Karaoke GS Studio

This review is long overdue! The last time I went was in July 2015! I will never return there again!
I used to like going there in the daytime because of their cheap flat rates and Japanese song selection. I love singing English and Japanese karaōke, so this used to be a great place to go… until the last time I went.
I went there with my coworker and his wife during the day around lunch time. We brought our own food and had ordered a few drinks. We decided to eat first, then after that I wanted to go the restroom before singing. Well, we were in a small room with a wierd-​shaped table that had unusual shaped legs. The legs were a flat rectangular shape. The couch and seats were very close to the table. My friend’s wife was seated on the couch in front of the table with very little room to walk by. Well, as I was trying to exit to use the restroom, my left foot got caught by the wide leg and I tripped over, fell forward, hit my forehead on the glass window of the door, and fell hard onto my right arm! Ouch!!! I ended up dazed on the hard floor and had dislocated my shoulder, fractured my bone by my shoulder, and the bone that had my muscle attached to got chipped off! So I couldn’t raise my arm and I was in immense pain!!!
We ended up having to call 911 and an ambulance came for me and took me to the ER!
Well, thankfully, the nice bartender guy didn’t charge my friend for his beer, which he had opened, but didn’t even get to drink. I think my friend left and didn’t have to pay for the room, since we didn’t even sing one song.
But, after calling them to ask for the manager to talk about insurance matters, I was so shocked about what happened later! I had to file a claim with their liability insurance, because my personal insurance would not cover my doctors’ bills because it happened on the business’ property. So, I contacted their insurance company, and submitted my information and photos of the room, etc. Well, to my shock, the business owner submitted photos where they had rearranged the table to make it look like I had lots of room to walk past the couch!!! Whaaaaattt the F*****k!!! That alone got me so upset and that is why I will never go back there and would never recommend to anyone to go there!
I was not able to work for 6 months!!! I was in pain and had to have shoulder surgery to reattach my muscle to the bone! At least the insurance paid for most of my bills, but I still ended up paying for doctors’ bills, etc.
So, be very careful when walking past those stupid tables in the small rooms!!! As far as I know, they still haven’t bothered to replace those dangerous tables in the small room, even after what had happened to me!

It’s hard to believe I’ve been coming to this place since I was 17, before they enforced the 21 after 10 rule. Still, even after nearly 10 years coming here, this is still the best place to find Japanese karaōke. Bar staff is absolutely awesome! The machines have both English and Japanese machines, with songs ranging from the usual Japanese and English to even Hawaiian and Korean. English songs can be found in the books and the Japanese/​Korean on the Joysound machine. Rates are reasonable, and great whether you’re with a small group or a whole bunch of friends. Overall, it’s a place I still enjoy going to, whether it’s to get a drink or to party to the wide selection of musical karaōke. GS, I hope you’ll be here for another 10 years!

I love coming to GS. They have a good song selection, a full bar, good size karaōke rooms, and a great atmosphere. They allow outside food but no outside drinks. After 10pm 21+. It’s a great place to go with friends!

If you’ve read my previous post then you should know I freaking love karaōke. I just love being able to let loose and perform the talent that I mastered while sitting alone in traffic. I mean with this Hawaii traffic I’m pretty sure I’ve had a lot of practice (long grueling hours)* hitting the notes to «Alicia Keys’ Girl on Fire» and rapping a the rap verse from Rehab’s «Sitting at the Bar». Ladies and gents I hope you realize that I also noted how bad traffic is here. Meerrrrrr
Enough about my unpopular opinion of myself. Im here to talk about GS studios!
Okay so like GS studios is located in Waikiki which means parking is gonna be a beach. You might opt to park at the Ala Wai and walk it to GS studios, pay the ridiculously high parking rates in the hotels around you, or take the taxi/​über/​lyft to save yourself.
I recently found this place because my friend showed it to me. The rooms here are mediocre; functions like any other karaōke room, has different rates per hour depending on the size of your party/​the room you are placed in.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:
–Once past 10pm an ID is required to enter and everyone must be 21 and older
–No Outside Drinks
–Can bring snacks/​food.
–there is a bar.
–there’s an intercom in which you can order drinks and have it delivered in the room.
–DISCO BALLS IN HERE
–VARIETY OF SONGS. Japanese included.
–there is a song selection just for Japanese tourists.
–They do not serve food

I love this place so much! This is definitely my go to karaōke place and the only one I’ve been to in Hawaii with a touch screen remote where you choose songs. All the employees are friendly and shout out to SAORI for always giving EXCELLENT service and always making the drinks with love. She keeps me coming back!!!

