11 best family resorts in Hawaii for a relaxing vacation
Hawaii is a clear choice for families looking to take a tropical beach vacation in the U.S. Each Hawaiian island is unique, as are the family-friendly beachfront resorts on those islands. Whether you're looking for an upscale luxury oasis or a laid-back beach retreat, you'll find it among the islands' varied options.
Related: The best family beach vacation destinations to kick off summer
No matter which Hawaiian island or resort you choose, you are guaranteed to experience Hawaii's "Spirit of Aloha," with island-inspired food made with local ingredients and opportunities to learn about Hawaii's rich heritage and culture, with some educational activities that are designed specifically for kids.
If you are planning your first family trip to Hawaii or just looking for the next spot to try, we've taken the guesswork out of choosing a resort with these 11 family-friendly resorts across Hawaii, from the Big Island to Kauai.
Top family hotels in Oahu
For some travelers, Oahu is synonymous with the high-rise hotels lining beautiful Waikiki Beach, but there are family-friendly resorts all over the island. The good news is that no matter where you stay, a vacation in Oahu tends to be less expensive than on other Hawaiian islands.
Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa is directly on Waikiki Beach and within walking distance of the city's open-air shopping and dining center, the Waikiki Beach Walk. While we encourage you to explore beyond just Waikiki, this can be the perfect location if you are looking for a beach retreat on Oahu that's not too far from the excitement of the city.
The hotel opened in 1901, and its history shines through in the Victorian-era architecture and select guest rooms inspired by the hotel's opening-day design and decor. The hotel has 793 rooms total, including 46 suites, divided among the historic Banyan Wing, the beach-adjacent Diamond Wing and the larger, modern rooms in the Tower Wing.
The hotel's pool is simple compared to some of the large pool complexes in Hawaii, but it has fantastic beach views. You can easily pop back and forth between the pool and the beach all day long, especially if you rent a poolside cabana or an umbrella and chairs on the sandy beach. You can also take to the ocean on a surfboard, stand-up paddleboard or bodyboard. Outrigger canoe charters and surf lessons are also available. Guests can book all of these at the Aloha Beach Services kiosk at the hotel.
The Moana Surfrider also has a spa, beachfront yoga classes, historical tours, hula classes and more. Also, your family will never go hungry with the hotel's five restaurants and a handful of lounges and cafes.
Rates at Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa start at around $300 or 56,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.
If your family loves Hawaii and visiting Disney, you'll likely enjoy a stay at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa on Oahu. Even if you aren't a "Disney family," you can still love this resort.
For example, you can spend your time meeting Disney characters, eating Mickey waffles and participating in activities like animation classes and watching outdoor Disney movie screenings. Or, you can just lounge by the beach, snorkel in the hotel's private lagoon and participate in fun and educational activities like lei making and hula lessons led by local artisans and cultural experts.
Kids ages 4 to 12 can visit the 5,200-square-foot kids club called Aunty's Beach House. Games, arts and crafts, movies and surprise character experiences are included in the cost of your stay, with some premium activities available for an additional fee.
The resort also has six pools with waterslides and hidden grottos, a full-service spa, two restaurants, three lounges and quick-service options when you are out and about by the beach or the pool. Guest rooms range from standard one-king or two-queen rooms to villas that sleep up to 12 guests with as many as three bedrooms.
Pro tip: You can even book some of the room types by renting Disney Vacation Club points for even less than the cost of booking directly with Disney with cash.
Rates at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa start at around $569 per night when booked with cash or from about $336 if booked with rented points from a site like David's Vacation Club.
Guests of the only luxury resort on Oahu's North Shore have come to expect luxe accommodations, authentic Hawaiian experiences and dining options and unforgettable tropical adventures. Luckily, Turtle Bay Resort delivers on those promises … and then some.
Families visiting the resort can experience the true essence of Hawaii with beachfront horse and pony rides, surf lessons, a "surfing with dogs" experience (yes, you read that right), mermaid lessons, canoe tours, scavenger hunts and more. Some experiences require an additional fee.
