We arrived on Oahu and headed for the Kahala. It was actually sunny so we thought we lucked out. Not a chance. It rained everyday except one. The Kahala was great. They must have new staff because they were some of the best we encountered. On a previous stay we had a nightmare for a stay. We had a problem with flooding on our lanai and were moved to a beautiful ocean view on the sixth floor. The new GM Tim Lee was the most gracious man. Each time we walked by the front desk someone would ask how our stay was going and if they could do anything for us. On the one other sunny day other than when wwe arrived we took the coastline trolley tour up to Haunama Bay, Sandy Beach and the Beach from Here To Eternity. It took a few hours and is well worth the money. (we bought a four day pass that we hardly used)Their signature restaurant was great. I wanted some Mahi Mahi even though it wasn't on the menu and presto, it was mine. It was quiet and peaceful during our stay. They are going to be doing a huge re-furb soon. It will be modern hawaiian in theme. We took pictures of Jack Lord's condo next door and even went around to different spots where they filmed Hawaii Five-O and took pictures of these spots. (we are Hawaii Five-Fanatics) We are so glad we stayed there. We ventured down to Kalakaua and hated it. It was all construction and a huge mess. Wall to wall people. I don't think we will be going back to Oahu anytime soon. The other highlight was when they dumped 50 MILLION gallons of raw sewerage into the canal and it went straight to the beaches. Two people died from flesh eating bacteria. Waikiki was disgusting!

We took our interisland flight over to Maui, picked up our car at Alamo and of all places, we were staying at the Ritz in Kapalua. We were upgraded to an Ocean Front Suite, which was huge and beautiful. It has two lanai's and two bathroom's. It was so nice having our own showers. The staff was superb. We have stayed there many times, so they know us very well. Javier Cano and his assistant Phyllis are always very gracious and kind to us. They kept sending up goodies to our room. We love Carly the cat that they have adoptedso they took a picture of her with a lei around her neck and sent iy up in a card with greeting from Carly. How Cute!

It rained and poured and we had lightening and thunder the whole time we were there. The Ritz has $250,000 in water damage from the floods running down the hill into the bottom floor rooms. They are also renovating. Most likely starting in September. It will still be elegant, but with more of a Hawaiian feel to it. There were some huge groups there and the people above us were obnoxious. They must have had a teenager with them because he kept pounding the lanai furniture to the beat of whatever he was listening to. It got so bad we had security talk to them. They kept it up and we called again. Things got quiet after that. I think they must have moved them. What is this attitude with the convention crowds? It's not our dime so we are entitled to do whatever we want, when we want. We found they same thing at the Kea Lani. Even though it was raining we still had a wonderful stay thanks to Javier and Phyllis.

We had the worst meal of our lives at the Plantaion House. We will never eat there again. We have been to Hawaii 13 times and have never experienced such rudness in our lives. We had a 6:00 PM reservation. They said that if we wanted a window table we must arrive at 5:30. We got there and they seated us at this tiny table with a booth syle seating so that I Was elbow to elbow with the teenager next to me. We had dinner with a family of four that we didn't even know. I could reach out and touch this kid without any effort. My husband was almost in the isle. We noticed an empty window table ans assumed it was a party of four. A few minutes later a young couples dressed in jeans and t shirts was eated there. We were furious. It was about 6:30. When we made the reservation we asked for a window table! People had to step around his table to get by. We felt like they had to squeeze this table in to accomodate us. I was so upset that I couldn't eat my meal. My husband said it was dry and the portions were very small compared to what we usually got in the past. Usually their Pupio is excellent. We complained to the manager on the way out and he started smirking at my husband. My husband told him that his behaviour was not that of a well trained manager. I finaaly asked them to call the shuttle for us and went outside to wait. 45 minutes later the shuttle never came so I went back in to ask them to call again and finally 20 minutes later it did. The GM called us the next day and gave us the same lines the manager did. How much more unprofessional could they have been. We have eaten there about ten times in the past and used to look forward to eating there. NEVER AGAIN! TO BE CONTINUED...

Fivestar: Thanks for the trip report. Looking forward to hearing more. We were scheduled to travel to Oahu / Waikiki in June and changed our plans to Maui because of the sewage issue. Even though its two months out, I just felt like it would be better to switch islands. I hope the rest of your trip turned out better than your visit to Plantation House.

Actually, it was just one person that died from the flesh eating bacteria.

That anyone died is horrible enough, but just a minor factual correction.

Yikes, a flesh-eating bacteria? Sewage dumped into the canal? Is this for real?

I'm heading to Waikiki in a couple weeks. Sure would appreciate a bit more info on this. Any newspaper links?

Thanks.

I just looked it up on google. Amazing that this could happen. So very sad for those affected.

I was on Oahu while all this was happening. It seems a man was at the harbor and he got into a fight with another man and fell into the water. The next day he was rushed to the hospital and died a few days later. This is all true. I thought another woman was sick with it too. My mistake. Iknow that people were getting sick from the sewage. After I got home I found out that the Kahala beach was closed, which is where I was staying. Thank God we did not go in the water.

You might want to check the Honolulu Advertiser's archive section for the dates at the very end of March and the beginning of April. I brought a couple of newspapers home with me because the headlines were so sensational. Seven people on Kauai lost their lives due to the dam breaking, homes were washed away and there was incredible flooding. Last week they were saying that the sewerage seeped into the sand. I'm not sure exactly what sand but it was on Oahu. Waikiki, kaneohe and Kahala were all closed because of this 50 million gallons of raw sewerage being dumped. I am not sure what other beaches were closed. They are actually going to let some of these older pipes go until 2010 even though they are not very sturdy. I sure as heck wouldn't swim at any of these beaches, but that's just me. I wonder if these hotels that had flooding are now going to have mold problems. I have never seen so much rain in all my life. This link will show you some of the totals. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Nat...3?img_id=13434.

Since we had such a bad trip, weather wise, we are going back this September, but onlt to Maui. I think our Oahu days are over.

A woman was also hospitalized because of a sewage related infection - but she didn't die.

She went surfing off of HHV and got cut on some coral. They had started dumping the sewage into the Ala Wai several days prior to when she went surfing. Although the signs had not yet been put up on the beaches the day she went surfing (they were put up the next day), it was all over the news.

Even with the signs on the beaches, there were still some people going into the water. Gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

Flesh eating bacteria are 'out there'...not just in the conditions you describe...some people get it and can't figure out where!
I've treated a few cases...it is amazing and very upsetting for everyone involved...but the cases I've seen, though long and drawn out, sometimes with 'set backs' finally came through OK.