Staycation at The Waikiki Edition: The Hotel

The hotel name is placed inconspicuously on the property at the corner of
Ala Moana Boulevard and Hobron Lane. (all images: TheHopefulTraveler)

The Waikiki Edition debuted with much fanfare last fall with a weekend featuring celebrities and ushering in the introduction of the newest and one of the most luxurious hotels to open in Honolulu. The hotel also served as the launch of Edition, the newest brand in the Marriott collection. Other brands of the lodging company include Renaissance, JW Marriott, Courtyard and Autograph.

Some of the excitement of the hotel's opening is from this first partnership between Marriott and hotelier and real estate developer Ian Schrager. He is famous for his hand in co-creating the boutique hotel genre. Among his creations which are characterized by their sophisticated and modern designs are the Royalton (New York), Mondrian (Los Angeles), Delano (Miami) and Gramercy Park (New York) Hotels.

View of hotel from Ala Wai Yacht Harbor.

Living in Hawaii, I've been trying to experience the hotels of Marriott and Hilton located in Hawaii over the years. Since I also belong to each of their loyalty programs (Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors) and earn points at their hotels when I travel out of state, stays in Hawaii offered the opportunity to accrue points without the need for airfare or grand purpose other than to just get away. So I was eager to add this first Edition property to my list of visited hotels.

With the Waikiki Edtion rates advertised for this weekend starting at $379 for a city-view room and topping out $1,395 for an ocean-view suite, I was sticker shocked. But a call to the hotel's reservations desk resulted in an unadvertised 'kamaaina rate' (Hawaii resident rate) of $199. It should be noted that almost all of the hotels in Hawaii offer a discounted rate to residents with a Hawaii state I.D. or license normally requested upon check-in. Often the discounted rate is only a few dollars less than the website rates but it's always a good idea to call and ask.

The hotel's balconies along Hobron Lane.

I initially booked a two-night stay but due to prior commitments, this staycation was reduced to just one night but it still allowed lots of time to experience the many aspects of this hotel property. Part of looking forward to this hotel stay was the inclusion of dinner reservations at Morimoto Waikiki located on the property and serves as the primary dining option for the hotel. The following posts features various aspects of the hotel and photos from this June 2011 stay at the Waikiki Edition.

Currently the only other Edition property is The Istanbul Edition. Other cities announced to host the brand are Bangkok, London, Mexico City and Miami Beach.

This is one in a series of posts about the Waikiki Edition. Click HERE to view the full series of posts.