Talk about bad customer service. This place was fun tho because we had our own big room. Everybody was happy and drinking until one of the bartenders here showed up and gave us bad customer service like he was irritated by us for ordering more drinks and told my own brother that he can’t have anymore drinks just because of the way he looked. Watch out for a Tall Asian looking white skin guy with gray and black hair. I’d say he was definitely being racists too judging by the way he treated me and my friends. Everything was all cool and everyone was having a good time until he showed up. Smh. Way to ruin the party.

[Location & Parking]
GS studios is located on the 2^nd floor of the Aqua Oasis Hotel (formerly called Wakiki Joy Hotel). The entrance is on Lewers street. You will see the Kimukatsu restaurant but to the left of it, there are stairs. Walk up the stairs and you will see counter.
Parking is a BIG problem here. In the past, they used to have a larger parking lot in the back of the hotel but now it’s gone and they only have a small lot that charges an arm and a leg. If you want free parking, your best bet is the Ala Wai.
[Interior]
They have various room sizes no matter how big/​small your party is. Each room has a decent sound system, microphones, and song selection.
In the main area, there’s a small bar with couple bar stools and tables.
[Service]
I’ve been to GS couple times and usually the staff is pretty chill and friendly.
For $ 11 a person, you can sing from 12−8pm and it comes with a free soft-​serve beverage. They also have a happy hour special on domestics for $ 2.50.
[Overall]
GS studios is a really great place to go Karaōke because of their karaōke deal. Unfortunately, the parking situation is really terrible. If it wasn’t so expensive and difficult to find parking, I’d be coming here more often.

I love this place, and it’s always where I go for karaōke! I haven’t tried the English songbooks and always use the joysound touch-​screen selection system. Definitely go during happy hour, which is 12−8pm. It is only $ 8 or $ 10 per person depending on the day and you get a free drink as well!
There are many sized rooms, so it can accommodate different sizes of parties well. The rooms have controllable air conditioning, lights (even a disco ball!), and a karaōke appropriate sized TV.

Usually love this place but the bartender last night was not very good.
We ended up having fun, but make sure you know how to make your own drinks or the «bartender» might not be able to handle it.

This place is right at downtown Waikiki area so it can be very touristy and at the same local. The place is not that fancy but props to having the latest popular songs on the radio and on viral. Our room was VIP 2: the mic was moderately loud, the remote is user friendly, although the white speaker on the ceiling was choppy for a couple of songs. We got a reservation at 9:30 pm and stayed there until 1:30 am. There are two types of books for the old: sort on songs and sort on artists.

What does the GS stand for? Great Songs? Giant Squids? Well whatever it stands for, GS is my favourite place to come for Karaōke! It is the closest thing to Karaōke in Japan that I have been able to find locally.
It is not a big, intimidating, open room– you get your own private room with friends! They have different size rooms for small groups, medium groups, and a VIP party room for up to 25 people. I’ve been here for my birthday, friend’s birthdays, my bachelorette party… pretty much any excuse I can get, I am at GS!
I come for the Japanese song selection, which operates on a touch-​screen system (I believe it’s Joy Sound, one of the more widely used systems in Japan). Most of my favourites are in there, even some more obscure visual kei selections. Bam, you have one happy, metal-​screaming fan.
As for the English system, they also have an impressive selection. The system is more old-​school though, as in, you look up a song you want in a book, punch in the number, and enjoy.
For the best deal, I come for the Early Bird special. I forget what the rate is, but it’s something like $ 12 flat for any length of time, as long as you’re there from 12pm-​8pm. It includes one free soft drink, too.
It is not BYOB, but they do have their own bar, a happy hour, and their prices are pretty standard. You can BYOF, even cakes for birthdays.

