The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Starlight Luau is fun for the whole family

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A big thanks to Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort for hosting us so we could provide this detailed review of our experience. Also, this post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. For an explanation of our Advertising Disclosure, visit this page.

My family and I just returned home from a Hawaiian getaway on the beautiful island of Oahu. We split our time between two great hotels: The Halepuna Waikiki and the Halekulani. If you’re looking for a great luau experience in Waikiki, then check out the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. They just launched a special weekly edition of its popular Waikiki Starlight Luau and we were fortunate to attend.

The standard showings of the Waikiki Starlight Luau will continue to be held on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on the rooftop of the Mid-Pacific Conference Center (weather permitting).

The Friday evening luaus takes place on the beachfront Great Lawn, which is right behind the lagoon where my kids love to play during the day.

Whenever we visit Waikiki, we always head over to the lagoon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village because the shallow waters are so perfect for little ones. Here’s our full review of this great family-friendly hotel: Hotel Review: The Hilton Hawaiian Village

The gates for the luau open at 5pm and seating is assigned upon arrival. If you want the best location, you can either pay extra (the Diamond Premier Seating guarantees the first two rows) or arrive early.

On arrival, guests are given a lei greeting and there’s someone there to take a family photo. The photo turned out nicely except that my son was making a funny face so I passed on the $66 cost.

Everyone is very nice and guests are free to do as much or as little as they want, from group hula lessons to simply unwinding with a refreshing cocktail. Good to know: The line for the bar is long before the show starts but it moves fairly quickly. There was no wait once dinner was served.

Before dinner, a cooked pig on a platter was carried through the crowd for a blessing.

Dinner is an island buffet and there was plenty of food left over. Guests can enjoy a variety of hot and cold foods: Island salad greens, Caesar, kale salad greens, papaya salad, potato salad, soba noodle salad, maki sushi, poi, sliced sweet potato, lomi lomi salmon, seafood poke salad, taro rolls with butter, Hawaiian fried rice, stir-fried vegetables, seared island catch, huli huli chicken, kiawe smoked brisket in guava BBQ sauce and Kalua pork.

There was a small kids food station too with corn on the cob, teriyaki chicken, BBQ meatballs and French fries.

The dessert table has upside down pineapple cake, malasadas (Portuguese donuts) and Haupia (Hawaiian coconut pudding).

Unfortunately, when we were there (the first week of April), the weather wasn’t great. It was unseasonably chilly, and light rain showers stopped and started throughout. We were the only people with umbrellas but I was glad we’d brought them when it really started coming down (we moved off to the side to make sure we didn’t block anyone’s view) and I was also glad my wife had packed sweaters for everyone because the kids got cold.

The kids were also jet-lagged (we’d had a long and crazy day before traveling to Oahu; here’s that story) so unfortunately, we had to leave early. But if you have a long travel day to get to the island, give yourself a day or two to adjust to the time change before booking any nighttime activities.

The performances were spectacular and included a fire dance, followed by the Friday night fireworks on Duke Kahanamoku Beach. The fireworks go off at 7:45pm and last for five minutes.