With its golden beaches, turquoise waters and exciting surf culture, the world fell in love with Waikīkī in the 1960s. Even Elvis Presley was enthralled, filming three movies in the Islands during the decade. It was during this time that Hawaiʻi became a romanticized getaway with postcards sent from paradise. In recent years, an emerging
Sometimes you can’t decide where you want to go for dinner. That’s when a collaborative dining experience—a restaurant featuring items from various restaurants—could come in handy. Upstairs Waikīkī is exactly that. Its menu combines speciality items from two standout Japanese restaurants in Honolulu—Sushi Sho and Hachibei—with its own signature dishes. The restaurant opened on Oct.
Take a trip back to the 1960s and ‘70s, when you visit Heyday, Waikīkī’s newest hangout spot. Located in the newly renovated White Sands Hotel, the bar and open-air restaurant is the brainchild of the team behind Chinatown’s popular restaurant, Fête. Along with its retro vibe, Heyday offers a circular poolside bar with swings—yes, swings—that’ll
Halepuna Waikīkī by Halekūlani had only been open a few months before the world changed and locked down. It had just undergone a whole year of transformation from its former self, the Waikiki Parc Hotel, and throughout 2020, went through another round of upgrades to accommodate post-pandemic rules and travelers. Since so few visitors have
There aren’t many honey companies in the U.S. making mead from its own honey. And there are only two Hawaiʻi meaderies. That makes Mānoa Honey & Mead in Wahiawā on Oʻahu, which started off as a honey business and now makes mead, very unique. Yuki Uzuhashi, a beekeeper from Japan, took over Mānoa Honey in
EDITOR’S NOTE: Since the publishing of our 2021 Readers’ Choice list, Kealakekua Bay Bed & Breakfast and Waipi‘o Rim Bed and Breakfast have closed their doors permanently. The familial comforts of a proper bed and breakfast—or inn—are hard to beat. Instead of feeling like you’re on vacation—a vibe that hotels and resorts are perfect
Eric Dill had in mind a specific kind of whiskey that would work in the Islands. His criteria? It had to taste right while sitting on Kailua Beach or on the sandbar in Kāneʻohe Bay or on a humid evening on your lānai (balcony). “It had to be light, approachable, made for the Hawaiʻi environment,”
When the Beachhouse at the Moana—the signature restaurant at the historic Moana Surfrider in Waikīkī—reopened on March 12, when the hotel celebrated its 120th anniversary, it offered with a smaller menu twice a week. Read More: Waikīkī’s First Hotel Celebrates Its 120th Anniversary But with more and more visitors flocking to Oʻahu—and residents looking for
Guess who’s getting a multimillion-dollar makeover? The already luxurious Four Seasons Resort Hualālai on Hawaiʻi Island. The redesign—helmed by San Francisco-based design firm BAMO and BrightView Design Group, which did the landscape architecture, design and construction—comes as the property celebrates its 24th anniversary, and is the most significant renovation the resort has undergone since its
For years, on my birthday, I would book a room in the historic wing of the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa in Waikīkī. It was my splurge—a quiet night in the original hotel built in 1901, decades before Hawaiʻi, then a U.S. territory, became a state. That year, then-President William McKinley was assassinated
When ESPACIO opened in Waikīkī in September 2019, it was lauded as the most indulgent luxe hotel on Oʻahu—arguably the state. The hotel features just nine three-bedroom suites sprawling over 2,250 square feet each with ocean-view balconies equipped with Jacuzzis and personal butlers. Rooms start at $5,000 a night, which includes two 50-minute spa treatments and
