Hyatt Centric Waikiki Review: Good value Waikiki accommodation

As soon as Southwest Airlines opened up flights to Hawaii, we jumped on the opportunity to visit with our kids.  We used our Southwest Companion Pass and Rapid Rewards points to fly there for just $5.60 each. We enjoyed Oahu for 3 nights before heading to the Big Island of Hawaii. We stayed at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach for free using our Hyatt free award nights. This family-friendly hotel was a great base for our explorations of Oahu. Read our Hyatt Centric Waikiki review for help deciding where to stay in Waikiki. There are so many Waikiki hotels to consider, and this one offers friendly service, many included amenities, an inviting ambience, and good value. Its main drawbacks are the 10 minute walk to the beach and shallow pool. Check out our Hyatt Centric Waikiki review to see if this is the right choice for your Hawaiian vacation.

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach Review

**Our WTA score represents our own views based on our personal experience with the entity being reviewed.

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Location

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach is located in the heart of downtown Waikiki. It is not a beachfront property, but is just a few blocks away from world-famous Waikiki Beach. The hotel was formerly an office building that was converted into a hotel, so unfortunately doesn’t have balconies (called lanais in Hawaii) on any of the rooms. However, rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows with views of either lush green mountains behind the city or the turquoise Pacific Ocean.

There are a lot of dining options and shopping within walking distance, which is convenient if you plan to spend time exploring the city. For families who will be spending their time primarily at Waikiki Beach, it is less convenient to walk there carrying beach chairs, umbrellas, beach toys and bags. It took us about 10 minutes to walk to the beach. The walk was easy on the way there, but the kids were cranky and tired on the way back. If the hotel added a free shuttle to the beach, that would make it easier for families with small kids who are carrying a lot of beach gear. However, since we would be staying at a beachfront hotel on the Big Island the following week, we didn’t mind sacrificing Waikiki beachfront for the value of a free award stay.

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Price

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach is a Hyatt Category 4 resort, costing 15,000 points per night. It is also possible to use the Hyatt Category 1-4 free night awards there, which is what we did since we had 3 free nights that were going to expire before our next vacation. We saved $477 per night (after taxes and fees) for our King Bed High Floor Room during our stay in July. Rates for this resort vary depending on the season, starting at around $250 per night before taxes and fees. You don’t pay resort fees on Hyatt award stays, so that’s another way to save even more money. The Hyatt Centric offers a better value than resorts directly on the beach, which typically cost at least $100 more per night.

Warm Welcome

One of the things we remember the most about every hotel we visit is a warm welcome and our first impressions. We pulled up and were instantly greeted by smiling doormen who helped with our luggage. When you enter the lobby, it is very inviting and warm with plenty of plush couches and cozy spots to relax. Our kids loved the huge suspended chair and had fun swinging each other. It seemed to to be a big hit with all the kids.

Dan, who checked us in, offered us shell lei necklaces and welcome drinks. He also offered us the chance to take care of a pet fish named Poke during our stay, which they brought to our room in a fish bowl. It’s the little things that leave a lasting impression, and the kids were thrilled. I have to admit, we were all excited about the fish. We’ve never stayed at a hotel that lets you babysit a fish during your stay. Brilliant idea!

As Hyatt Globalists, we were hoping to receive a complimentary suite upgrade upon check-in, but unfortunately there were none available. However, Dan offered us two different room options and took us on a brief tour to see both rooms and decide on one. We saw a standard room with ocean view, and a king room high floor with city view.

King Room High Floor with City View

We chose the King Room High Floor with City View because it was so spacious. It was on one of the penthouse floors of the hotel and also happened to be ADA accessible. Our room was not technically a suite, but it felt like one since it was much larger than a standard guest room.

We had a small living room area and plenty of space for the kids to burn their energy. They brought us a rollaway bed for the kids and since our room was so large, we still had tons of space. We loved the floor-to-ceiling windows and could see Diamond Head from our room as well as get a glimpse of the ocean. The decor was island-inspired with wood accents and splashes of ocean blue here and there.

The bathroom was ADA accessible, which meant there was a lot of open space, an ADA shower, and hand railings near the toilet. The bathroom in the other room we toured (that wasn’t as large and wasn’t ADA accessible) was more luxurious. However, we preferred more space in our room to a prettier bathroom. The bath products smelled tropical, like coconut. It was basically Hawaii captured in a scent.

Our room had an empty mini-fridge that we stocked with some drinks and snacks. We preferred this to a stocked mini-bar since our kids always get into overpriced mini-bars when we’re not looking. Our room had a large wardrobe to store luggage and hang clothing, and it also had extra linens and towels which was nice. There was also a spacious entryway that had enough room to lay out all our suitcases. That says a lot because we had A LOT of luggage for our month-long trip which required clothing for multiple different climates (we visited San Francisco, Australia, and Bora Bora also during this vacation).

There was a Keurig machine with complimentary coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We also received reusable water bottles which we could refill with filtered water at stations throughout the hotel. We appreciated their eco-friendly approach to complimentary water and used our bottles throughout our entire vacation. However, we recommend they add water stations to every floor so it is more convenient to fill them up. There was also 2 bottled waters waiting for us in our fridge when we arrived.

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Dining

Breakfast is available at The Lanai, the hotel’s only restaurant. The casual eatery offers both indoor and outdoor seating by the pool. It is open for breakfast from 6-11am, which gave us the flexibility to eat super early before sightseeing or enjoy a lazy morning before eating.

