Where to Eat and Sleep in Waikiki, Hawaii

The Moana Surfrider hotel serves a traditional afternoon tea on its wide-planked veranda. Photo courtesy of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Waikiki.

Resorts

Halekulani Hotel

A nearly 100-year-old resort that's home to Orchids restaurant; the six-seat Table One inside Orchids is prime seating for chef Vikram Garg's tasting menus.

Moana Surfrider

Recently refurbished, this white wooden hotel serves a proper afternoon tea on the plank-floored veranda.

Royal Hawaiian

A renovated 1927 pink palace where Clark Gable once stayed. Has the original Mai Tai Bar and a wonderful new seafood restaurant, Azure.

Restaurants

V Lounge

A dive bar with great pizza by a former pastry chef from Nobu Waikiki, who stokes the oven with Hawaiian kiawe wood for a perfectly charred crust.

Surf Esoterica

The Honolulu Surfing Museum

A world-class surfboard collection inside the restaurant Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber; visitors can order an umbrella drink at the tiki-style bar before heading into the exhibits.

Article updated January 2011.

Published June 2010

Hawaii: Searching for Retro Waikiki