Waikiki Starlight Luau, Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaiian Restaurant Details

Food:

We attended this on Christmas day in 2014. The Luau was held in the grassy area in front of the lagoon in place of the normal location on top of the garage. The attendant told us they hold it in this location twice each year: Christmas Day and New Years Day. I can't imagine a luau being held on a the roof of a parking garage. Patrons with blue tickets were greeted with a shell lei necklace. VIP ticket holders (yellow tickets) were greeted with authentic flower lei necklaces. This was our first sign that this was going to be a cheesy HIlton experience.

We had the good fortunate to have attended the Old Lahaina Luau the week before on Maui. I'll contrast the two for future visitors. Each Hilton admission ticket comes with 2 drink tickets, good for any beverage. In contrast, the Old Lahaina pass includes unlimited drinks of any variety. The Hilton food was just ok - typical very large crowd buffet food. Not bad, not great...just ok. The different food options were not labeled, so with minimal lighting, we were not sure what we were putting on our plates. In contrast, the Lahaina luau food menu was introduced by our Hawaiian host. The history and preparation of each food item was provided by our host. In addition, each item was clearly labeled. The Lahaina luau was much closer to an authentic luau, with a whole pig roasted underground in a sand pit, and a ceremonial revealing.

By the way, the Hilton luau had not table host or server. They had a bunch of people running from table-to-table trying to sell you pictures and trying to get you to take watered down pre-made drinks. In contrast, the Lahaina luau had a host for every 2-3 tables. A guide/server of sorts that provided history of everything going on, provide freshly made drinks, and was very entertaining. I suppose I should be glad they were not trying to sell time shares during the luau. But they were trying to sell hawaiian wraps. The entertainers spent a full 15 minutes on the make-shift stage trying to sell Hawaiian wraps.

The "entertainment" was not very good. Again, I am contrasting with our other luau, so in contrast, the Old Lahaina luau was fantastic. We actually left early during the Hilton luau...it just was not that good.

Bottom line...look for better options. This probably is a good luau for the resort crowd that just purchased their $60k time shares and don't know any better.

Food:

Hmmm... Did not meet my expectations. The entire luau felt rushed. The buffet was pulled down 15 minutes after everyone got their food. I took my last bite of salad as the host was announcing the last dance. The luau was over at exactly 8 PM. The food tasted like airplane food. the activities before the luau were adorable: pineapple ring toss, 'sharpie' henna tatoos, and musical instruments. The dancers, band and host were the best part. However, every costume they wore was plastic. Not one real flower or grass skirt to be seen at this luau. Overall, bad food, watered down drinks, decent performance. Would I recommend: no.