Mainland family members came over to Honolulu today for a wedding this weekend. We put them up in one of Waikiki’s hotels along the beach. Dinner tonight left us wondering what happened to Hawaii’s aloha spirit and plain on customer service.
We dined tonight at a hotel restaurant on the beach. Entertainment included hula dancers and music. Dinner was a typical hotel buffet. That means the food was not very good and the service was worse. On second thought, the food was worse than the service. The only thing good was the price and the view. The price for four people was under $200. Kamaaina rate.
On second thought, the view wasn’t that good, either. It was after dark. No ocean. No Diamond Head. No view. Just music, dancing, and a dried out buffet struggling to attain to mediocrity and failing miserably. Even at 9:00 PM the place was packed with tourists looking for a few moments to relax and get something to eat and drink.
How do Waikiki hotels get away with charging so much for so little? Because they can. The economy is good, and not just in Hawaii. People everywhere have money and they find places to spend it, including Hawaii.
A local restaurant with less than mediocre food, ridiculously high prices, and poor service won’t last long because no one would go back to endure another dining insutl. Memories and word of mouth advertising would doom such an eating establishment.
Unfortunately, the Waikiki ocean front restaurant in question is not doomed. True, not many visitors will go back, but the hotel doesn’t care. Why? Why should they? Even if the food was the best on the island, most of their customers will never return, and will travel elsewhere and dine elsewhere on their next vacation.
All that’s required of a hotel restaurant in Waikiki is to look presentable and keep the food, or whatever they call it, warmed up for the unsuspecting tourists who plunk down their money and gobble down that which is arguably no worse than food from the airline that brought them to Hawaii.
The music, the dancing, the beach, and the view all combine to salve the pain of the latest candidate for the popular video Waikiki Meals Gone Bad.
Is there value in Waikiki? Yes. Walk along the beach, admire the view, enjoy the free hula shows, but check out the menu at Panda Express.
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