The hotel's pool deck has large family-size cabanas available to rent, giving parents a comfortable place to lounge and kids a shady spot to relax before hopping back in the main pool or the kids' pool with waterslides.
Guest rooms are bright and airy, with ocean views and large murals depicting beachy scenes. Suites and oceanfront bungalows are also available.
Rates at Turtle Bay Resort start at around $707 per night.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is a sprawling resort in the heart of Waikiki, with direct access to Duke Kahanamoku Beach and views of the iconic Diamond Head volcanic cone.
The hotel has eight towers (though three of those are dedicated to Hilton Grand Vacations) and more than 2,800 guest rooms, so you will want to build in travel time for traversing the resort — or choose a room in the Rainbow Tower, which is closest to the beach and pool area if that is where you plan to spend most of your time.
The resort has five outdoor pools, waterslides and a saltwater lagoon for swimming, paddleboarding and other water activities. If you can pull your kids away from the water, the hotel also holds hula and lei-making lessons, fitness classes, fish feeding and luau feasts with traditional Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian dancing every Sunday through Thursday.
In addition to the lagoonside luau feast, Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort has nearly 20 restaurants, cafes and lounges, so you are never too far from your next meal or drink.
Rates at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort start at around $250 or 70,000 Hilton Honors points per night.
Top family hotels in Maui
Maui is quieter and more secluded than Oahu, offering families off-the-beaten-path beaches and outdoor adventures. The resorts here are on the pricier side, but they have the amenities, accommodations and spectacular views to merit the higher price tag.
This luxury hotel boasts 446 guest rooms and suites across 54 acres of vibrant green gardens, crystal-clear pools and turquoise ocean waters. The resort's newest rooms, the Fire Lanai Collection, have lanais with private fire pits. Club-level rooms come with a dedicated concierge, a lounge with gourmet food and drinks, activities like cooking demonstrations and cocktail classes, and rooms with beautiful ocean views. Because the resort is so large, there are plenty of dining options and activities to choose from around the grounds.
You can choose to spend your day swimming in the massive three-tiered, heated pool with a kids' splash area, hiking the area's coastal trails, surfing or paddleboarding at one of six nearby bays and beaches, or participating in cultural programming, including a nightly sunset ceremony, hula lessons, origami classes and more. There's also environmental children's programming for kids ages 5 to 14 available for an additional cost.
Guest rooms have lavish marble bathrooms, dark wood floors, neutral furnishings and pops of colorful, island-inspired decor. Rooms have large soaking tubs (always a favorite with kids) and private lanais, some with fire pits.
Rates at The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua start at around $760 or 80,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.
Note: Due to the Maui wildfires, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa is only accepting reservations for stays starting on Nov. 17, 2023, and later.
The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa is directly on the world-renowned Ka'anapali Beach. The only thing standing between you and Maui's best beach is a large lagoon-style pool with waterfalls and a water playground for kids, so you can easily bounce back and forth between the pool and the sea all day long.
The resort has 779 guest rooms and 31 suites, all of which have private lanais and sliding glass doors so that you can enjoy the views whether you are inside or outside of your room. Regency Club access rooms come with exclusive lounge access and evening hors d'oeuvre service.
In addition to four on-site restaurants and a coffee shop, guests can attend the resort's Drums of the Pacific Luau on select nights each week. The luau features authentic dances, a delicious meal and an exciting Samoan fireknife finale.
Rates at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa start at around $760 or 25,000 World of Hyatt points per night.
The Wailea Beach Resort offers a laid-back, casual retreat with access to not one but two beaches. The resort has a long list of family-friendly features, including multiple pools (one of which has kid-friendly splash play areas and Maui's longest waterslide), a kids club for children ages 5 to 12, a movie screening room with giant beanbag chairs, a game room and complimentary cultural activities.
Guest rooms are simple yet stylish, with ocean-inspired artwork and neutral-colored furnishings. Each of the resort's 547 rooms has a lanai, and select ground-floor rooms have large furnished lanais with direct access to the hotel's outdoor areas.
