I chose the Moana Surfrider (https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/hnlwi-moana-surfrider-a-westin-resort-and-spa-waikiki-beach/overview/) as the place to have high tea. The hotel was the first on the Waikiki beach, opening in 1901. it’s also on the National Register of Historic Places. I’d read about their tea on the Veranda and wanted to experience it.

First, I have to present the opposite of High Tea in a luxurious hotel: my nephew’s car. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been very appreciative of having a car while I’m here. And it has great air conditioning! It doesn’t have a working parking brake. And you can’t lock the doors because the fob doesn’t work and the alarm will go off if you try to unlock it manually. And it’s a stick shift. I’m fine with all that normally. But part of the High Tea package is you get several hours of valet parking for free. So, I put a big Post-It on the key chain saying DO NOT LOCK! The valets got a chuckle out of the whole thing. It was quite a change all the other cars: Mercedes, Lexus, Tesla….

Anyway, off I went to the Veranda. It’s a beautiful, wise porch area with room for about 20 tables of varying sizes. Mine was a two-seater right next to the railing overlooking the hotel’s famous Banyan tree and, a little further along, Waikiki Beach.

My charming waiter explained the various tea services they had—ranging from the top-end Royal Tea, which includes mimosas and a spa gift bag. I chose the nonalcoholic tea service, the Moana Classic Tea. I could choose from four specialty loose leaf teas: Hawaiian Coconut, Sweet Peach, Passion Orange Guava, or Mango Pineapple. There were also four traditional flavors, including Earl Grey, Darjeeling, and a decaf.

I chose the Peach, which is a white tea and very light. It seemed perfect for a hot day. Then came the three-tiered food selections.

On the bottom tray were the savories: shrimp salad croissant, smoked salmon mousse blini, curried chicken finger sandwich, a ratatouille tart, and an egg salad sandwich. All were delicious, but I really enjoyed the curried chicken in particular.

The middle tray had the scones. They were blueberry orange and light and tasty. They were served with mascarpone curd and a spectacular passion fruit jam. I would have bought some of that jam if it had been available.

The top tray had almond cake with a dollop of the same passion fruit jam, hauling roll cake with coconut crème, a green tea eclair, and a black sesame and chocolate macaron.

I took my time enjoying all these treats and my two pots of peach tea. I highly recommend taking some time out of your beach time to slow down on the Veranda. I loved it!