Open house pick of the week: Aloha Towers

Many residences in Waikiki tend to be small if they're not luxury condos, but Aloha Towers isn't bad for a spot right in the urban core. It actually has two separate locations: The Diamond Head Tower on Aloha Dr. and the Ewa Tower on Lewers St.

Although it was built in 1976, management maintains the building well and has security private security guards as well as an electronic entry system. A new listing in the Ewa Tower, which is open this Sunday, was just renovated, so you can't even tell how old the building is. (Click here for details.)

It's got new ceramic tile floors, new kitchen cabinets with soft-close hinges, and new stainless-steel appliances. Since it's on the first floor of units-over the parking garage-it gets nine-foot ceilings (as opposed to eight-foot ceilings like the others), so a nine-foot bar was created between the kitchen and dining area to match the height.

The really cool thing about this 717-foot, one-bedroom unit, though, is that its location on the first floor of residences gives it an additional 1,600 square feet of lanai area, with a private garden. It's also on the same level as the pool, sauna, tennis courts, hot tub and barbecue areas.

There's almost no reason to leave home, but the unit comes with two parking stalls (although you can just walk to all the shopping and dining in Waikiki) and 13 guest parking stalls. It's also a pet-friendly building, which is a plus.

Happy house hunting!

Money talk: $425,000 fee simple
Contact: Matt Brummel, Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, 808-748-3495, MattB@cbpacific.com
Scott Larimer, Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, 808-723-5554, ScottL@cbpacific.com