Families can dine on Hawaiian-inspired fare at the poolside open-air Kapa Bar & Grill or the Mo' Bettah Food Truck. Parents can get their caffeine fix at the resort's Starbucks location or have a romantic evening away from the kids at Humble Market Kitchin, which offers panoramic views of the beach. The resort also hosts a luau five nights a week.
Rates at Wailea Beach Resort currently start at $720 or 73,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.
If your family is in the market for an upscale island retreat that fully embraces Hawaii's natural beauty and distinct culture, you'll find exactly the vacation you crave at the Grand Wailea Maui, A Waldorf Astoria Resort.
Guest rooms look out over the ocean or the resort's gardened grounds, and all rooms have private lanais. Standard rooms are closest to the resort activities and restaurants, or you can upgrade to a Napua room or suite with contemporary Hawaiian design and access to a private lounge with three daily dining times and live entertainment.
Families can spend time together at the huge Wailea Canyon Activity Pool — a six-level pool connected by waterslides, a lazy river, waterfalls, caves, a rope swing and the world's only water elevator. Kids can also pick up a "Grand Passport" that lists all of the kid-friendly cultural activities around the resort, including garden tours, kukui nut bracelet-making and more.
The resort's dining options have something for all palates, from sushi in the Botero Lounge to tacos and wood-fired pizzas at Aloha Trick Pony and a luau on select nights. Breakfast is served buffet-style at Ikena, a unique indoor-outdoor restaurant space.
Rates at Grand Wailea Maui, A Waldorf Astoria Resort start at around $830 or 110,000 Hilton Honors points per night.
Your kids may not have seen the first season of "The White Lotus," but there's a pretty good chance you've heard of it. Now, you can stay at the very hotel where the show was filmed and enjoy the same luxury accommodations, upscale amenities and delicious local dining … without any of the drama.
The Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea is a luxury beachfront resort offering an idyllic escape that is still family-friendly. Like many Four Seasons properties, this resort participates in Kids for All Seasons, a complimentary, supervised program for kids ages 5 to 12. The hotel also has a seasonal counselor-led program for tweens and teens where they can participate in outdoor activities like outrigger canoe paddling.
While the kids play, parents can participate in yoga classes, indulge in a spa treatment (or two), relax on the beach or swim in the adults-only pool. From fine dining at Wolfgang Puck's Spago to casual fare at the pool bar, all of the resort's restaurants are open-air, so you never have to leave behind the ocean views.
The 383 guest rooms and suites are stylish and sophisticated, with views of either the ocean or the radiant gardens. From the hotel's elevated location, you may even be lucky enough to see whales splashing in the ocean from your lanai during wintertime.
Rates at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea currently start at around $1,400 per night.
Top family hotels in Kauai
Kauai, known as the Garden Island, offers families the best of the beach and the island's emerald green peaks and valleys. It takes only about an hour to drive from the south end of the island to the north end, giving families the opportunity to see favorite landmarks like Hanalei Bay, Waimea Canyon State Park and Kalalau Lookout, depending on where you stay.
On Kauai's beautiful, tranquil north shore, The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas is just as serene as its island location. The resort grounds more than live up to the island's "Garden Isle" nickname, with towering palm trees dotting the landscape and colorful tropical foliage around every turn.
The resort has a long list of family-friendly amenities, including lei making, fish feeding, a children's pool with splash features and a mini waterslide, a larger cliffside plunge pool, multiple dining options and a grab-and-go market with snacks, Starbucks coffee and essentials you may have forgotten at home, like diapers or sunscreen.
Because of the resort's cliffside location, there is no direct beach access, but beautiful Hanalei Bay is only a 10-minute drive away.
Unlike most resorts, The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas does not charge resort fees and offers complimentary internet access. Guest room sizes range from studio villas to two-bedroom villas, and all suites have separate sleeping and living areas and private outdoor lanais.
Rates at The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas start at around $400 or 76,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.
The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa is regarded by many as one of Hawaii's most beautiful and accommodating resorts for families. From the lush, tropical landscaping to the spacious guest rooms, multilevel pools and private saltwater lagoon, there's so much for families to see and do at this beautiful resort.
