The Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club

A 1960s Waikiki motel reimagined into a 112-room boutique with the design-hotel sensibility — palm-leaf wallpaper, mid-century furniture, and a pool with the words "Wish You Were Here" tiled into the bottom. The Surfjack is what happens when local Hawaiian designers and a hotel owner with the budget reset what a Waikiki property can be. Mahina & Sun's runs the on-site restaurant; the rooftop deck is open-air.

This is the design-set's Honolulu pick. In a Waikiki market dominated by tower hotels and corporate flags, the Surfjack is one of the few small-scale properties doing committed design.

The setting

The hotel sits at 412 Lewers Street in Waikiki, two blocks from Waikiki Beach and walking distance to most of central Waikiki — Kalakaua Avenue, the International Marketplace, the Waikiki Aquarium, and the Royal Hawaiian. The Diamond Head crater is at the eastern end of the beach, 25 minutes' walk. Honolulu's downtown and Chinatown are 15 minutes by car west.

The drive in from Honolulu International (HNL) is 25 minutes east; from the North Shore (Hale'iwa, Pipeline), an hour and 15 north.

The building

A 1960s tower (originally the Hawaii Polynesian Hotel) gutted and reimagined by the local design firm Sig Zane, the Eleven studios, and others. The renovation kept the bones — exterior walkways, the pool deck — and replaced everything else with palm-leaf wallpaper, vintage rattan furniture, and the kind of styled mid-century sensibility the building was built in. Materials are velvet, vintage rattan, koa wood, and tile. The "Wish You Were Here" pool tile is the property's most-photographed detail.

Marriott Autograph Collection partner — a small group of independents that affiliate with the program. Operationally runs as a single independent property.

The rooms

112 rooms across kings, queens, and a few specialty suites. From around $425. Rooms get the palm-leaf wallpaper, vintage furniture, record players in the suite categories, and modern bathrooms. Some rooms have small balconies; pool-view rooms are the ones to ask for. The aesthetic is committed throughout.

Food & drink

Mahina & Sun's is the on-property restaurant — Hawaiian regional cuisine, seafood-leaning, dinner most nights, also breakfast and lunch. Open to non-guests. The Sunday Lawn — a casual outdoor service in the courtyard — runs in season. The lobby has a coffee program by Olomana.

On the property

A small but design-driven amenity stack:

• Outdoor pool with the famous tile mosaic
• Mahina & Sun's restaurant
• Lobby record-player and coffee program
• Sig Zane / local-designer in-room textiles and details
• Concierge for surf lessons and rental boards
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Repeat Waikiki visitors who've done the towers and want a smaller design hotel
• Designers, architects, and anyone reading "renovation by Sig Zane" as a feature
• Couples doing an Oahu trip with an Old Hawaii aesthetic
• Friends groups in adjoining rooms doing a long beach weekend

Who it's not for

• Beach-front seekers — the hotel is two blocks back
• Anyone wanting a resort-tower amenity stack (multiple restaurants, full spa, beach club)
• Light sleepers in courtyard or street-facing rooms

Nearby

Waikiki Beach is two blocks east. Kuhio Beach Park (with the Duke Kahanamoku statue, the surf-class beach) is five minutes' walk. The International Marketplace is two blocks. The Royal Hawaiian (the Pink Palace) is five minutes east on Kalakaua. Diamond Head crater (and the trail to the summit) is 25 minutes' walk or five by car. The Waikiki Aquarium is 15 minutes' walk. Iolani Palace and downtown Honolulu — the Chinatown food scene, the Hawaii State Art Museum — are 15 minutes by car. Pearl Harbor is 35 minutes west.