One of the best views in a building known for its views! Smallish, 247 square feet, with everything I myself would want as a guest, including no cleaning fee, and great price! Short walk to beach, Ala Moana Shopping Center, and the Convention Center. Queen bed plus two twin floor mattresses (sleeps four in a pinch), large refrigerator, microwave, AC, Netflix, WiFi, plus extra amenities such beach wagon and chairs, cooler, boogie boards, sand toys, crib. Childcare service and pop-up tent extra.
The space
I waited a long time to get the exact view I wanted. Beautiful and ever changing light, mountains and park by day, Honolulu city lights by night. The room looks out onto the Ko’olau mountain range, the Manoa Valley, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Also, there are a lot of sports going on at Ala Wai Park just across the canal (especially baseball and soccer). You have a birds’ eye view of it all from 21 floors up. Watching might inspire you to do your own workout😅!
I call this place “Hale Honu Kai” and you will notice my prices are much lower than others in the building. That’s because I believe that travel, R&R (Rest and Recreation), and building memories are an important part of life and I wanted to make a beautiful Hawaiian vacation possible for as many people as I can. I also want to share what Hawaii is to me: comfortable, laid-back casual. There are many spaces in the building with deluxe renovations and matching towels (with prices that reflect that). Mine is not one of them. I have not hired a manager, I do it all virtually from my home in California, and I pass the savings onto my guests. Even so, it’s more expensive than Thailand or Vietnam, I know. That’s because taxes on short-term rentals is crazy high in Hawaii, plus housing is expensive and I have to pay for my wonderful cleaner, Mai.
The name “Hale Honu Kai” is Hawaiian for “Home of the Sea Turtles”🌴🌺🐢. I call the room that because it is small—247 square feet—but mighty, outfitted with everything you need for even an extended stay. Sea turtles travel thousands of miles with their home on their backs. My guests travel thousands of miles to stay at Hale Honu Kai😊🐢. I want them to feel as though Hale Honu is their home away from home, secure and tidy.
My goal is for Hale Honu Kai is to be affordable enough for you to come again and again, for you WANT to come back again and again and for you to tell all your friends about this great little place you found☺️.
You are a 10-12 minute walk to the beach, and an 18 minute walk to Ala Moana, the biggest outdoor shopping center in America. There’s an excellent bakery downstairs, a fabulous array of food trucks across the street, a small supermarket three blocks away, and two big supermarkets within walking distance: take the beach wagon provided in the unit and load up on groceries! For little things you’ve got a sundry store downstairs, a 7-11 a block away, and Waikiki’s beloved ABC Stores everywhere.
You can do a surprising amount of cooking at Hale Honu Kai. I’ve outfitted it with all kinds of things🙂.
Business Travelers: The Hawaii Convention Center and the Hilton Hawaiian Village (where a lot of conventions are held) are both only a few blocks away. The University of Hawaii is an easy Uber ride. You could even walk there; it’s only 1.3 miles away. I have pretty high speed WiFi and two one person tables that are perfect height for working on a laptop (one of them has to double as a bedside table because the room is so small). I’m a writer and have gotten a lot of good writing done sitting by the window, enjoying the view😊.
The walkability of this location gives you a lot of flexibility. You really don’t need a car because Waikiki itself has a lot to do and see. My recommendation is to Uber in from the airport or take the City Bus. I can give you exact directions for the latter. Uber is usually $30 but “surge” pricing can double it; my driver does it for $25 plus tip (ask me about him). Once you’re in Waikiki you can rent a car only for the days you want to explore Oahu. 808 Smart Car downstairs (three day minimum) has better prices than anything you can get at the airport.
The one drawback to Waikiki is the expensive parking. Waikiki is an island, like Manhattan. It’s walkable and small, but not meant for cars. The parking garage at my building is $45 a night, $40 if you book more than one night. You get half off if you rent a car from downstairs, which makes it a good deal, otherwise I know less expensive places a short walk away. There are TWO car rental places downstairs: 808 is budget friendly and the other one has fancy, fun cars.
Check out my guidebook, “Sonya’s Guidebook”, available on this app :) There you’ll see some of my favorite things to do near my place as well as on the rest of Oahu.
The studio includes a twin fold-away futon and a twin air bed because sometimes you need that extra bedding for a third and even fourth adult (in a pinch) or a couple of kids. I also have a fold-up crib for infants with a comfy mattress. The space is SMALL, though, (247 square feet) so more than two-three people you’re looking at tight quarters😅!
I provide two child-size boogie boards as well as two adult ones. Waikiki has the best waves for this, truly. Please don’t take my boogie boards to the North Shore in the winter, they’ll snap in two with the big waves! … I also have sand toys and a wagon to haul children and groceries in😊. I want little ones to feel welcome.
There are two beach chairs in the wagon and a Tobtos pop up tent. It’s a true pop-up, you take it out of the sleeve and it pops up😃! If, like me, you’re not techie or mechanical, go on YouTube to see videos on how to fold it up again so it can fit back into its sleeve. The tent’s fabric is special; it blocks harmful UV rays, so you can relax and enjoy the ocean. I have a third beach chair if you need one. Also, I provide special microfiber beach towels: sand shakes off easily from them. Try to shake off all the sand you can OUTSIDE because sand is very hard on the Monarch’s vacuum cleaners and laundry facilities.
