Hotel at a Glance: Aqua Palms Waikiki

This colorful, laid-back boutique hotel sits in the heart of one of the country’s most celebrated vacation destinations: Honolulu’s beachfront neighborhood of Waikiki. The property is just a short walk from the sand, where you can set up camp for the day using beach chairs and towels borrowed from the front desk.

• Lounge in the sun next to the outdoor pool.
• In-room entertainment: free WiFi and 42-inch LCD TVs with Blu-ray players and Playstation 3 consoles
• Discounts: You’ll get $5 off parking and the daily resort fee (includes free wifi, coffee, daily newspaper, shuttle service, and use of the Playstation) will be waived throughout your stay.
• Manager’s reception: Every Wednesday from 5 p.m.–6 p.m., you can mingle with other guests while enjoying complimentary snacks and signature cocktails.
• Shuttle service to the shops at Ala Moana Center and other destinations
• Activities desk: Get help arranging watersports excursions and trips to historical sites.
• IHOP restaurant onsite

Waikiki, Honolulu: White-Sand Beaches, World-Class Surfing, and Luxury Entertainment

In 1911, local Waikiki kid Duke Kahanamoku beat the world record for the 100-meter freestyle swim by 4.6 seconds at an amateur swim meet—a feat so unimaginable that athletic officials refused to recognize it. But when he won an Olympic gold medal the following year, Duke became an international sensation despite them. Photogenic and frequently in the press, he was rarely seen without his surfboard, popularizing that local pastime in the press. This publicity helped turn Waikiki from a private playground for Hawaii’s ruling class into a travel hot spot as people came from all over to take surfing lessons from a celebrity athlete. Today, you can see Duke’s likeness immortalized in a bronze statue on Waikiki’s Kuhio Beach.

When they’re not surfing or sunbathing on the beach, most travelers explore the area’s busy avenues lined with everything from upscale boutiques and nightclubs to craft booths and street performers. Other attractions include the Honolulu Zoo, which houses exotic and endangered species such as sumatran tigers and white-handed gibbons, and the Waikiki Aquarium, where more than 3,500 creatures of the Pacific glide throughout glassed-in galleries.

Also nearby is one of Hawaii’s most recognizable natural landmarks, Diamond Head State Monument—a 300,000-year-old saucer formed by a single explosive eruption. Hikers can walk along a trail where molten lava once smoldered to ascend to the crater’s 560-foot-tall lip.

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