The infinity pool at the Prince Waikiki hangs off the edge of the building, water meeting sky with nothing in between, and getting it built that way wasn’t easy. “The architect was telling me that they had a really hard time getting the permit to do that,” said Heather Labra Doeringer, the hotel’s director of marketing, describing the 2017 renovation that gave the property its signature feature. Other hotels in Waikiki have infinity pools too, she noted, “but I think Sheraton’s hangs, it’s not off the side of the building.” The Prince Waikiki’s does, cantilevered out over Ala Wai Boat Harbor with nothing visible below it but water.
The main pool beside it takes the shape of a keyhole, and that turns out to be no accident either. “We’re at the gateway to Waikiki,” Labra said. “So that’s where that came from.” She laughed a little, thinking about how much intention went into a swimming pool. “They thought of everything when they did those renovations.”
The land itself has a history that runs deeper than the hotel, which opened in 1990 with 563 rooms and suites. “Before the hotel, this land was an estuary,” Labra explained. It was a gathering place, she said, both for Hawaiians and for nature, where the three main streams of Honolulu once converged before reaching the ocean. The hinana fish was born in those waters. So was a rare black seaweed called limu ele ele, which now appears, quietly, in the hotel’s artwork.
Ask Labra what she most wants visitors to understand, and she goes straight to the rooms. “I think really just emphasizing that we’re all ocean view,” she said. “I think that’s the hardest thing to get across to people, because while we’re not oceanfront, necessarily. you’re not going to walk outside our door and find Waikiki Beach right there. We are truly all ocean view, ocean front.” She said it like someone who has watched skeptical guests walk into their room and go quiet.
We understood the reaction. Our king room looked out over the boat harbor, past the sailboats at anchor, to a shimmering blue horizon that seemed to stretch out toward Tokyo.
We spent our second full day at the hotel with a full cabana, reserved from late morning through the afternoon. “You check in whenever you want,” Labra said. “They’ll take you over to the cabana, it comes with food and beverage, and you just get to enjoy it. If you need anything, you just let us know.” We did, watching the keyhole pool shift through its shades of blue before heading way upstairs for a dinner buffet at 100 Sails.
Even after a lifetime in Honolulu, Labra said the view has not lost its effect on her. “I’m born and raised here,” she said, “and still to this day, I’m still amazed at how gorgeous our views are.” A spa renovation is next, she said converting hotel rooms into a full-service space with thermal suites. “We’re hoping that we’ll be open by early next year,” she said.
Standing at the keyhole, looking out past the boat harbor to the water beyond, it was easy to imagine, and hard to wait.
The 411:
Prince Waikiki
100 Holomoana Street, Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 956-1111 · Toll-free (855) 622-7558
princewaikiki.com
Dining includes 100 Sails Restaurant and Bar, Katsumidori Sushi Tokyo, Hinana Bar poolside, and Honolulu Coffee Company. Current offers include the Kamaaina Sizzling Summer package, with ocean rooms from $219, waived resort charge, 50 percent off parking, and discounted pool cabana and Hawaii Prince Golf Club green fees, running through mid-December, and a Kamaaina Wine and Dine package with a $75 dining credit, oceanfront rooms from $259, and 10 percent off pool cabana rentals, bookable now through December 15. A spa renovation is underway, with a full-service spa and thermal suites expected to open in early 2027.
