trip report maui and kauai
Dec 10th, 2004 | 04:54 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 244
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trip report maui and kauai
Aloha eh,
We just returned from one month on Maui and 6 days on Kauai. I will do a short trip report, but I am happy to answer any detailed questions you may have.We are a couple 55, and 47, no kids. The weather was perfect for the first 26 days with temps of 85 , and not a breath of wind. A light breeze might have been welcome to make it less humid, but no wind meant calm water for snorkeling, and fabulous golfing conditions.
We spent the night before our flight at the Fairmont airport hotel in Vancouver and it is a great way to travel. It is a 4 star hotel right in the airport, so it is easy to deal with luggage, and not worry about arriving late.
We flew Aloha, and we were allowed to upgrade to first class for $200 each, which we jumped at.
We had booked at the Ritz carlton in Kapalua for the first 2 days before looking for a condo. I should mention that we never book ahead. We like to wing it, and look at properties first before deciding if we want to stay. We get better rates this way, and have rarely been stuck without a nice place to stay.
I had mentioned to the Ritz when booking that it was our 20th anniversary, and when we arrived, they upgraded us from a garden view room to a ocean view suite on the club level which has a private lounge with complimentary breakfast, lunch, appys, and desserts, plus complimentary beer, wine, champagne, mai tai's , cognacs, etc, all day. It was so good that we decided to stay there for another 2 days.We played the Bay and Plantation courses, hung around the pool, and spent lots of time in our private air conditioned lounge.
We then rented a pt cruiser convertible through Alamo. I got a great internet rate of $209 a week for a sebring, and then upgraded to the pt for $70 a week more. It was a fun car to drive , with the top down day and night. the only draw back was a tiny trunk , so all of the luggage went in the back seat.
We drove to Kehei and picked up the keys to a 2 bedroom Makena Surf condo. This is a great property right on the beach in Makena, with 2 pools and tennis courts. Rates are $450 and up for a 2 bedroom, but we got a much better rate through a company I do business with.
I have to leave the office now, so I will post this and finish the report tomorrow. Cheers, Al
We just returned from one month on Maui and 6 days on Kauai. I will do a short trip report, but I am happy to answer any detailed questions you may have.We are a couple 55, and 47, no kids. The weather was perfect for the first 26 days with temps of 85 , and not a breath of wind. A light breeze might have been welcome to make it less humid, but no wind meant calm water for snorkeling, and fabulous golfing conditions.
We spent the night before our flight at the Fairmont airport hotel in Vancouver and it is a great way to travel. It is a 4 star hotel right in the airport, so it is easy to deal with luggage, and not worry about arriving late.
We flew Aloha, and we were allowed to upgrade to first class for $200 each, which we jumped at.
We had booked at the Ritz carlton in Kapalua for the first 2 days before looking for a condo. I should mention that we never book ahead. We like to wing it, and look at properties first before deciding if we want to stay. We get better rates this way, and have rarely been stuck without a nice place to stay.
I had mentioned to the Ritz when booking that it was our 20th anniversary, and when we arrived, they upgraded us from a garden view room to a ocean view suite on the club level which has a private lounge with complimentary breakfast, lunch, appys, and desserts, plus complimentary beer, wine, champagne, mai tai's , cognacs, etc, all day. It was so good that we decided to stay there for another 2 days.We played the Bay and Plantation courses, hung around the pool, and spent lots of time in our private air conditioned lounge.
We then rented a pt cruiser convertible through Alamo. I got a great internet rate of $209 a week for a sebring, and then upgraded to the pt for $70 a week more. It was a fun car to drive , with the top down day and night. the only draw back was a tiny trunk , so all of the luggage went in the back seat.
We drove to Kehei and picked up the keys to a 2 bedroom Makena Surf condo. This is a great property right on the beach in Makena, with 2 pools and tennis courts. Rates are $450 and up for a 2 bedroom, but we got a much better rate through a company I do business with.
