Pagoda Hotel

I had the worst service here I stayed here for only 1 night with rude front desk and when i finally entered my room I noticed stained rugs and the bed seems a bit dirty I won’t be heading to this hotel

One word: Pitiful! In fact, not even worth a star. Reminds me of a dusty old motel. Front desk needs training for courtesy. We had a reservation and upon checking in they could not even find it. Clerk kept saying we are booked no rooms available.
Eventually, they would find me another room for a higher rate of course.
Since I paid a lot more you would expect a little more upgraded room. Hell no! I got put on the first floor a yard away from the elevator and main entrance. It honestly felt like the janitors quarters.
Both Refrigerators were down and smelly. Loud air conditioner box an arm length away from your bed. Blowing directly on your head. Twin beds. This was really great for my 6 ft 4 husband.
Carpet was soiled. The bathroom took the cake… Ever saw an asylum bathroom. Porcelain tiles. Rusted safety bars. Sickening dirt in the grout.
Oh. Yah. Try having your window next to a garbage bin. The room must have been near to the main kitchen because you constantly heard dish carts passing by. This lasted till about 2am. Then the garbage truck comes.
If you have a truck definitely don’t park in the Ross Parking tower. I was told by the parking garage attendant it was 6’4 ft high. IT WAS actually 5 ft 10. Scraped my truck.
So, I recommend never ever go to this hotel. You can get a more fabulous hotel and anemities for the same price at Aqua hotels, or Outrigger for Kammaina Rates.

Pagoda is very good for the price and the location. It is walking distance to Waikiki and they also have a shuttle service, shared with other hotels. Also good to reach the hoghway. The parking lot is 10 $/​night and the rooms are large and clean. The mandatory «hospitality fee» is 10 $ as welt on top of what you pay for the room, but that seems to be standard for these hotels. Recommended

My Wife told the front desk that I was going to check in at 3:00p.m. When I got there I was told that she had to be here. We are having our home remodeled and demolition was being done.
I had to wait 5 hours for my Wife to arrive for me to check in. We also had problems with the reservation.
They told me that we will be out on the 17^th when our reservation was till the 20^th.
What’s wrong with the help here?
My Wife paid cash for our stay.
I figured that this would be a convenience since my Condo is across the street.
Trust me I will never come back here.

My family and I have stayed here on three of our visits to Hawaii. We travel to Hawaii 1 – 2 times a year. Always liked staying at the Pagoda because of the convenience to the shopping mall and a few nice places to eat. However, on our last travel, we stayed here and we have decided not to visit this hotel again. There were BED BUGS!!! In three of the rooms we were moved 3 different times during our 10 night stay. Our vacation was ruined. Management NEVER contacted us even with the numerous amounts that we attempted to speak to them about our room. The hotel finally reimbursed us 4 of the 10 nights that we paid for, BUT it took months of writing and calling for them to do that. We will NEVER go back to this hotel again!

This place is always a good place to just sleep. There isn’t really anything extravagant. The hotel location is very convenient, being around many nearby shopping. The renovations to the rooms were definitely needed, and the cable is better since there is HD channels, and not limited to what it was before.
If you are just looking for a place to sleep, this is the place to be.
If not, look elsewhere.

I had stayed at the Pagoda a couple of years ago and had no incident then. I loved it because the rooms were cheaper and larger than the Ala Moana Hotel, for being in the same area. The hotel at that time seemed on par with the Ala Moana Hotel so I was quite okay with booking there again.
This time it was pretty awful. First of all, they were renovating the lobby, so once getting in the door, we had to go through some back hallways that looked like it was probably an employees only area before. After going through this narrow hall, we had to go outside the building to the other side of the hotel to check-​in and go to a very small room where only one person at a time could be inside.
They had been and were apparently upgrading the hotel during this time, so there were odd «new» things and older things around the hotel. They added screens inside the elevators, but the elevators itself were still rather old and slow. One of two of the elevators had those cloth things hanging up in it as if they were going to remodel that one soon.
The halls inside the hotel were very old looking, from the carpet to the paint job on the walls. It seemed much worse than the first time I had stayed there. I’m not sure if the locks were also new, but the first few times we couldn’t get the key to work. Throughout the whole weekend, we had a bit of trouble with our card keys.
The hotel room had a new TV and a PS3 inside. The microwave, coffee maker, iron, hair dryer and mini fridge all looked like old items. The air conditioner was older and made quite a bit of sound. Nothing in this room had been remodeled. The carpet, walls, bathroom, everything was still very old. There was a note saying they were currently upgrading the cable channels and would be subjected to cablemen entering the room whenever they needed to (luckily, they did not come in any time that we were there). Because of that I am assuming, we only had about 20 channels that worked and most of them were Korean/​Japanese channels.
The cleanliness of the room was appalling. The bedding smelled like someone was smoking in the room. It smelled like someone smoked on them and they didn’t bother washing anything. The bathtub looked like it had not be scrubbed since the first time I stayed there years ago.
On the 2^nd day of our stay, hot water runs out. By this point it is already 9am. We call the front desk and they say they will get the maintenance guy to look at it. Maybe 30 minutes later, we at least get lukewarm water. For the rest of the time there, we could only get lukewarm water. No hot water in a hotel.
Other than the rundown-​ness of the hotel now, there were also some pretty seedy looking people hanging around outside the entrance at night. They were always out there, every night. Some of them went in and up the elevator, so maybe they were staying there as well. But it was pretty unsettling having these kinds of people just hanging around outside the door.
I will not be staying at the Pagoda anymore. Next time I have to stay in the area, I will just book the over-​priced Ala Moana Hotel. It’s nicer and seems a lot safer than the Pagoda. I am so disappointed that the Pagoda has come to this. I really did like it a few years back when I first stayed. It’s kind of just gross now.

