Paid
Children allowed

Facilities

WiFi available
Free WiFi
Parking
Non-smoking rooms
Air conditioning
Swimming pool
24-hour front desk
Restaurant
Family rooms
Garden
See all facilities

Review Highlights

Pros:
Laid-back retro vibe
Beautiful courtyard and pool
Great hot tub
Very good/great location
Friendly and standout staff (e.g., Shaun Paul)
Well-styled rooms (when in good condition)
Good price-quality noted by some
HeyDey bar/restaurant praised
Cons:
Dirty rooms, stains and hair reported
Worn/old furnishings and fixtures
Thin walls / noisy (parties, weddings)
Pool/bar closures for private events / limited access
Poor communication from management about closures
Misleadingly edited website photos
Shower design/step awkward for some
Kids allowed (one wish they were not)

Categories

Cleanliness
5.5
Multiple reviews call out dirty rooms, stained sheets, hair in the shower, grubby carpets and dried bodily fluids on headboards; a few reviews noted rooms were clean, so overall cleanliness is below average but inconsistent.
Service
9.8
Numerous glowing mentions of staff (several calls-out for exceptional employees like 'Shaun Paul'), described as friendly, professional and a reason to return; isolated reports of poor communication around events slightly temper praise.
Location
9.6
Multiple positive lines: 'very good location' and 'great location' appear repeatedly; one reviewer mentioned being far from the beach, but the consensus values the hotel's location highly.
Room Quality
6
Rooms described as styled and retro but showing significant wear and tear: old/worn furnishings, odd shower step, thin walls and issues impacting comfort—mixed design appeal but degraded condition.
Amenities
6.5
Pool/courtyard and hot tub are highlights, but repeated complaints about pool/bar closures for events, restricted access and missing expected amenity items (no iced tea/orange water/popcorn) reduce the effective amenity experience.
Value for Money
9
Mixed views: at least one review explicitly cites very good price-quality ratio while others say not worth the cost; overall many guests feel value is strong, though service/cleanliness issues create exceptions.
Food and Beverage
9
The HeyDey bar/restaurant and bar area are praised in multiple reviews, though event takeovers sometimes prevented access; generally positive F&B impressions among guests who could use them.
Overall Experience
9.4
Overall impressions are polarized: several guests rave about the vibe, staff and courtyard/pool (some repeat visitors), while others report severe cleanliness, noise and management/communication problems; weighted toward positive due to frequent strong service/location praise.
* This sentiment is summarized by AI based on user reviews.
Updated at: 2026-11-05 14:15

Property Description

Luxurious Accommodations with Stunning Views
White Sands Hotel offers rooms with private balconies showcasing either pool or city views. Each room is equipped with a 40-inch flat-screen LCD TV, a microwave, and a small refrigerator.

Culinary Delights at Heyday Restaurant
Indulge in a unique dining experience at Heyday, where traditional Hawaiian cuisine is reimagined with a modern and international flair. Enjoy innovative cocktails at the circular bamboo bar, the only one on the island where you can swing while savoring Hawaiian-inspired drinks.

Convenient Location for Business and Leisure
Located just 2 blocks from Waikiki Beach and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, White Sands Hotel is also close to the Hawaii Convention Center and Honolulu International Airport. Explore nearby attractions like the Honolulu Zoo within walking distance.

Experience luxury, culinary innovation, and convenience at White Sands Hotel - book your stay now!

