Waikiki Beach Walk and Imperial Hawaii Vacation Club

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

My family and I spent a week in Waikiki at the Imperial Hawaiian Vacation Club. Overall it was a fantastic trip and the Beach Walk is really coming along nicely.

As soon as we got off the plane from Maui, we went over to the Imperial to check in. We had a 4th floor unit that was extremely small. And, I had a view of the Halekulani hotel. The unit we were in is a Koa unit. 1 bedroom, 2 bath. It was the second largest floor plan at the resort. The unit was so small, I'd hate to see how small a studio unit is.

After having just returned from a trip to the Maui Marriott with a view to die for and plenty of space for everyone, this was quite disappointing at first. Normally, I don't have such a reaction. But, the two resorts are at the opposite end of the spectrum from each other on the timeshare comparison chart. That it was hard to ignore.

Once we settled in, the fun really started. The best feature of this resort is the 26th floor owner lounge. It is a very large recreation center with 3 rooms and balconies on 3 sides of the resort. The views are spectacular. You can see the Hilton Hawaiian Village. There is even a Friday evening fireworks show that we were able to watch.

This rec room has 4 internet terminals. There is wireless broadband for your own computer. A full kitchen with several tables and a living area with 6-8 sofas just for relaxation. The main room also has a pool table and a large screen TV. I spent a lot of time in this room, especially with the Bluegreen policy changes earlier this week.

This resort is the tallest building in the area. So, units above 18 have some type of oceanview. And any unit above 24 has a great view. There is a penthouse unit on the 27th floor. I'm not sure who owns that or if it is a private residence. But, I did see that is has high ceilings. I'd love to get that unit for a week.

The Beachwalk is really coming along. It has some fantastic restaurants and little shops. It is about 40% open now and should be completed within a couple of months. My favorite is the Yard House. What a great menu with tons of beers. Just my style of dining casually with friends. Lots of sports action on the TVs with rock music playing in the background. Beachwalk also has a Ruth's Chris and Roy's coming in for the high end. This will be the place to be in Waikiki. Outrigger did a great job planning and executing this renovation project.

I'm glad that Denny's was always too busy to get into for breakfast. That's because we went to Moose Mcgillicutty's instead and it was fantastic. If you get there before 7:30 am, 2 eggs, bacon and toast is only $1.99. Best deal for breakfast anywhere on the island.

I went to part of the owner's meeting for the Imperial. There were a lot of owners there. The management reviewed the budget and the need for a special assessment. Needless to say, there were a lot of complaints. I was impressed with the level of communications there is with owners. They have this meeting every Tuesday. Evidently, the resort needs major improvements (I'll say). But, the resort has a lot of potential given everything that is happening in the area. If the owners had the foresight, they should gut the resort like Fairfield and Embassy did and drastically upgrade the resort. The views at the top are excellent. But, plumbing is dated. The fire doors are out of code and the building doesn't fit into the character of the new community that has been created.

This is a project that a company like Bluegreen should take over. They could take back all the rental units, gut the resort from top to bottom and have a nice resort in a great area of Waikiki.

All in all, I'd definitely go back, especially if I can get back in on an A/C like I did for this unit.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

We have a week at Waikiki Beachwalk that starts April 28th, though we are not checking in until the 29th, when our week at Shearwater is done. We are pretty excited about staying in a new resort.

I am so jealous of your travels, Boca! I still think you need to change your name to Timeshare Kahuna, now that you are in Hawaii.

Imperial Hawaii sounds decent. I cannot imagine the owners not wanting to see huge upgrades in a property that is so valuable. If they could get a vast majority of owners to vote for it, they could always sell the units as wholly owned and make a mint. I have seen bargain weeks on ebay.

[Jaybee Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jaybee]

Hi, Boca....This is a belated response to your note about your stay at the Imperial. We just returned from a week at the Wyndham, and I can certainly agree with everything you said. I remember you writing that you weren't able to find the Wyndham (Fairfield) at first, and I can see why. We spent the first 2 nights at the Resort Quest Beachside (Not the best idea we ever had), so the 2nd morning, I hiked down to Lewers to try to see exactly where we were going. It was more difficult than I thought. 1) I knew it was next to the Imperial. 2) I was standing across the street from the Imperial. I asked a worker sitting on a bench if he knew where the Wyndham (or Fairfield) was, but he didn't. He directed me to an opening next to the Oasis, and said I should go there and ask them. After going inside, and looking around for a minute, I spotted a sign that said I was at Embassy Suites. "Hmmm", I thought. "This is pretty exclusive here". A kind front desk person aimed me across the street, and I still couldn't see it. Finally, I realized that an Open House sign across the street might be my goal. Sure enough, it was.
From what I was told, the Fairfield sign was ready to go up in December, when it became a Wyndham. I was afraid we might have to have a secret code to find it.
As far as the Imperial is concerned, I discussed that with the Wyndham guy, too. We stayed there in 2001, and Phil's son & wife were with us. I did a tour with them, and they were offered a 1 BR (I forget which) for $5000. They had started refurbishing, and PJ considered it, but didn't do it. He's talked about it at times since then, and is kind of regretting it. The sales guy said people are up in arms about the special assessments, of course. It may end up being as much as $9000, but they are faced with a tremendous increase in property values with all that's going on, and I sort of figure if he'd bought it for $5000, and paid $9000 in assessments, he'd still have a deal with that location. I agree that the units are small, but the location is better than it ever was. I'm babbling, aren't I? I'm really impressed with what they've done with that area. It's mind boggling.
Now I have to go try to figure out how we can get back to the islands next year. This was our 14th trip, but it's never enough. Jean