We spent a week at the Ilikai in December 2011 - and have nothing but positive things to say about it! We booked an "Ocean View with Full Kitchen" room - upon arrival, we were placed in a room with marina views (meaning the only thing to be seen from the balcony were the masts of the boats in the marina, which wasn't our idea of an "ocean view"), but after requesting a room on a higher floor, we changed rooms the next day.

The room was absolutely fantastic - larger than we expected with a nice sized balcony, a good kitchenette and nice living room area. The bed was very comfortable (and huge!) and we slept extremely well. We ate breakfast on the lanai (balcony) every morning and dinner there in the evenings - no bugs in sight!

We divided most of our days between the A la Moana shopping center and the Hilton lagoon - first, 3 hours of shopping (the A la Moana is GREAT! Such a beautiful place with all the shops you can think of) and then relaxation by the lagoon. We went to the beach on the first day but then decided to go to the lagoon after that because the beach is not all that great - coarse sand and not too great views. The lagoon on the other hand was nice and relaxing, there were mostly families enjoying the area around the lagoon but it was actually a surprisingly calm place to sun bathe. The sand is coarse, but that doesn't really matter when you're lying on a beach towel anyway.

The location is great for going anywhere - the beach, lagoon, Diamond Head, A la Moana...I would definitely recommend the Ilikai and would go back in a second!

We booked a room with a partial ocean view, looking out over the lagoon, we were high enough up (Rm 2528) that we had a view of Diamond Head as well.
We've stayed there 4 times over the last 6 years and still love the hotel. New LCD TV's seemed to be the only upgrade and the upholstery on the chair was looking a bit tired as it has before.
The staff were great and the rooms are always large (600 sq ft incl Lanai). So yes we will continue to go back to the Ilikai, as it's at the entrance to Waikiki, it's far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki, so you have the choice of the Waikiki beach in one direction or the Ala Moana beach in the other direction (way quieter)
We travelled in November but reserved in August, so the price was $152, the prices had gone up to ~$240 by the time we arrived for the same period.
What can I say we liked it and will return.
As an aside we flew from Bellingham on Alaska Airlines direct, price was great and service was great

We had a room with an ocean view (Marina). It has a nice size balcony with a table for two. Perfect for relaxing and viewing the sunset. The valet is $25/day, which isn't too bad since you have in and out privilege and the convenience. You would only save a few dollars if you park else where so it was not worth it for us.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the main Waikiki area at a moderate pace.

I'm a light sleeper so the negative is the noise that we heard from our room:

1) Our room was right next to the elevator, so we heard the elevator most of the night. The front desk was willing to move us to another room, but we opted not to since the other room doesn't have a nice view.

2) There was a loud ticking one of the nights. Don't know what it was, but it was very loud. Was too tired to do further investigation.

3) We like to sleep with the balcony door open for the fresh air. The nuisance with that is our neighbors like to hang out in their balcony and talk very loudly. Again, we could have moved, but that would not guarantee a quiet neighbor.

Overall, the hotel is fine for the price.

This hotel is very welcoming and definately shares the Aloha Spirit.
From the greeting in the front driveway as we handed over our rental car right through to the room service staff everyone was wonderful.
We had an ocean view room and it was massive.
The large sliding doors opend onto a good sized balcony. the microwave int eh room was an added bonus.
Alos liked the separate dressing room and 2 large wardrobe areas.