Aloha!
Sleepy eyed, we were greeted with flower leis and friendly smiles at the entrance of The Royal Hawaiian, otherwise known as The Pink Palace in Waikiki, Hawaii.
Tired from our flight, it was only fitting to end the night staring at the sky, and sipping Mai Tai’s at the Royal Hawaiian’s Mai Tai Bar overlooking the ocean.
The Royal Hawaiian is basically an Instagrammer’s dream, the entire hotel is surrounded by lush greenery, gorgeous palm trees, and accents of pink all around- pink walls, pink hallways, pink beach umbrellas, pink pink pink! I can’t even begin to tell you how picturesque everything about the hotel is. We stayed in the beautiful Historic Ocean Suite which meant we got to wake up every morning to the stunning ocean!
With all the views, I had to pack so many outfits from dinner dresses to bathing suits. If you want some tips on how to pack for a tropical vacation without taking 6 suitcases for your #ootds click here.
Disclaimer: The Royal Hawaiian Hotel provided us with a lovely Media Rate for our stay. That said, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Situated right by the Waikiki beach, The Royal Hawaiian is located at a prime location along the Waikiki strip that’s filled with luxury shopping, a variety of restaurants and more beaches. We spent our days exploring and looking for hole-in-the-wall restaurants on the strip and found many that we loved. The convenience in location is that a lot of the bus lines and trolley stops is in walking distance from The Royal Hawaiian. There is also a shopping mall known as the Royal Hawaiian Centre where you can find a variety of cafes and restaurants.
The girls, Krystin, Flora and I made fast friends with our favourite concierge, Jas who literally made us laugh every time we spoke to her. She is also one of the most efficient people I’ve ever met, helping with recommendations on where and how to get to places. We also found from our friend Jas, that there were so many different activities that guests could participate in while staying in the hotel such as Morning Yoga, Intro Surf Lessons, Hula Classes, Flower Lei Making, Historic Walks through the hotel and more!
My goal for the trip was to embrace as much Hawaiian culture as I possibly could! I wanted to learn about everything from the food, language, music, and anything I could absorb. I was eating so much Poke and Loco Moco on this trip, and the seafood in Hawaii was absolutely divine. There is also a huge Japanese population that contributes to the overall Hawaiian culture, which I thought was super cool.
I had my first Loco Moco at the Surf Lanai Restaurant in the Royal Hawaiian. We ordered one speciality dish from the kitchen and grabbed food from the buffet line. *drools. . PS: Loco Moco is a Hawaiian dish that consists of rice, a patty, fried egg and smothered in gravy.
A notable experience is the Aha’ aina Luau! I’ve never been to a luau but have heard fantastic things about it! Thanks to The Royal Hawaiian, we were able to experience the luau right at the hotel. It was such a beautiful evening learning about the culture through story telling, dance and music. I am SUCH a performance freak- love everything to do with the stage and performance! Now, I also know the correct way of pronouncing Hawaii – (Ha-vai-ee). I even got to witness and try the POI – Hawaiian Taro dish.
There’s just so many amazing things about the vacation that I can’t put into words! I’ve basically fallen in love with The Royal Hawaiian and Hawaii and want to go back asap! I’ll also be crafting a special post about my tips on where to visit so keep an eye out!
Find out more about The Royal Hawaiian and to book your stay, click HERE
Till next time, Mahalo,
Samantha