I have to leave the office now, so I will post this and finish the report tomorrow. Cheers, Al
Dec 10th, 2004 | 09:49 PM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,558
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What a great idea, to check out places in person before committing to a longer rental. Sounds like my kind of travel. Where do you find your last minute possibilities? (And I am so jealous - one MONTH on Maui and 6 days on Kauai- Wow, what a vacation!)
Dec 11th, 2004 | 09:46 AM
#6
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 244
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I'll condense the rest of the report, and then will answer questions if needed.
Stever, that was $450 a night for makena surf. Maggie, I would go to an interent cafe and check vrbo and other rental sites and called the owners from maui. If the unit was open that week, they were usually very happy to give a discount to fill it. Also, at hotels we asked for their best walk in rate. We got a ocean view at the Prince for $199 instead of their $330 rack rate, and atthe Sheraton in Kauai, we got an oceanfront suite for $250,including breakfast.
We spent 10 days at Makena Surf, 4 days at The Prince Hotel, 5 days at a one bedroom Grand Champions for $95 a night, and then another week at Makena Surf.
The Ritz was great, Makena surf was perfect, The Prince was good but the rooms are small and getting old, The Grand Champions was very good for the rate and I would recommend it for anyone on a budget.
We had breakfast at the Plantation house, excellent.
Lunch at Mama's Fish House, excellent
Appies at Roy's Kehei, very good.
lunch several times at Seawatch, very good, and reasonable.
lunch at Mulligan's , good food but very slow service.( which we were warned about by a local)
Sushi at the Prince , good but pricey
Monday night sushi buffet at the Prince, okay, but not much sushi, wouldn't go back
dinner at Sarrento's , incredible sunset, great meal, highly recomend it, and Joe Montana was at the table next to us.(cool)
dinner at Joe's Bar and Grill at the Grand Champions, very good
most of the time, we picked up sashimi grade ahi, mahi mahi, and prawns at Safeway, and ate at the condo.
played golf at the Bay( good) Plantation (the best)
The Dunes(overrated)
Makena Surf North (great) and South(almost as good as the North)
Snorkeled in front of Makena Surf, lots of turtles, and there is a public parking and access.
Ahihi Bay, easy access, good for beginners,lots of BIG fish
Fish Bowl, worth the long walk, went there twice.
Aquarium, long walk, but bigger area than the fish bowl, and worth a trip.
drove around the north end of the island, worth the 2 or 3 hours, stopped at the Olivine pools and the blow hole , both good
drove the road to Hana, but didn't want to get out and hike far, because we had all of our luggage in the back seat,and worried about rip-offs.There hadn't been any rain, so the falls weren't that impressive. was going to stay a couple of nights in hana, but didn't like Hana Kai Maui Resort, and the Hotel Hana wouldn't reduce their rate , and weren't airconditioned( and no Breeze) so we drove back to the Prince.
Drove to the winery, nice drive, just okay wine.
spent alot of time going into Kehei for internet, shopping, etc, wasn't thrilled with Kehei, definitely wouldn't stay there. loved Wailea, and Makena, quiet, clean, lots of choices for dining.
traffic was heavy towards Kapalua and Kahului, but not terrible.
This was our first trip to Maui. I researched it thoroughly here, and through the Maui Revealed book. We had fabulous weather, and loved Maui, and will return. I will report on kauai later. Cheers, Al
Stever, that was $450 a night for makena surf. Maggie, I would go to an interent cafe and check vrbo and other rental sites and called the owners from maui. If the unit was open that week, they were usually very happy to give a discount to fill it. Also, at hotels we asked for their best walk in rate. We got a ocean view at the Prince for $199 instead of their $330 rack rate, and atthe Sheraton in Kauai, we got an oceanfront suite for $250,including breakfast.
We spent 10 days at Makena Surf, 4 days at The Prince Hotel, 5 days at a one bedroom Grand Champions for $95 a night, and then another week at Makena Surf.
