First, the hotel doesn't have a pool, beach, nor ocean views. If those are deal-breakers then you may want to stay elsewhere but you would be missing out on a gem.

The Aqua Lotus does have a friendly welcoming staff (valet, front desk, housekeeping, managers), nice Diamond Head views, a location directly across from beautiful Kapiolani Park, good-sized clean contemporary rooms, and it is removed from the crazy madness of the heart of Waikiki (a ten minute walk along the beach). It is about 200 feet from Sans Souci Beach - a really nice swimming beach at the edge of Waikiki. It does offer beach cruiser bikes to explore the local area as well as beach mats and towels for guest use. A unique historic district of older homes and cottages are just steps away at the base of Diamond Head and a good long walk brings you up to the Diamond Head overlook. Access in and out to the rest of Honolulu is easy and you can skirt the traffic on Kalakaua in Waikiki.

Improvements would be an extra elevator (only one) and a full service restaurant - it has a restaurant space that serves breakfast overlooking the park (nice) but it isn't fully operational yet.

I definitely will return here on future trips to Honolulu. I've stayed at the Halekulani (5 star, $$$$$) and the Waikiki Parc (meh...) and I prefer the location of the Aqua Lotus despite its lack of beach & pool. Go figure...

We chose the Lotus because of a discounted rate on the first night and it's location near Kapiolani Park. Even though it is not on the beach, access is only steps away.

I understand this property was once the W and before that the Doubletree so its not brand new. Our room was on the third floor and probably had the worst view in the hotel - roof of the porte cochere below, parking garage across and ocean view blocked by condos. Security-wise that probably wasn't great either. Anyone on that floor could walk on the roof to your terrace and possibly break in, though we had no problem. Still it had nice morning sun and the room was spacious. There was a small kitchenette and a bathroom with a nice stone tile shower instead of tub. The furnishings were new, clean and modern and the wider room made the room seem brighter than a typical room.

The platform bed however had a poor double-size mattress that sloped to the center. For one person that may not be too bad but for two it was. Add to that was the oversize linens housekeeping used to make up these beds made getting into bed impossible without ripping the bed apart. I had to remake the bed every night, and housekeeping kept making the bed same way every day.

Parking is extra, and valet is required given the limited spaces available. But our car was always in a good spot and we could always grab the keys, jump in and go.

There was no restaurant on the property during our stay, but other amenities like complementary wine every afternoon and free coffee each morning were nice. Staff were friendly and helpful. Beach towels and chairs were available to take to the public beach across the parking lot. I asked for and got a bath scale to help weigh our suitcases before we left. And the valets were great with directions and ideas for restaurants. There are coin laundry machines on the third floor too.

There is no spa or fitness center either but the park across the street is flat and easy to walk or run around. There is a parcourse and public tennis courts too.

Of course the location is the real attraction here. Kapiolani Park is big and quiet and short walk to the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. Getting around the island is as easy as a quick drive up Kapahulu to the H1.

Despite the bed and the third floor, I liked the Lotus and would stay here again.

The hotel is clean and the room was modern and nice. It is in a quiet part of Wakiki beach, which is good. But it is overpriced for what you get, there is no pool, the views are nothing to write home about and services are minimal. It would be great if the prices were slashed by a third or so.

The area of the Aqua Lotus is exactly what we wanted. It is located away from the busy side of Waikiki. It is easy to get to and from the hotel. I realize for some, the mandatory valet was not appreciated. To us it was well worth the fee. With limited parking at the hotel, it was nice driving up to the front door after a long day and having the valet take care of parking. The entire staff was extremely courteous. Although all the staff is great, Allen who is the valet and porter was extremely welcoming. He always greeted us by our name, asked us if we needed anything and just made sure he was taking care of us. The views are breathtaking as well! With the cleanliness of the hotel, magnificent employees and an A+ location, we rate this hotel Five Stars. We will definitely return.