Honolulu took me by surprise in 8 ways on my first visit, from the size of Waikiki Beach to so many malls

In late August, I spent a week on Oahu on vacation with my husband and nearly 2-year-old daughter. For five out of seven nights, we based ourselves in Hawaii's capital city of Honolulu — the other two nights were at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, which is about 40 minutes from Honolulu by car.

Though I have visited Oahu before, I had never spent time in Honolulu aside from passing through the airport. For our five nights in the city, we spent three at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort on Waikiki Beach, and two nights at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, both of which are centrally located in downtown Honolulu.

In the past, I've been to Hawaii to vacation on Maui, and also to Oahu, where I spent time on the North Shore.

But I never previously considered Honolulu, mostly because many friends told me to skip it in favor of another area or island that was more remote. Honolulu, they told me, was a major city that that they thought felt crowded and touristy.

Even a waiter at a restaurant once we arrived told me that Honolulu's world-famous Waikiki Beach was his least favorite in all of Hawaii.

But the fact that I ended up loving our stay, including our time on Waikiki Beach, was only one of several things that surprised me about our time in Honolulu.

Honolulu is the capital of Hawaii, and the state's largest city.

I knew that before I arrived, but I still expected it might feel small or intimate in comparison to other big US capitals I've visited simply because it was on a tropical island.

But as we drove from the airport to our hotel in downtown Honolulu, I was not only shocked by the traffic, but by the skyscrapers.

I initially thought the city might have an overall feeling of a resort city like Palm Springs with its low urban skyline, but was surprised to feel like I was in any other major US city, such as downtown Los Angeles, as I was towered over by large buildings occupied by offices and commercial businesses.

As I ventured further into downtown Honolulu, I immediately noticed a trend. I was surrounded by the most upscale luxury brands I had ever seen in one place outside of perhaps Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

On one main stretch of Kalākaua Avenue, I saw stores like Tiffany & Co, Hermès, Valentino, Fendi, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, and many other high-end designer boutiques.

I didn't expect that Honolulu, a city on a remote island, would be such a destination for luxury shoppers with designer flagships all contained on just a few short blocks.

While I hoped to come home with souvenirs, I quickly realized I didn't have the budget to buy any of them here.

Next to all those designer wares were other familiar names: Starbucks, McDonald's, CVS. I also spotted restaurant chains like Tommy Bahama, California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, and Hard Rock Cafe.

I knew I was in a large city, but I didn't expect that the offerings, especially the food, would be so predominantly chain-focused. This felt disappointing, as I love Hawaiian food and found it challenging to find local specialties in downtown Honolulu within walking distance of my hotels.

Only after ample research did I find a hole-in-the-wall local spot for shave ice or small, independent boutiques to peruse. I even made it a point to drive out of the city center so I could try Leonard's Bakery's famous malasadas, which are Portuguese-style donuts.

Next time, I'll do more research ahead of time so I know exactly where to go to find what I'm looking to buy, eat, or try.

In addition to chains and designer stores, I saw malls — a lot of them. And while I'm used to seeing shopping malls in tourist-heavy destinations, I thought they were highly concentrated to the downtown area near Waikiki Beach.

Near the Hilton hotel, I drove past Ala Moana, a four-story shopping mall.

There were also several malls on Kalākaua Avenue, including International Marketplace, filled with high-end retail shops and a global food court.

And there was another, Royal Hawaiian Center, located adjacent to my second hotel, Royal Hawaiian.

It felt to me that on each city block, there was another mall.

Waikiki Beach is one of the most popular beaches in the world, welcoming more than four million visitors every year.

But before my stay, I didn't know that Waikiki Beach isn't just one beach. It's actually comprised of seven different beaches, including Kahanamoku, Fort DeRussy, and others including Royal Hawaiian Beach, which is the only one that I heard locals referring to as Waikiki Beach. The entirety of those beaches covers only two miles.

So when I checked into the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, I was surprised to learn that I was actually facing Kahanamoku and Fort DeRussy Beaches, despite the hotel's name. It wasn't until I later stayed at the Royal Hawaiian that I could officially say I sunbathed on the world-famous Waikiki Beach.

Ultimately, it didn't matter. I thought the area in front of the Hilton felt like a calm cove with gentle waves, and it was wider than any other area of Waikiki, and therefore never crowded.

And at Royal Hawaiian, I thought the waves were bigger and more visually stunning. And though there were more people, I found the atmosphere to be lively, and I had better views of the famous volcanic landmark, Diamond Head.

When I went to the beach on Oahu's North Shore, I felt tucked away in a far-flung paradise. Similarly, all the beaches I went to on Maui seemed very remote, either fronting just a few quiet, private hotels, or near a small laidback town like Lahaina.

But in Honolulu, the areas that made up Waikiki Beach were positioned directly across the street from the aforementioned skyscrapers and commercial activity.

In front of the Hilton, most of the surrounding buildings were large resorts, but the sand was also adjacent to a marina and parking lot.

And on Waikiki Beach next to the Royal Hawaiian, a small green area was the only thing standing between the beach and a busy street lined with tall buildings.

I went into my trip with low expectations for Waikiki Beach given the feedback I heard, and it being so close to the city.

So I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that Waikiki Beach was nowhere near as bad as people made it out to be. I thought I'd be walking into a densely overcrowded beach with loud tourists and pushy vendors, and that wasn't remotely close to my experience.

I thought Kahanamoku and Fort DeRussy Beach were both beautiful and ideal for sitting in the sun or swimming in peaceful, warm water without huge waves. The beach was so wide that it never felt crowded in the prime afternoon, and in the morning, was totally empty.

Waikiki Beach in front of Royal Hawaiian was a bit smaller with more people, but I was always able to claim some sand for myself, and I observed fewer people swimming, perhaps due to the larger waves, which meant I never had anyone around me in the water.

I never cared that the city center was so close. It reminded me of being in South Beach in Miami, but even better I thought, because I was on a tropical island paradise.

The main reason my family chose Oahu, and more specifically, Honolulu, was because it was cheaper than other Hawaiian islands.

As we were traveling with a small child, I wanted to go somewhere family friendly. As much as I would love to hike long trails on lush Kauai or the Big Island, I knew that wasn't realistic with a toddler.

I initially wanted to go to Maui, but a standard room in a four-star hotel cost nearly $1,000 per night when I searched on Google a few months in advance. Even small hotels with no on-site restaurant were around $700 per night.

In Honolulu, by comparison, I found standard hotel rooms for around $250 to $300 per night on Google.

Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, which had all the amenities I wanted, starts at $279 for a standard room, depending on the time of year, a representative for the hotel told Insider. And a one-bedroom suite was the same price as a standard room on Maui.

I also cashed in 100,000 Chase Sapphire Reserve points for two nights in a suite at the Royal Hawaiian. That same number of points would have yielded us one night in a standard hotel room on Maui.

This trip still cost us more than any other family vacation, but by choosing Honolulu as our base, we spent far less than we would have on another island.

As with most first-time visits, there was a lot I didn't know about Honolulu before my trip that I didn't fully realize until I was on the ground.

From the sky-high buildings to the better-than-expected beach, Honolulu surprised me in many ways, but, perhaps most importantly, left a positive first impression that all but guarantees I'll be back soon.