Going To Hawaii

[BeEnAr]

hey guys,

I'm going to Hawaii in August for my 1 year wedding anniversary, at the moment it's looking like we're going to stay at the Hilton Hawaiin Village or Embassy Suites. Needs to be in Oahu preferebly near the beach.

If anyone here has been to Hawaii recently and can recommend a good place to stay and some things to do (outside of the hotel room), that would be awesome.

Jarrod

[Ant97GTR]

Gday Jarrod....was there last March and thought it was fantastic.

Nothing wrong with the Hilton Village...has all the facilities and fairly close to the beach. Highly recommend a hire car to get you around. Do the hike up Diamond Head and go visit the north shore and sunset beach - just watch the shore break! Pearl Harbour is worth a trip - just give Pearl City a miss.

Are you only staying on Oahu or going island hopping? Reason I ask is that we went to the Big Island, and hiked around a few active volcano's - was awesome!

[Birds]

Turtle Bay Resort...Mila Kunis recommends

[gtr fan]

Outrigger on Waikiki. Its on Waikiki beach! Went in october with my wife and 1 year old daughter, best holiday yet!

[Ant97GTR]

Some pics....

Not sure that wearing the SAU motorsport jacket was the best choice at Pearl Harbour .....

Sunset Beach .......

View looking at Wakki Beach from Diamond Head.........

View looking the other way from Diamond Head......

And this is what you are missing on the Big Island (Kilauea) ......

[BeEnAr]

Thanks for the recommendations guys, looks like we might not be staying at the Hilton now, thinking of spending a bit less on accommodation so have more money to spend shopping, I'm also thinking of dressing up in some weird shit and going into Walmart to see if I can get in on those emails that go around hahahahaha!!

Also need to sus out what things there are to do while over there. We haven't ruled out staying on the big island, just picked Oahu because it is very tourist oriented. We don't really care if it's busy, noisy and crowded as we had a very secluded and private honeymoon when we went to a private island on Fiji so we are looking to fully embrace the tourist inside us. Hawaiian shirts LOOK OUT!!!! lol

[SS8_Gohan]

i did exhaustive research before our Hawaii trip last september.

Resource #1 www.tripadvisor.com - anything you could ever want to know is there.

Ok, we stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki, and we 'bidded' for the accommodation through priceline.com - basically you choose an area, waikiki beach, choose a star rating, 4 or higher, and then bid on your nightly rate. Usually for for 4 star or higher, waikiki beach, it's around high $90's usd a night. We ended up with $98 or $99 i think.

Downsides? don't get to choose your room or where you stay. You'll get a good place, but you may or may not get the room you want. Most places are pretty good about upgrades, so as soon as you 'win' a bid on somewhere give them a call and ask about an upgrade. Sometimes can be free, sometimes you can pay a little bit more, but even the paying a little more ontop of the bid price, will usually still be cheaper than the normal rate.

For sheraton places, sign-up for 'starwood preferred guest' or if you know someone who is already one, you might be able to use some of their points.

Outrigger on the Reef had just finished some reno's last year, and Sheraton wasn't quite finished, but i would imagine would be by now. They're both ON the beach. Some of the others, Marriott or example, might be listed as 'waikiki beach' but are technically on the OTHER side of the road. But i'd prob try for either Sheraton Waikiki (if you don't mind busy, because there's a very good chance it will be) or Outrigger on the Reef for a quieter but still very nice option. If we went back, i'd head to the Outrigger on the Reef. We had dinner at the bottom of the complex a few times, nice spot.

Embassy suites would also be a very good pick, came highly recommended from tripadvisor.com, booked out when we went. It's 'behind' Outrigger on the Reef, but still a great spot, and still some great views.

How long are you planning on going for? Check out their websites directly as that's where you'll find the best direct booking deals. There are a lot of stay 4 nights + 5th one free type things, and i know Outrigger had some "reno's are complete!" sale on, Sheraton might have something similar.

I'd look at those 3 first.

Things to do?

