Hi - I am beginning to plan my first trip to Hawaii for October of this year and I need some Ideas on how to pick which islands. I will only have about 8 days from JFK and was thinking Maui and Oahu to do Pearl Harbor. Are there any reasonably priced hotels on either island - maybe $150/night or better islands for a first trip. Thanks.

yes do an archive search for more ideas. www.hotel.com and a simple internet search using google or yahoo will provide with numerous options. Starwood often has promotions if you sign up for rewards programs (35% off in some cases). Moana in Waikiki is a favorite of mine.

A-L-O-H-A!!!

you can get a resort on the water for around $145 by using priceline. www.biddingfortravel.com has all the details.

We are also planning our first trip to Hawaii for April-May, we are staying about 10 days. Hawaii for Dummies helped me to plan which islands to stay at, it really depends on what wou're looking for. And once a settled on the islands, the Ultimate Kauai handbook really helped.

I agree that Hawaii for Dummies is a good travel book--cuts to the chase and helps you pick an island based on your interests.

We love the island of Maui.

My experience is the aston waikki beach is nice and close to beach ( across the street ) on oahu.

maui, try to stay in whalers village ( kannapalli) the hotels and condos are from left to right - hyatt ,marriott,kaanapali alii,westin, the whaler,kaanapail beach hotel, and finally the sheraton. The area is the best with everything you want from snorkeling , shoping , restaurants, to golf, so have fun. nick

nicknick, we are considering the Aston Waikiki Hotel for a place to stay in Oahu this summer. I actually started a thread on it here asking for reviews on Waikiki hotels. How did you like staying there? I gather it's on the eastern part of Waikiki, less crowded. Is that a good location?

erin, I agree that the Kaanapali Beach is the best place to stay in Maui, should you pick that island. And on Kaanapali, the best hotels, in my opinion, are the Westin Maui and the Hyatt Regency Maui. Great pools and lovely lobbies.