i searched the marriott rewards rates and it's nearly $100 cheaper per night!

jw marriot for ocean view is $328/night
kauai marriott for partial is 299/night

if i stay at the waikiki marriott instead of jw, i can save approximately 100/night, plus probably no need to rent a car.

but i think maybe jw will be my splurge and we can explore the island with a car.

Best price for hotels and cars will be through Priceline. Check www.biddingfortravel.com before bidding on Priceline.
If you would like to save money on gifts (for yourself and others), I suggest the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and the Crazy Shirts Outlet.

Hi, bradykp. Congratulations to you on your upcoming marriage!

We have stayed at the JW Marriott on Oahu, at the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club.

Re the JW Marriott on Oahu: We really like the hotel, the grounds, the lagoons. But it is pretty far from most restaurants, activities, etc. The restaurants at the hotel are very expensive.

Re the Kauai Marriott Resort: We really like staying here. It's convenient to both the north and south sides of Kauai. The pool is amazingly large and nice.

We've also stayed at the Marriott Waiohai, on Poipu Beach. This is also a very nice place. We live in the Atlanta area, and we were able to get a deal for about $650 for 5 nights, including rental car and $100 in gift certificates we would use at the hotel; we did have to attend a 90-minute timeshare presentation, but it was worth it to us. I'm not sure if it would be worth it on your honeymoon, however.

Also check out the Hyatt on Kauai. It's very near the Marriott Waiohai. The grounds, landscaping and pool are amazing. We've stayed there, and it was incredible. You can get Hyatt Stay Certificates for $249 per night. Check out their website for this.

One thing I would recommend is to save the most luxurious lodging for the last. It's always hard to go from really nice lodging to not-so-nice lodging.

Have a fun time planning!

You may wish to check out the Hyatt on Maui and Kauai. My husband and I did this for our honeymoon and it was the best. We got a package deal for 10 days which included breakfast. We also recently took an NCL cruise around the islands for our anniversary last september which was very affordable. Best wishes!

I have been using luxurylink.com for travel lately and have totally fallen in love with their deals. In Europe our family stayed at some incredible places for about 65% less than the rates quotes.

I checked for Kauaii and Oahu and found that you could get (assuming you are the winning bidder) a 4 night package for $1345-the room would be ocean view, it would include breakfast, some other things and most of all tax. You have to remember in the rates you are being quoted, they don't include tax which would add a lot to your prices for Hawaii.

There is also a seven night package for the Hyatt hotels on Oahu, Maui and Kauai which includes airfare between the island, breakfast and other things for $3300. Also the Hyatt Kauai (which is a great honeymoon hotel) is listed at $1345 for 4 nights with breakfast etc.

When using luxurylink, I'd advise you to call the hotel before you bid and tell them you want to check if you can use the luxury link package for the days you want to go. Also many a time you can add aditional nights to your luxury link package at a substantial discount.

Since you are coming from the East Coast, give yourself plenty of time to adjust to the time difference.

Finally, if you want to save some money, I recommed alohacondos.com. We stayed at the 2 bedroom condo at the Hanalie resort in Kauai for my sister's wedding 3 years ago. its the one whose number starts with "8" and is decorated by a new york designer. We had a fabulous place with an ocean view, great canopy kingsize bed and we could open the windows and see/hear the ocean since we were on a bluff. It is locate din the resort complex so it had a nice pool and beach access. It shared a beach with the more expensive princeville resort.

The place was decorated very nicely and the price was such a deal it left us with a lot of money for nice meals and tours.

Good luck.

JEC,

How did you enjoy the NCL cruise?

samsaf, the cheapest hyatt rate is $390/night for a garden view. what are these $249 certifications you're talking about?

bradykp, go to hyatt.com website, then click on "certificates," near lower righthand side of page. Then click on "Stay" box on lefthand side of page. The Hyatt Kauai is an elite property.

If you decide to use the "Stay" certificates, make sure to read the terms and conditions.

Love the title - such an oxymoron, you know? If you can figure it out, let me know. My husband will thank you but AMEX will be mad. $-)

well, i went on the honeymoon and must say, jw was worth it. they told me while there that you can often easily get upgraded if you just ask.

Kauai Marriott was also nice, but nothing special. We booked a partial ocean view and asked about upgrade on arrival. they gave us the full ocean view (only the top two floors of the building are for non timeshare guests) for $50 extra per night. much cheaper than the regular rate difference.

i really enjoyed both places, though the new marriott timeshare at poipu is much nicer if you can stay there (i think it's timeshare only).

anyways, bottom line is: hawaii is expensive. the places to save are breakfast and lunch if you can. we asked for as much as possible though. we did the timeshare presentations on both islands, which got us $125 on Kauai and luau for two at Polynesian cultural center ($180) - which i never woulda paid for myself - it was more disney than polynesian (but kinda cool to tour the mock "villages")

though the new marriott timeshare at poipu is much nicer if you can stay there (i think it's timeshare only).

FWIW, the Marriott Waiohai is a timeshare property, but they often have space available for "renters" - we were there in July and friends of our's were there in August. It's a very nice property, although if you stay, try to avoid being in the back of Building 4 -- the rooms and balconies face the parking lot, whereas almost every other unit faces the interior gardens (which are beautiful) or the ocean.

bradykp, thanks for taking the time to post back about your trip. since i'm planning my first hawaii vacation for june 2008, it's especially helpful.

Stating the obvious ;-) the best money saving tip would be to stay at MUCH cheaper hotels than the kinds of resorts that are being mentioned here.

check with hotel if they have Entertainment Book rates. i know the Hilton in Kauai has some special rates for EB. since you're not going until Sept '08, you can purchase your EB around summertime next year for a deeply discounted rate. it usually sells for $30 ( valid from nov-1 to nov 31(?) the ff year ) but if you buy halfway into the validity period, you can expect to pay around $10. it also offers discounts on car rentals (shop around first to compare prices), 2 for 1 deals at PCC, 25% disc at luaus, etc.

brady,

oops, you've done the trip. didn't realize your orig post was dated 2/07. glad to hear that you had a great time in Hawaii.

ejcrowe, if you have any questions for me, let me know. we can chat over email or on here.

suze.....my hotels were extremely nice hotels all for less than $300/night. given a lot of hawaii rates, i think i got some real deals.

to some people...saving money doesn't need to mean staying in a slightly downgraded hotel, it means.....how do i get the nicer for less than normal.

i was on my honeymoon, so i was more willing to spend a bit more. but being the thrifty person i am, i still wanted to get the best deal on those nicer rooms.

i share the information from my trip so others are aware you can stay in basically the top resorts for a lot less than the normal published rates.

ejcrowe....sept is a great month to go as far as rates. i don't know much about how june compares, but good luck with your plans!

To me getting a $400 room for $350 would hardly be considered a money saving tip (though technically I guess it is!).

Maybe a better title would have been something about how to get luxury for less.

One person's "slightly downgraded hotel" is another person's palace

For those who like to stay in nice hotels...my tip is: Book the cheapest view possible. A garden or mountain view will give you the same quality of room at a much less expensive price, and there is always a chance you will get upgraded.