-Ka'a'awa Valley, Kualoa Ranch - which you might remember from Jurassic Park

-North shore tours. We did what i think was a great tour, run by a couple surfers, relaxed fun day. They bus you out to north shore area and can pick you up straight from your hotel. Driver tells you all about Hawaii/Oahu on the way out and when you get out to the north shore, your day is split in 2. You can choose 2 activities for the day, morning and arvo. Each 'part' of the day has a few options. Riding/surfing/snorkeling, etc... ie, we rode in the morning, and stand-up paddle boarded in the arvo. You also get to check out Sunset, Pipeline, etc... there were MASSIVE waves on that day and there were a bunch of people out on the beach just watching the surfers getting polaxed... much fun i'll try and dig up the name of the tour for you.

- Alo moana shopping centre. Big ass placed

- Factory outlets is wai... something... waipuha? bout 45mins from honolulu i think.

- Diamond Head walk (can do that starting from your hotel)

- Hanauma Bay, amazing snorkeling, highly recommend. Go early, or not on a windy day as the place gets busy and the visibility can be quite low when the sand gets stirred up.

- Pearl Harbour tour. This is one damn long day. It's worth getting up early, getting the first ferry trip out to the USS Arizona memorial. You get the memorial trip, a movie of the day, a trip to the USS bowfin (sub), Pacific Aviation Museum, USS Missouri (you can do an ipod touch tour, i recommend the 'short' tour, the long is well.... you know). You basically pay for all this at the ticket booth where you start, and get all your entry stuff there to the other places. And a bus will ferry you around to the other spots. We took public transport from Honolulu to get out to Pearl Harbour.

- Island circle bus. You can get a public bus and just hop on that all around the island, but be careful with the timetables. There are also some tours that do a FULL island tour as well, not just North Shore.

- If you're confident driving, prob best to take a car and explore as well.

But yeah, that's a bit of what i remember. Tripadvisor is great for anything you want to know.

We went to Maui as well, so let me know if you want to know about that. We were away for 12 days, and did 2 islands. Pretty tight schedule wise, but lots of fun.

[thommo]

snorkelling at Hanauma bay is def worth doing, prob my favourite part of my hawaii trip

[BeEnAr]

WOW Daniel, thanks for the indepth reply! Really appreciate it. We have pretty much narrowed it down now to Outrigger Reef and Sheraton, both have finished their reno's now so they are not so 1970's looking inside and all have at least 27 inch Flat Panel TV's. Sheraton charges for internet and I think the safe too whereas outrigger doesn't charge for either. Plus for outrigger is the price, we can get a suite for the same price as an ocean front room at Sheraton so we will have to decide I suppose.

I have looked into things to do and all the things you mentioned are on the list, maybe also thinking of hiring a Dodge Viper for a day... Just for fun Either that or it will be a Jeep Wrangler and scooters lol. Plan on going shopping at the outlets and Ala Moana. Can't wait to stock up on chocolates from Walmart and do the whole Sears thing.

We are also thinking of doing a day trip to the Big Island for the Volcanos because, well, they're awesome!

I have been on Trip advisor for the last 3 days straight and to tell you the truth it's starting to get to me, so many choices and so many different pics to look at it was bloody hard to narrow it down.

Just waiting on our Travel Agent to confirm prices and room types before we commit and pay for it all.

[adznight]

Outrigger on Waikiki. Its on Waikiki beach! Went in october with my wife and 1 year old daughter, best holiday yet!

Outrigger is pretty kick ass huh!

[SS8_Gohan]

Sheraton charges for internet

not really, well, not when we were there. There is a communal area down in the lobby/foyer that has free internet. It's like a mini net kiosk down there. You get 45mins and then it kicks you out, but you can log back in straight away Just change passwords for email, etc after the trip. Or during if you have a secure connection. But yeah, in room, there is a charge.

imo, you stand a good chance getting better deals/prices booking stuff yourself than through a travel agent. If you think about it, there is really no incentive for a travel agent to find you the best deal, just the same as a real estate agent. They just want the sale.

We upgraded to an ocean front at Sheraton for a few nights. Slightly smaller than the rooms on the other side of the building, but still very nice. And the bathroom has folding shutters, so you can open them up and look straight out the ocean whilst having a shower etc... quite nice But yeah, if you can get a suite at the Outrigger for the same price, could be a good deal.

