Lei greeting - is it worth it?
 

I am heading to Hawaii for the first time next year and in the process of planning activities, making reservations, etc.

One thing that I have noticed is there are companies that provide Lei greetings. I remember the Fantasy Island days, I always wanted to be one of the guests that received the Lei when they walked off the plane.

What I want to know - is it worth it? If so, what company would you recommend using?

Thanks!

We did a lei greeting when we took our kids to Hawaii. They loved it. We used a company recommended in either the Fodor's or Frommer's guidebook. The greeter stayed with us until we had collected our luggage. I worried about not getting our leis because our flight had been delayed, but it wasn't a problem.

If it's something you've always wanted to do, I say go for it! Why not make your first trip to Hawaii a dream trip? Enjoy! :)

By all means, go for it! It's always cool to be at the airport and witnessing all the aloha spirit.

It sounds like you really want to do this, so I say go for it--get lei'd!!

Our only trip to Hawaii we did not make plans for a lei greeting but had friends that had recently moved to Hawaii from Iowa that were meeting us at the airport.

Being very thoughtful, they brought leis for us all, beautiful ones. Mine was a puka? shell lei the others were awesome flower leis. It was a great beginning and a huge surprise for our young girls.

We did this for our three kids for their first trip to Hawaii. It was very cool, and they loved it. We're going again in June with the kids, but this time we're not going to do it. It was a little expensive. I forget exactly how much it was or who we used. I'll try to remember and post it.

Make sure to keep the lei in a fridge in your room if you can -- it keeps longer that way, and you can wear it in the evenings if you go out to dinner.

Since returning from an excellent trip to Oahu and Maui in April, many of my postings to this site have been, rather than gushingly enthusiastic (lots of poeple do that), more pointed as to realities. In that spirit...

Avoid the lei greeting at the airport. It is pretty expensive for the service, and everyone will worry about crushing these beautiful flowers while struggling with bagagge, finding your rental car, etc. For $5-10 you can get fresh leis in a variety of places (such as better restaurants, I don't mean gift shops). I bought my sweetie a fine $5 lei in the lobby of Duke's at Waikiki and it topped the night as we strolled back to the hotel. It may mean more to you when you can really enjoy it instead of worrying about it falling apart.

Also, keeping it in the fridge will preserve a lei somewhat- but too long a cool stay will brown and mush the flowers. A cool dark corner of the room may serve you better. Enjoy.

Depending on the hotel you are using you may automatically get one when you check in. We did at the Sheraton Royal Hawaiian. So not right at airport but still it was nice greeting at hotel.

We have made 4 trips to Hawaii, only one of which (the second trip) had an airport lei greeting. As previous posters have mentioned, there are an abundance of places to get leis that are more spectacular and lower priced than the airport. I am always a little blue not to get one when we arrive at the airport, but my sweetie makes sure that is one of the first things we do after we get settled at the airport. Dukes, as mentioned, is a great place and I have gotten some gorgeous ones at the International Market Place. Others have also recommended Chinatown.

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I am going to do the lei greeting, and I am staying at the Royal Hawaiian, so I am calling them first to see if they still offer that service.

It's going to be a long 10 months!!!

Check out http://www.heliconialeigreeting.com
Very reasonable and they also have an option that includes transportation to your hotel. I suprised my wife with a greeting on our first trip to Hawaii and used this company. She loved it and I thought it was worth it for a first time visit.

I have never had a lei greeting other than at a hotel I was checking into. That said, it is one of the most important hawaii rituals, and this summer I will greet my fellow travelers at the airport, whom have never experienced hawaii, with grand leis. It sets the mood of the true spirit of aloha especially for first time visitors. In fact, you've inspired me to plan a special dinner around flower headpieces for the girls and leis for the men!