If you’re a first-​timer, please read – I have a tip or two for you. Warning though, this is going to be epically long.
To start, you must know that even though I am a regular, I can be very critical of things just as anyone else. Even though I love many venues, I will point out flaws where I see it.
That being said though, I have seriously never had a problem with service in all my years of coming here. I’ve not had unfriendly attendants or bartenders including the new girl they recently hired – even she was amazing. Kyle is still my favorite though; he is like the face of GS to me and if he ever left, it just wouldn’t feel the same. He is very friendly and entertaining to boot.
As far as drinks go, they can make maybe 75% of the things I prefer. If they don’t have it, the bartender is usually skilled enough to substitute for something similar. I wish I could remember the name of the cute haole girl, but that’s what she did for me one night. Whatever I had (some type of coffee liquor drink?) ended up being way better than what I originally wanted. To that bartender: If you’re ever reading this, thank you – though you may not remember me because I was entirely blue in the face (with face paint).
Room talk: This is somewhat a hole in the wall place so yes, the rooms may look a little dated but there is nothing wrong with them (at least not that have experienced). I feel bad for that one guy that said his air conditioner didn’t work but I am usually freezing my bunnies off in those rooms. Always. Bring a jacket or don’t sit in line of the AC. Other than that, the rooms are always clean, functional, not fancy but does the job.
Karaōke systems: GS (and Toma’s) has the best song lookup system of all the karaōke venues I’ve been to. Take note: there a Japanese system, which uses a handheld input device and an English system, which uses traditional books and song numbers. Both are in every room. Your attendant will usually switch it to the English if it’s obvious you’re not going to sing Japanese, Korean or Chinese songs.
Here is the secret though, the Japanese JoySound system is the best I’ve used and has all the most popular English songs. From Frozen to Queen, they’ve got you covered. Why choose the JoySound over the English machine? Because the JoySound uses a handheld touchscreen input that lets you search artist, song, partial queries, history, genre, ranking, and keyword – though I’ve never used that button.
If you want to make your life easier, consider learning how to use it. You will never use those bulky books again!
Ask an attendant to show you the basic functions and all you have to do is memorize what they look like. You don’t have to read Japanese at all. There’s only a few things you need to know: where to search for songs (press the button that says English), how to enter, cancel, and go back.
Later I’ll make a video tutorial and post a link or something for how to use it. I swear by this machine even if I’m only singing English songs. (I do try my hand at Korean and Japanese from time to time though.)
Lastly: Price. I find their prices ridiculously fair. I actually come here alone sometimes and I get what I call the «2-​hour lonely-​man special.» Don’t ask them for that though, that’s not the title of the special lol.
I don’t know what it’s really called but somehow I will spend two hours belting out songs to myself only to pay about $ 11. Yes. People karaōke alone. I think it’s therapeutic lol. If you ever want to go solo, that’s the option for you! Other than that, check the rates at
by clicking service. (My, isn’t that convenient?)
Technical difficulties: There is only one time I’ve ever encountered an issue and it was with a mic in one of the rooms. The sensitivity was kind of finicky and it would only pick up your voice if you were singing loudly or directly into the mic as close as possible. The attendant came to adjust it and it was better but not perfect. Not enough of a hiccup for me to deduct any stars or for it to drag down my night. My sis and I just switched off with the good mic.
Five stars because that is how satisfied I am with my experience every time I come. So far there has been nothing that negatively impacts my opinion and with no need for books, a bar right there, private rooms, and friendly staff? –for me, GS is the best place for karaōke on the island.

Love this place! Haven’t tried out many others to compare, but we always have a great time, equipment works for the most part, staff are helpful and accommodating. Love the set-​up of the place, the individual and varying sizes of rooms are brilliant. I love karaōke in general, so compared to all my previous karaōke experiences (bars), this place really outranks that experience!
It is clearly dated and the rooms themselves have a very dingy feel to them. The food is tasty enough, but I like to eat pretty healthy so there isn’t much on the menu that isn’t fried. But I think it’s cool they serve food as well as drinks.

