Cabanas Pool Bar

I enjoyed this bar very much with my friends and I am saddened to see it had closed. We’re going back to my first hangout with cheap drinks and sports activities… Honolulu Tavern here we come!!!

This was a nice spot to watch the soccer game and have a drink! The atmosphere is really nice with cabanas to get you of the Hawaiian sun. The gals working here were friendly and the service was quick. We came off the beach and had the hot dog, fries, chicken fingers and wings, all were good. Impressed by the 8 flat screens they have, plenty to see. We’ll be back!

Have been staying at the Ohana Waikiki West for several years (4 stays) now. Great location. Grocery store next door. Hotel rooms are dirty, small, and very slow elevators. But, you get what you pay for. LOVE THE CABANAS BAR. Pool-​side, couple of TV’s, and reasonable prices. Katie is the best! Sorry to hear it is being torn down.

This isnt a five star restaurant so dont expect five star service. Its a bar and they do exactly what theyre supposed to do. You want drinks, you got it!
The bar is located in one of the Ohana hotels in Waikiki. Take the elevator up to where the pool is located and the bar is on the same floor. Have trouble finding it, just look for Chili’s on Kuhio Avenue and its located right above it!
They do have a full bar and beer selections. Its a really small bar but there are cabanas that you can lounge under, a pool table, a jukebox, and TV’s that play sports.
Youre not there to watch TV, youre there to have a drink and relax and chill with your «buddies».
So if youre looking for a pau hana drink, head over there!

Two and a half stars. Street parking can be a pain in this area but there’s a garage or two within reasonable walking distance. I’m not sure if it was because it was her first day, but our server wasn’t accepting plastic from us. Annoying and stupefying since it’s a hotel bar. Bathrooms through the outside hallway, accessible with keys attached to fry baskets on the stool near the bouncer.
Tellies, dart board, and pool table attended to by locals and tourists alike. The d-​bag factor and tourist markup of Waikiki doesn’t bleed into here as much. Tuna salad sandwich wasn’t worth getting, though the chips weren’t bad. Taught the staff members a new shooter. While our run-​of-​the-​mill cocktails were poured to average strength, their specialty drinks aren’t very boozy at all. Lava Flow was overbearingly sweet. Bahama Mama tasted like a vaguely alcoholic Jamba Juice order. Tiki furniture explosion in the outdoor patio lounge across from the closed pool, mixed with sports bar dive stools by the taps. No smoking area. Cabanas is missing out on a serious nightlife advantage that would’ve defaulted at least 3 stars with any modicum of cleanliness.

We came here a couple of years ago and we still talk about returning to the same hotel (Ohana West) and hanging out at this pool bar. It isn’t a fancy place/​bar and there are a mix of tourists staying at the hotel and locals who work in/​around the area. When in Hawaii, we spent 1 week at Ohana West and chose the hotel specifically because they had kitchens in the hotel (I’ll write a separate review on the hotel itself) and because it had a pool bar (we enjoy drinks pool-​side, what can we say?!). Cabana’s offered to us a place to stop mid-​day for a drink while we hung out poolside (in the distance you can see the ocean, but its not right on the beach), a place to hang out when we felt like not dealing with the uppity crowd in the beach-​side bars, and/​or for a nightcap after a long day at the beach or of sightseeing. We ended up here 5 – 6 days of our 7 day trip and basically became regulars. All of the staff was attentive to us and knew most of their customers by name. Many of the locals pop in during their lunch breaks and/​or after their work shifts at other local spots and there are out-​of-​state folks who return to Ohana West & Cabana’s EVERY SINGLE YEAR. We can vouch for this b/​c we met them and they told us how much they love returning here for their yearly reunions! How awesome is that?! They also host happy hour, karaōke, game nights, and themed nights. Often, they’ll have giveaways (we came home with some hats and shirts) and everyone seems to enjoy themselves. Basically, here are some things to expect and not to expect when you pop in to Cabana’s…
THINGS TO EXPECT/​PREPARE FOR: A very chill vibe. Perhaps an event taking place. Probably some tourists, given that its at a hotel. Locals, who are often able to give ya tips on where else to go in the area. Possible pub crawls coming through with a large group of tourists for a drink or two. Kids in the pool (during the day, since the pool does have hours). Bar food — nothing to write home about, but sure does the trick when ya need to be fed. Drunk people… isn’t that a given and perhaps the goal of the bar itself? ;-)
DO NOT EXPECT: A dressy crowd. People out to impress others. Beachfront view.
Bottom line — We enjoyed Cabana’s because the staff was chill, laid back, and so were the patrons (most of them… minus the pub crawl crowd, but they usually only stayed for 30 mins or so). If you’re dressed to impress and wanting to spend a ton of dough, this is not the place for you.