Make sure you try the grill downstairs at the Outrigger. They have this great thing where you pay a price per head and you get to grill your own 'choice of food' on their big massive hotplate and grill. And then all you can eat sides. Cheap and tasty. Just trying to remember the name of the one downstairs.... oh, they do a good breakfast buffet as well, recommend that too. The 'classy' restaurant next door is ok, but not worth the $$ - The Yanks just don't get food. They don't get 'subtle' - if you compare prices, you can say pay close to an Ezard meal but the differences in quality of food is huge. You're better off not going to 'nice' restaurants, imo. Plenty of good, tasty, cheap/cheap'ish eats around.

[BeEnAr]

yeah our travel agent is a wholesaler so she gets really good rates and deals, we used her for our Honeymoon and she saved us over $1000! She's not a normal travel agent so that's why we use her. If she can't get us a better deal than we can get we won't use her.

Really looking forward to it, I have only ever been to New Zealand and Fiji so it will be interesting. Can't wait to try driving on the wrong side of the road and car it's gonna be strange the first time, paralell parking will be interesting.

We will probably not eat at the hotel very often, there are plenty of other places there to eat and I've been told by a few people that Hawaii is quite expensive for most things.

Rest assured when we get back I will post a few pics up, not Japan but still a pretty interesting place!

[adznight]

Another decent one I've stayed at is ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel. They had a good bar down stairs (Tiki's Grill & Bar) with nice food - it's not run by the hotel. Decent pool and great views too. It's down the other end from the Outrigger. Price was good too. Breakfast is shit though so don't bother

http://www.resortquesthawaii.com/hawaii/pr...tyGroupId=34365

[adznight]

Oh and the Sheraton Waikiki makes the BEST burgers there, and man, I LOVE my burgers.

One thing I can not recommend enough if you like movies and lost etc is - http://www.hummertourshawaii.com/ . Even if you just want to see the Island this is the way to do it!

The guy who runs these tours is a legend and it was awesome. They'll take you everywhere you need to go and you'll see heaps of the Island too. The guy really knows his stuff. He has a DVD player too and shows you the movie scenes then shows you where they were filmed. He takes pictures of you with dinosaurs and lost characters too, it's pretty funny.

Once again, make sure you do this. It IS really good value for money!

[BeEnAr]

Thanks Adz, will be sure to look them up while over there.

[GTR-N1]

Into volcanoes?

Very humbling experience!

Your wife will hold you tightly for security!

Hawaii - Big Island > Mauna Kea > Kilauea volcano area

Lava is very fluid and runny.

4WD is good but care is needed if it's foggy or shut the vents if the fumes get too much. Coming downhill may require low speed ie lower gears with rubble on the road.

Best to let you talk to the agent about current conditions.

[BeEnAr]

well we sat on this too long and the prices have increased A LOT! Bit of a bugger really, now looking at different hotel, most probably Best Western Coconut Waikiki Hotel which is currently in number 1 spot for best hotels in Hawaii on Trip Advisor, and it's also not too bad and has 42inch plasmas in every room. We are looking at the top room they have available which is the Junior suite.

[SS8_Gohan]

be VERY VERY wary of Trip Advisor ratings... we almost fell into that trap (going to stay at Hotel Renew because it was #1) - they unfortunately are open to 'tampering' some-what.

stick with the TA forum recommendations IMO, so that's sheraton/outrigger/embassy suites/mariott/hilton - i don't know the #1 place personally, but i'd dig a little more into the actual TA forums a bit just to be sure.

what's the date of travel? Outrigger Reef on the Beach has some specials going

http://www.outrigger.com/specials_travel_p...s.aspx?tpID=434

do you have to have an ocean view, etc? you could always try priceline.com as well

what's your budget i guess is probably a better way of going about it...

EDIT: sheraton has a 3rd night free, breakfast and complimentary upgrade as well

http://starwoodhotelshawaii.com/offers-pac...ings-in-hawaii/