. The very nice young man contacted us to see if our accommodations were suitable and assured us the resort manager would contact us first thing in the morning. The morning came and went and there was no contact from the resort manager, so I decided to reach out to him. Complete waste of my time. The resort manager offered to refund the daily resort fee of 20.00 to make up for the "trouble" we experienced. Really? That is the best you can do. If you wish to stay at a luxury resort with clean, insect free accommodations and be treated with exceptional customer service don't stay at the Royal Hawaiian. You will be sorely disappointed.

I liked it at first and thought that I would enjoy my stay despite the tremendous cost in comparison to other hotels. It had a nice feel to it, and the beach is always good. But when I checked out, I realized that I was charged what they call "resort fee" - $20 per day per every room. I didn't use their free Internet or free phone calls, but they charged me anyway. It left such a bad tast in my mouth...like I was royally ripped off for nothing. I will never come back to that hotel, and I advised all my friends who love Hawaii to stay somewhere else.

We checked in at 11:00 pm on a Friday night. They was 1 valet working and 1 front desk person. No "Aloha" spirit from either person. Excluding the housekeeper on the 5th floor, we felt most of the people that we dealt with there, hated their jobs! Our room was so small, and the bathroom was even smaller! Their excuse for everything is that they are a "historic" hotel. Their pool is so small that at first we thought it was the kiddie pool. I complained about my room immediately and they "quickly" got back to me 4 DAYS LATER! They sold me an upgraded room, which I did not get! They will tell you they are sorry, but are not empowered to help you in any way. After 4 days, they did offer to upgrade us to a suite...OVERLOOKING THE DRIVEWAY!!! I would not pay $150 per night for this place. Research all the hotels bad comments to see if there is a common theme...this one there is. I wish I would of looked more carefully!

Bellmen were outstanding; created a great first impression, but it went downhill from there.There was a tray for banana bread which the bellman said would be coming shortly, but never showed up.Food was expensive, (yes, I know everything is expensive in Honolulu, but this was extreme) and of mediocre quality at best. If you compare it to the Hula Grill in the nearby Waikiki Outrigger, you can see what a ripoff the RH was.[...]

Incredibly beautiful location and historical resort..a sharp contrast to the shoddy customer service.as an example it took 4 phone calls with lottsa begging to fix broken refrigerator and tv..bathroom not cleaned after prior occupants ..concierge helped 'find' only partnering restaurants and didn't have a clue about the rest of the island saying ' I've not been around the island that much'!! [...] remember to ask for soap towels and water bottles supposedly included in the resort fee..or you wont get them.

The Royal Hawaiian hotel is magnificent! We were able to have a wonderful, relaxing anniversary celebration. The staff that greeted us was fantastic. [...], whom I had spoken with prior to our arrival, and knowing it was our 23rd wedding anniversary, arranged to have a bottle of champagne on ice in our room when we arrived! What a treat. The room was clean, although the bathroom, too small. The toilet paper in the rooms is one ply, but go figure in the public restroom, there was two ply toilet paper.The housekeeping was great the first day and then it went downhill. We did not get new soap, shampoo or amenities and the third morning, no caffeinated coffee! We called down and housekeeping brought up packets of coffee. Turn down was not until nine p.m. - second night, we were woken by knocking at nine by the turn down service! Third night, the door just opened...I told them we were all set for the night. The bed was not made up until afternoon.We complained to the head of housekeeping and to [...] at the check in desk. Both [...], at the front desk, listened to our dismay and were quick to rectify the situation. The last night we were there, our room was beautifully turned down, as one would expect in a five star establishment, and [...] as well as his boss, [...], made sure that we had everything we needed for the evening and the rest of our stay, which sadly, ended the following morning.Although the housekeeping was not up to a five star standard, once the management became aware of the problems, they went out of their way to make sure that the problems were fixed and my husband and I were most appreciative of their efforts on our behalf.The other minor detail is that the chaise lounges on the beach, are put away starting at five p.m. with the job completed by six. If one wants to sit out on the beach after the chairs are put away, they must sit on the sand. I would have loved to have been able to enjoy the beach until around nine p.m. on a nice chaise lounge.It seemed as though the beach accommodations were for the staff and not the guests. The food is superb at the hotel and the ambiance is lovely. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the hotel and I am looking forward to being able to return there for another wonderful vacation.

The reason I chose this hotel was complimentary up gread. However when I checked in the hotel, there was no more room which I expected. I could not stay Jr suite room. I stayed that Hotel tha day before my wedding. The wedding day's morning,I needed a bothrobe. Then I requested it. I waited 1 hour, but nobody brought it to my room. I called again, the person said "We have many same request tonight,but we will bring". However the bathrobe never show up. I requested two times. Ireally needed it. This hotel was not cheap hotel.I won't stay this hotel again.

When you pay a rate of $200+ one would hope that the room would not require to have the lights on during the day.

The "Ocean View" Room was not really ocean view. Need three trys to get a good one. To expensive for the level.

I thought that getting into the Tower Escape package would have been a luxury experience for the price but was disappointed. Usually there is a separate eating area for the tower guests but not so on this visit. The rooms are ordinary but do have great views of the ocean. The staff on arrival and check in were slow and not very responsive. The Mai Tai Bar staff did not respond to my daughter and I sitting for over 5 minutes and quickly served people that came in after us. We finally went up to the bar to order our beverages. For the price paid, the experience was not what we expected. I could have saved a lot of money and had a better experience elsewhere. Being a gold member at Starwood did not give me that special feeling that I have gotten used to in terms of service and benefits. Also, on check in, the concierge staff, who are opposite the check in area, were not busy and not helpful when asked a question. Maybe you could utilize staff more efficiently if you want to push this hotel as part of your luxury collection.