Also, please note that the entire building is non-smoking. Be careful because there are security cameras everywhere and they do charge fines if they see you smoking!! They figure out who you are because there are so many cameras they track you right back to the room, I’m not kidding. The fines help pay for the security staff, which is a big one, extra-diligent and 24/7. They make the building super-safe, but they’re bad for smokers.
Here’s me geeking out: this room has a view of the Manoa Valley part of the Ko’olau mountain range. That’s the dark part. Manoa Valley happens to be in a “rain shadow”: an unusual geographical formation in which warm air is forced up a very steep mountainside and releases its moisture when it hits the cold air. This creates rainbows because it’s only raining up there, sunny everywhere else. There are so many, in fact, that the Rainbow is the mascot of the UH, my undergraduate Alma Mater😊🌈. I’ve seen as many as four rainbows at once from the windows of this studio😃. Which is why I bought it!😃 You can wish upon rainbows…
Guest access
You have the studio to yourself. No one will enter while you’re there. There are Airbnb lock boxes on the Lower Level Lobby. You pick up the card key there (self check-in) so you can check in anytime. Leave the card key on the counter in the room when you check out. … Be careful of those card keys, by the way. They charge the owners $20 a pop, which means that’s what I’ll have to charge you if you lose one!
My building, the Monarch, was built in 1979, so I wouldn’t say it’s fabuloso, but it’s not kitschy, thank goodness. If you want stupendous, you can walk over to the big hotels lining Waikiki beach. It’s free to sit in the lobbies, they’re public places. They are truly stunning. But! The room prices are $600 and up with taxes.
The Monarch is convenient and one of the best things about it is it has an exceptionally diligent 24/7 security staff and cameras on every floor. Anyone who wants to do something bad will pick another building. It’s a non-smoking building, by the way. If they catch you on video they will fine you.
The Monarch has a number of businesses in it, all with good, or at least average for Hawaii prices. That’s no small thing! I checked the prices at a boutique at a high end resort in Kona recently: $75 for a t-shirt and a whopping $742 for a swimsuit! You’d think for that price you’d get something specially engineered so when you put it on you suddenly have a great body, but no.
You won’t get hit with those kind of prices at the Monarch, not at all. As I say, it’s not a fancy building, but it’s COMFORTABLE and friendly (except for a couple of the workers at the attached parking garage who seriously need a knot tied in their tail).
There is not one but TWO car-rental agencies downstairs. One is for flash, fun cars, one is for good value. If you rent from them you get half off at the attached parking garage. I’d use the parking garage for that discount even with the two crabby workers. Otherwise, if you need parking I can tell you where there is better and cheaper parking a short walk away.
We have a sundry shop in the lobby and three other sundry shops one to two blocks away. We have an excellent bakery in the lobby that opens with fresh coffee at 4 a.m. for jet-lagged visitors. I’m not kidding, 4 a.m.! (But it closes at 12 noon.) You’ll see the actual baker sometimes, he bakes everything in the pizza shop across the breezeway (which he owns as well). There’s also a little nightclub right in the building, and Crème Pot, one of the best breakfast / brunch / lunch places in Waikiki! Wonderful food, fun interior, and a pretty view of the canal. (See my guidebook attached to this listing for more info on Creme Pot and other things.)
There’s a food truck gathering right across the street. It’s good! There’s even a vegan truck, that’s how diverse it is. All the Uber drivers know it because locals will leave their cars elsewhere and Uber in (they don’t know where to park in Waikiki! I do!😄).
You have free use of the recreation deck on the 6th floor. It’s actually quite nice, but most of my guests don’t use it, they want to be on the beach or hiking! I pay for the recreation deck through my HOA fees so I’m always happy when any of my guests use them. The hotel in the building charges $17.50 per night per room for the exact same facilities, no charge with me! There’s a pool, jacuzzi (not a hot tub, Hawaii is too hot for hot tubs), bbq, and a picnic area. Also, we have a gym on the 1st floor by the security office (it’s $5 for the mandatory liability waiver that Security will do for you. The waiver is good for your whole stay).
Security can hold luggage for you for $5 per piece (cash) for 24 hours. I can hold it for free in the little hallway of Hale Honu Kai as long as the last guests have left/next guests haven’t arrived yet (I’m usually booked every night).
Credit-card operated laundry room on the 5th floor. The sensors can be finicky: if your credit card doesn’t work, pay through the app. Ice machine on the 6th floor to the left of the elevators as you come out. Pool/BBQ area on the 6th floor. Go out onto the deck using your key card. To get back in the building, press the big red button to the left of the door and it will unlock🙂. (I’ve seen people stuck out there because they don’t look up and see the sign!)
Other things to note
Vacations are how we build memories. Sometimes people travel to Hawaii on their own for adventure. Sometimes it’s after a heartbreak, and I want to honor that. Often people come with loved ones, family, and friends. Travel is a good way to build connections with loved ones and expand our horizons. We can learn about the world through travel.
It is a privilege and pleasure it is to be a part of this most wonderful part of life with you☺️😃.
My family is six generations deep in Hawaii and the principles of Aloha and Malama (nurturing care) are real. I live in California and I miss Hawaii every day, which is why I bought Hale Honu Kai. My goal is to provide a beautiful, comfortable, convenient, and AFFORDABLE place to share with all—one person, one couple, one family, one group of friends at a time. Your delight will be my delight and I hope you will come back again and again😊🌴🌺.
Registration details
192626022401, 2114, TA-192-626-0224-01