It's great fun to have a lei greeting in Hawaii, but we ended up with 3 or 4 of them! One was at the airport which was included in our Pleasant package. It was an anniversary trip and we had fun joking about getting "lei-ed" in the airport! Then there was another lei greeting when we went to the wonderful Feast of Lele in Lahaina. then there was another lei greeting when we checked into the Hana Hotel. I do think I"ve left one lei out somewhere...oh yeah, I think I got a lei at Mama's fish House, because it was our anniversary dinner, but this time my husband didn't get one.

Yes, you need a lei greeting in Hawaii! But I'm not sure that we really needed all 4 lei greetings!!!!

I had pre-arranged a lei greeting for our airport arrival in Maui. It was a surprise for my partner, and we were both treated to two beautiful strings of flowers.

We picked up our car rental, and while I was in the rental office completing our paperwork, he noticed a young girl waiting for her family to complete their car rental paperwork. My partner felt bad for a girl who didn't have a lei, so he gave his lei to her. Later I told him that each lei cost $20, that I had pre-arranged the deal, and that it might have been nice had he enjoyed it for more than 5 minutes. He thought all along that we received them free - like in Fantasy Island!

He was still happy in the end that he could make the young girl smile with her Hawaiian lei. He was also a tad dismayed when he found that his nice little jesture cost us $20!

When we reached our room that evening, we took the flowers off of the remaining string and scattered them on the top of a plate/bowl of water. We enjoyed them for several days that way, with a plate of flowers on the coffee table.

Paul, what in the world are you doing up so early--late?--on a Saturday morning! lol

YES!!! I landed on Kona twice in one week - the first time for my personal trip and the second for a corporate arranged trip. I can tell you that being being greeted by a lei the second time really was a thrill. I finally felt I had "arrived" in Hawaii.

A small price to pay to fulfill a "fantasy" image. Do it! (You'll regret you didn't when you see others getting "leid" - Couldn't resist :-)

i can't come up with a company name for you, but boy, is it ever worth it to have a necklace of beautiful fragrant flowers placed around your neck. their cool weight when you get off a plane after a long journey is the perfect start to a Hawaiian vacation.

Paul, your partner's gesture may have been a little expensive, but I feel that the pleasure of receiving and then giving the object of pleasure increased the beauty of that gift immeasurably.

When you think about it, you could have subsequently made a brief stop in Chinatown and replaced that lei for a song and still had the pleasure of bringing a bright spot to that girl's life.

Sara, that's my message for you. You've already decided to obtain a lei greeting at the airport and that's fine. However, if you are interested in lei during the duration of your trip, go to Chinatown. Low rents and inexpensive labor make for affordable lei, substantially below prices in other parts of Honolulu. Where do you think the airport lei greeters are getting their lei? Chinatown!

I'll be using this company to greet my daughter with a lei as she arrives on Oahu in June. Any feedback?

http://www.leigreeting.com/cfm/order1.cfm

If you are into touristy things...do it. I never did it because I think it is way touristy, but that is just my opinion!

Actually, a lei greeting is totally NOT touristy. Locals do it all the time- when friends arrive at the airport, at birthdays, for the speaker at a meeting, when you graduate (from anything!), at prom, on May day, or just as a thank you/ you're my friend gesture.

Thats why its desirable to develop a relationship with a good reasonable lei maker!

I've had my friend in Honolulu great me with a lei and that's great. I personally wouldn't pay someone to great me with a lei, but if you have kids or have someone special you want to surprise with the greeting, then I think you should go ahead a do it. I had a lei of Tuber Roses and I just love them. The fragrance just fills the room. I buy them at Costco here on the mainland when I can find them. Can smell them all over the house.

I think I'll do this, only because I'll have my kids with me this time for their first trip to Hawaii (at least the first one they are both old enough to remember). The Oahu Revealed book lists 3, but I don't have any experience with them. Maybe someone here knows more. They are Ali'i Leis, Greeters of Hawaii, and Honolulu Lei Greetings. The authors don't seem to favor one over another. Anyone...?