Hotel Autograph Collection di Honolulu

I booked The Laylow based on the great reviews, photos and ratings. It’s in a great location beside the international market place, an ABC Store (these are every where in Waikiki) and one block back from the beach. This also makes it easier catching The Bus to Ala Moana shopping centre. It has its own coffee shop, bar and inside/outside dining area called The Hideout. The bar and outdoor seating get very busy so get there early. There is no preference for hotel guests either. I had breakfast at the Hideout most mornings but I found the modern Hapa Hawaiian Cuisine is not to my taste. I love a traditional American style breakfast so this was not terribly satisfying. The evening menu is not much better, but there are lots of restaurants around the area. There is a “steak house”, in the building, but I did not feel comfortable there as it was more a bar with food and the customers seemed a bit rough. The hideout coffee bar serves a great selection of coffees, especially for non-Americans who don’t like drip coffee. There is a good selection of pastries, but no savoury options! I booked a room on a higher floor and was on the 15th floor facing Waikiki. You could see the Royal Hawaiian (the pink hotel and little bit of ocean). Great sun in the afternoon. The room was excellent with everything you need including a welcome basket with snacks, water bottles and flip-flops! It had a very comfortable king size bed, large flat screen tv., small bar fridge, day bed, chair and a small lanai. I used the lanai a lot in the afternoon to soak up the sun and in the cool of the evenings. Air conditioning is fantastic BUT in these times of looking after the environment it does concern me it runs all day when you are not in the room. It does shut off if you open the lanai door! The bathroom is large and a great shower with an additional handheld shower head. Shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap are supplied. Hair dryer and plenty of towels and bathrobes. I am not sure if every floor has this, but in the hallway you find an ice machine with prepackaged ice (for health reasons) and you have an ice bucket in the room. There is also a set of bar style taps for filtered water, ice water and also carbonated water. Great feature. The photos of the pool make it seem much bigger but it is not large, but adequate. The two seater lounge chairs need some maintenance but it’s a nice area to chill but does not get full sun all day, which is good for me! They served shaved ice in the afternoons and provide towels. I did have a couple of issues with people smoking on their balconies (this is a non smoking hotel and there are lots of signs about this). I did report this twice to the front desk but I am not sure if anything was done about my complaint. One more disappointment was this was my birthday trip and the hotel did not acknowledge this at any time! The restaurants and tours I booked wished me happy birthday….but not the Marriott ( this sounds narcissistic, but it