Doug

Sarah, thanks for your well wishes....I also want to extend my thanks to all you other Fodorites out there for all the helpful information you provided me over the past few months. I heeded much of your advice and it proved most fruitful in making my honeymoon a wonderful experience.

So if I can return the favor and help any of you in planning your upcoming trips, I am more than willing. Please, just ask!

jkeysar

My husband and I honeymooned on Kauai for a week last August. We stayed in Kapaa on the east coast. I liked it for it's central location to the North and South shores. We only stayed there b/c we had a timeshare, but it was right on the beach. Waves were too choppy for me to enjoy the water there though. We definitely liked the north shore best. Hanalei was my favorite town. We took surf lessons at Hanalei Bay; it's easier than it looks. Views of the Pacific are incredible from the Princeville, as the hotel is on a cliffside. We spent a day kayaking on the Wailua River in Kapaa and hiking to a waterfall. If you like kayaking, I'd definitely recommend this. As for fly or sail, we sailed the Na Pali coast and loved it. We saw numerous dolphins, sea turtles, and Niihau "the forbidden island" (you can even take a longer boat tour to there). We did a five hour tour and went snorkeling off of the coast. I would recommend everyone try the sail; however, next time we will probably try the heli tour to see Mt. Waialeale up close. I didn't really like the south side. We went driving to Waimea Canyon (it's nice to see, but not that interesting). If you want shopping at regular stores, go to Lihue, but there are many little shops all over the island we went to. Unfortunately we spent a lot of time shopping for souvenirs, something I will not do next time. We also went to Oahu for three days, but never made it out of the Waikiki area. I was very disappointed and would not recommend anyone stay here. The beach was overcrowded and we searched for a hawaiian restaurant everywhere, but all there was was Japanese restaurants everywhere. If we ever go back to Oahu, we will stay on the north shore. Also, we thought we'd save money by taking the bus instead of renting a car, but the bus system was a lot more of a nuisance and confusing than all of the rave reviews they give it, which is probably why we never made it out of Waikiki. Hike Diamond Head the views are magnificant.

steviehby

we are going to maui in July. Thinking of booking the cheapest room at 4 seasons - $335 for mountain view. Is this a mistake? If so why? Thanks!!!

Doug

Hey steviehby,

We actually stayed in a mountainview room while we were there and have no regrets at all. The room was a nice size, was beautifully adorned, and had a lanai overlooking Haleakala. Like yourself I'm sure, we would have loved to have an oceanfront room, but we honestly couldn't afford one at the 4S. And for what we did spend for the mountainview I'm sure we could have had a room with a beautiful ocean view in one of many other nice hotels. But more important to us than the view was what the rest of the hotel had to offer. And we had heard from several people that the 4S offers only the best (and we can now vouch for that)....so we just made the decision that we had to stay there.

I guess it boils down to how important the room is to you and how much time you plan on spending in it to enjoy those ocean views versus what the rest of the hotel can provide for you. Only you can answer that.

One thing I can tell you, though. If you do choose the 4S, I don't think you'll be disappointed.