Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Trademark Collection by Wyndham

Nada

I don't usually write hotel reviews, but this stay was memorable enough that I felt compelled to share my experience.

For the price, this hotel offers good value. The entire property - from the lobby and hallways to the guest rooms - is clearly dated, but everything was clean, functional, and well maintained. We stayed in a double queen room, which was surprisingly spacious. Our family of four was able to open all of our suitcases with plenty of room left to move around comfortably.

One thing I really appreciated was the soundproofing. Hilo is full of loud frogs and birds at night, but once the windows were closed, we couldn't hear them at all, making it easy to get a good night's sleep.

What really makes this hotel stand out, though, is its atmosphere. If you're familiar with the "backrooms" internet aesthetic, you'll know exactly what I mean. The hallways are lined with bright white fluorescent lights in a repetitive pattern, giving them an oddly endless appearance. Inside the room, the plain, faded yellow walls around the sink and bathroom add to the uncanny feeling. Combined with the excellent soundproofing and the quiet interior, the whole place has a surreal, liminal-space vibe.

For most people, this probably won't matter one way or the other. But if you're someone who enjoys the backrooms aesthetic, staying here becomes an unexpectedly fascinating experience. It's not luxurious or modern, but it's clean, affordable, comfortable, and strangely memorable.

It was quite a large oceanside room, with functioning cool air conditioning, that included free parking, free coffee, an room-sized refrigerator.

The location is excellent.

First time staying at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, it was convenient, free parking and with costco package I got, received a larger food credit per day for their restaurant and bar than what they normally give ($25 for package, also received $10 credit but they couldn’t be combined). They all closed early so was only able to use one $25 credit for dinner. We ate in the bar which was a bit pricey but some items cheaper bc ala carte vs complete plates. It was also larger portions for sharing. We enjoyed our time here. Our room was nice, only issues were it wasn’t set up for 3 people to be in the room even though our reservation was for 3 people and where our room was, it was noisy because it was basically right above where all the extra couches were. There were kids sports teams staying at the hotel at the same time so they could get loud. I had a friend staying at another section of the hotel and she said kids were running up and down the hallways. This hotel caters to a lot more “local” people, meaning those who live in Hawaii. I still think it’s a great hotel especially since they renovated. I’m sure it’s probably not crazy or loud all the time. They also don’t have daily housekeeping, which we were fine with. If we needed anything, like another set of towels or more toilet paper we were able to get from the front desk. All the staff we came in contact with were very helpful and nice. Definitely recommend this hotel.

When we checked in, I noticed that the front desk agent gave the guests ahead of us reusable water bottles. However, when it was our turn, we weren't offered any. It wasn't a big deal since we had brought our own, but it felt like inconsistent service. I found out later that the reusable water bottles were included in their mandatory resort fee.

After receiving our keys, we went up to our room on the 8th floor. The room looked very dated. The wallpaper, doors, and doorknobs looked like they hadn't been updated since the 1980s. The doors were dirty and covered in scuff marks, which gave the room an unclean and somewhat unsettling feel.

When I pulled back the blanket to check the beds, I found several hairs underneath the sheets. The blanket itself also had brown and red stains. It was honestly disgusting. I immediately called housekeeping, and to their credit, they responded quickly and changed the bedding on both beds.

Since we arrived later in the evening, we decided to have dinner at the hotel's restaurant and use the $10 nightly dining coupons that came with our stay. We ate in the lounge, which was first come, first served. The seating area was very small, likely because the hotel was still under renovation. Our waitress was friendly, but the service was extremely slow. It took about 45 minutes for our food to arrive, even though the restaurant was not busy. During that time, no one checked on us or gave us any updates about the delay. We noticed other tables experiencing the same issue. Because of that experience, we chose not to eat there again.

I also called Housekeeping to get some extra towels since we were only given 2 and no one picked up. I waited and called several times but still wasn’t able to get through so I called front desk and told them the situation and they put me on hold and just re-routed me back to Housekeeping after I already told them that I was not able to get through that’s why I was calling front desk. I ended up just walking downstairs to the front desk to get the towels.

The one highlight of our stay was the incredible view. We had a beautiful view of Coconut Island and the ocean, which was definitely the best part of the hotel.

Overall, I would not stay here again and would not recommend this hotel. Between the inconsistent customer service, the outdated and unclean room, and the disappointing restaurant experience, it did not meet our expectations.

This is the only one-star review I have ever given in my life so far. I am a very tolerant guest. If a hotel is simply old or a room has some wear and tear, I usually would not complain. What I cannot accept is a hotel that is not honest with its guests.

The biggest issue was the Wi-Fi. It was unusable most of the time. After reading older reviews, I realized this was clearly not a new problem and had been going on for a long time. Yet every time, the hotel blamed Spectrum or the weather, and even told me that I was the only guest complaining about the Wi-Fi. That was simply not true. At first I thought it was just my room, so I asked to change rooms. Only after changing rooms did I realize the problem was across the hotel, not limited to one room. I can tolerate inconvenience. I cannot tolerate being lied to.

The second issue was housekeeping. I fully respect the hotel’s every-other-day cleaning policy. I was not asking for anything unreasonable. On the third day of my stay, I politely asked the front desk multiple times to make sure our room would be cleaned. Because I already had little confidence at that point, I even asked them to write down my room number. When we came back around 4 PM, the room had still not been cleaned at all.

We followed up again, and the front desk promised they would contact the manager and provide a solution. Of course, nobody ever contacted us. That was the most frustrating part of this stay: not just the problems themselves, but the constant empty promises. This hotel does not seem to take its own commitments seriously, and after reading other reviews, it seems this has been happening for a long time.

Nice location, but the hotel really needs some updating/facelift. We had a lovely room facing the ocean so that was nice. The drapes were falling apart, there was no microwave in the room, you had to pay for one on a nightly basis. We only had two towels in the bathroom, no bathroom floor towel. There was no bag for the ice container and that was dirty. We had to request more towels, and an extra blanket. There was no safe in room. Just really needs updating and better attention to cleaning. The staff were friendly.

The hotel was clean and the staffs were very friendly 🥰 we had enjoyed our stay! thanks Hilo Hawaiian Hotel for your hospitality! 🥰

Location

The location in proximity to job site

The location is great. Has an old Hawai’i vibe. Food and drink limited. No morning coffee, but within walking distance to a great local coffee shop.

Breakfasts were good tasting with the exception of açaí fruit bowl. The ingredients in the açaí fruit bowl tasted like they had been open and exposed to the refrigerator. In other words, it tasted of fridge.

Location and cold a/c

Stanza bella e grande.