bonniebroad

Yes, I did! Interested, that was a misspelling! That is a wonderful location! I have another one for you to look at. *www.maui.net/~pounder* That place has a wonderful reputation if you were interested, and could get in. Not on water, but supposed to be great.

bonniebroad

Interested, Mana Kai Maui's website is *manakai.com*..... looks like you could get a deluxe bedroom there now for $106. You cannot beach that location and beach, and they have a wonderful restaurant there. You can walk down the beach to the Wailea Resort and all that's there. That would be my choice.... for price, location, etc. if I didn't want to break the bank.

interested

OK -- here is what I have found:

Sugar Beach Resort, Ocean front (floors 2-6), $150/night plus tax. What do you think?

bonniebroad

Interested, I would go for it. I had a friend who was a travel writer, and who stayed at Sugar Beach every year! I think you could be quite happy there. An oceanfront for $150 there should be quite nice. Good luck!

bonniebroad

Interested, I want to add here that when you rent a condo, sight unseen, at an older resort, you could always arrive and find things you aren't happy with. Now that probably will not happen but...... Just be prepared, if that happens, to insist that they move you to a better one that you are happy with. (We once rented a cottage at Emerald Isle, NC, which was an absolute dump.......had looked great in the rental book. It had fleas hopping in the windows, stained dirty sheets, dog tinkle on the bedding, ghastly! BUT the next day, the rental office put us in a great, oceanfront one!) Sugar Beach is an older, moderately priced resort that I've heard mostly nice things about so hopefully you'll get a good one. Best of luck!!!

bonniebroad

Interested, don't know if you have made your Kauai plans yet, but if you can get them to waive the 7-day minimum at Grantham Resorts *grantham-resorts.com*...... they have a special on the Waikomo Stream Condos for $85.00 night for a 1-bedroom, right in the Poipu Resort! Kauai is less expensive than Maui for a comparable condo, I think, and Nancy Grantham is known for her great deals and excellent service. I don't think you could beat that area of Kauai for your three days there, or these condos.

spunki

What about a bed & breakfast? We stayed at a great one near Kaneohe Bay on Oahu. Can't remember the name of the "company" but I found it by searching B&B's on the web. It was called the Maria room -- was a studio attached to a house, and the retired couple who live there are so nice. Their breakfasts were great too. Feels like being at home.

interested

Quick update: My eyes are purple bloodshot from reading, reading, reading on the net.... scouring great information and really digesting what I see on theis message board. Thank you so much for help -- I promise to repay in kind.

A bit of a twist on my last arrangements -- and I believe I am on the right track! I completely forgot about my Marriott points -- been collecting them for years now -- and confirmed 3 nights at the Kauai Marriott and Beach club, Ocean view King/non-smoking for the 2-5th night in Hawaii. I had enough points to cover all needed, less $130 out of pocket upgrades. Yahoo... what better deal is possible? I started to think about what we really want to accomplish and starting in Maui stopped making a lot of sense. As I noted in my first post, I did not know I was heading to Hawaii.. wasn't on my immediate radar (or budget plan for year), so this has been a crash course in research and fiscal responsibility. I want to enjoy this trip -- but not break the bank.

We will now spend our first night in HNL -- which is fine. I'm travelling with my 7' husband from east coast -- we'll be wiped out by 5pm arrival time. My thought is find a nice clean hotel with a good bed and a decent restaurant nearby and get on Hawaii time the first night. Fly to Kauai 2nd morning and spend 3 day/3 nights before returning to HNL for corporate incentive trip at Mandarin Oriental.

I am now going to start the Maui accomodations again -- but with a very different approach. I was so surprised by the quality variations in the beach hotels/condos/resorts that I was researching ... it became overwhelming. Now, I plan on focusing on boutique stops in Maui -- like the Kula Lodge, snorkel/dive trip to Molokini.. Scrapping Road to Hana drive since we will have had a good infusion of that experience while in Kauai.. *thanks bonniebroad* -- great advice!!

I feel much better about our upcoming trip. So stressful in the planning stages... clearly I'm a novice.

Stay tuned for more updates and questions!!

bonniebroad

Interested, on my first trip to Hawaii, 20 years ago, we stayed our first night at the Ala Moana Hotel right there near the airport, then went on to Kauai the next day. You might want to check it out....... a nice hotel, not too expensive.....

sk84fungirl

Have not been to Maui, but researching for a trip next year. I'm including a link that a co-worker sent me regarding his stay this past March. He said it was really nice. It was him and his entire family. He paid $85 a night and said it was literally across the street from the beach.

http://www.bellomaui.com/koaresort.htm

Hope this helps. And remember, there's more to Oahu than Waikiki. I went in October 03 and thoroughly enjoyed it using information from this site.

Enjoy your trip.