As mentioned by previous reviewers, “it’s the view”. This apartment is all about the view, in fact it is even better in person than it appears in the pictures. The only better ocean view would be from an ocean front property with a 100% completely unobstructed view, but then you wouldn’t get to enjoy the city lights of Waikiki in the evening and at night. You also would likely be spending a considerably larger amount of money.
The apartment itself is quite compact and is typical of many of the properties in Waikiki. It has everything you need for either a short or longer-term stay. My wife and I enjoyed it for an extended stay of about 3 and ½ months over this past winter. As you can see from the photos in the listing, the kitchen and the flooring have been updated in recent years. The rest of the apartment, particularly the furnishings, are somewhat tired. The large sofa is a hide-a-bed but it is currently broken and non functional at the moment. In my personal opinion, even though the apartment is small, it could easily handle a larger (King size) bed to accommodate larger North American sized visitors/guests. I think the apartment is typical and what you would expect from a building that’s almost 50 years old. If you’re looking for 5-star luxury, this isn’t it, but if you’re looking for a practical and a reasonably affordable place to stay while in Waikiki, with the added bonus of a pretty nice view, then this apartment could be right for you. The apartment also has onsite parking (free), not all that common in Waikiki, a convenient perk if you’re planning on renting a car for all or part of your stay. We took advantage of this benefit several times during our stay.
Mayu checked in on us periodically and was reasonably quick to respond to our inquiries (especially considering the time difference between Hawaii and Mayu’s home location in Japan). We only had one issue that was of significance to us. It was related to an ongoing longstanding problem with one of the building’s major amenities. A problem that is completely outside the control of the owner. Mayu was able to find a reasonable solution to the issue for us and we were extremely grateful for that. It made the biggest difference to our overall enjoyment of our stay. Thank you again Mayu for that.
For those of you not familiar with Waikiki, the apartment is centrally located. It’s one block from Kalakaua Ave, the main commercial and business street in Waikiki (where most of the evening activity is). It is approximately 2 ½ to 3 ½ blocks walk to the beach from the apartment, depending on where and which beach you want to access. Waikiki itself is quite small and is easily walkable, which is one of the reasons we enjoy it there. The main business district along Kalakaua Ave is only about 10 or 12 shortish city blocks stretching from Saratoga Rd to Kapahulu Ave. The entire district of Waikiki from one end to the other (Ala Moana bridge at the West end to Diamond Head Rd on the East end) is somewhere around 30 or so city blocks and takes about 25 to 35 minutes to walk, depending on your pace of walking. From the ocean to the Ala Wai canal (the inland border of Waikiki) is only 4 to 5 city blocks.
The only negative for me personally is the noise. Waikiki is after all part of Honolulu which is a moderately sized city. If you live in a larger urban environment, then Waikiki will seem small and relatively quiet to you, but if you’re used to living in a small town or a quiet suburb (like we do) then it may seem quite noisy to you as well. I think for a short visit where you’re out and about every day, the noise is just part of the “energy” and “vibrancy” of the city, but for a longer-term stay (many months) it can get irritating. The apartment is on the street side of the building and it’s on one of only 4 major streets in Waikiki (those being Ala Moana Blvd, Kalakaua Ave, Kuhio Ave and Ala Wai Blvd). I was expecting traffic noise from cars, trucks and buses, but in fact, these noises were better than I had anticipated. What I didn’t anticipate were just how many emergency response (Police, Fire and Ambulance) sirens there would be on a daily basis. While the Police and Fire response sirens are not too bad, the ambulance sirens are almost ear piercing. Unfortunately, there are many of these on a daily basis. The other annoying noise come from the young men (I assume) that rev their “sporty” (not really sports) car engines and motorcycles. Then they race from one red light to the next (I guess they’re trying to impress girls? but the only people they’re impressing are adolescent boys and other similarly minded young men). That’s it for my rant about noise.
Most of the short reviews I read when researching accommodations, I don’t find very helpful in make a decision on renting a property. I hope this review helps if you are looking at vacationing in Waikiki and considering booking this apartment. Despite my negative opinion on the noise that I mentioned above, overall, my wife and I had a very enjoyable stay in Mayu’s apartment and we would absolutely recommend this property.