I stayed here on a business trip. It was in a convenient location, near restaurants, Walmart, etc… I didn’t get to use much of the facilities due to work, but the pool looked nice. The hotel is under construction do it is a bit hard to navigate. I thought the desk staff were very helpful and friendly. I felt I didn’t get the most out of my $ 10/​day resort fee. I was able to rent free movies but nothing else really was included. The Pagoda restaurant gives you a discount but it smelled a little funky due to the coy pond. I did like feeding the fish and the food was yummy. The room was a little old and dingy feeling but I felt safe and slept well.

My experience here has been good! I’m actually writing this review from at the pool, after a much welcomed business meeting cancellation. I seldom get time to «hang by the pool».
I’m recommending The Pagoda primarily for the location and peace and quiet. I’ve been coming to Hawaii for many years on business, and unless you want to pay the crazy resort rates to «get to the other side», you’re mostly stuck in Waikiki — which is horrible for a business traveler — insane traffic, tourists, crowds, etc. and all that goes with that.
The Pagoda is a little oasis in Honolulu, away from the insanity of Waikiki and the dingy yukkiness of the HNL airport hotels or the crazy expensive resorts on the island. I wish I had discovered this place years ago.
The good: clean, recently improved room, with great bed and pillows and really good air conditioning; shower is nice (old-​school dual knob so fussy to adjust though) and bathroom facilities are good; convenience store IN THE LOBBY! — has beer, wine, snacks, and all that; free coffee in the AM (IN ROOM ONLY, so far as I can tell but still not common in Waikiki hotels); free DVD rental; ample parking (albeit in the 7-​floor garage across the street but still very close) — and it’s reasonable, by Hawaii rates anyway!; wonderful and responsive staff — EVERYONE has been so nice and accommodating; nice quiet pool (OK, yesterday about 30,000 teenagers were in it but that was a one-​off I think); fast modern elevators (trust me: that’s a plus in older hotels in the Honolulu area!); right next to the shopping mall! Wives might like that part — it’s a pretty huge mall at that.
The «not so good»: The restaurant & bar has a mind of its own. No one seems to have a clue when or if it might be open next… could never get a straight answer. It’s quite pretty as far as I can tell — in the middle of a giant «water feature» — but closed and will not be open the entire time I’m here for no apparent reason that the staff can provide… weird. So forget about «free breakfast and coffee» is pretty much it. (There are ZILLIONS of places to eat in walking distance, but still). My room is clearly very old, remodeled many times — with all the scars that go with that — holes in the wall, patched plaster, weird geometries of doors vs. walls, etc… but I generally forgive that stuff because this hotel probably dates to 1960 or so.
SOLID 4-​stars all things considered — think «Business Traveler» here — it’s NOT a vacation resort destination!!! If you want that, pay the big bux and hit the beachfront hotels in Waikiki. But if you want COMFORT and EASY IN /​OUT for business or whatever, the Pagoda IMO is it for this area.
It’s now my standard for Oahu business travel
Dave

We came to Honolulu to see family and wanted a well located, moderately priced hotel. We can not be happier with the Pagoda. The rooms have been renovated; it is clean & quiet with comfortable beds. In addition, it sits 2 blocks from ala moana shopping center, where you can afford to shop because your hotel didn’t break the bank. There are plenty of good restaurants within a short walk, including the Pagoda’s own! I’d stay hear again in a minute!

My laptop was stolen out of my locked room. The insurance company for the hotel refused to cover the cost. The hotel manager felt bad and did reimburse me ²⁄₃ of the cost. It was extremely difficult to communicate with security. Some unsavory characters hanging around the hotel.

