Hawaii isn’t one destination but a chain of islands, and that’s exactly why choosing where to stay matters more here than in other places. The four main islands look similar on the map, but each offers a different holiday: Oahu is the urban island with Waikiki and the historic sites, Maui is the romantic island with golden beaches, the Big Island is the island of volcanoes and wild open spaces, and Kauai is the greenest and quietest of them all. Since moving between islands requires a domestic flight, where you stay directly affects your travel time, your budget and the character of your holiday. We’ve gathered our recommended hotels in Hawaii, by island and area, with real scores from Booking.com. So let’s get going.
Recommended Hotels in Hawaii at a Glance
In this article you’ll find places to stay on all four islands and at a range of price levels, and if you’re in a hurry, here are our five standout picks:
- Most indulgent: Halekulani, a legendary five-star hotel on Waikiki Beach
- Most central: Prince Waikiki, on the marina waterfront and within walking distance of everything
- For families: Aston Waikiki Beach Tower, suites with a full kitchen and a washing machine
- Value for money: Maui Coast Hotel, opposite Kamaole Beach Park in Kihei
- Boutique: Hotel Wailea Maui, an adults-only property with views of three islands
A Quick Introduction to Hawaii
Most trips start on Oahu, the island where international flights land and home to Honolulu. Here almost all accommodation is concentrated in Waikiki, a narrow strip of towers along the beach with most of the hotels, restaurants and shops, and from there it’s easy to reach Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head and the North Shore. If you’d like to dig deeper into the city itself, it’s worth reading our Honolulu travel guide.
Maui is divided into two resort areas: Kaanapali and Lahaina in the northwest, with a long stretch of beach and a row of resorts, and Kihei and Wailea in the south, where the sun is more reliable and prices are more varied. On the Big Island, accommodation is concentrated on the western Kohala Coast and around Waikoloa, where the big resorts are and the sun almost always shines, while the eastern side around Hilo is rainy and serves mainly as a stopover for the volcano park. Kauai is divided into Poipu in the south, with its sun-drenched beaches, the Kapaa area in the center, and Princeville in the north, the greenest and most dramatic of all but also the rainiest.
As for getting around, on every island except Oahu you’ll need a rental car, and it’s practically a must for a reasonable trip. On Oahu you can manage without one if you stay in Waikiki, thanks to TheBus routes. Moving between islands is done on domestic flights of about half an hour, so our recommendation is not to cover more than three islands on one trip. For broader information on planning your route, read our Hawaii travel guide.
Recommended Hotels in Waikiki, Oahu
Halekulani
If one hotel is considered the symbol of Waikiki, it’s the Halekulani. It sits right on the beach on Kalia Road, facing Diamond Head, and is rated five stars. The property has seven restaurants, including the French La Mer and Orchids overlooking the ocean, alongside the historic House Without a Key lounge with live music and hula dancing at sunset. The rooms are large, with a spacious lanai and marble bathrooms with a deep soaking tub, and fresh fruit awaits you in every room. In our view the property justifies its price thanks to the combination of a perfect beachfront location and quiet service, and the fact that it has no resort fee is a real advantage in Hawaii. The hotel is rated 9.4 on Booking.com based on 677 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Aston Waikiki Beach Tower
This tower on Kalakaua Avenue is right across from Waikiki Beach and has only suites, which makes it an excellent choice for families and long stays. Every unit has a kitchen equipped with a dishwasher and microwave, a private washer and dryer, a balcony and Pacific Ocean views. On the recreation deck you’ll find an outdoor pool, a hot tub, barbecue facilities, an outdoor dining area and billiards. We especially recommend it for travelers with young kids who want to cook meals in the room, which saves quite a bit of money in expensive Hawaii. The hotel is rated 9.3 on Booking.com based on 768 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Prince Waikiki
The Prince Waikiki sits at the western end of Waikiki, on the Ala Wai marina waterfront, and offers a completely different view from every other hotel in the area: instead of looking at the back of another tower, you look out at dozens of boat masts and the sunset beyond them. It’s a four-star hotel with two pools, two restaurants serving traditional Hawaiian food and Japanese cuisine, a spa and a fitness center. Ala Moana Beach Park and the island’s biggest shopping center are just across the road, and Waikiki Beach is a short walk away. In our view it’s the most balanced choice in Waikiki if you want a modern, central hotel without five-star prices. The hotel is rated 8.9 on Booking.com based on 1,467 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Recommended Hotels on Maui
Hotel Wailea Maui
This property sits about 90 meters above sea level in Wailea, and it’s the only one on Maui to carry the Relais & Châteaux seal. It’s an adults-only hotel, so the atmosphere is especially quiet, and all units are suites with a furnished private deck overlooking the ocean or the gardens, bathrobes and a deep soaking tub. On clear days you can see three Hawaiian islands from the property, and the restaurant serves local cuisine in two settings: the lanai with sunset views, and the garden for dining outdoors. There’s also a private dining experience in the tree house, with a personal chef under a canopy of mango and avocado trees. We recommend it for couples and honeymooners, and for anyone looking for an intimate property rather than a huge resort. The hotel is rated 9.2 on Booking.com based on 125 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Maui Coast Hotel