The Ritz was great, Makena surf was perfect, The Prince was good but the rooms are small and getting old, The Grand Champions was very good for the rate and I would recommend it for anyone on a budget.
We had breakfast at the Plantation house, excellent.
Lunch at Mama's Fish House, excellent
Appies at Roy's Kehei, very good.
lunch several times at Seawatch, very good, and reasonable.
lunch at Mulligan's , good food but very slow service.( which we were warned about by a local)
Sushi at the Prince , good but pricey
Monday night sushi buffet at the Prince, okay, but not much sushi, wouldn't go back
dinner at Sarrento's , incredible sunset, great meal, highly recomend it, and Joe Montana was at the table next to us.(cool)
dinner at Joe's Bar and Grill at the Grand Champions, very good
most of the time, we picked up sashimi grade ahi, mahi mahi, and prawns at Safeway, and ate at the condo.
played golf at the Bay( good) Plantation (the best)
The Dunes(overrated)
Makena Surf North (great) and South(almost as good as the North)
Snorkeled in front of Makena Surf, lots of turtles, and there is a public parking and access.
Ahihi Bay, easy access, good for beginners,lots of BIG fish
Fish Bowl, worth the long walk, went there twice.
Aquarium, long walk, but bigger area than the fish bowl, and worth a trip.
drove around the north end of the island, worth the 2 or 3 hours, stopped at the Olivine pools and the blow hole , both good
drove the road to Hana, but didn't want to get out and hike far, because we had all of our luggage in the back seat,and worried about rip-offs.There hadn't been any rain, so the falls weren't that impressive. was going to stay a couple of nights in hana, but didn't like Hana Kai Maui Resort, and the Hotel Hana wouldn't reduce their rate , and weren't airconditioned( and no Breeze) so we drove back to the Prince.
Drove to the winery, nice drive, just okay wine.
spent alot of time going into Kehei for internet, shopping, etc, wasn't thrilled with Kehei, definitely wouldn't stay there. loved Wailea, and Makena, quiet, clean, lots of choices for dining.
traffic was heavy towards Kapalua and Kahului, but not terrible.
This was our first trip to Maui. I researched it thoroughly here, and through the Maui Revealed book. We had fabulous weather, and loved Maui, and will return. I will report on kauai later. Cheers, Al
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Dec 11th, 2004 | 12:44 PM
#8
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 967
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Killer report. Thanks alot. I can't wait to go to some of the places you did. We already did the road to hana when we went last time, so we might skip it this time and do other things. We both went with our respective ex's 15 years ago. Small world. We even stayed at the same hotel (back then the Westin was great!) Weird.
Steve R
Maryland
Steve R
Maryland
Dec 12th, 2004 | 08:13 AM
#9
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 244
Likes: 0
We finished our trip by flying to Kauai for the last 6 days. We booked with Aloha and had no problem getting seats at $92 per person one way. I booked at the Radisson from Maui and got a rate of $259 for an oceanview suite, which was described as having a parlor. It was juts a klarger bedroom with a loveseat added. I had expected a seperate bedroom. The grounds were nice, but the room was getting old, and it certainly wasn't worth even the discounted price. we checked in and then drove to Poipu to check out the other hotels, and condos. We looked at units at the Whaler, which looked good, and a couple others that weren't so good. The Ritz wouldn't discount but we got an oceanview room at the Sheraton, the same size as the Radisson for $259, with the fifth day free, and breakfast, and free Mai Tai's every day from 5 to 6, included each day. It was a much nicer room, nicer beach, and better facilities. The first night we had dinner at Roy's In Poipu and it was very good. I should mention that the winds were howling at 30 mph for the first 5 days that we were there, so we really didn't get to spend much time in the water. We rented a chev 4X4 and drove to the beach at the west end of the island and up the Waimea canyon, which were both worth the drive and we did it both in one day.
Dinner at Shell's at the Sheraton was less than memorable, and we did not return there except for the buffet breakfast, which was good.
