Couple age 60 & 62 just starting to research 1st trip to Hawaii for late Nov. to Mid Dec. 2009 Looking at Oahu Island but may also visit 1 other Island. Info required right now is on good value 4 star room or cottage.( what should we expect to pay per night ) We would prefer to stay out of the busiest areas. Maybe up North Shore and drive to Waikiki and Honolulu for a few day trips out of our approx. 15 day vacation.

Hi warren-

If you come back with a budget and the sort of activities you like (sleeping on the beach? museums? fine dining? Hawaiian history? Shopping?) you'll get more responses. The north shore is fairly rural and not much going on if you like night life or shopping, and the beaches can have very big surf in Nov-Dec. Great for watching from a distance, but not so great for swimming. There are cottages in Mokuleia or the Turtle Bay resort, or you might try to rent a B&B in Kailua on the windward side.

Here are some random Hawaii threads that might help you get started. If you type first time Oahu in the search bo above, plus click on Hawaii and search, you'll get a lot more.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35143205

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35086311

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35145573

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35140727

95% of the Oahu hotels are in Waikiki.

Outside of Waikiki:

Kahala Hotel & Resort - About 2-3 miles on the opposite side of Diamond Head from Waikiki. In an isolated area, yet close to Honolulu/Waikiki.

JW Marriott Ihilani Resort - on the leeward (west) side of the island. About 40-45 minutes from Honolulu/Waikiki.

Turtle Bay Resort - On North Shore about an hour from Honolulu/Waikiki.

With 15 days you have time for up to three islands, though two may be better.

Lots of info including sites with free brochures for all islands:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34812564

Small correction..The Kahala Resort is not isolated, but it is in a residential neighborhood. No shopping or dining in the immediate area.

Kahala Resort is on a dead end street. It is surrounded by the ocean on one side & a golf course on the other side. It's fairly isolated.

http://www.driveguidemagazines.com/o...i_makapuu.html

Teh Kahala also has a 100 units condo building next door, and so many people at the public beach park next to it that street parking can be a big problem.

Anyway, it does not fall even close to the "good value 4 star" room requested by the OP. Their best rates start at $415 a night.

Have you tried VRBO.com for cottages? Otherwise, I think Turtle Bay Resort, Ko Ilina, or a Kailua B&B (make sure it's legal!) will be your best bets for hotels out of the busy areas.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the info.
Since we shared about our trip it appears there may be 4 couples going so that will change everything. We may look at renting a house on VRBO.
Thanks again and I will come back when we get some more details.
Warren

December is a very expensive time to be in Hawaii. It's the holidays and many hotels are flooded with tourists and a hotel that is normally $200. per night will be $300 + in Dec. Can you plan for late Oct or Nov rather than Dec?

I'll throw in our recent experience in that at that time of year the Northshore is quite busy with surfing competitions.
Homeaway is another rental site to check or vamoose.com has listings from several management companies.

My Girlfriend has always wanted to go to Hawaii and since I chose to go to The Grand Canyon for my 60 th birthday in 2007 I told her to choose where she wanted to be when she turned 60 and she chose Hawaii so since her 60 th birthday is Dec 01 2009 so we plan on goin the last week in Nov to be there for Dec. 01-2009.So will go and we will just have to deal with higher prices but that is why I am starting now to look for the best prices I can find.
The Fodder site helped me alot for our trip to The Grand Canyon in 2007 so now I am back again.
Warren

There won't be higher prices in early December except for years that Honolulu Marathon is earlier.

Honolulu marathon is 2nd Sunday in December. For 2009 that will be December 13. Generally some visitors will start coming to Oahu on Monday, Dec 7 before the Marathon. By Wednesday, Dec 9, the number of visitors will be more noticeable.

So you might think about going to Oahu 1st & going to a different island before the marathon.

With 15 days, I think you can easily do two islands.

In Kauai, a slower period with good rates and availability seems to occur after Thanksgiving until close to Christmas. Then rates can soar!

Meanwhile outer island tourism has been hurting in this economy. This Dec, for first 2 weeks, our friends rented the identical Poipu condo unit, same agency, same time period and it was 25% cheaper than rate paid 2 years ago.