Looking for a new hotel to stay at while vacationing in Honolulu? If you love boutique hotels, I think you’ll love the Kaimana Beach Hotel!
Hawaii is our happy place. Living in California, it’s a pretty easy flight and it’s a place Jason + I both love. We got engaged here, we did our babymoon in Hawaii, and we love traveling with our daughters here – we even took a trip just the two of us to Lanai + Oahu a few years ago! It’s just so easy to love Hawaii….the weather, the beaches, the food, the pace of life there….it’s such a great place for a getaway. With not being able to travel much the past 2 years due to coronavirus, we knew that once we had our vaccinations and felt it was safe to travel with our daughters, we would get on a plane to Hawaii! And I’m happy to report, Hawaii is just as great as we remembered. :) Things are a bit different right now with precautions for Covid, but as of Nov 1, 2021, they are welcoming travelers again – and I’m so excited to share a brand new hotel with you all! If you follow us on Instagram, you saw our Stories from this hotel and the amazing views from our room! I can’t wait to share a closer look at this new boutique hotel on the Waikiki beach.
A Brief History on the Kaimana Beach Hotel
The Kaimana Beach Hotel, formerly the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel since 1963, and before that the Victorian beachfront home of the McIrney family makes a wonderful option for a stay in Honolulu. The hotel has a great location as it’s on the famed Waikiki beach, but it’s at the far southern end and not nearly as crowded. You are very near Diamond Head – in fact, Kaimana means diamond in Hawaiian!
We loved the beach here as you could just walk out to the beach from your room but as you can see above, it wasn’t super crowded. It’s a great beach for swimming, paddleboarding,and you can surf as well if you go out a bit further.
The Kaimana Beach Hotel
I LOVE staying in hotels with great design. It’s inspiring and I just love getting new ideas that I might like to bring into our home – or at the least, soak in the design vibes! Kaimana Beach Hotel has a beachy boho vibe and I loved the attention to details. When you walk into the lobby, you’re treated with vibrant, mismatched art on a gallery wall. Lots of color, mismatched furniture and vintage photographs. Lots to soak in and love! The lobby spills into the bar + restaurant which opens up to the sand. It’s a vibe for sure!
Our Room at the Kaimana Beach Hotel
Most of the rooms look out through floor-to-ceiling windows over the ocean or onto Diamond Head crater. The room vibe continues with the same feel as in the lobby. Lots of fun wallpaper, bright colors, and more gallery walls!
We were lucky enough to stay in one of the top floor suites with a long wraparound balcony. The views from our room were definitely one of the highlights of the hotel – I mean check out that view of the Honolulu skyline from our room! WOW!
My favorite part of our stay was getting up early (it’s easy to do here with the time change) and watching the sunrise from the room. The sky was magical in the morning! There is a coffee maker in the room as well which is great since we woke up around 4am each morning!
The Food at the Kaimana Beach Hotel
The restaurant here (Hau Tree) is definitely worth checking out. We had breakfast and dinner here. Dinner right on the sand watching the sunset was a perfect way to end our days! Actual Hau trees form a canopy along the outdoor area of the restaurant. They’ve been there long before the original hotel building and rumor has it that the author Robert Louis Stevenson sat and wrote beneath these very trees more than a century ago!
To drink, you really can’t go wrong with any of the drinks. I highly recommend the Hau Tree Highball. Hibiscus infused vodka with yuza and soda. For dinner, definitely start with the Hamachi Crudo. Not only is it stunning gorgeous to look at, the tastes from that one were so yum! For your mains, the ginger scallion steamed mahi and the wagyu flank steak are equally good. And don’t skip the sides! The roasted Brussels are served with feta and grapes and loved the unique flavor combination there! For dessert, don’t miss the Yuzu tart!
Definitly enjoy breakfast at Hau Tree and splurge on yourself with the lobster benedict. One of my fave breakfasts ever!
Special Activities at the Kaimana Beach Hotel
We love getting outside and taking advantage of all the different activities Oahu offers and Kaimana gets this. One way? They’ve partnered with Kai Sallas, a local surf legend and the 2018 longboard world champion. His Pro Surf School is located within the hotel! As part of the resort fee, you can sign up for paddleboard classes with Kai. Kai taught us everything we needed to know – and even our 8-year-old was able to paddleboard on her own! If you have younger kids, they can also sit on your board while you paddle. Such a fun way to start the day and we loved the beach here for paddleboarding.
They also offer yoga and lei-making classes. We didn’t get to take the yoga class, but we really enjoyed the lei-making class. It was really easy and a chance to get to learn more about a Hawaiian artform.
Whether you want to explore downtown Honolulu, hike the Lanikai Pillbox trail or just explore other beaches, the Kaimana Beach Hotel makes a great base for your Oahu trip. Are any of you planning a trip to Oahu soon?
all photos by Green Wedding Shoes unless noted
