Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - best luau on oahu/waikiki

Got this from

http://www.mauihawaii.org/mauiinfo.htm

Places to call to ask about luaus:
Old Lahaina Luau 667-1998
Royal Lahaina Hotel 661-3611
Hyatt Regency Hotel 667-4420
Marriott Hotel 661-5828
Feast of Lele 667-5353
Maui Lu 879-5881
Maui Prince Hotel 874‑1111

The Old Lahaina Luau (my wife’s favorite) is the most authentically Hawaiian, has the most beautiful oceanfront setting, has the most comfortable chairs (if you don’t choose to sit on the ground), has the most old Hawaiian music, and has less touristy music than a hotel luau. It is at 1251 Front Street in the north part of Lahaina, across from the Lahaina Cannery Mall.

Space for 440 guests and often sold out, so call far in advance for the best seats. More expensive than the hotel luaus, and generally not discounted like the hotel ones. Toll-free reservations phone 1-800-248-5828
www.OldLahainaLuau.com

My personal favorite luau is at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, because it is more showy, with the Hawaiian music that all we tourists love. Kids often like the Hyatt luau because it has fire dancers and is less serious than the Old Lahaina Luau. I also like the luau at the Royal Lahaina Hotel. It has a good combination of authentic and touristy music and dance, with a beautiful sunset backdrop.

At the Old Lahaina Luau, and at the Feast at Lele, you are assigned to a reserved seat when you make your reservation, so the further in advance you buy your ticket, the closer you will sit to the stage. For most other luaus, there are no reserved seats, so the earlier you arrive that evening, the closer to the stage you can choose to sit.

The Feast of Lele is more expensive than most other luaus, but its food is more elaborate and is served to you by waiters (instead of a buffet like the other luaus). It has just 150 people in the audience and just 8 dancers in the cast, so it is much smaller than the others. However, my wife and I and the friends we went with did not like it. We had long waits between dinner courses and long waits between segments of the show. Then the food courses and the show segments came at the same times, so we could not fully enjoy either one. We found most of the performers difficult to see from most locations in the audience, because the small cast was spread out and the stage was not significantly elevated.

For any luau, you can usually get a discount by calling for the best price at Barefoot Discount Tours (661-8889 in Lahaina) or Activity Warehouse (667-4000 in Lahaina). (Never get tickets to anything from anyone who asks you to sit through a timeshare sales presentation.)