Hyatt Regency Waikiki Review

Resort fee from the hotel’s policy page, September 2026; times and room count from the hotel’s own pages. The hotel publishes no parking rate.

Best for

• CouplesGoodOcean-view rooms and a 16-room spa, in a hotel built for volume.
• FamiliesGreatThe walled Kuhio swim basin across the street; beach toys come with the fee.
• FriendsGoodLive music at SWIM, a luau upstairs and central Kalakaua outside.
• SoloGoodA 24-hour gym, and the zoo and Kapiolani Park on foot.
• GroupsGreat1,230 rooms, 9,800 square feet of event space and a luau on site.

The hotel is two towers, Ewa and Diamond Head, 39 floors each and opened in 1976 per the Skyscraper Center, with 1,230 rooms between them. Press reports put the last full room renovation at May 2015. Rooms come with one king or two queens, in City View, Ocean View, Ocean Front and Diamond Head Ocean Front categories, several with a high-floor option.

Suites run from one-bedroom Waikiki View and Ocean Front suites to a Penthouse Suite, the two-bedroom Ambassador Suite and a Presidential Suite. The hotel allows pets but publishes no fee or weight limit, so call before you book.

The pool is on the third floor, with SWIM, the poolside restaurant and bar, beside it: live music nightly and a daily happy hour. There is one pool and no slide listed. Ask at the pool desk for cabana prices; the hotel does not publish them.

Na Hoʻola Spa is on the fifth floor, up the atrium elevator by the waterfall: 16 treatment rooms, a dry sauna, lomilomi and foot massage, facials and body treatments, open 9 AM to 5 PM. The StayFit gym is open 24 hours.

The Regency Club is the hotel’s club lounge, on the third floor. Access comes with a Regency Club room, World of Hyatt Globalist status or a Club Lounge Access Award; a standard room does not get you in. The hotel lists a daily continental breakfast, evening hors d’oeuvres and wine or other drinks, and an outdoor terrace with an ocean view. Reviews of the lounge are split: some call it solid, others say the food is thinner than at other chains’ lounges. It pays off most when the club rate is close to the standard rate or you would eat breakfast there every day. Confirm current hours and the club room premium at booking, since the hotel does not publish them.

You cross Kalakaua Avenue at the light to reach Kuhio Beach Park, the stretch where a breakwater and groins make a walled, shallow swim basin, calm shallow water inside the wall, good for small children. City lifeguard towers 2B, 2C and 2D cover it. One note for this season: the state starts a sand-nourishment project on Kuhio Beach in fall 2026, so expect equipment and a narrower basin for a while. Surf lessons start on this beach; compare schools in our Waikiki surf lessons guide, and see every stretch in our guide to Waikiki’s beaches.

The last itemized list on the hotel’s policy page (March 2025) covered WiFi, beach chairs, beach toys for kids, daily lei making, hula and ukulele classes, morning yoga, discounted surf lessons and gear rental, GoPro use and a Biki bike-share discount. The fee is now $55 a night. Book the stay entirely on World of Hyatt points and the fee is waived. For families comparing hotels, see our best hotels on Oahu for families.

The Hyatt Regency’s own kitchens run a dinner buffet, a breakfast buffet and a poolside bar and grill, plus a luau on the terrace. The Buffet at Hyatt is the one to book ahead, and Hawaii residents get 20% off there. Japengo, the hotel’s long-running Pacific Rim restaurant, is no longer on its dining list.

The Buffet at HyattDinner buffet

The Buffet at Hyatt is an open-air, all-you-can-eat dinner on the third floor of the Diamond Head Tower, looking over Waikiki Beach, daily from 5 to 9:30 PM. The spread is Hawaii and the Pacific Rim: Alaskan snow crab legs, temaki hand rolls made to order, kalua pig and a carving table of rosemary and Hawaiian salt crusted prime rib, with a chocolate fountain and soft serve for dessert. It is $89.99 for adults, $44.99 for children 6 to 12 and $14.99 for 5 and under, before tax and tip (checked Sep 29, 2026), with a 90-minute table limit. Dress is resort casual, with no swimwear. It is often fully booked, so reserve at buffetathyatt.com. Live music plays Friday and Saturday.

