Aloha: 5 great business and meeting hotels in Hawaii

Adventures on the expenseaccount: First work, then play at the picturesque Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua.

By Mark Chesnut

In a place dotted by waterfalls, secret gardens and beaches in every color of the rainbow, Hawaii locks in bucket-list status as a vacation destination. But believe it or not, even surrounded by all that grandeur, people manage to work there, too. Here are five great hotels for mixing business with pleasure in paradise.

Sheraton Waikiki
Starwood Hotels and Resorts has multiple business-friendly hotels in Hawaii, including the Sheraton Waikiki, which sits on Waikiki Beach with views of the legendary Diamond Head Crater. The 1,636-room resort has 20 meeting rooms that can host up to 3,700 people.

Ala Moana Hotel
An Outrigger Hotels property, the Ala Moana Hotel is known for its value prices and convenient location between the Hawaii Convention Center and Ala Moana Shopping Center. The property has more than 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa
This luxury Hawaii hotel is home to the Regency Ballroom Convention Center, which has multiple meeting and event rooms, as well as a 24-hour business center and the scenic Na Lea Terrace, an open-air venue that accommodates up to 400 guests. When the work is done, participants can head to the 10,000-square-foot Na Ho’ola Spa.

Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
At this beachfront property, business types can make use of 55,000 square feet of meeting space, spread among 25 meeting rooms. Events that require custom catering can choose from island-inspired cuisine, including Pacific Rim specialties, a Waikiki brunch and a Hawaiian Luau buffet.

The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua
For ultimate luxury, some travelers head to Kapalua, on the island of Maui, where the 463-room Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua serves up luxurious pampering to business and leisure travelers. Surrounded by two golf courses and a 23,000-acre historic pineapple plantation, the hotel has 150,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. But the 10,000-square-foot, tri-level pool might provide some competition for all that business you should be doing.

Related resources

• Cheap Honolulu flights
• Hawaii hotels
• Hawaii vacations

Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to Latin America. He’d love to try surfing.

Tagged: Family time, Hawaii, Hotels