

Speaking of having enough bars, moving along to more renovations and changes they’ve made since becoming ‘Alohilani Resort, there’s Swell Bar on the 5th floor pool deck. That would suck! Thankfully they haven’t, as there’s already more than enough bars in Waikiki! What we need are more cool concept restaurants for everyone to enjoy like The Oceanarium was! are much more fascinating to watch swim around than fish.Īnd that’s where the ‘Oceanarium’ part of it ends, as the entire floor area of the former restaurant is now designed as a chic & elegant cocktail lounge with mood lighting, plush low-slung sofas, chairs and coffee tables replacing commercial restaurant dining tables and chairs. The space is a lot more open now since they removed the tank-viewing staircase The Oceanarium had. What they need to put in there are stingrays, which the Oceanarium used to have. There was also a Great White Shark pup, but they took that out as well. There used to be a giant grouper in there, but they took it out. In the tank when I visited, there were a variety of smaller reef fish swimming the lower areas, such as tangs, surgeons and triggers, while on the top near the surface were some pretty big Awa (Milkfish). Yes, the O Bar has replaced The Oceanarium Restaurant, yet it retains the gigantic 3-story tall 280,000 gallon salt water aquarium, which interestingly that itself they’ve named ‘Oceanarium’.

O Bar at the ‘Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach, opened February 2018, replaces The Oceanarium Restaurant

According to several staff I spoke with recently at the still new O Bar, ever since they opened, both returning visitors and locals alike come in every single day, throughout the day asking, “What happened to The Oceanarium Restaurant?! Is this it now?” However, apparently the news hasn’t got out to everyone. Since February of this year, the former Pacific Beach Hotel reopened as the ‘Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach, with a complete facelift and all new set of business tenants.