This was the worst MaiTai we had in all of Honolulu. Eek! Methinks not! ‘Nuff said.
Also, the vibe of the bar was really awkward. The waitress had a bad attitude, and the MaiTai tasted awful. We won’t be going back.

This is a pool bar on the first floor of the Ohana West hotel. I have been coming to this place for the last couple of years I have been living here in Hawaii. Cabanas has a pretty relax vibe about it something about being a pool bar in Hawaii i think help accomplish this. It also has some cheap drink for Waikiki.

our room is at this pool bar we were here in 2011 of july, we were happy with the atmosphere! waitress came to our table to get our order constantly had no problems! nice at night also!

So I go to a lot of bars. And the penny pincher that I am I usually go to bars with good specials. I’ve been going to the Cabana bar for a couple of months now mainly because of the good drinks specials and the nice location.
Parking:
Non that I can tell of like everything else in Waikiki
Atmosphere:
Actually I kind like the feel of this tiny hotel bar. Its located on the 5^th floor of the Ohana east hotel right above chilis. The outdoor bar is attached to the pool so try to imagine the place. The bar area has your standard bar stools for about 10 people to sit on. There is a covered pool table, tv and dart boards. There are two Cabana «lounging» areas to chill out at with nice comfy couches and tvs (usually playing sports stations).

Service:
All the times I’ve come here the service has been good or at least adequate. This is a chill out relax pool bar so don’t expect 5 star service but just a friendly bartender and wait staff.
Prices:
The strength of this bar is probably the really good drink specials. I believe they have a 2 – 3 $ domestic/​well special for happy hour everyday til 7pm. They also happen to serve food but I’ve never got any. If you have a smart phone and foursquare account checkin and because they have a $ 0.01 budlight draft special with checkin. Also if you ask the hotel lobby staff or any of the guys passing out fliers (after 4pm daily) you can probably get a coupon for I believe any drink for 3 $.
Overall:
So is this the coolest hang out ever. Probably not. But if you want a chill bar that is next to a pool then you can do a lot worst in Waikiki. Cheap drinks (2 – 3 $ range if not free), darts, wii (free), pool tables and a pool to swim is what you’ll find at Cabana bar.

The bartenders were friendly, the music can be pretty annoying, but this is a neat place to come have a bloody mary or a drink if you are hungover in the afternoon. At night, it can get pretty hectic/​crowded and the people can be annoying. Karaōke is pretty funny to listen to though. Come here during the day, my bf and I met some pretty interesting people LOL

I was here exactly a week ago. I was chillin’ in my room at the Ohana Waikiki West and decided to check this place out. It’s located on the 1^st Floor (not the mail lobby floor) next to the pool.
This bar wasn’t packed at all. There were a few locals playing billiards and having a drink. There were also a few tourists sitting down. They had people singing on the karaōke machine. The bartneders were nice and their drinks were inexpensive. It’s an outdoor bar/​lounge with several tables and chairs. They also have a couple of cabanas. It has a nice view of the busy Kuhio strip. This hotel is a 100% non-​smoking facility, even if you’re at the outdoor bar or out on your patio.
I think they need to give this place a makeover as far as entertainment and theme. It doesn’t seem like this place gets busy. Maybe a few locals and tourists. That’s about it. It’s the type of place where you want to just grab a couple of beers and sit for like 20 minutes. On top of that, the hotel isn’t well-​known. My relatives in Hawai’i haven’t even heard of the hotel. I can see this place attracting onlookers if it presented itself better. Perhaps a DJ instead of a karaōke machine and a light show. Maybe move the cabanas and tables closer to the edge of the railing so Kuhio onlookers can see patrons up there. Perhaps a bar staff can advertise in front of the hotel that there’s a bar/​lounge up there. Serving food would be a big help as well. I’m just throwing these ideas out.
I really don’t see myself coming back to Cabanas, unless there’s a drastic change here. I’d rather visit a neighboring bar that has more than 10 patrons. Again, Cabanas is just a bar to get a quick drink and leave. There’s really nothing here that will make you want to stay longer after one drink.

Such a fun local spot. Really chill and down-​to-​earth crowd. Daily happy-​hours with $ 3 drink specials can’t be beat!

the weekday bartender sucks, but the weekend bartender is fun
…think his name is Scotty?
so, yah… check it out on the weekends… very chill… good local spot. nothing glamorous.
just checked it out bc some of my local pals work here :)
probably wouldn’t go here on my own… there’s no DJ…
they DO have $ 3 mimosas…
overall, good venue, but bad execution of a club, haha :)
xo–
andrea