Honolulu hotel advice for first time Hawaii visitor
 

Hololulu newbie, and need advice.
1) Where in Honolulu, is a reasonably priced, nice quiet, clean hotel in a decent area near the Hawaii Convention Center. Don't need a pool, or exercise room, just a good comfortable bed and a clean, quiet room. Does a place like this exist in this big city?

2) Is the public transportation any good, or is it best just to walk and use taxis?

3) Top three "real hawaiian" things I should do while in Honolulu? Never ever been to Hawaii before.

1) Most people who vacation stay on or near Waikiki Beach. That's where the majority of the hotels in the greater Honolulu area are located. But the convention center is the other side of the canal. Maybe Ala Moana Hotel? www.alamoanahotel.com That's close by (my boss always stays there for business in Honolulu)

2) The Bus (www.thebus.org) is an excellent, in fact award winning, public transportation system. You can also walk and use taxis.

3) What do you mean by "real Hawaiian"? If you want to see traditional music and dance, there's lots of that available, often free. Iolani Palace and Bishop Museum will teach you about history of the islands. If you mean "real" in terms of modern day life, I'm not sure where a visitor could mix and mingle with locals. Maybe the Farmers Market on Saturday morning at the KCC?

1. You might try to Pagoda (www.pagodahotel.com).
2. The bus is great.
3. For some ideas, check out Interesting Oahu sites page (www2.hawaii.edu/~turner/oahu/oahu.htm)

Thanks for the advice. What I meant by real Hawaiian means more then just big city shopping malls, tourist shops and tourist traps that you can find in one form or another in any other city in the world. I have to spend time in a convention center meeting room as is.

I love finding out the way places only the locals know about. I guess that is my small town upbringing.

Tourists are mostly in one very small central area of Waikiki, and the obvious sitees, sights and activities. If you ride the Bus around you can get into various residential neighborhoods quite easily.

Ono Hawaiian Foods on Kapahulu has really good authentic Hawaiian food.

How close to the convention center does your hotel need to be? Ala Moana Hotel is just a couple blocks away, but you could stay at the west end of Waikiki and still be quite close.

Can you give us a budget?

Good bus system in Honolulu that also has some transport to the North Shore.

I'd definitely plan on the Iolani Palace and Bishop Museum.