We "Outer Island" residents have reasons to come to Oahu (medical services, shopping, big name entertainment, etc.), and we're always looking for a reasonably priced, well-located hotel for our stay. For many of us, it used to be the no frills Ala Moana, but that property has doubled its prices in recent years. With occupancy rates in Honolulu very high at the moment, there are few bargains to be found. That said, I very much enjoyed a one night stay at the Modern, located in front of the Waikiki yacht harbor, next to the Illikai and across the street from the Charthouse restaurant and the Prince Hotel (also excellent, but pricier.)
The Modern is a new name for an updated hotel, with an attentive and friendly staff. It appears to have been completely renovated, based on the new carpets, furnishings, paint and ultra clean and efficient room I was given. There was an enormous television, iPhone/iPod music docking station and a usable lanai. My city view room was quieter than I expected. Honolulu hotel rooms can be noisy from street traffic, but The Modern is far enough from Ala Moana blvd to have reduced noise.
The pool area was nice, with good but very pricey food service. Breakfast for one was $36 (pancakes and a Mimosa) and an evening Mai-tai was $12.50. Morimoto's restaurant is at hand for an upscale dining experience.
The Modern isn't one of the Waikiki hotels where you tumble out of the hotel directly onto the sand, you are fronting the yacht harbor, but beach access isn't that far.
WiFi is free as is valet car service, which can run $32 per day at hotels like the Waikiki Beach Marriott.
A price under $250 (plus taxes), the friendly staff, free and quick valet parking, easy walking to good restaurants and beaches and proximity to Ala Moana shopping center means I will come back.

This is one of the best hotel we've ever been to. Perfect located, very stylish, super clean and individual. Just perfect in value for money ratio. Let's hope it stays that way.

Furthermore the staff is veryvery friendly. One downside: Breakfast is very good but comparing to the price quite small. We can 100% recommend this hotel.

Wowsers! What a great hotel! It was just what we were looking for - posh, lush and hip. Honestly, we had an awesome time. The pool area is very cool. All ages hanging out and relaxing - staff can't do enough for you! For the price, I feel we got our monies worth. We stayed on the 14th floor. Our balcony view was primo, I recommend putting some pillows from the couch on the oversize chairs on the balcony - they are very deep. Location was wonderful, we walked everywhere.
The not thing they can improve on is the shower head and water pressure - they hit the mark on everything else!
Not only will we be back, we plan on it!

We stayed at The Modern for our Honeymoon and we really enjoyed our stay. The staff at the pool, the front desk, and the concierge were all very, very helpful. We spent a lot of time just hanging out by the pool, and that alone made it worth the stay. We also ate a number of meals poolside and the food was quite good, a few of the breakfast items were exceptional. The location of the hotel is good too - far enough off the main Waikiki strip so it's less noisy, but close enough that most of the good restaurants and shops are just a short walk away. Overall we had a great experience.

However, there was a union rally on one of the last days we were there, and because of this we became aware of mistreatment of the staff by the hotel's current ownership group. Hospitality workers in Hawaii are unionized, and the staff at The Modern has been working without a contract for the last couple of years. There were related complaints about unfair dismissals, cutback benefits, pay freezes, etc. Because the staff was so pleasant to deal with, this did not directly affect our stay (other than not being able to use the pool for about a half hour). However, it would prevent us from booking with The Modern again unless the ownership gets these problems with their staff sorted out. These people are the most important part of the hotel experience.