Review of our hotel stay with a dog at the terrace (across the street from the main hotel):
We are a military family transferring to the island & we chose the Pagoda to save money & because it allows dogs.
Location: pretty neat area because it is located in what is called Korea-​moku (Korea Town, basically). We absolutely love the Korean culture & food so the area fit us perfectly. We tried a different Korean restaurant every evening… so we basically ate like kings! Our favorites, btw, were: Uncle Sim’s, Sorabol, & Yakiniku Don-​Day. You can walk to all of them.
Hotel room: oh my goodness, not good. I get grossed out easily & our room definitely grossed me out at times. No lie, we called maintenance every day for things that definitely needed immediate attention — like: sink that wouldn’t drain whatsoever, a toilet that continuously flushed for hours, & shoddy internet. Very important to know, regarding internet: no Wifi — yes, people, you read that right, no wifi located at this hotel. They offer internet via ethernet cord with a daily fee. I do have to say that the maintenance staff are extremely friendly & really do try to get everything fixed right away. But the sheets were scratchy, the refrigerator had an odd smell, & the bathroom was lacking. But the rooms are large. (we stayed in room 333)
Parking: they offer parking in a garage for a fee & there is street parking located on Rycroft (metered — 2 hrs).
We didn’t feel very comfortable in our room & couldn’t wait to get out of there, but it was doable for the time we were here & we did save money doing so. I’m just not sure if I could do it again. I believe paying more money for a nicer hotel is definitely worth it. This place needs a major rehab.

pagoda hotel is no longer going to be a hotel.
They are selling the apartment unit to low income house.
It’s sad to see old party hotel go but good for the young people who are trying to buy cheap first time home owner.

I went there with the hubby for lunch. He got the garlic chicken with rice and I got the oxtail ramen. We both thought that the garlic chicken was good. It was tender and the garlic sauce was perfect. The oxtail ramen was very good too. The bowl was huge and they gave quite a few pieces of oxtail. I prefer theirs to Asahi Grills. I had initially ordered the oxtail with rice but I guess the server put in the wrong order. By the time the food came I was so hungry that I just decided to go with it. They gave so much noodles that my husband ate half the bowl and I was still stuffed.
Free parking for lunch at their parking structure. The service was lacking a bit. There was a hostess, a waiter and a manager. The manager was consistently on the floor. He filled water glasses, took orders, sat people, wiped tables and rang up checks. It took 15 minutes for someone to come and take our order, 15 minutes to get our food and another 15 minutes to cash us out. We got there at 12:15 and left at 1:40.

Recently publicized in the Honolulu Magazine and coupled with Groupon offerings for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I decided to give this place a try. The pictures in the Honolulu Magazine led me to believe the new chefs and proprietors spent some $$ to give that place a facelift. Well, not quite.
They cleaned the pond and the pagoda area is nice. They changed the carpets and got new chairs. They added a bar in the restaurant and the isolated the buffet to the side of the dining area.
Staffing must be relatively new. Not all of them knew what to do, how to do etc. For example, this guy brought a tray of oysters out to refill the buffet. There were only 12 oysters on his tray and the buffet held at least 30 oysters. But that’s part of training so it can be corrected.
And the cold buffet (oyster, shrimp, poke) ROOM TEMPERATURE… not good!
The hot carving station said prime beef. It was a brisket from the taste and cut :(
The crab legs were snow crab not king crab
What was good? The stuffed baked salmon, fried rice and desert…
Looked at the table next to us who ordered ala carte and boy ! the portions were SMALL.
Buffet $ 35.95 per person (I’d pay a little bit more and go elsewhere I think).
Ala carte pricing average $ 23 per entrée… (I’d pay a little bit more and go elsewhere I think)
Parking? PLENTIFUL Street and parking lot.

