Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Compare- Sandals Resort & Hawaii

Been to both. We stayed at Sandals Dunns River and loved it. The food was good the people were wonderful and the rooms were beautiful. So many activities especially if you like watersports. I was the most relaxing vacation I ever took. Maui is beautiful too. You are able to go out and explore the island. Its not really that safe to do that in Jamaica. We did lots of fun activities, snorkeling/scuba, whale watching, biked down the volcano at sunset, and made the drive to Hana. Stayed at the Embassy Suites. It was OK. Nothing special, it looks nicer than it is and no beach. I loved Lahaina and all the great restaurants there. The town is a little touristy, but cute. They are both wonderful, but totally different. The advantage of Sandals is it is more relaxing, you can go there and not have to worry about spending money except souveniers. In Hawaii, there is a lot of extra cost and we ended up spending a lot more money. (rental car, food, watersports, tips) Also, it is not as relaxing when you are driving, getting lost, driving to go eat or to go to town. The advantage of Hawaii is that if you want to get out of the resort you can. There are choices of restaurants you can actualy feel safe going into town and going shopping. In the end it all depends what kind of vacation is appealing to you. Good Luck! P.S. I used to be a travel agent. Most of the information you are looking for is right here on the internet. The convention and visitors bureau has a nice web site and if you can they used to send out a brochure with all of the hotels, restaurants, etc. in it. That way once you narrow down you hotels, you can call them directly to get a rate, also try on the internet, or call a travel agent in your area. Look and see what will benefit you the most. Also, I would not email anyone on this board who says they "can help you out". If they can help you out, they would just post back on the forum, not privately. If you do decide to go with a travel agent pick someone in the area that you live and see how long they have been in business and check the better business bureau. The idea behind "local" is if for some reason something goes wrong, you can go directly to them and talk vs. calling an 800 number that may no longer be in business. Best of luck! Also I forgot to add, Sandals Montego Bay is right near the landing strip and Sandals Ocho Rios is getting old. The best one is Sandals Dunns River, the newest and the best and biggest pool. As for where to stay in Maui. Pick a few and read reviews on them or post a question here - hopefully someone other than a Hawaiian travel agent can give you feedback.