We are planning to spend the Xmas holidays(2001)in Hawaii, either Kaui or Maui, where would we find reliable info on renting a condo or house for a week, has anyone done this? where would you recommend? thanks for the help I know you Fodorites will give.

Cate,
My parents rented a condo in Honolulu last year through the Automobile Club travel service. They were very pleased with it.

Also, if you do a search on this forum, maybe"rentals" and then Hawaii, you will come up with several options. There are previous questions about rentals on just about all the islands and lots of agencies have been recommended.

We stayed at a BnB on Kauai called Brennikes Beach Bungalo. It was in Poipu. You could hear the surf from our room. It has a website as well. Look under Kuaui BnBs and you should find it.

I own a rental condo on Maui that is located in Grand Champions Villas in Wailea. You can check out my website if you like - www.mauihawaiicondo. Another source beside the internet is Hawaii magazine's classified ads. (The magazine is sold at Borders and Barnes and Nobles. When you've figured out exactly what cono complex you'd like to rent in, you can call the management office and they should be able to give you a list of phone number of owners who rent their units. I know Grand Champions does! I would definitely recommend Maui or Kauai. You might find that one week in Kauai is too long where one week in Maui won't be long enough.
Laurie

try this website: www.vrbo.com

There are listings and links to websites with many listings for vacation rentals and B&B's on all of the islands on the HCVB website: gohawaii.com

In additon to vrbo.com ('Vacation Rentals by Owner') which someone just posted here, there is also vacationspot.com which is part of Expedia and there is http://www.hawaiicondosbyowner.com/ which someone posted here recently.

I have seen a lot that look very appealing and like good values but my concern with the private rentals is how can you really know what you are getting? Someone had posted here about renting a condo. that looked good on the website, looked fine when they got there but then at night all the bugs came out and since they hadn't paid w/ a credit card, they had no recourse.

It is always best to pay w/ a CC but it seems that many of the private rentals don't take them.

It seems to me that it is safer to go with one of the chains like Aston, Outrigger, Marc or Castle. If you can get the Entertainment card rate (50% off rack) for one of their properties it can be quite reasonable.

The fact does still remain, though, that you just can't get the level of privacy, seclusion and spectacular settings for a reasonable price w/ the chains that you can get w/ some of the private rentals, so for those who are somewhat adventurous and don't mind taking a chance, it might be worth it to go w/ them.

Someone posted some advice about renting condos. in repy to an inquiry of mine, and I will copy it in a separate post to this thread.

THe following was posted by 'Angie' in reply to a recent post of mine.
___________________________________

When looking to book a condo, try and do and ask the following the
following-

1)Ask for pictures.
2)Are these pictures of the actual condo I will be renting?
3)When were these photos taken?
4)How old is the condo complex?
5)If more than 10 years old, when was this unit renovated or
refurbished?
6)When were the kitchen & bathrooms last updated?
7)Is the company you are dealing with registered with the State of
Hawaii? If not they must have a representative who is registered -
make sure to get their name.
8)Do they have a "certificate of good standing"?
9)Do they have references from guests?
10)Most condo complexes have quarterly pest control. Ask how often
they spray. Ask whether they have a pest problem.
11)Tell them you are very fussy about the cleanliness of the condo -
will you be disappointed if you stay at their condo?
12)Get your answers in writing!!!

When you ask the above questions, and the person is hesitant or seems
bothered or angry or is impatient - stay away.

I actually have some of N.R.'s concerns about rentals from companies (rather than rentals from individuals). Often companies have multiple properties, will refuse to guarantee which unit you will end up in, and will show you a picture of the best looking one, which is not the actual place you end up with. There is definitely a risk that what you get is not what you saw. At least with individual owners you know which condo you'll be staying in. I agree that it's important to ask questions and that pictures are absolutely essential. A personal beef is that many rentals have extremely saggy mattresses, and the next time I rent I plan to ask about this even though I may not get an honest answer.

I forgot to mention that I stayed at kapalua villas in maui and really enjoyed it. Lovely resort complex, comfortable and spacious condo. You can rent through the resort, but I opted to save money by renting with an individual owner through vacationspot.com.