Important information:

Daily amenity fee inclusions:
Kai Sallas Surf School 2-hr rental with purchase of surf lesson, ​Vida Mia Luxury Yacht Charter tours discount, Beach chairs rental, ​Boogie boards rental, GoPro camera rental, Battery pack rental, Diamond Bakery cookies in room for arrival, Live music, Popcorn in the lobby daily, ​Welcome slushie (non-alcoholic), ​White Sands postcard, Poolside yoga, every other Saturday by a certified instructor. Other Saturdays feature a poolside core workout. Oshibori towel and ube chex mix upon arrival at check-in

Fresh coffee and local iced tea in lobby​, Daily local newspaper, Koi fish feeding for children, ​High-speed Wi-Fi, Toll-free and local phone calls, White Sands Hotel Activities event, booking service, Guests receive 15% off a regular bay at ITL Golf Club. USD 180 per person golf rounds at Kapolei Golf Club, plus 15% off the restaurant and Golf Shop.Guests are required to show a photo ID and credit card upon check-in. Please note that all Special Requests are subject to availability and additional charges may apply.
Please inform of your expected arrival time in advance. You can use the Special Requests box when booking, or contact the property directly using the contact details in your confirmation.
Payment before arrival by bank transfer is required. The property will contact you after you book to provide instructions.
A deposit may be required at the property.

Check-in and check-out hours:
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Airport code: HNL

Location

Property Accessibility

Total Disability Score: 36.57
Public Area
  • Hill Located: No
  • Ramp: No
  • Entrance Type:
  • Entrance Leveled: Yes
  • Room Max Guests Number: 2
  • Pet Friendly: Yes
Reception And Restaurant
  • Reception Hearing Accessible: No
  • Reception Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
  • Restaurant Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Elevator
  • Elevator Audio Signals: No
  • Elevator Braille Numbers: No
  • Elevator Contrasting Buttons: No
  • Elevator Visual Signs: No
  • Lifts Accessible: No
Show all accessibility features

Guest Reviews

8.1
Based on 1829 reviews
Cleanliness: 5.5
Service: 9.8
Location: 9.6
Room Quality: 6
Amenities: 6.5
Value for Money: 9
Food and Beverage: 9
Overall Experience: 9.4
M
Markus • extended_group • at
5
2026-10-30 • via Nuitee
O
Osorio • couple • us
9
2026-10-29 • via Nuitee
V
Victoria • couple • us
9
Love the laid back vibes and simple rooms
Pros:

We love the laid back retro vibe and the great hot tub!

Cons:

The step into shower was odd. Fine for us but my parents wouldn’t have been able to do it.
Wish kids were not allowed

2026-10-27 • via Nuitee
B
Busnca • couple • us
10
Pros:

Very good location

Cons:

Everything was perfect

2026-10-26 • via Nuitee
J
Jessica • solo_traveller • us
2
Very disappointing. Not worth the cost at all. Very far from the beach.
Pros:

It was merely OK. There was an event going on there. No access to the pool or bar.

Cons:

We couldn’t sleep at all. Continuous partying all night. We left a day early.

2026-10-24 • via Nuitee
E
Eilisha • solo_traveller • nl
8
Pros:

Het hotel ligt op een geweldige locatie, het is leuk ingericht en vriendelijk personeel. Hele goede prijs-kwaliteit verhouding.

Cons:

Het is een wat ouder hotel, dus het is ook wat gehorig. De voegen van de douche hebben een opfrisbeurt nodig, maar verder was de kamer wel schoon en netjes.

2026-10-20 • via Nuitee
N
Natalie • couple • ca
7
We did really like the vibe and the location and the staff!
Pros:

Was beautiful and friendly

Cons:

That we couldn’t always use the pool due to closures for public events

2026-10-16 • via Nuitee
S
Sherry • couple • us
1
Couldn’t wait to leave.
Pros:

Not much

Cons:

Dirty-rooms grubby, carpets dirty, everything looked and was old and worn.
Extremely well edited photos on hotel website bore little resemblance to actual place and were misleading.
Noisy

2026-10-15 • via Nuitee
E
Eryn • couple • ca
6
Once upon a time it was a favourite.
Pros:

The draw of this property is of course the beautiful courtyard with pool, loungers and the HeyDey bar and restaurant. I like that the rooms are styled after an era and the front desk staff is always lovely and top tier.

