Small reasonably priced at the beach?
 

I'm planning a July birthday week vacation and am pricing several places including Hawaii. I have a feeling it is way out of the price range of one of my friends.

We like small inns or boutique hotels on a really nice beach (or on a cliff overlooking the sea and close proximity to good beaches), a nice sized, pretty pool (a must if we're on a cliff, but can be eliminated if we're on the beach), room with great ocean view and a balcony. Sightseeing is not a necessity, but one day might be nice. We're not interested in Honolulu/Waikiki.

In past years we've been able to find places quite reasonably in several countries (Mexico, Jamaica, Cat Island) but am running into a road block in Hawaii. All I've found is large, expensive luxury hotels. Love the luxe, but the prices are out of my friend's price range.

We are open to any island. What should we expect to pay in July for that type of hotel/room?

Some hotel sites mention that they have free lounges. Do some hotels charge for beach or pool lounge chairs? What other extras are there to consider? What should we budget for food if we want to eat in a real restaurant/cafe (i.e. not a fast food place)?

Is there a high season or is it the same price year round? Sorry for all the questions. Thank you!!

I know of nice budget hotels but they are all in Waikiki/Honolulu.

I don't think you'll find a boutique hotel directly on a beach in Hawaii at a cheap price.

Perhaps if you stated a specific price range people might be better able to help, we have no idea what might be in your friend's price range from the post.

Yes there are busier seasons when the hotel prices are higher, or lower, or you'd be more likely to find discounts.

Are you open to any of the Hawaiian islands, or only Oahu but not in Waikiki? Does it have to be a hotel, or are you open to renting a cottage, house, or condo?

You might try slh.com for small hotels, but they are probably going to be more on the expensive side too. You might run a search for “B&Bs Hawaii”, or try tripadvisor.com and then search only under B&B and by price.

My other suggestion is that you consider renting a house or condo, esp for Hawaii where there are many, and the prices will be much more reasonable for quite nice places. See vrbo.com and then there are sites which speciliaze just in Hawaii, like http://hawaiivacationrentalsonline.com or www.kauaivacationrentals.com or http://www.vacationbigisland.com or www.luxuriousdestinations.com. Run a search here as well, as this topic is pretty popular.

With regard to your question on the “free lounge”, some hotels in Hawaii do charge for beach or pool lounge chairs, I believe that the Fairmont on Maui does. I don’t think that the practice is widespread. If you read tripadvisor.com, that sort of thing is generally mentioned by a poster. (or you saw it on a website).

Thanks for your suggestions. I did go to the vrbo site, but it had so many listings and I didn't know where to look, didn't know the locations. I was overwhelmed.

Any island is fine. Prefer hotel, inn, or B&B but a condo is also fine. Would like to be on the beach, but a pretty pool and lots of great beaches nearby to beach-hop is a good second choice. A nice view from a balcony is pretty much a deal-breaker though (strongly prefer water view, but may consider beautiful countryside/large garden).

We are east coast folks, so don't have friends to ask -- they tend to go south, not far west.

Just don't like crowds, huge hotels, a pool so packed that finding a lounge chair is difficult.

Don't have a set price, but were hoping not to go over 2,000 for room and food (and hopefully, car). We are willing to change length by a day or so to come in budget. Our original idea was 8 or 9 nights, but can do 7.

Thanks so much!

How many people are you planning for and how many bedrooms/hotel rooms do you need? There are many nice houses on all the islands-some ocean front, some with pools. Also I would suggest that you get a guide book for all the Hawaiian Islands. You could decide what areas on the various islands appeal to you-and that would make searching on sites like vrbo much easier.

Martym, We're no longer a group, so a house is out. We're probably just 2 (maybe, 3, but probably not). We had a different destination in mind, but because of problems (financial status change & health)our location and numbers have changed. We are scrambling for an alternative vacation that is still special since the b'day is a big one. We're pretty open to almost any suggestion for the last half of July.

Not being familiar with Hawaii we thought the pricing was like the Carib, much lower in summer. We've eliminated the following because we think they will be too expensive: Carmel/Big Sur/wine tasting(Napa/Sonoma), most of Europe. Large ship cruises because of the crowds and lines and small ship cruises because of the expense.

My first trip I went to the library and picked out a pile of guidebooks about Hawaii.

Your first decision (imo) needs to be which island... Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Big Island are all VERY different one from the other.

No sense even starting to look for a place to stay until you decide where you're going!
:-)

For only a week's stay, I think Hawaii is too far from the East coast. You will consume the better part of two days flying there and back, and need a day or two to get over jetlag.

Have you thought of San Diego area or somewhere in Mexico? At least it's closer than Hawaii.

Take a look at
http://www.wizardpub.com/main/home.html

This is the website of the Oahu/Maui etc. "Revealed" guidebooks, which are somewhat controversial here.

Their site, though, has a lot of information about condos and places to stay on each island. You can get a feel for where the condos are located, how good the nearby beaches are, prices, etc.

Lee Ann

I think the reason you are "running into a road block in Hawaii" is because there are not as many of the type of place you describe, like there are in Mexico or the Caribbean.

Summer is high season in Hawaii, but more because that's when tourists go on vacation than anything to do about Hawaii itself.

thanks for the input. My travelling companion is kinda set on either Hawaii or a cruise, but a crowded cruise ship doesn't interest me. I've been to western Mexico a couple times and eastern Mexico quite a bit. Travel times to the Caribbean sites I like are expensive (similar to Hawaii) and pretty long because of the poorly timed connections. My favorite Carib place would require a stay over on another island in each direction. I'm thinking of flying in on a Friday and flying out a week later on Sunday (arriving home Monday morning).

I read about two inpensive bungalows on the beach North Shore of Oahu. KeIki Beach Bungalows and Shark Cove Bungalows. KB is reviewed on tripadvisor, but not Shark Cove. I don't mind a basic bungalow ON the beach as long as I know what to expect before I arrive.

typo corrections... that would be inexpensive bungalows and Ke Iki.

On the off chance you do end up throwing California in the mix... you cannot beat the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point and for a boutique hotel in the same general location The Blue Lantern Inn is very nice.

The wizard publications was a great site and had interesting links to B&Bs.

On the Big Island, if we were to stay in a B&B in the hills and beach hop by car, how do the beaches work? Is there ample parking? Is there a fee? Is it meter parking?

I guess that question holds for all the islands since we haven't decided which one.

Between the bungalows on the beach and B&Bs I believe this is definitely doable within my friends price range. Great!

The Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel is nice, but it certainly isn't in Hawaii, and would not be a reasonable substitute. It didn't feel small and charming like a boutique hotel to me.

We stayed on Maui around the same time of year you are planning. We did a week there for our honeymoon in early August two summers ago. We stayed at the Kaanapali beach hotel and had a great time. It is an inexpensive motel located in the same area as several of the resort hotels. I think the Kaanapali beach hotel had a better section of beach than some of the more expensive hotels. Here is a site with some info on some of the great stuff to do on Maui www.greatwildlifevacations.com Hope this helps you plan your trip.