Tier Point Run to Hawaii in Nov 2022 – Day 4 – Morning in Waikiki

I was quite pleased with myself for the amount of sleep I got overnight! I turned out the light at around 11pm and slept through to about 3am. That’s a lie-in in the world of Nige’s sleep patterns, especially when in a different time zone!

I had a quick chat with the Vickster and then I planned my trip out to pick up my first Starbucks of the day. That’s the one on Park Shore, Kalakaua & Kapahulu Ave. It opens at 4am and I think shift staff must use it either going in or coming home from their work. Why else would a Starbucks be open at that time of the day? It’s certainly not for the benefit of staff! In fact there’s another Starbucks open at 4am not so far away, although further out of Waikiki, so it’s not the only one.

On the way to Starbucks I got drenched – it was raining heavily in Waikiki so I had to run between buildings that had an overhang to protect me from the rain. Obviously I couldn’t do that all the way. It’s just over half a mile and it’s quiet, warm and amazing that there are still people out after enjoying the evening before. I also saw numerous vagrants who were lying on the floor trying to sleep; some not bothering to move out of the way of the rain. With it being so warm here, it’s hardly going to take long before clothes dry out.

By the time I headed back to the hotel, the rain had stopped so I could enjoy the warm, quiet start to the day. This is one of the main reasons I love being here. Waking up early, walking out in the warm, quiet air of a Waikiki Sunday morning and picking up a Starbucks!

The rain had started again by the time I got back to the hotel, but I wasn’t planning on going out in the next couple of hours anyway. With the Brazilian Grand Prix being on TV between 8am and 10am, I had my mid-morning sorted. So any thought of walking up Diamondhead or heading to Pearl Harbor had gone out of the window!

Once I had finished my Starbucks, I popped down to the TP Fire Grill on the lobby floor for a spot of breakfast, which was pretty tasty. I ordered the two eggs, over easy with bacon and potatoes.

I had already organised a 1pm checkout prior to my arrival, but ideally I wanted a checkout at 6pm, so after breakfast I asked the Front Desk. The two colleagues manning the desk at 6:15am concluded after about 5 mins that I couldn’t stay in the same room since it was required for another guest, but I could move into a different room for $108 which would allow me to hang around until 6pm. Alternatively, I could just book another room for 50,000 points. I decided to consider those options later this morning! I’ve read a lot online about how stingy Hilton are re late checkouts for their Diamond members and I guess this is a prime example. Shame.

As it happens, the hotel misled me about the $108 charge for a late checkout using a different room. When I spoke to the manager she confirmed this was not correct and I should not have been offered that option. I ended up booking a room at the Hilton Waikiki Beach hotel just up the road (on the same road!) with points and submitting a complaint to Hilton and requesting a refund of the 60,000 that I had to spend due to the poor information provided first thing this morning.

After the grand prix finished, I headed out on a walk through Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) and picked up my second Starbucks of the day. It was really hot now, but interspersed with (at times) quite heavy rain showers. If I had a cagoule it would have been fine to have gotten wet, but I didn’t and I didn’t want to get soaking wet with me flying later on tonight.

On my travels I visited numerous Crazy Shirt shops – four so far just in and around Waikiki. There are probably more. I bought a Pearl Harbor T Shirt which I thought was appropriate with it having been armistice day recently.

Back to the hotel for a chill before checking out at 1pm (on the dot!), popping into TCF and then checking in at the Hilton Waikiki Beach for a few hours before heading to the airport at around 8pm. My flight tonight was due to leave at midnight.

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