One of our favorite perks of our Hyatt Globalist elite status is complimentary breakfast for all four of us. We opted for the breakfast buffet although we could have ordered off the menu. I’m not certain of the exact amount (I’ve heard $22 from other reviews) but you’re allotted a certain amount toward breakfast per person if not getting the buffet. The buffet costs $28 per adult and $17 for children ages 5-12, so is better value for Globalists. Our elite status saved us $90 on breakfast daily.

The breakfast buffet at Hyatt Centric Waikiki had plenty of options and the food was very good. Despite having a picky child, everyone found food they liked. The hot buffet offerings changed daily, which was great since we were able to try so many different dishes and didn’t get tired of eating the same thing 3 days in a row.

The buffet includes a decent selection of sliced fruit, fresh whole fruit, yogurt, pastries, breads, salad, oatmeal, and cereal. Warm dishes that rotated during our stay included scrambled eggs, sautéed vegetables, breakfast potatoes, waffles, French toast, bacon, sausage, pancakes, rice, congee, and more. Eggs cooked to order any style are also included with the buffet, but we never ordered any since we enjoyed the food at the buffet so much.

Beverages included milk, juice, soda, Kona coffee and tea. The juice offered on the buffet rotated between pineapple, orange, and POG during our stay, but you could order any juice from your waiter. POG was our favorite- a Hawaiian staple that is Passion Orange Guava juice and is so tasty. It’s especially good for Mimosas, although there wasn’t any champagne included in the buffet (not surprisingly). Mimosas were on the menu though for $13, as well as Bloody Marys and their version of a Mai Tai for $15.

The Lanai also offers happy hour in the lobby bar from 3-6pm daily with a limited selection of bar snacks, but we didn’t try any of the food or drinks from the bar so can’t comment on how they taste. The hotel provides room service, although we didn’t try that either since there are so many great food options within walking distance of the hotel. Make sure to try Marukame Udon which is just around the corner and will likely have a long line because it’s so good. It was the cheapest and tastiest meal we had on the island of Oahu.

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Pool

The pool at Hyatt Centric Waikiki is underwhelming for a Waikiki hotel, to be honest. It has a maximum depth of 18 inches, so it’s really just a splash pool for cooling off. It is perfect for toddlers, but don’t plan on swimming. Our kids had fun for a little while but became bored since they couldn’t really swim in the pool. We didn’t spend much time at the pool anyway since we preferred to be at the beach or out exploring the hidden gems of Oahu.

There are several loungers in the pool, where you can sit and relax while partially submerged in the refreshing pool water. The best part for me was the hot tub, which is connected to the splash pool and is deeper. Both the kids and I enjoyed hanging out in the hot tub until it was time to cool off in the splash pool. There are several cabanas and chairs around the pool as well as a fire pit. One of the included amenities is making s’mores by the pool, which our kids really enjoyed. They also provide free popcorn by the pool on certain days.

Fitness Center

The fitness center is located next to the lobby. It has a small selection of cardio and strength training equipment with city views. Every time we went inside to fill up our water bottles, we had to pry our son off the cycle machine.

Resort Fee and Amenities

Hyatt Centric Waikiki charges a daily resort fee of $37.94 on paid stays, which includes several amenities we’ll go over below. Thankfully this fee is waived on free award stays and for Hyatt Globalists even on cash rates. Since we used our Hyatt Category 1-4 free award nights that we earned through our World of Hyatt credit cards and the Brand Explorer perk, we didn’t have to pay any resort fees. However, we still got to enjoy the amenities, which was a win win for us.

Complimentary amenities covered by the resort fee at Hyatt Centric Waikiki include wifi, reusable water bottles and water filtration stations, non-alcoholic welcome drink, beach chairs and umbrellas, beach towels, boogie boards, sand toys, sunscreen and aloe, GoPro rentals, lei making, yoga, s’mores, and betta fish pets. I’ve never heard of any hotel providing free GoPro rentals as part of the resort fee, so they earned points in our book for that. We heard they are also working on getting snorkeling equipment that they will include with the resort fee, which is another perk for families.

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Parking

Hyatt Centric Waikiki offers both self-parking and valet parking, and the cost is almost the same. Self parking costs $42 per night while valet is $45 per night, which we heard was pretty standard for downtown Waikiki. Thankfully we received free parking since we are Hyatt Globalists and stayed on free award nights.

Hyatt Centric Service

We experienced excellent service during our stay, from a warm welcome at check-in to gifts for the kids (Hawaiian rubber ducks) at check-out. The kids were giving hugs to the front desk team, a testament to how friendly they were toward our kids. They have a service feature that is very convenient too. You can send text messages with questions 24/7, and someone replies right away. We asked for restaurant recommendations via text and had a reply within seconds.

Another example of the great service we experienced involves housekeeping. I had a mishap with a bottle of nail polish during our stay. It got knocked off the table and some spilled on the couch and carpet. This happened right before we checked out, and I was afraid we’d have a costly cleaning bill coming to us later. I called housekeeping and explained what happened right away and they sent someone to clean it up. He was very kind and reassured me that he’d be able to get it out and that we wouldn’t be charged. That was a huge relief! Extra special shout out to housekeeping.

Last thoughts on our Hyatt Centric Waikiki Review

In conclusion, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach. We appreciated all the amenities that were included, since some of the other resorts we stayed at in Hawaii nickel and dimed us for every little thing. The staff were friendly and helpful, so much that we’ve even stayed in touch with some of them. The hotel offers good value in Waikiki, especially when staying on points or free award nights. The only drawbacks are the shallow pool and 10-minute walk to the beach, but we knew that coming in and were fine with it since we spent most of our time sightseeing beyond Waikiki. Make sure to visit Pearl Harbor Memorial, Diamond Head, and the windward (East) coast which has some of the most beautiful and exotic scenery on the island.

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