I Would like to see Hawaii on a very low
budget. Need info on hotels and sightseeing
and best time of year to avoid crowds.

My husband & I went on a week long trip to Hawaii last year. We visited 3 islands-Hawaii, Oahu, & Kauai. We went through our AAA travel agency & bought a package through Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays (www.pleasantholidays.com). It included all airfare, car rentals, & hotels. There are economical hotels available that are perfectly adequate. In fact, we went in Sept. which seemed not be particularly crowded, and we were upgraded to rooms with ocean views without the extra cost. If traveling to Kauai or Hawaii, I highly recommend buying the guidebooks: "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" and "Hawaii The Big Island Revealed." These are published by Wizard Publications, written by Andrew Doughty & Harriett Friedman. These are excellent guidebooks with very detailed maps & suggestions of hotels, restaurants, activities, and ways to save $$. Don't miss any opportunity you have to go-it was the best vacation ever!

On our first trip to the islands we went
with a tour company called YMT Vacations. Phone 1-800-922-9000. We were pleased with their service. The accomodations were not delux but were clean and pleasant. We ended up with an ocean view at each of our hotels. We just got a mailing from them advertizing a 15 day 4 island tour from $1499. This price includes hotels, air both from the mainland and between islands and some extras. Now that we know our way around and have learned our favorite places we do our own planning. Sure is a lot more work. A tour company takes care of all the little details like getting your luggage to your hotel and booking your airfare between islands. Have a great vacation.
Aloha.

If you're going to be in Honolulu, get a kitchenette suite at the Outrigger East or the Outrigger West. Then take the bus into Chinatown for grocery shopping. Buy a multi-day bus pass; for $1.00 you can have a round-trip all the way around Oahu!

Virtualy all Outrigger Hotels give a half-price room rate if you use the Entertainment card(which you should be able to buy locally--or buy the Hawaiian one for lots of local restauramt and activiy coupons) In addition to the Outriggers mentioned in the above posting, you can get a lovely, clean room a few blocks from Waikiki beach at one of their hotels for as little as $60 per night. Almost all their rooms now have little refrigerators. Their number is 1-800-OUTRIGGER. Ask them to send their book of all the Hawaiian island hotels and have fun choosing a bargain! On Kauai, the Outrigger Kauai in Lihue (it used to be the Hilton) is lovely (great pool) and very low key, down a road thru sugar cane fields, right on the ocean, and very centrally located--for $80 per nightEntertainment rate.