Been going here for years. Seen the crew change over the years as well. Over all always a great time!

Good mics, bad speakers, selection can be better. Looking for strictly English songs might be a bad idea here. They seem to be missing a bunch of classics, and more modern hits.
I do like the room atmosphere to encourage fist time singes in you group as well as giving privacy. The service was good and fast. The equipment can use a browse feature, and the speakers were mounted 4inchers with horrible feedback.
Overall I had a good time with their setup.

I’m not a regular but I do come here once in a while. For maybe the past 6 times I’ve received such excellent service from a younger Asian guy. I recently visited the place on a friend’s birthday and received «Meh» Service from a lady worker there.
First of all with the younger Asian guy, I noticed he treats us each time we visit like we’re new customers and he goes thoroughly through the process and menu (and prices). He explains how to switch between machines (Japanese with big tablet, and English with the keypad and pressing the DVD button). He also explains that before 8 pm or so its happy hour so we get a free drink as specified on the menu and he explains about the call button. If you have problems or need drinks hit it and he’ll be right over. These were two things she failed to explain if we were new customers.
I didn’t realize their customer service is not up to par if it’s NOT the younger Asian guy that I grew accustomed to. I noticed when we got there he wasn’t working, instead was a lady. We were placed in room #9 and didn’t even bother to direct us («*sigh* it’s around the corner past…») as usually the guy directs us with great nice customer service. I should of notice that was the first red flag with her.
So we go into room #9 and it’s HOT as hell. I know sometimes AC machines take time to get cold so I usually wait a couple of minutes to see if it was working. Boy I was wrong. It’s was hot during the entire 4 hours were there. It was colder outside of room– second red flag. It was my bad for my part, but it was my friend’s birthday so i didn’t want to make a big fuss, so I told my friend to sit directly in front of the AC machine which temperature was like «56 degrees» and hot.
Normally I hit the call button and the guy tells us we can order through there and he delivers. So hit the button and no one picks up. So I head over to the main bar where I see the lady playing with her iPhone while charging it. I asked her for drinks and asks if the button call still works, where she says something like «oh i didn’t turn it off or on» idk, I was really getting irritated at her job skills at that point but it was a friend’s birthday so I didn’t want to let an employee with shady customer service experience ruin the his birthday— third red flag.
What really set me off and my final red flag was we ordered a second round of drinks after she answered the call button, I asked her that how to change between singing sets because in an honest mistake I forgot how to despite the directions noted. I’m not too sure if room #1 and #9 have a big difference in machines but I just couldn’t figure it out. When she explained and sighed, and didn’t even show us how to do it. «*sigh* press the white button under…»
I was so upset with her by the first 2 hours, that I decided from that point in my life if I ever get shady customer service I WILL NOT TIP ANYONE — Sorry servers what makes you think you can have my hard earn $$ if you not going to work for it? It’s your job but my money! You want my MONEY? Work for it especially if I’m not being RUDE or GROUCHY.
In all I would recommend this place if it’s the younger Asian guy working. If not I’m not really going to tip you unless you do a really similar experience like that guy. You can be at least attentive to your customer and fake like you like helping them or be happy at least and not be kind of in a «rolling eyes» phase. I understand it’s a chill job at times but if you do encounter the girl I wouldn’t recommend on tipping her. She can check her iPhone all she likes for new jobs with the attitude she has.

Have you ever heard someone ask someone that is singing: «Hey who sings that song?» The person says who the artist is and then person who asked the question then says: «well let them sing it then!» Some people just should not sing outside the shower. But when they do, and the drinks are flowing, it might be one of those epic nights where everyone thinks they can sing and the party over here don’t stop till 4 in the morning. Yes that’s right they are open from 12pm till 4am every day.
Unfortunately this place isn’t BYOB as they have a full bar, but it is BYOF (Bring Your Own Food).
To me their specials are a little confusing but it is listed below:
Early Bird 12 Noon till 8pm: (includes one soft drink)
Mon –Thurs $ 9/​per person
Fri, Sat, Sun $ 11/​per person
Evening Special 5pm till 9pm: (includes one soft drink)
Mon — Thurs $ 11/​per person
Fri, Sat, Sun $ 15/​per person
They also have regular room rates by the hour with a cover charge of $ 1 per person.
To enter songs you can do it two ways. You can look through the book and find the number for the song you want and punch it in on their key pad like most places have. They have this electronic tablet that you can look up by artist, or song which is pretty cool.
A good thing to remember is that no one under 21 is allowed at night.
Parking is either on the street or in the metered parking behind the hotel off of Kuhio.
Over all my friends and I like this place.