Cons:

Oh boy it felt like a lot has gone downhill since my last stay here. The room was not well cleaned, the furnishings, fixtures and walls showing significant wear and tear. Stains on our sheets and hair in the shower when we arrived, as well as crumbs and hair on the ground. Dried bodily fluids on the wooden headboard were the worst part unfortunately.

The walls are so thin you can hear everything in the hallway and surrounding rooms which meant some pretty terrible sleeps.

My husband commented it wasn’t a huge deal on day 1 since we would be poolside all day and night. Except we couldn’t be because they booked out the full pool and bar area for a wedding and didn’t tell any of the other guests. In fact it was clear to appease the guests they had a script about what was open and closed as I heard multiple guests complain and multiple front desk staff say that the pool would remain open all day and night - just not the bar. This wasn’t true. From 3:45 pm until 10:30 pm the entire courtyard was taken over by a wedding, DJ, a saxophone player, strobe lights and as many whooo girls as you could imagine. Zero apologies. The manager said it was up to us to determine “when and if it seemed appropriate to go swimming” while gesturing vaguely at the wedding party surrounding it.

We ended up cancelling our plans for the next day on the north shore in order to be able to use the pool that area that was the whole purpose of our booking this hotel.

First day there was no iced tea, no orange water, no popcorn either. Amenities that you pay for through your amenity fee.

All things considered we paid to have a bad sleep in a dirty room, and extremely poor communication from their management team.
Not great.

2026-10-14 • via Nuitee
L
Lauren • extended_group • us
10
Pros:

Another stay, another five-star review, and once again, Shaun Paul understood the assignment.

The hospitality? Immaculate. The customer service? Unmatched. The patience required to deal with the general public? Whatever they’re paying him, it isn’t enough.

The hotel itself is fantastic, but Shaun Paul is the kind of employee who makes you want to come back. Professional, hilarious, and genuinely one of a kind.

Management, I’m once again publicly requesting you give this man a raise. At this point, I’m running out of ways to tell you he’s a national treasure.

2026-10-14 • via Nuitee
C
Cristian • solo_traveller • us
10
2026-10-08 • via Nuitee
P
Piljek • couple • us
7
Good in general
Pros:

Looking deacent and cool vibe, good location

Cons:

For sure better looking on pictures than in real life, balcony with a a view to another balcony and 3 floors without elevator

2026-10-08 • via Nuitee
I
Isabel • couple • de
6
Um Honolulu zu erleben perfektes Hotel!
Pros:

Wir waren zum zweiten Mal da, weil es uns beim ersten Mal so gut gefallen hatte. Lage, Zimmergröße, Pool, war super!

Cons:

Dieses Mal hatten wir leider eine defekte Toilettenspülung und Dusche, die nicht repariert wurde und wir hatten keine Möglichkeit, das Zimmer zu tauschen. Das betrübt den Aufenthalt. Ansonsten perfekt!

2026-09-18 • via Nuitee
C
Cittlaly • family_with_children • us
10
2026-09-18 • via Nuitee
T
Tommaso • extended_group • it
1
2026-09-17 • via Nuitee
S
Shannon • couple • us
8
Vibes and central
Pros:

The room was big and close to everything walking wise and very central and the hotel is a super cute vibe.

Cons:

The bathroom you'll notice they don't have any pictures is very small like one person and its hard to get ready or move around in.

2026-09-17 • via Nuitee
J
Jackson • family_with_children • au
10
Brilliant hidden gem
Pros:

Great property and rooms for the price. Staff were excellent. Cannot wait to come back here. Hidden gem.

Cons:

Not much.

2026-09-16 • via Nuitee
F
Frédéric • couple • fr
10
Parfait
Pros:

Tout, le personnel l’emplacement la propreté la situation au cœur de Waikīkī. Très bel hôtel.

2026-09-15 • via Nuitee
C
Carla • couple • us
10
2026-09-15 • via Nuitee
O
Ophélie • solo_traveller • ca
8
2026-09-15 • via Nuitee