Hawaii Vacation Deals

Kare♥Bear asked:


We need suggestions from personal experience…we’re planning a Hawaiian vacation after our kids graduate from middle and HS…?
We want to go to Waikiki and Kaanapali and stay in an upscale vacation condo at both places? My husband and I have not been there since 1984…any suggestions? Thanks!

Also- if there is a new/better area in Maui to visit/stay at – please tell me that, too! But we really liked Kaanapali. I am a former travel agent and have been to Hawaii several times, but as I have said – it’s been years ago and time changes things.

also – how many nights to stay at each place?

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4 Responses to “Hawaii travel question?”

1. Greg Says:
   February 16th, 2010 at 2:32 pm

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   Hiking at Diamond Head is a lot of fun, excellent view. We went to a luao (sp?) thing, but I didn’t find it very enjoyable for someone my age (15). We went snorkling at some kind of Bay, can’t remember the name, but it was a lot of fun. We never left our island, can’t remember the name, the one with Honolulu haha. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It was a fun week.

2. Melissa R Says:
   February 17th, 2010 at 7:56 am

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   What about Kihei? This town is in south Maui. My husband and I went their for our honeymoon. What a great town! Walking distance to shops, restaurants and rental places ( surf boards, shorkel stuff) I think south maui has some of the best beaches. There is a vacation condo called Kamaole Sands if you don;t like that one there are many others on the same road. It’s right across the street from Kamaole Beach Park II.

3. mazeyday1 Says:
   February 19th, 2010 at 8:43 am

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   I love giving Hawaii advice since it is like my favorite place on earth, your kids will love it!!

   First I would say, have you been to or considered spending a few days on Kauai? Kauai is a natural wonder, I would say it is my favorite of the four major islands (oahu, maui, BI and Kauai). It is where they have shot so many movies like Jurasic Park and others because it is so lush and gorgeous. Waimea Canyon is there, which is called “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific”, it is amazing, sailing the Na Pali Coast is amazing, gorgous colored rugged cliffs that fall straight down to the ocean, when you sail out to it sometimes you can witness a missile being test fired by the military that is out on that remote point of Kauai. Also you almost always see pods of dolphins on those sailing trips. On our honeymoon it rained 4 of the 5 days we were on Kauai (on and off showers) and we still had the absolute best time there, it doesn’t usually rain that much there, except on top of the hightest peak on that island, I think they do say it is the wettest spot on earth or something like that.

   We stayed at the coolest place on Kauai, I **** to even put it out there and make it more popular and expensive, but oh well, it is Waimea Plantation Cottages, get a 2 bedroom oceanfront or oceanview, it is in this little 1950′s looking town called Waimea, it is made up of old sugar plantation workers cottages that were moved from all over the island to that spot in a patch of super tall palm trees, it is on the ocean and a beach, but the surf is rough so the beach there isn’t swimable, but that’s okay, drive over to the cute little Old Koloa town to eat and shop and down to Poipu for the swimming beach. Poipu would also be a great resort area to stay in, there are some very pricey nice resorts there like the Hyatt Kauai.

   If you go to Kauai, get a jeep wrangler 4×4 not a wimpy cheap little car, take the helicopter tour, the island is covered with hidden cliffs and waterfalls that you can only see by air. The only resort area that I would not stay on again is the “coconut coast”, in Kapaa, the resorts there are cheap. Kauai is super amazing, but I think some people don’t quite appreciate it, that’s alright, that will keep it less crowded for those of us who realize how special it is. I think people just need to spend more than 1 or 2 days there to see it and realize how amazing it is.

   The hotel I stayed at most recently on Waikiki was the Outrigger Reef on the Beach, it is nice, not extravagant, but nice and clean with all the amenities you would want, the great thing about it is that it is right in central Waikiki on the beach so easy to walk to the rest of Waikiki area, and their restaurant has an awesome breakfast buffet right beachfront with open walls, so you start you day with a yummy breakfast sitting a foot from the sand and watching the waves crash in, even if you stay somplace else you should come here for the breakfast buffet to start your day. The condo that I think looks nice, although I haven’t stayed there yet, is the Waikiki Beach Tower (ResortQuest).

   On Maui, I think the only cheap not so nice area is Kihie, Kaanapali is still very nice, we stayed in the area of Kapalua, the beaches there are smaller (not as long) and that whole area is a little crowded, little hotels and lots of houses, Kihie is cheap, Wailea is expensive, your kids would probably love the Grand Wailea, it has this huge pool complex with slides and everything, it is pricey over 400/noc for a room, but if price isn’t an issue I’m sure they would love that place, otherwise I would stick with the Kaanapali area (lots of resorts to choose from), lots of places in walking distance to eat, and a close drive into Lahaina which is a great little town!

   Your kids would probably also love the volcano on the Big Island, if you are going to go there for a couple days to see the volcano, just rent a house in Volcano Village, the resort areas on the Big Island are kind of far (4 hour drive) to the volcano, so you should just stay close to the volcano, plus Volcano Village is a rain forest so it is very cool!

   I would probably spend the most nights on Maui, although all the islands have just unending stuff to see and do, I kind of felt like there was the absolute most “activities” to see and do on Maui.

4. dave b Says:
   February 20th, 2010 at 10:00 pm

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   my wife & I were there in May for our 5th Anniversary. we stayed at Kannapoli Villas.WE stayed there 4 nights,put over400 miles on a rental car. At Waikiki we was only 2 blocks from the beach,but neither of us swim or sunbath, so we just went & looked then took a few pictures. Went sight seeing on a tour bus,since traffic there is awful,no car anyways. We stayed right near the International Market Place,which is a must do.was there 3 nights. then that awful long flight home!!