Airport Shuttle to the DoubleTree by Hilton Alana Waikiki

The Run from HNL to 1956 Ala Moana Boulevard

Coming out of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, the Alana is one of the first Waikiki addresses a van actually reaches. The route runs Nimitz Highway to Ala Moana Boulevard and stays on Ala Moana straight through — past Kewalo Basin and Ala Moana Beach Park — to the hotel driveway just before the Ala Wai Canal bridge. There is no turn into the Kalakaua Avenue grid, which is where most Waikiki transfers lose their last ten minutes. The same run serves the properties either side of the hotel — our Ilikai Hotel shuttle and Aqua Palms Waikiki shuttle take the same Ala Moana Boulevard approach.

In ordinary traffic the drive runs about twenty to twenty-five minutes. Weekday mornings between roughly 7:30 and 9:00, and again from 3:30 to 6:00, the Nimitz corridor carries the commuter volume the Hawaii Department of Transportation routes through town and the same run stretches toward thirty-five. We build that into the pickup time rather than discovering it with you in the van, which matters more on this page than on most, because a Wednesday 8:00 a.m. general session does not wait.

Departures reverse it. From the Alana you are travelling against the morning commute, so a departure pickup here is usually a shorter, calmer trip than the arrival was. Our office is staffed from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Hawaii time and the vans themselves run around the clock, so a 4:00 a.m. red-eye departure or a midnight arrival are both normal bookings, not exceptions.

Drop-Off at a Valet-Only Address

Unlike most of the properties we serve, the Alana has no self-parking — valet is the only option, and the hotel’s own site currently lists it at about $55 plus tax per night. That single fact changes the arrival more than anything else about the building. There is no garage ramp to sort out, no ticket, no lift to a parking level. We pull into the hotel’s own driveway off Ala Moana Boulevard, unload under cover, and the bell staff take it from there.

It also changes the maths on a rental car. A car parked at the Alana costs the rental itself plus roughly $55 a night before you have driven anywhere, and the two places most guests here actually go — the convention center and the beach — are both on foot. For a four-night stay that is well over $200 in parking for a vehicle sitting in a valet queue.

One practical note about the address: Ala Moana Boulevard is a fast six-lane road, and it is not a street where a driver can idle at the kerb waiting for you to come down. For departures we ask that you be in the lobby at the confirmed time rather than watching for the van from your room. Our driver will come in for you if you are travelling with someone who needs help, but the van itself belongs in the driveway, not stopped in a traffic lane.

Eight Minutes to the Convention Center, Eight Minutes to the Sand

The Hawaii Convention Center at 1801 Kalakaua Avenue is roughly half a mile from the hotel door — an eight-minute walk across the Ala Wai. Waikiki Beach is about the same distance the other way. The Alana sits between the two, and that position is the whole reason it books the way it does.

It is worth being precise about what that means, because a close hotel and an adjacent hotel are different products. The properties directly across Atkinson Drive from the convention center are the ones conferences name in their housing blocks; guests there walk out of a session and into a lift — the Ala Moana Hotel shuttle service covers that corner if a conference put you in the official block. The Alana is a short walk further, which is why it is often the better-value room during a large convention week and why it fills with people who wanted a Waikiki address rather than a conference address.

For us that translates into a specific kind of booking. Arrivals here cluster the day before a session opens and the day after it closes, and departures spread out across the following weekend as the leisure half of the trip finishes. If you are on that pattern, tell us the conference dates when you book — it is usually the fastest way for us to get your pickup times right without a second exchange of emails.

Two Arrivals, One Hotel: Booking a Split Trip

Because so many stays here are half work and half holiday, we get a request at the Alana that we rarely get anywhere else: two arrivals into the same room. One traveller lands Monday for the meetings, the rest of the party lands Thursday for the vacation, and everybody leaves together on Sunday.

That is straightforward to arrange, but it is two separate arrival transfers plus one departure transfer, not a single roundtrip booking with a note attached. Book the first arrival and the shared departure as one reservation, then book the second arrival on its own, and put both under the same last name so our dispatch can see they belong together. If the second group is larger than the first, book by the party actually travelling on that leg — our rate is set by the passengers in the van on the day, not by the size of the room.

The same logic covers the reverse case, which is just as common here: the family flies home Saturday while one person stays through a Monday debrief. Two departures, two pickup times, one hotel. If you would rather talk it through than build it in the form, call or text (808) 797-7950 and we will lay the legs out for you.

What Travels With You

The flat rate includes two checked bags per person plus a carry-on, which covers a conference roller bag and a suitcase without anyone doing arithmetic. Trade-show material is worth a heads-up: a pop-up banner case or a pair of sample cases will fit a Sprinter easily, but telling us in advance is what stops us from sending a van already loaded with someone else’s golf bags.

Oversized items — surfboards, golf clubs, boxed bicycles — travel with us for a small additional charge, flagged at booking rather than discovered in the driveway. Given how many stays here run business into leisure, the golf clubs are a genuinely frequent request, and they are far easier to accommodate with a day’s notice than at the kerb.

Child car seats and boosters are a paid add-on selected at booking, not something we keep spare in every van. If the vacation half of your party includes small children, add the seats to the reservation for the leg they are actually travelling on. Our drivers install them and check the harness is correctly seated before the van moves.

Noon Check-Out and the Departure Pickup

The Alana checks out at 12:00 p.m., an hour later than most Waikiki hotels, and check-in is 3:00 p.m. That extra hour is quietly useful and it is worth using deliberately rather than by accident.

On arrival, a morning mainland flight will usually put you at the hotel well before 3:00 p.m. The front desk will hold your bags, and most guests walk to lunch or over to the convention center to register early rather than sitting in the lobby. Book your transfer for your actual landing time; there is nothing to gain by delaying it.

On departure, do not tie the pickup to check-out. Leave your bags with the bell desk at noon, take the afternoon, and book the van for the time your flight needs. For a mainland departure we generally suggest a pickup about three hours before wheels-up, which allows for the drive, the bag drop, and the security queue at HNL without a sprint. For an interisland hop, two hours is usually comfortable. We confirm the time with you the day before by call or text to (808) 797-7950.