This hotel in Kihei is right across from Kamaole Beach Park, one of the easiest beaches on Maui for swimming with kids, and it’s our pick for the best value for money on the island. It has two pools, including a kids’ wading pool, hot tubs, two restaurants and a bar with nightly entertainment. The rooms and suites have a balcony or terrace, a microwave, a compact fridge and coffee-making facilities, so you can save on breakfasts. An advantage you won’t find in many hotels in the area is a free shuttle within Kihei and Wailea, about 10 km away, plus bike rental and tennis courts on the property. The hotel is rated 9.1 on Booking.com based on 494 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Aston Kaanapali Shores
On Maui’s northwest side, on the Kaanapali beachfront in Lahaina, is this resort, which combines a pool right by the sea and gardens lit up in the evening with another pool at the back. The rooms are bright and spacious, and some have a private balcony with ocean or garden views. There’s the Heavenly Spa, a sauna, a hot tub, a fitness center and tennis courts, and the Beach Club restaurant serves American and local cuisine all day. A detail we love is the free weekly ukulele lessons, which make the stay a little more Hawaiian. The hotel is rated 8.7 on Booking.com based on 779 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Recommended Hotels on the Big Island
Fairmont Orchid
The Fairmont Orchid stretches over about 13 hectares (32 acres) facing the ocean on the Kohala Coast, and it’s the most luxurious property on our Big Island list. At the heart of the property is a designer pool of about 930 square meters, surrounded by gardens and waterfalls, and in front of it is a white sand beach visited by a resident family of sea turtles. There are seven restaurants and bars, ten tennis courts, 36 holes of golf, and an outdoor Hawaiian spa in the style of a spa without walls, where treatments take place in open pavilions and in huts by a waterfall. We recommend it for anyone who wants to combine pampering beach days with the long drives to the volcano park and the island’s wide open spaces. The hotel is rated 9.1 on Booking.com based on 115 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Paniolo Greens Resort
If Kohala Coast prices seem too high, our recommended alternative is a little way up the mountain in Waikoloa. Paniolo Greens offers fully furnished villas with an equipped kitchen, a private balcony, a seating area, and a washer and dryer, a particularly convenient option for families or groups planning a stay of a few nights. The property has an outdoor pool with a kids’ wading area, a fitness center and free parking, plus guest activities such as hula lessons and lei making. Hapuna Beach, considered one of the most beautiful on the island, is a short drive away. In practice you get a lot more space for every dollar, in exchange for a few minutes’ drive to the beach. The hotel is rated 9.1 on Booking.com based on 352 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Recommended Hotels on Kauai
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
The Grand Hyatt in Poipu is the classic resort of southern Kauai, and families traveling with kids will find almost everything here. The property is built around river pools and tropical gardens, and has a golf course, seven restaurants, including Tidepools for seafood and Dondero’s for Italian cuisine, six lounges and poolside snack bars. The Anara Spa offers treatments and a beauty salon, and twice a week there’s a luau show with a Hawaiian buffet and Polynesian dancing. All rooms have a private balcony, a beverage fridge and a large desk. An important note: the sea in Poipu can be rough in winter, so the pools here are an essential part of the experience and not just an extra. The hotel is rated 8.9 on Booking.com based on 157 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
Kauai Shores Hotel
In Kapaa, on Kauai’s east coast, you’ll find this hotel, which combines a reasonable price with an oceanfront location and a young, bohemian vibe that’s somewhat missing from the big resorts. The property spreads over about 2.4 hectares (6 acres) of tropical grounds, including a private beach, two outdoor pools and the Lava Lava Beach Club restaurant, which sits right on the sand and serves meals and cocktails all day. The rooms are spacious and decorated in a bright island style, with a private balcony overlooking the garden, the mountain, the pool or the ocean. The front desk is open 24 hours a day and there’s a laundry, which is useful on a long island-hopping trip. The Coconut Marketplace shopping center is nearby, and activities such as snorkeling, fishing and helicopter tours start about a five-minute drive away. The hotel is rated 8.7 on Booking.com based on 1,030 reviews. Click here for details and bookings
So Where Should You Stay in Hawaii?
If it’s your first time in Hawaii and you’re splitting your trip between two islands, we recommend a base in Waikiki and a second base on Maui or Kauai. For couples and honeymooners our pick is Hotel Wailea Maui, followed by Halekulani. For families with kids we’d choose Aston Waikiki Beach Tower on Oahu and Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa on Kauai, which offer plenty to do even on days when you don’t feel like going anywhere. If you’re looking for good value for money, you’ll find it at Maui Coast Hotel, at Kauai Shores Hotel and in the villas of Paniolo Greens Resort. If you’re coming mainly for the nature and the volcanoes, Fairmont Orchid will give you a pampering base on the Big Island.
As for seasons, prices in Hawaii soar over the holidays at the end of December and the start of January, during Easter week and during the July and August summer holidays, and at those times you must book months ahead. January to March is also whale-watching season on Maui, which pushes up prices in Kaanapali and Wailea. The best-value periods are mid-April to early June and September to early December. Also watch out for resort fees, which are charged at almost every hotel in Hawaii and can add tens of dollars a night, so it’s worth checking them before booking.
We hope we’ve helped you sort out the islands. Have you stayed at one of these hotels, or are you torn between two of them? Tell us in the comments, we’d love to hear from you and help.
