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Lei Back and Relax: New Years in Oahu!

Wait, what? Did I take a toddler on an 11 hour long haul flight to Hawaii?

Yes, yes I did. Tips for long haul travel with a toddler coming soon! 😊😉

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One condition I gave my husband upon moving to the northeast was that we had to take at least  one tropical vacation 🌞 each winter to escape the cold. My southern bones just can't handle weeks on weeks of freezing temperatures (it's a fact). ❆ So this year, we decided to head to Hawaii! 

Hawaii holds a special place in my family's heart. My husband and I both went before we got together, we went alone early in our marriage, and we've been dying to go back with our son. Based on flight prices, we decided to go to Oahu! We stayed in the center of Honolulu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The reviews online are really varied and spotty 😵, but we felt comfortable with it because 1) we had tons of Hilton Honors points we could use to pay for it, and 2) my husband had stayed there before and knew it wasn't that bad. 

The Hilton Hawaiian Village (source)

The location and amenities of the Hilton Hawaiian Village are unbeatable. There are 18 restaurants, 5 pools, and a man-made lagoon beside it which is protected from waves and hosts water sports! They also have their own dock called “Port Hilton” where they offer a handful of boat excursions each day.

When it comes to the actual rooms (and the negative reviews), I absolutely think it matters which tower you stay in. After doing a little more research, I had my heart set on the Ali’i tower – the luxury tower on the property. It's smaller, has its own check in, has its own private pool, bar and gym, and comes with higher end toiletries and a Keurig! ⛾

Our room view
The private pool (far less crowded than the other resort pools) 

Other perks were an on-site ABC Store (basically a 7/11 and Walmart combo), tons of good restaurants nearby, as well as being near the luxury Waikiki shopping district. Some restaurants at the Hilton that deserve to be mentioned are Tropics (by the pools), Hatsuhana (best sushi I've had since living in Asia), and BlueWater Shrimp & Seafood (get the pineapple smoothie - served in a fresh pineapple!). 

Some of our favorite activities during this part of our stay were: riding the Aqua-cycle in Hilton's lagoon, attending the Starlight Luau on property (upgrade to the Diamond seating!), having a Mai Tai at the famous Duke's Waikiki, and watching the Friday fireworks at 7:45, which were incredible. (We had the added bonus of seeing New Years Eve’s fireworks too!)

The luau was hula-rious (get it?)
My happy place was watching the surfers from our table at Duke's


Our stunning room view of Hilton's Friday night firework show

We stayed at the Hilton for 5 nights, and I can honestly say we were never bored. Due to the timing of our trip (holiday/peak season) and our last minute planning (we booked 3 weeks in advance), we weren't able to do several typical Oahu experiences, but I'll list them here for you anyway! My future Oahu to-do list includes:

The sunset on Hilton's beach 😍

Next, we did something I don't normally do on vacations. We switched hotels. 

Read about our experience at Disney's Aulani resort in Oahu here!

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