Aloha Tower Marketplace

Nice views of the ocean, beach . There are several restaurants and bars. All good. There is an extension of the university there. The view from the top of the tower is amazing.The tower is beautiful at night with its lights and the location allows you to see sunset as the show is ending . We came here early before the luau show to look around. It's an important historical site in Honolulu. The tower is no longer open to the public but there are information boards around the tower that explain the site's history. It would be cool to be able to visit the top. But for free it was a nice quick visit .

Towering for decades...As for decades it has hosts various concerts and events along with various restaurants and shops now is majority used as a campus for Hawaii Pacific University which actually is a cool concept as there once was many shops which is now used for the school so that there isn't much walking to get to the various places.With the University there's still several biz not related to the school like Old Spaghetti Factory, Aloha Tortilla Factory, Patrick's Roadhouse Five-0, Mexilulu and Tower Bar just to name a few along with parking which is reasonable with validation making it a nice place to gather for any occasion though the bathroom situation is the reason for taking away the star as if it's open to the public it shouldn't be a struggle to have a facility available without issues.The view is stunning here and can image the view it has for arriving cruise ships as it's home to several boats that visit the island...this is the classic place where mom mentioned to this day this was the first landmark she saw the day she arrived on Oahu with my dad which does hold a special memory for me as well and that's the coolness of Aloha Tower.Thank you!

Dining and shopping in Honolulu, Hawaii...Located at Pier 8, Aloha Tower Marketplace has been through many changes. Maybe the biggest change was having part of the campus of Hawaii Pacific University have some space for their classrooms and dorms.Currently, the major restaurant might be Old Spaghetti Factory. The newer ones would be Cafe Daisy, Patrick's Roadhouse Five-O, and Mexilulu. In the past, Hooters and Gordon Biersch were here.Some restaurants will validate parking. I usually come on a Sunday or Holiday when metered street parking is free. I'll come early, park on Bishop Street, and walk across Ala Moana Boulevard.A couple of years ago, I won 4 tickets to KCCN's Birthday Bash. It was fun, but crowded! There were food trucks and local groups performing on the stage at the waterfront. There's an interesting mix of activities (there's a diving/scuba shop - Trident Adventures) and eateries here!

There isn't much happening at Aloha Tower Marketplace anymore. It's mainly occupied by HPU (Hawaii Pacific University) as classrooms, student dorms, and offices. For restaurants, there is Old Spaghetti Factory which is still popular and draws a crowd sometimes. There are shops like Teapresso Bar for boba drinks and iced teas and Palama Express for Korean prepared foods and Asian snacks. There is an area in the middle of the marketplace where they have tables and chairs so you can sit and hang out. I come by to see the iconic Aloha Tower. In the evening, the tower lights up and the colors change each month. It's a cool sight and worth walking by to check out if you happen to be in the downtown or Chinatown area. They have a parking lot inside the marketplace but I park on Bishop Street since street parking is free after 6pm and all day on Sunday. It's a very short walk across the street. If you park in the lot, you can get parking validation if you eat at Old Spaghetti Factory. I don't know what the parking rates are though.

Arrived at a conference at the Aloha Tower marketplace. Ample parking - received free parking with event validation this time. Normally if u dine or shop here u will get validation. Stop by at the parking machine located at the middle of walkway in front of the crosswalk to the parking area. Upon exiting, the live parking attendant is gone and replaced by a parking machine that will read your ticket from your window via bar code. There are interesting boats and vessals that dock at Aloha Tower Marketplace. Once there was a large fancy yacht with its own tiny helicopter. Large public bathrooms by the Aloha Tower end of the mall.

Plenty of parking. But it's easy to understand why because the parking rates are pretty steep... if you enter between 5:30am and 8am you can park till 5pm for just $10, pretty sweet deal if you're out several hours for a tour. However, I missed the 8am mark by 3 mins darn it so the rate became $3 per half hour. Leaving my car there for 3 hours had cost me $18 which was was $$ on top of my tour ticket. There's a kiosk you can pay your ticket with a credit card. Or if you forget don't fret the ticket machine takes credit cards too.

The Aloha Tower Marketplace surrounds the Aloha Tower, for manyyears Honolulu's tallest building (not anymore!). It is located along the waterfront and very close to the cruise ship terminals. It consists of several buildings in an open air mall design.Unfortunately, it looks like the Aloha Towers Marketplace hasn't recovered from the Pandemic. The majority of the shops were vacant at our visit. The retail areas that were open offered a variety of goods and services. Two cruise ships were in port the day I visited, so there was a lot of foot traffic, but not many places to brouse through. Hopefully as things pick up, the empty retail space will fill up.

With some time to kill in between shopping and dinner, I thought it'd be interesting to check out Aloha Tower Marketplace as we've never been. What a waste of time! PARKING:Stalls are short and lanes are narrow, even for our small rental car. If you have a truck, good luck fitting in and not getting hit. Rates were $3 for every half hour; unsure if there's validated parking. Pay on the kiosk at the mall's entrance before leaving. THE PLACE:While I was aware that Hawaii Pacific University took over the once vibrant mall that housed the state's only Hooters restaurant back in 2011, I didn't expect it to be this dead, biz occupancy-wise. The majority of the place is office space and classrooms and a few abandoned spots like the oceanfront but now creepy-looking Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant. Views of part of the harbor are good. HIGHLIGHTS:- Aloha Tortilla Factory & Café- Aloha Tower (iconic landmark that was not open and looks abandoned)- Barnes & Noble (not a traditional B&N but more of a school bookstore)- Beach House Sports Bar & Grill- Falls of Clyde (old, rusty museum ship that's viewable but not open to the public)- Old Spaghetti Factory- Palama Express (convenience store)- Star of Honolulu (dinner boat cruise)- Teapresso Bar (boba & coffee) OVERALL:If you're here for school, services or to eat at one of the eateries, you're golden. If you're here to shop, you're out of luck.

This was at our cruise port and it was pretty disappointing. We could not find anything worth doing or buying here. It's beautiful real estate so it's surprising it's so dismal. It would be nice to have something cool next to the cruise port- but this sure isn't it.

This place has undergone A transformation since Hawaii Pacific University took over, there are still a few restaurants in eateries, but most of the focus is on Hawaii Pacific University. I feel the security presence is better now that it's HPU. I was here for a faculty meeting and we have excellent conference rooms. There is good A/V, and the tables and chairs are comfortable enough. I think the only drawback is the refrigerator-setting of the air conditioner; luckily I brought a jacket because I know how cold conference rooms can get especially if your meeting runs for hours. Old Spaghetti Factory is probably the biggest draw if you're not here in the dorms or for a meeting. There is also a small convenient store that's open from 7 AM to 9:30 PM, and the main campus bookstore. The bookstore is a partnership with Barnes and Nobles, and has nice logo apparel for HPU, but the prices are really steep. $80 for an HPU golf shirt!