Hawaii Hotels

Old Oct 7th, 2003, 06:09 PM
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Hawaii Hotels

We are first timers to Hawaii, planning a trip in Jan 04. We are putting the trip framework together now, have the flights mostly set, and 2 hotels reserved. We will start with Hyatt Regency Waikiki 5 nights, followed by Kapalua Bay Hotel for 6 nights. We are thinking of extending our trip to include the Big Island. If we do BI, our focus would be to visit the Volcanoes National Park. What accomodation do you recommend? The 4S in Kona and Hilton Waikoloa seem too far a drive from the park. We plan to stay 4 nights on BI at the end of the trip before return to Boston.

Wife's idea is to stay at Four Seasons on Maui and make BI a day trip, is this feasible or recommended?
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Old Oct 8th, 2003, 03:57 AM
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I agree if you are going all the way to Hawaii, it is worth checking out Volcanoes National Park. I would not recommend a day trip, because the highlight of visiting VNP for us was walking/hiking to see the actively flowing lava at the end of chain of craters road (within VNP) which is best viewed around sundown-hike in during daylight and out after sunset with flashlights and water. We stayed near Hilton Waikoloa and found the drive to be scenic (eastside route 19 to Hilo) and there is even a ~o)Starbucks~o) along the way. Here is a link to a map to VNP with driving times:http://www.nps.gov/havo/visitor/map.htm

Would recommend at least a one night stay, possibly 2 nights to get a sample of the beautiful Big Island.
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Old Oct 8th, 2003, 06:35 AM
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If your main reason for visiting the BI is the Volcanoes Park, you should fly into Hilo rather than Kona (the airport is about 45 minutes from the park) and either stay in Hilo or in the Volcano area. We spent two nights in Hilo at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and were pleased with the accomodation. Had a 6th floor ocean view end unit, with great views of the bay and the town. Cost us $76 plus taxes with the Entertainment card. The hotel is in need of updating but was clean and comfortable. There are lots of B and B's at Volcano - check the Fodor's reviews. Stayed at Volcano House, right in the park, 31 years ago and wasn't too impressed with the room. Don't think they've upgraded much since then. We stayed at Hale Ohia Cottages this September for three nights in Cottage # 44. I thought it was charming. My husband thought it was cramped. Kilauea Lodge is supposedly very good and has a great restaurant. We also ate at the Armed Forces Recreation Center, right in the park and open to the public. Had a $11.25 steak fry dinner (Sunday night specialty) with good steaks and a huge buffet.
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Old Oct 8th, 2003, 09:18 AM
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For what it is worth a friend of mine did their honeymoon similar to what you are talking about. The Hyatt Regency was on their list. They were very disappointed with Waikiki. I always assumed that this was because they did not stay on the water. The Hyatt is across a busy street.

I go back to Waikiki often but it is not for everybody, kind of the Vegas is not for everyone. Just keep in mind that you are visiting a city beach. There are certainly cultural options in Honolulu that the other islands don't afford. Just realize there are obvious drawbacks to staying in a city if you have mainly country interests. Just something to consider plenty of people enjoy Waikiki.
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Old Oct 8th, 2003, 05:26 PM
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thanks for everyone's input. Thanks JohnD for the link, I will be looking into links that that as planning progresses. We are staying in Waikiki for its busier city atomosphere, my wife will shop and we'll go to the monuments on days. Kapalua will be our main beach time. Sounds like we'll be staying on BI for 2-3 nights.
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