I’m revieiwing this place now because I honestly don’t know when the next time I’d actually come back here…
Came here on a Saturday night randomly to continue celebrating my friends birthday. One of her other friends recommended this place because she said their prices were cheap and the songs were free! this place is kinda small and hidden. I have not heard of them and I also saw that they give you like a 20% off discount if its your birthday and they’re open til 4am
They do have a bar where you can order your drinks, the rooms were clean and the songs were mostly updated. I think for 2 hours with drinks included on our tab our bill totaled to like $ 140.00. so if you’re in the waikiki area and feel like singing you check them out.

As a friend and I first walked in, we were a bit wary as the place is a little run down and smells kinda funky, but the rooms were neat and the service was quick. We went for the early bird special which allows one to do karaōke from around 12−8pm and includes a soft drink, and we ended up paying about $ 26 in total — completely worth it in my opinion! If there were no early bird special, we would have paid over $ 45 just for three hours!
The song selection is GREAT if you love Japanese, Korean, and English music — they are not as up-​to-​date with Japanese and Korean songs as I would like, but they still provide many hits with the song selection that they do have. My friend is OBSESSED with AKB48 and we were both surprised to find that they have what seems like a hundred of their songs! When I spoke to someone on the phone about whether or not they had AKB48 music, they said they had «some» but this is a lot more than I was expecting.
Bathroom was clean, but the floor was wet, which was both kind of disgusting and hazardous to those who may need assistance.
Their food selection is a bit disappointing, but with Kimukatsu downstairs and Gyu-​Kaku across the street, I think it would be good to get out of the karaōke room after a while!
I will definitely be back to Karaōke GS Studio and will bring more friends for the early bird special!

You don’t need vocal training. You don’t even need to know the top 40. But you DO need to know how to let loose and have fun!
This is karaōke.
A few years back, I was that girl in the dark room hoping the mic would never get passed my way. I’d scoff at karaōke invites making every excuse not to attend. The thought of hearing such amazing vocal talent and then hear me squawk and squeak was beyond mortifying. I’d mumble a line or two under my breath when I’d take a «bathroom break», then clear my throat amd let out a voice that was audible only to a harvest mouse. Until now.
GS Karaōke is our bi-​monthly play time with friends! Located in the Waikiki Joy hotel on Lewers St, it is the perfect venue for drink and song. Equipped with 16 spacious studios, a handful of VIP rooms, and friendly staff, GS manages to blend comfort with cool. Parking is available behind the hotel and in the DFS Galleria. There is a BYOF (Bring Your Own Food) policy so feel free to lug those party platters at the next event. They run their shindig until an eye-​squinting 4 a.m., ample time to shake off the work week and hum your favorite Bön Jovi medley.
The bar area has a few tables by the women’s restroom for those who choose to mingle with familiar faces or watch TV. It’s nice to be able to run outside and chat it up with the bartender and friends, then run back in with your original singing crew.
The staff has been pretty consistent over the years. Mr. Kamata, Marilyn, and Danson are just a few names that come to mind when I think of the long time GS veterans. And they are so incredibly helpful and efficient! If you can’t read the Japanese buttons on the machine, if the remotes are on the blink, or if you need to order your next Mind Eraser, the intercom is just a push button away! The prices are reasonable but be aware of the rates prior to entering as they make it clearly visible on the front desk. Weekends are especially stacked in price, particularly for the English VIP rooms, but if you have six or more friends it definitely defrays the cost significantly!
Love this place, love the staff, two thumbs up!