Patrick, I found the Kihei condos on VRBO. You're right that the cheapest ones don't have a great ocean view, but they're close enough to the beach that we aren't too worried about that.

Here are a couple we are considering:
http://www.vrbo.com/47031
http://www.vrbo.com/131534

Bello Realty also has some good choices, but they may be more than you want to pay. www.bellomaui.com

Coincidentally, we're also leaning toward Lucky Farm for at least part of our BI stay! :-)

Lee Ann

Waikiki is a pretty densely populated area - I think from end to end it is maybe only 2 miles.

Either end of Waikiki would be a little bit "quieter" than staying near the center, but I would prefer the end closer to Diamond Head and Kapiolani Park, rather than the end closer to Ala Moana.

Yes, Lee Ann, those both look good. I'm sure getting a stockpile of them listed.

Meanwhile, what does anyone think about Hilo on the Big Island? As a change from the beach of the other islands, I'm fascinated with this place -- a colorful old sugar shack cottage. At $95 a night or $500 a week, it sure fits the budget and the town of Hilo actually sounds like fun. This place is so FUNKY, but reeks of character. Am I crazy? If I'm not, would a week there make me so?
http://www.vrbo.com/94195

And since we'd definitely like to do a couple nights in Volcano Village, and maybe a few nights at Lucky Farm, perhaps we should do a few nights at this place in Hilo -- adding up to 10 or so on the Big Island, rather than a full week at one location? Together with a week at one beachfront place on Maui, a week at one place on Kauai, and a week on Oahu, the whole month might total up to a pretty well rounded Hawaiian experience -- NO?

Yes! Hilo is fun and funky and only 35-40 minutes from Volcano. I love Hilo on market day and it has good restaurants. So you could just stay here and easily drive to the Volcano.

North and South of Hilo is the prettiest part of the island - it does get the most rain of anywhere on the island but that is why it is so lush. In our experience the rains usually come in the afternoon and evening but just a few weeks ago they got an extraordinary amount of rain so it is just the chance you take. IMO go for it. It will be a very different experience.

That place looks adorable!!!!! Don't forget to ask if the fumigate regularly....roaches you know. People that rent will leave food behind and if the owners aren't careful you can have room mates that will NOT be welcome.

I know some will laugh and mock me, but I have "been there" and it's ugly. Now, I understand, it's the tropics and it's almost impossible to keep every one of those critters at bay....last place I rented had one in the dishwasher and one flew on to the shower curtin...no big deal, but another place I stayed was just crawling with them and they were HUGE...looked like battleships!!!!!!

The Hilo cottage looks charming. I wonder if they would negotiate a bit down from the $95, since that's the lowest price I also found for the Sea Village condo near Kona, bdrm/one bath, oceanfront. I'd think the Hilo location could get less demand, but I might be wrong about that. Doesn't hurt to try.
:)>-

Patrick,
On Maui, Kihei would definitely be the place to get affordable condotels with easy access to nice beaches and restaurants. In fact, the older project, sometimes the better location because they were the first ones on the block. The Kihei Kai Nani listed on the vrbo would be a good choice. The beach is literally across the street and there are a couple restaurants right there on the grounds. The further north you go, the beaches are less desireable. Sugar Beach at the north end does have a sandy beach but not great for swimming (strong currents) and prone to windy conditions. Stick to the ones located along the Kamaole beaches.

Four weeks in Hawai’i sounds like a great trip! And as you said, a well-rounded HI experience. Sept. or Oct. is a good time to go. Hawai'i offers so many choices, and seeking out things that fit a budget does complicate the planning :-) My thoughts on two islands:

You will have the most lodging choices in Waikiki and can walk all over Waikiki easily. It sounds like you are finding lots of apartment choices there. Pretty good (fairly up to date I think) map here showing hotels; lot of apartments are privately owned units in bldgs that are also hotels http://www.discounthotelshawaii.com/waikikimap.html The main restaurant I would recommend for moderate prices Is Keoni http://www.keonibykeos.com/index.html They are outstanding for breakfast or lunch and reasonable for dinner.

On Kaua’i, since you can’t drive all the way around the island due to Na Pali, the amount of driving you do can vary a lot, depending on where you stay and what you want to see and do. The east side around Kapa’a is popular because it is kind of centrally located. The Coconut Marketplace has several restaurants and shops so that is convenient to the hotels such as Best Western Planation you mentioned. the website of the Revealed guidebooks has aerial views of hotels and condos http://www.wizardpub.com/kauai/kauaerials.html actually they have that info for all the islands, links from the home page. the Kaua’i Sands hotel is another budget option next to Coconut Mktplace. We stayed at Islander on the Beach a few years ago and enjoyed being able to go to the Mktplc to eat. There is a paved path along the shore and the beach there is pretty but not very swimmable, and sunrises are gorgeous. However, my favorite part of the island is the north shore ((r)) I think staying in a rental in Hanalei would be a good choice as you would be able to walk to restaurants and also to the beach. It would be a short drive to the end of the road at beautiful Ke'e beach, where the Kalalau trail begins; Limahuli Garden where you can see native plants and traditional agriculture; and other beaches like Makua (often called Tunnels) and Lumahai. Hanalei is fun and laid-back. But from there it is a long drive all the way around to the west side, if you want to see Waimea Canyon, Koke’e, Kalalau valley. We have also stayed a few days on the southwest side at Kalaheo Inn http://www.kalaheoinn.com/index.html No a/c, but our stay was also in Sept. and we did not miss A/C. Rooms start at $93. There are a couple of restaurants in Kalaheo; Camp House Grill is a couple blocks from the Inn.

