Royal Hawaiian Review: Living in a Pink Paradise

Happy Wednesday darlings!

First off, thank you all SOOO much for all the birthday wishes! We ended up going out to my favorite place for lunch, catching a movie and eating cake with my family. I also upgraded my car to a ….Mini Cooper! Ahh it’s so cute! Tomorrow we are heading to Disneyland for the day with a pitstop at Laudreé. I couldn’t be more excited 🙂 Today I am wrapping up my Honolulu travel posts with an honest review of the Royal Hawaiian.

Royal Hawaiian Review: Living in a Pink Paradise

Royal Hawaiian Review

I’m so excited to share the rest of my vacation photos with you along with a detailed review of the Royal Hawaiian (see more photos here and here). I’ve been dreaming of staying at this hotel for so long and let me tell you, it was worth the wait and definitely lives up to the hype.

Pink Ruffled OTS Dress Outfit

Chicwish Dress (old – nude version here, similar here) | Sole Society Sandals c/o (also love these) | Ellen & James Handbag (similar here) | Forever 21 Hat (old – love this and this) 

First Impression of the Royal Hawaiian

When we first arrived, it felt like I was stepping back in time. The property is absolutely breathtaking! The style is very vintage and luxurious looking with touches of pink in varied hues and beautiful flora dressing every corner. Every detail was perfectly thought out and not one thing was out of place. The second we walked through the courtyard, I remember looking over at my husband and telling him that this was the “most beautiful hotel I’d ever seen.” Let’s just say that every single angle of this hotel is instagrammable and there was no shortage of beautiful locations to explore.

Cream Floral OTS Dress Outfit

WAYF Dress c/o | Sole Society Sandals c/o (also love these) | Ellen & James Handbag (love this) | Forever 21 Hat (old – love this and this) 

Royal Hawaiian Hotel Room

We had two different options to choose from: the modern and elegant Mailani Tower or the prestigious and stunning Historic Wing. Being the vintage lover I am, I opted for a room in the Historic Wing. The Historic Wing is the older part of the hotel and very centrally located (if you’re curious, the Mailani Tower is closer to the beach, pool area and restaurant). Our room was immaculate, well-decorated and unique to the other hotels I’ve stayed in and although it was in the older part of the hotel, the room was updated and modern without losing it’s original character. My favorite part was the gorgeous pink and gold wall paper behind the bed and the complimentary pink robes 😉 We had a wonderful view of Waikiki Beach that we enjoyed waking up to every morning. The bed was extremely comfortable and the room included many other amenities such as a mini fridge, desk area, sitting area, full bathroom along with everything you could possibly need for your stay. Unfortunately, I didn’t get too many photos but if you watched my Instagram stories, then you saw the full tour 🙂

Royal Hawaiian Location 

The location was AMAZING! It was located directly on Waikiki Beach (a short drive from the airport) and was within a short walking distance of many, many incredible restaurants and shops. We took advantage of this and went to the beach every morning and walked to the shops every night. It’s also only located a few miles from the Ala Moana shopping center, which has over 300 shops and restaurants with a mix of high and low to cater to everyone.

Royal Hawaiian Parking

Parking was…interesting lol. When we arrived, it wasn’t clear on where to park so this ended up with us driving in circles for a while. When we did finally figure out which parking structure to park in, finding a spot was very difficult as many of them were valet. Now that I know how it works, I would highly recommend doing the valet parking once you get there instead of trying to find the parking structure and a spot. We found that the price difference between valet and self parking was very little and it was much more convenient. After the initial parking, we only had positive experiences with the valet.

White Polka Dot OTS Dress Outfit

Shein Dress (old – similar here) | Sole Society Sandals c/o (also love these) | Ellen & James Handbag (similar here) | Forever 21 Hat (old – love this and this) 

Royal Hawaiian Pools & Waikiki Beach

The hotel is literally on the beach and in my opinion, it has some of the best views! It was so nice to be able to walk out there whenever we wanted and I really enjoyed being able to watch sunrise and sunset each day. The Malulani pool (above) is located next to the beach and although, it’s in a centralized location, I found it to be quite private. The pool is on the smaller end so I definitely think it’s made more for lounging and light swimming. It’s surrounded by the prettiest pink umbrellas and the most comfortable pink lounge chairs. I told my husband that I wanted to take them home with me haha! If you’re looking for a bit more space and something a little more adventurous, you’ll definitely want to check out the Hemuloa Playground located in between the Royal Hawaiian and Sheraton Waikiki. The Hemuloa Playground boasts two swimming pools, a 70 foot long waterslide, an interactive fountain area, two large whirlpool spas and a stunning view of Waikiki Beach.

Restaurants & Shopping Near the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

The hotel itself does has a few eating options including the more casual Mai Tai Bar, the upscale Azure for dinner, the adorable Surf Lanai for breakfast and the Royal Hawaiian Bakery for snacks and fresh baked goods. They also have room service and a luau, but we did not utilize these. We, however,  took advantage of the RH Bakery because both my husband and I have a sweet tooth haha! We also really loved our breakfast at the Surf Lanai …it was soooo good – we still talk about it! The Sheraton also has some great options and we went over there quite a few times for snacks and Baskin Robins ice cream. Since we were usually out and about, we opted to eat at one of the many surrounding restaurants. There were so many options to choose from: casual, upscale, local and chain restaurants – really something for everyone. Aside from the Ala Moana, there were so many amazing shops within walking distance. They varied from very upscale designer brands to more affordable mainstream brands and everything in between. We found ourselves window shopping a lot during our evening walks 😉

Royal Hawaiian Customer Service

Customer Service was exceptional! We were truly treated like royalty and didn’t have any issues at all. On our first day, we walked into our room to find a bottle of wine, cookies and chocolate coins. A few days later, they surprised us with a bottle of rosé, macaroons, chocolate covered strawberries and more chocolate coins! I really did feel like they truly cared about us and wanted our stay to be memorable..and it certainly was. We ended up bringing back both bottles of wine with us, which resulted in us having to repack my husbands suitcase in the middle of the airport due to it being overweight haha! But it was certainly worth it 🙂

Blue Striped Dress Outfit

Honest Royal Hawaiian Review & Experience

Overall, we had the most incredible time! The staff was attentive, accommodating and friendly. We were always greeted with a smile and “Aloha!” every time we walked in. The property was beautiful, well manicured and could not have been located in a more perfect place. I hope you enjoyed my Royal Hawaiian Review and if you are looking for a hotel in Honolulu, I HIGHLY recommend checking them out. It definitely won’t disappoint 😉

Looking for more adventures? Check out my full travel diaries, itineraries, and reviews here!

Check out this blog post for more Hawaii outfit ideas!

Are you dying to stay here? Do you have any hotel faves to share?

xo