SHOROceanfront breakfast buffet

SHOR is the open-air breakfast room over the ocean on the third floor of the Diamond Head Tower, facing the sunrise. The buffet runs 6 to 11 AM daily at $46.99 for adults, $23.50 for children 6 to 12 and $5.99 for 5 and under (menu dated August 2026): a rotating eggs benedict, an omelet station, miso soup and silken tofu, and a rotation of pancakes, waffles or Hawaiian sweet bread French toast. SHOR takes no reservations, so walk in. Dress is resort casual. It suits anyone who wants a full breakfast without leaving the building.

SWIMPool bar and grill

SWIM is the restaurant and bar on the third-floor pool deck, looking over the Pacific, open 7 AM to 10 PM daily. Breakfast, 7 to 11 AM, is light: an acai parfait with papaya or a chorizo breakfast burrito. From 11 AM to 9:30 PM the menu runs to Pier 38 poke ahi nachos ($26), the hotel’s signature Korean-style fried chicken ($24) and 13-inch Neapolitan-style pizzas. Happy hour is 4 to 6 PM daily, with oysters at six for $21, and there is live music every day. For the hotel’s 50th anniversary, SWIM entrees are buy one, get one half off from 11 AM to 2 PM (Sep 2026). It suits families spending the afternoon at the pool.

Nā Lei AlohaLuau and dinner show

Nā Lei Aloha, produced by the Hawaiian Council on the Nāleʻa Terrace (third floor, Diamond Head Tower), is hula and Hawaiian music built around the art of lei rather than a fire-knife show, with a buffet dinner. It runs Sunday to Wednesday with some Thursdays and Fridays; dinner-show check-in is 5:30 PM from September to May. Dress is resort casual; bring a light layer for cool evenings. It is our Waikiki pick in the best luaus on Oahu.

Kai Coffee HawaiiGrab and go

Kai Coffee Hawaii, in the hotel’s atrium, is open 6 AM to 9 PM daily, and its signature Kai Latte is sweetened with macadamia nut syrup. It is the quick breakfast for anyone heading straight across the street to the beach, and the Pualeilani Atrium Shops around it add more counters on three floors.

This is the Diamond Head end of the strip. The Kuhio Beach hula mound is diagonally across the street (free shows Saturdays and the first and third Tuesdays, 6:30 PM), and the Honolulu Zoo and Kapiolani Park are about 15 minutes on foot. Ala Moana Center is 25 to 30 minutes on foot. The hotel is 9.5 miles from the airport; see Honolulu airport to Waikiki. Diamond Head is a short ride (reserve entry first), and the Waikiki Map shows the rest. Compare the Sheraton Waikiki and the best Waikiki hotels at every budget.

• ʻAlohilani Resort faces the same Kuhio Beach stretch for a $54 resort fee that covers three daily board, chair or umbrella rentals, and adds a saltwater infinity pool. Budget for its carbon, tree and card fees on top.
• Moana Surfrider is the step up to beachfront in central Waikiki: a lifeguarded stretch of sand for a $54 resort fee and valet-only parking, with every room renovated by May 2026.
• Kaimana Beach Hotel is on the sand at the quiet Diamond Head end, with a city lifeguard tower and a $45 resort fee, for couples who do not need a pool.

• Use points. World of Hyatt waives the resort fee on stays booked entirely with points.
• Call about parking. The rate is not published; the front desk is 808-923-1234.
• Stay for the hula show. Kuhio Beach’s free show is across the street on Saturday nights.
• Book The Buffet ahead. It is dinner only and takes reservations.
• Check the beach before you go. Kuhio Beach sand work starts in fall 2026.