Help needed on Ohau!
 

My family and I (husband and two kids, 7 and 3) will be heading to Oahu next September for a wedding/vacation. We have 11 nights total. With the little ones, we planned on staying on Oahu the entire time but splitting up where we stayed so we could see different parts of the island. The wedding will be held at the Kahala Mandarin.

I have been considering spending part of the time at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club and the the remainder at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Are these two of the more upscale resorts? Good for families? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We plan to do some sight seeing but with the kids great pools and good beaches are a must.
Thanks,
Kim

If an upscale resort destination is of interest to you, you might consider a stay at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental, where the wedding is. My family of four (the two kids were 15 and 12 at the time, for the record) stayed there for four nights in 2002. The rooms and especially the bathrooms are very large. There were a great many families with young children. Their beach is very gentle, very pleasant. The pool is not huge-- nice, but not a destination in and of itself. They have "Dolphin Quest" on site, which we did. They have a program for younger children, I believe. We chose it over the Halekulani (a tough call and certainly worth considering), basically because I liked the idea of staying away from Waikiki. Should you wish to visit Waikiki, they run regular shuttles, which we used to head to Duke's for dinner one night. Three years after the fact, my kids still speak warmly of the hotel. The staff was very helpful to us, and well-tuned to our needs as a family.

My daughter and son-in-law stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village this past May. We were there also, but we were at the Ilikai.(We all had different hotel points). Ours was nice, but the grounds and the ambiance of the Hilton was wonderful. I think you'll really enjoy staying there.

The Kahala Mandarin is the new "top hotel" on Oahu, replacing the Halekulani in the eyes of many repeat visitors. It's known for its celebrity clientele and fabulous setting. Plus as previously noted, it's outside of Waikiki.

HHV and Marriott Ko 'Olina are good places.

I like the Waikiki choice (HHV) because of the many things to do in Waikiki.

The other choice (Marriott) is also good because it is in a quiet area of Oahu.

The Mandarin, already mentioned by others, is only about 2 miles from Waikiki and would also be a good choice. It's in a quiet area like the Marriott.

Lots of info:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34653502

Thank You to all of you for your help.
All three resorts look just lovely. I am sure any one of them will be great.
How bad can it be when you are in Paradise!
Thanks again,
Kim