Our 13 nights at the the Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort was fantastic.

Our 13 night stay was made up of 3 back to back reservations (3 nights/5 nights/5 nights) paid for with Marriott Bonvoy Points. We were upgraded for all 13 nights of our stay using Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards (NUA’s) that I applied to each of the reservations. I am a Marriott Ambassador Member. Our upgrade was from a City View Standard King Room, to the Ohana Suite on the 25th floor. The Ohana Suite is an 1,100 sq. foot, 2 bedroom suite with 1 King bedroom and 1 bedroom with 2 double beds. On top of the upgrade, we were very surprised when we walked into the room and found an amazing flower arrangement from one of our friends. It lasted the entire stay and kept the room smelling lovely!

Each bedroom has a lanai - the 2 bed lanai overlooks Diamond Head, the Infinity Edge Pool, Waikiki beach and beyond. The King bedroom lanai is shared with the living room, looking west for great sunsets, music and entertainment high above the Halekulani Hotel, fireworks and views for days.

We don’t travel light, and the room absorbed all our clothes, shoes, bathroom stuff, work (yes) stuff and electronics along with all our luggage. Housekeeping is available every day, and while we only requested it a few times during our stay, our housekeeper Cora was Fantastic! She provided great service, kept our room spotless when we asked, supplied as many towels and things we needed every day when we left the room - along with her daily Aloha’s, smile and friendly personality.

We ate breakfast in the hotel each morning - If you’re a Marriott Bonvoy Member, Platinum or above, you have the option of a free continental breakfast for yourself and 1 guest. It is pretty minimal - although the Elite member breakfast upgrades averages about $16/person is a good breakfast. You can choose from any menu item and the discount is about 1/2 price. While it’s been reported that the former Bonvoy Member Lounge offerings here were good before COVID, the lounge never reopened - but it was a standard type buffet and restaurant menu selections were not an option.

We spent about $40/day for the two of us for breakfast upgrading to menu items plus tip. We would not save much - if any - if we walked to breakfast somewhere nearby, nor would it be as convenient or with a view of the ocean or count towards my annual Marriott Bonvoy Qualifying Spend 😉

We had lunch and dinner at the hotel a couple of times, and spent a few dollars at the hotel bars, but in general found plenty of other places to walk, or a few times, drive to.

My wife found some great walkable spots for food, drinks and fun - like the HeyDay Bar at the White Sands Hotel that has swings instead of bar stools - to go along with Waikiki staples like Duke’s Waikiki, Halekulani - House Without A Key, the Mai Tai bar at The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, and The Beach Bar at The Moana Surfrider.

We rented a car for a few days so that we could explore away from the hotel at our own pace. Parking in the hotel garage was $50/day. I rented from the Enterprise Car Rental location in the Marriott Hotel about 3/4 mile down the beach. It was an easy walk to pickup the car. The Sheraton Waikiki does have an AVIS rental location in the hotel. I have heard some rumors that when you rent from the AVIS you’re able to park back in their spot - saving the daily $50 parking charge. A rental car allowed us to visit places including Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Diamond Head, Rainbow Drive-In, Waikiki Beaches, China Mans Hat Island and more. We took a day trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center. That day we took a tour bus that had a pickup/dropoff at the Ross Dress for Less a couple blocks/10 min walk away.

When we weren’t venturing away from the hotel, we made sure to spend time lounging on the beach and at the world famous Infinity Edge Pool - taking in different days with reserved seating in the private Cabana’s, Chairs and Water Loungers. Our favorite space was Cabana #1. It offered privacy, a garden feel, views of the ocean and the pool, snacks, some free drinks and shade when we wanted. The hotel also has a large family pool on the other side of the building, with rental chairs, cabanas, many free lounges, and small water slide. There is a small beach at the hotel, where party catamarans are launched from. You can also access the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian from the family pool area.

The time certainly flew by too fast, and this was the perfect location for us. The 2 weeks we spent (May 17-30) were just after the rainy season, during graduation and right before the busy season. We didn’t find the hotel, the Infinity Pool, bars or restaurants to be too crowded and could always retreat to the privacy of our room. We like the city when we travel and our upgraded suite provided an amazing amount of privacy, whether we were inside or outside. We got to take in some beach time, a few days of pool time, some days where we did nothing and just about enough time to go out and explore.

On the numbers side, this was an amazing redemption using Marriott Bonvoy Points. We spent 684,600 Bonvoy Points that were earned from work travel and spend on a Bonvoy Credit Card that earns Bonvoy Points. I booked a partial ocean view King room with a cash value of $7,580 for a 1 cent/point redemption. The upgrade to the Ohana Suite, that had a cash value of $23,700 increased the redemption to 3.5 cents per point!

All of the staff we encountered were fantastic. There were a few exceptional standouts that started with Isaac and our fantastic check in experience, our housekeeper Cora, the breakfast hostesses and servers, Joe at the pool bar, Mia our server at the Infinity Pool — just such great service all around. I’m not sure we’ll be as fortunate again with overall value, Bonvoy Points Costs and Nightly Upgrade Awards again - but we’re looking forward to returning in the future.