The Mokihana Festival is in Sept. on Kaua’i, and if the dates work for you it is a good way to see traditional and modern hula performed by the halau of children, women and men. http://mokihana.kauai.net/ Looks like they haven’t set a location for the hula yet; there are also several music events. the year we went, the women’s performances were at the Hyatt inPo’ipu and the men’s were at a park in Kekaha. If you go to the press release section on the site you can see pictures of last year’s winners.

Hi NeoPatrick, i'm so excited for you and your partner, i think it's a great idea what you're doing.

I concur with the previous poster on kapaa, it is very busy traffic-wise but easy to navigate by foot, BW Plantation hale is centrally located and right next to coconut plantation. I recommend finding a unit with a/c, it’s still warm around that time. Kauai Sands, too was mentioned but has no a/c. You may want to check craigslist and vrbo for pono kai as well, most of their units have a/c. What's the weather like in FA around Sept? I was at Orlando in Aug, and thought it was more humid than in HI, but loved Daytona Beach. The water is so warm.

Re sunrises, if you’re lucky you maybe able to see Oahu.

Maybe i'll see you at the mokihana festival. Hope you two have a great experience the islands have to offer.

Patrick- The hawaii GTG is in late September. It is on one of the nights when the Waikiki Ho`olaulea is going on.

In addition to all the Hawaii gang, I know Rhkkmk is coming. Several of Asia fodorites have flown over the last few times.

if you're interested, I'll try to find the exact date.

Patrick - here is a condo that we considered on our recent visit to BI but ended up using some Marriott points at Waikoloa. We did snorkel across the street from it a few times. The condo looked lovely with a nice pool, not tub and bbq area. We also stayed a few nights in Hilo and loved it there!

Patrick... my husband and I are headed for Kauai for our second trip (first one in 2005 at the Sheraton Po'ipu), but this time we have rented a cottage for two weeks just a couple blocks north of Po'ipu Beach. We are booked for two weeks in May, so I cannot give you a review - other than to explain that the reason we rented this particular cottage is on the recommendation of friends of ours who have rented (and continue to rent) this cottage every year for a month.

We are recently retired, and now prefer apartment rentals to hotels/B&Bs (I have submitted a trip report for apartments rented last fall in Rome/Trastevere and Madrid/Retiro). Hence, our interest in not returning to the Sheraton, but to find a free-standing cottage (not condo) in Kauai. The rate is $900/week ($129/night), and there is central air.

Here is both the owner's link AND the VRBO link:

http://www.kauai-puahale.com/

http://www.vrbo.com/25589

Best of luck with your plans....

NeoPatrick - I posted a reply to your question on my Maui thread, but wanted to make sure you saw it. The condo we have chosen in Napili is Napili Bay Resort. http://www.alohacondos.com/napili/ There are units available on vrbo as well as the ones listed at Aloha Condos. We chose a top floor corner unit in the back building hoping to get breezes. We also had to weigh our choices between budget and wanting to see a bit of ocean.

September is traditionally low season here in Hawaii, but also when we have the Aloha Festivals. It's a statewide celebration to showcase Hawaiian culture, and the floral parade is a visual treat. One of the events during this time is the Ho'olaulea that lcuy mentioned.
www.alohafestivals.com

I agree with dusty, you should rent a car on Oahu; if nothing else, at LEAST for a couple of days. You will need to get out of metro Honolulu to enjoy the rest of the island. Like chepar, I'd probably stay at either "end" of Waikiki rather than right in the center.

Hopefully you can make it to the big Honolulu GTG!

Regarding Hilo--I love Hilo! It's got a homey feel and I love the farmer's markets. Coming from Florida, you'll appreciate the quirky way the weather works here. In Hilo especially--the temperature can drop 10 degrees in as many seconds.

This seems like an awfully good deal -- fourth floor ocean view in Kihei, for $85 a night. No? They say 8 restaurants in walking distance, parking, and nice ocean view. http://www.vrbo.com/38779

Regarding Honolulu and having a car, I'm finding that most places offer 5th night free in Waikiki, so 5 nights could be fine, with no real financial advantage to renting by the week. What about staying in Waikiki for 5 nights without a car and doing things by bus (or walking) then getting a car and staying somewhere -- maybe north for the other two nights and "exploring"? If so, where? It seems not renting a car and not paying parking ($18 - 25 seems average) would be a nice savings for 5 nights to spend elsewhere.

I'll be looking for the date on the GTG, but right now I'm thinking first week of Sept. on Oahu where we'd fly into, then Kauai, then Big Island, then Maui, where we'd fly out of.

Patrick, that Hilo place looks great for you two! I hadn't checked VRBO for the Big Island yet. We plan to split our BI time between Hilo and Kona, since it's a larger island than Maui.

Lee Ann

OOPS - forgot to insert the weblink for the BI rental across the street from Kahaluu Beach Park http://www.vrbo.com/132090

Another suggestion for south Kona on the BI http://www.konaweb.com/middle_keei/

We've stayed there several times--nice lanai, very clean, quiet and light inside. You would need a car -- there is a good supermarket close by (ChoiceMart) and some good restaurants. You are about 25 minutes from Kailua Kona.

If you decide on Hilo, a good restaurant is Hilo Bay Cafe in Prince Kuhio plaza.

Oahu is not that big an island so it's pretty easy to rent a car for a couple of days, also The Bus is good. Do you want to be packing up and moving so much? Just a thought.

The moving part would probably be more appropriate to the Big Island because it is.....well, big and you might want to split your stay there to have better access to some of the sites without having very long days.

Does anyone know anything about Sea Village at Kona? This looks awfully good, particularly the two sided lanai and the price is good too, at $105 per night.
http://www.vrbo.com/52096