The first renovated rooms at Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort are open. Before you book a fall week there, though, read the resort’s FAQ. The pool is closed from Oct. 5 to Dec. 18, 2026. The club lounge has been closed since February and is not due back until January 2027. And the $50-a-day resort charge still lists pool access among its perks. We have not stayed at the Outrigger; our usual base is Hokulani Waikiki, up Kalakaua Avenue. But this is the kind of news we’d want to have before booking a beachfront hotel, not after.
What happened
In early October 2026, Aloha State Daily reported that the newly renovated guest rooms had been unveiled. They are the first guest-facing piece of Outrigger Hospitality Group’s $100 million refresh of the property. Back in April, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser described that project as the largest single-property renovation in the company’s history.
According to Monica Salter, Outrigger’s vice president of global communications and social responsibility, in an emailed response to Aloha State Daily:
- the resort has 524 rooms across 17 floors
- room renovations began in April, and all 524 rooms are expected to be finished by December
- “We’re now only offering newly renovated guest rooms and suites with the rest of the transformation to follow.”
- “The guest rooms are just the first phase”
The rooms include a mural by Native Hawaiian artist Kamea Hadar and surf photography by Zak Noyle. The later phases include a grand arrival staircase that traces the old ʻĀpuakēhau Stream, an open-air lobby, a surfboard exhibit, a cultural center, and a Voyager 47 Club Lounge more than three times its former size. Neither article gives a finish date for the lobby, the staircase or the cultural center.
What it changes for a Waikiki stay
The resort’s own FAQ fills in the practical side. As of Oct. 7, 2026, it says:
| Item | What the FAQ says |
|---|---|
| New rooms | Choose one of the renovated room categories when you book |
| Pool and Duke’s Sun deck | Closed Oct. 5 to Dec. 18, 2026 |
| Pools you can use instead | Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, Outrigger Waikiki Paradise Hotel |
| Voyager 47 Club Lounge | Temporarily closed from Feb. 28, 2026; expanded lounge scheduled to open January 2027 |
| Resort charge | $50 plus tax per day, per room, added at checkout |
| Parking | Valet only, $60 a night |
| Check-in / check-out | 3 pm / 11 am |
Three things in that table stand out to us.
First, the pool. The resort charge page lists “Access to pool” among the inclusions, along with Wi-Fi for up to four devices, daily in-room coffee and tea, and beach towels. It also lists fitness center access at the Outrigger Waikiki Paradise Hotel, marked “during property enhancement period.” Nothing on either page says the charge drops while the pool is closed. For a seven-night stay, $50 times seven is $350 before tax. Is it fair? We’ll leave that to you. Just know that from now until Dec. 18, “pool access” means walking to a sister hotel.
Second, the club rooms. The FAQ says Club Room and Suite guests get the Voyager 47 lounge and puts the value of club privileges at “more than $300 per night.” It also says the lounge is closed, and the front desk will explain the “alternative arrangements” for club guests. One more wrinkle: the resort’s main page already calls the lounge “newly expanded,” while the FAQ says the expanded lounge opens in January 2027. We’d trust the FAQ and ask.
Third, the rooms themselves. Salter says the resort is now only offering renovated rooms and suites, and the FAQ’s advice is simply to choose a renovated room category when you book. But with all 524 rooms not due until December, an October or November stay still means some of the building is being worked on, so it is worth confirming your booking screen shows a renovated category.
The restaurants are the good news. In April, the Star-Advertiser reported that Duke’s Waikiki, Hula Grill and Blue Note Hawaii would all stay open during construction. The resort’s main page still lists all three.
What we would do — and what we wouldn’t
We are not switching hotels over this. We book our usual Waikiki base with HGV points, and what we want from a room is about as unglamorous as it gets: a kitchen with a microwave that can air-fry, a dishwasher, a big fridge for cold beer and takeout, and a sofa near an open window. A beautiful new beachfront room is lovely. It just isn’t the thing we’re shopping for. Points buy days for us, not views.
If you are booked at the Outrigger this fall, here is what we’d do:
- Check that the booking screen says “renovated” for your room category. Outrigger says that’s all it is selling now; a quick look costs nothing.
- Ask the front desk, before you arrive, how the resort charge works while the pool is closed. The pages do not address a reduction, so the only way to know is to ask, ideally in writing, and keep the reply.
- Hold off on paying extra for Club until January 2027, unless the front desk’s “alternative arrangements” sound worth it to you. The lounge is the main reason to book Club in the first place.
If a pool day is the whole point of your trip, Dec. 18 is the date to plan around. If your plan is the beach out front, lunch at Duke’s and walking everywhere, the closure matters a lot less.
We’ll keep walking past on Kalakaua and taking a look at the new arrival staircase whenever it shows up. No rush.
Before you plan around this
- The pool dates, lounge dates, resort charge and parking rate come from Outrigger’s FAQ and resort-charge page, checked Oct. 7, 2026. The resort-charge page says the charge and its inclusions are “subject to change without notice.”
- The 524-room count, the April start and the December target for the rooms come from Outrigger’s spokesperson via Aloha State Daily. The resort’s own pages don’t give a date for the room work. In April, the Star-Advertiser said guest room renovations were expected to begin in the third quarter, not April, so the published timelines don’t fully agree.
- Room rates are not quoted here because they change by date and room type. The FAQ says rates do not include Hawaii’s 4.712% general excise tax, 11% transient accommodations tax and 3% county transient tax.
- Re-check the official FAQ before you book. Construction dates move.
Details
Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, 2335 Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu, HI 96815. Front desk +1 808-923-0711. Check-in 3 pm, check-out 11 am, per the resort’s FAQ as of October 2026.