***Rating is based on SUNDAY BRUNCH***
Came here today for a function. I have been here several times before the renovation so I was excited to try here again.
First of all, when I eat at a buffet, I immediately lower my expectations as the food quality usually is NOT that great. For the main food selection, I give it 3-​stars. The salad selection was decent and looked very fresh. They also had tako poke, shrimp cocktail and kim chee mussels. Also noticed some sushi but passed on it as I was trying to control the carb intake.
For the breakfast items, they had bacon, portuguese sausage, link sausage and some potatoes. I was delighted to see florentine eggs benedict and took one but the egg was slightly overcooked. Perhaps it sat on the buffet line too long…
In the hot items, I was very pleased with their steamed fish fillet prepared Chinese style topped with black mushrooms, julienne ginger, Chinese parsley and green onion. This was VERY tasty and I even went back for seconds.
For the main station they had french toast and belgian waffles with fresh whipped cream and fruits but I passed on these. Next I was surprised on the tempura — the quality was decent with a large selection of veggies (mushroom, sweet potato, veggies, carrots, zucchini) and the shrimp was cooked well. They had the daikon oroshi and dipping sauce but ate it plain as the cooked applied salt immediately after it came out of the oil.
For the prime rib carving station, I asked the chef for the rarest piece and to cut it on the thick side as I don’t care for thinly sliced beef. I’m a carnivore and want to break down the meat with my teeth!!! The accompanying horseradish cream sauce was very good. Next to the prime rib they had an omelet station as well as snow crab legs which I passed on both. I am NOT a fan of snow crab and too much work if you ask me.
The disappointment: COLD SOMEN and dessert station. The TSUYU for the somen was soooo watery that it had not flavor. I put grated ginger and wasabi but try imagine mixing it with water and eating somen — — YUCK!!! I took one bite and it almost came right out…
The dessert was an eyesore. The quality was very poor and not much of a selection. I saw ZENZAI (Japanese red bean dessert w/​mochi) but skipped on this. For the ice cream bar, it was ICE MILK and very watery, too. The dessert station gets 1-​star from me.
The service was decent as the waiter was attentive in taking our drink orders and taking away our finished plates.
Overall, this brunch buffet gets 2-​stars and don’t think will be back here again.
NOTE:
(1) This is the first brunch I’ve been to where fruit juice is NOT part of the buffet. You only get coffee or tea. Orange juice is an additional charge!!!
(2) Parking is still very limited so you can also park across the street at Ross Stores. With validation we still had to pay $ 3.
(3) You can purchase fish food and feed their KOI fish in the pond.

The hotel — it is good for basic needs and it’s cheap. I stayed here recently while traveling with dad. The rooms are small, old and in desperate need of renovation, but no big deal to either of us. Also, during our stay, one elevator was shut down for remodeling. Good thing we were on the second floor right next to the stairs. At least the air conditioning in the rooms are better now.
From a family perspective, I would personally opt for elsewhere. My wife and I have two kids and we usually stay at a typical spot in Waikiki. Last time it was the Marriott (old Hawaiian Regent). They like a bigger, nicer room, big pool with a bar and proximity to the beach. You get what you pay for, eh?
The restaurant — I still like to check out the fish every time I’m here. I’m kind of bummed about the breakfast buffet being discontinued. However, I did some oxtail, kim chee fried rice that was pretty tasty. It was a huge plate, plus I ordered a side of portuguese sausage so it was a struggle to finish. I’ve never lunch or dinner here. Maybe when I was a kid, but I can’t remember back that far. LOL

One of my sons and I stayed here last week during our visit to Honolulu. The rooms are the same and a little dilapidated, but passable, I guess.
I guess they have done away with the breakfast buffet for while now — I think that even my last trip here in 2010 did not have the breakfast buffet anymore. But we ate breakfast one day here — I had eggs and portuguese sausage and fried rice — it was very good. My son had eggs with kimchee/​oxtail fried rice — he said it was good too. The prices for both breakfasts were about $ 10 — higher than what we can get on the Mainland, but comparable with Zippy’s meals (which son had to eat breakfast there one day since he used to love Zippy’s as a kid).
But unfortunately, our itinerary did not allow for us to experience the dinner buffet again. I wanted to compare it to what we used to remember years ago.

My grandfather and I used to come here all the time when I was a child. Haven’t been here for YEARS! So we decided we should go back just like old times.
PARKING — There is designated parking right by the restaurant. You just have to go up the ramp and park wherever you like. Now, don’t get confused by the paid parking sign. Parking here is FREE until 4PM. Then after 4PM you have to pay for the parking.
THE GRUB:
We both decided to order EGGS BENEDICT because that is our favorite thing to eat! Ha-​ha. ($ 12)

I thought the eggs benedict here was good, comes with lots of hollandaise sauce so cookie points for pagoda!

I’ve been going here for brunch for the past 20 years and I gotta say its been pretty consistent. My family loves coming here for special celebrations or for random Sunday brunches so I don’t really have a choice lol.
The highlight to me is the crab legs and breakfast. The crab legs are not the best, nor the fattest/​meatiest pieces I’ve ever had but acceptable. The omelette station is pretty bomb, and you can find all the other necessary breakfast foods here as well (bacon, Portuguese sausage, eggs Benedict, waffles, etc). Again, pretty simple mediocre stuff you can make yourself at home.
Everything else is meh. Nothing special. But I don’t hate the place, and I don’t mind going if I have to, lol.