The hotel has 605 rooms and suites, all with a private patio or lanai from which to enjoy your ocean or garden view. Outside of your room, the hotel has a massive pool complex with multilevel pools, a lazy river, "secret" caves, a saltwater lagoon and a 150-foot waterslide. There are also areas for water volleyball or basketball and a quiet adults-only pool.
The hotel also has a fabulous spa with private open-air treatment villas and six on-site restaurants, ranging from poolside grab-and-go options to modern Hawaiian cuisine at Tidepools, where you can dine in bungalows floating above a koi-filled lagoon. There's also a club lounge, which is one of the best in the country. The hotel also hosts a twice-weekly luau on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Pro tip: You can use points to book access to the club lounge if you don't have Hyatt Globalist status.
Rates at Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa start at around $870 or 25,000 World of Hyatt points per night.
Best credit cards for booking hotels in Hawaii
There are over a dozen excellent travel rewards credit cards out there for hotel stays. The right one(s) for you will depend on if you're loyal to a particular program or chain, whether you want premium perks, and if you value benefits like annual free nights, automatic elite status and lucrative earning rates.
Here are three great credit cards to use for booking stays across a variety of hotel chains and independent properties while still enjoying money-saving features and high-end benefits, though.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Earning rates: This card earns 5 points per dollar spent on airfare purchased directly with the airlines or through the Amex Travel portal (on up to $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar year). Plus, you'll earn 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked with Amex Travel. All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar spent. Remember, Amex points transfer to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio, to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1 ratio and to Choice Privileges at a 1:1 rate, and there are sometimes transfer bonuses.
Benefits: This card is absolutely packed with perks, but among the travel-related ones you'll want to maximize, including some hotel-specific benefits, are:
- Up to a $200 annual hotel credit, in the form of a statement credit, on prepaid Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings with Amex Travel when you pay with your Amex Platinum (Hotel Collection stays require a two-night minimum).*
- Access to Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection.
- Complimentary Gold status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy.*
- Up to $200 in statement credits annually for incidental fees charged by one airline you select.*
- Up to $200 annually in Uber Cash, valid on Uber rides and Uber Eats orders in the U.S. (split into monthly $15 credits plus a $20 bonus in December).*
- Up to $189 in statement credits to cover your Clear Plus annual membership.*
- A $100 statement credit for Global Entry every four years or an up to $85 fee credit for TSA PreCheck every 4½ years (depending on which application fee is charged to your card first).
- Access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, including Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, Airspace lounges, Escape lounges, Plaza Premium lounges and Delta Sky Clubs (when traveling on same-day Delta flights; limited to six annual visits from Feb. 1, 2025).*
*Enrollment is required for select benefits.
Annual fee: $695 (see rates and fees).
Read our review of the Amex Platinum card.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earning rates: Earn unlimited 10 miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar spent on flights booked through Capital One Travel and unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on all other purchases
Benefits: Cardholders get up to $300 in credits annually for bookings made through Capital One Travel, plus 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary, starting on your first anniversary (worth $100 toward travel). Through the Capital One Premier Collection, cardmembers can enjoy free breakfast, on-property credits and room upgrades (if available) on stays at participating properties booked through Capital One Travel. They also receive up to $100 in statement credits for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
Annual fee: $395 (see rates and fees).
Read our review of the Capital One Venture X.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earning rates: This card accrues 5 points per dollar spent on travel booked through the Chase travel portal, on Lyft purchases (through March 2025) and on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases of $150 or more (through March 2025, with a limit of 25,000 bonus points). It also racks up 3 points per dollar spent on dining, select streaming services and online grocery store purchases (excludes Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs); 2 points per dollar spent on all travel not booked through the Chase travel portal; and 1 point per dollar spent on everything else.
Benefits: Cardholders receive a $50 statement credit on hotel stays purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal upon opening the card and each following member's anniversary. They also receive a 10% bonus based on their total spending during the account anniversary year at a rate of 1 point for each $10 spent. This card also has some of the best travel protections in the industry, including trip cancellation insurance, trip delay insurance and primary rental car coverage, among other policies.
Annual fee: $95.
Read our review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
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- 6 real-life strategies you can use when your flight is canceled or delayed
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For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.