Travel-Hawaii.com and Fairmont Orchid questions
 

Hubby and I are planning on spending 7 nights on the Big Island this August, and want to spend five of them at the Fairmont Orchid.

Right now, I have a Garden View room booked through Fairmont directly, $339 night, 5th night free with breakfast included for 2 each morning. Before taxes, that comes to about $1350 for the stay. I found a 5th night package on Travel-Hawaii.com for almost $200 less (NO breakfast though): it's a Terrace View for $1172 (taxes included).

My questions are:
1.) Has anyone used www.travel-hawaii.com? Is it legit?
2.) How is the breakfast at Fairmont Orchid? Is the breakfast (and the Garden View, rather than Terrace View room) worth the extra $200?

Thanks for your replies in advance :)

Yup its legit:S-, here is a similar previous post:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34443846

Great, JohnD, thanks! I noticed on that thread that you have used them with no problems, that makes me feel better!

The breakfast is a big buffet. Everything you can imagine, pretty much--omelette bar, pancakes, fruit, meats, etc. I think it's worth it to get the breakfast if you are also getting a room upgrade. However, I have to note that we thought they exaggerate the view quality at the Orchid. When we stayed there, we were double-upgraded to a partial ocean view. You had to step out on the balcony and walk to the end to see any ocean at all.

Thanks, Gellers -- the breakfast sounds great!

Overall, how did you like the Orchid itself? We are mainly interested in pretty grounds, nice beachfront and pool, and rooms. Do you think it's a huge difference to take the cheapest category (Moderate Terrace) as opposed to the Garden View?

The breakfast buffet at the Orchid is outstanding. You can go on the late side and you won't need lunch. The fresh fruit was especially amazing. Our kids LOVED getting up for breakfast every day.
Since the whole resort is basically facing the ocean and the lagoon is just for Fairmont Guests, I didn't really care if my room showed a slice, a chunk, or a full-on view of the ocean. It is nice to look out and see the beach, but mostly we were outside all day long right on the beach so we didn't care for the short time we were in our room each nite, mostly just to go to sleep.

They'd have died of starvation by now. This thread is from 2005.