Dinner at Tidepool's was interesting. The first night the food was very good, but the service was poor. Although we saw a few bussers during our meal, we didn't see our waiter again, and poured our own wine all evening. The coconut lobster soup was so good though that we went back the next night. This time the food and service was excellent. We spent a day driving up island ,had lunch at the Princeville, and checked out the beaches up to the end of the road. I had wanted to play the Prince course while I was there, but the winds and the full hour drive from Poipu discouraged me, so I played the Poipu Bay course. It was a very good, course, but not a great course, and again the winds were strong.
We decided to go to the Hilton for sushi and jazz in the bar on Sunday night. We talked the waitress into getting us another lobster soup from Tidepools( couldn't get enough of it)and had a few pieces of nigiri while listening to jazz.
On our 4th day there , we decided that we had to take the helicopter trip despite the wind, or we wouldn't get one at all. I called interisland , and they offered us 10% off, because we were calling last minute and filling a spot. This is the trip without doors, and it was wet wild and exciting. I have no regrets, but if I had the time, I would have waited for a calm sunny day. It might have been a little more comfortable to take one of the trips in an enclosed machine, but the thrill factor overcame the comfort factor, and we loved every minute of it. We both have been in helicopters many times, so it may not be for newbies or those afraid of heights. There were many times that he would take a tight turn and one of us would be looking straight down out of the door to the canyon below.
Our last dinner was at the Beach House and it was very good. The setting is great, we had a great table with views, and the service was very good. my wife's Mahi Mahi was excellent, but my dish , The daily duo, which was opah with crab on top was just okay.
Kauai was beautiful, and we didn't get to dive into it enough because of the wind, but after the helicopter trip, we know that we want to go back for an extended trip to explore all of the Island.
We arrived back in Vancouver at 11 pm and went directly to our room upstairs at the Fairmont( I love this option). The next day we drove back to beautiful Whistler , to 2 feet of snow and the start of a new ski season, and a whole winter to plan our spring trip to ???? I would be happy to answer any specifc questions you might have about our trip. Aloha, and Cheers, Al
Dinner at Shell's at the Sheraton was less than memorable, and we did not return there except for the buffet breakfast, which was good.
Dinner at Tidepool's was interesting. The first night the food was very good, but the service was poor. Although we saw a few bussers during our meal, we didn't see our waiter again, and poured our own wine all evening. The coconut lobster soup was so good though that we went back the next night. This time the food and service was excellent. We spent a day driving up island ,had lunch at the Princeville, and checked out the beaches up to the end of the road. I had wanted to play the Prince course while I was there, but the winds and the full hour drive from Poipu discouraged me, so I played the Poipu Bay course. It was a very good, course, but not a great course, and again the winds were strong.
We decided to go to the Hilton for sushi and jazz in the bar on Sunday night. We talked the waitress into getting us another lobster soup from Tidepools( couldn't get enough of it)and had a few pieces of nigiri while listening to jazz.
On our 4th day there , we decided that we had to take the helicopter trip despite the wind, or we wouldn't get one at all. I called interisland , and they offered us 10% off, because we were calling last minute and filling a spot. This is the trip without doors, and it was wet wild and exciting. I have no regrets, but if I had the time, I would have waited for a calm sunny day. It might have been a little more comfortable to take one of the trips in an enclosed machine, but the thrill factor overcame the comfort factor, and we loved every minute of it. We both have been in helicopters many times, so it may not be for newbies or those afraid of heights. There were many times that he would take a tight turn and one of us would be looking straight down out of the door to the canyon below.
Our last dinner was at the Beach House and it was very good. The setting is great, we had a great table with views, and the service was very good. my wife's Mahi Mahi was excellent, but my dish , The daily duo, which was opah with crab on top was just okay.
Kauai was beautiful, and we didn't get to dive into it enough because of the wind, but after the helicopter trip, we know that we want to go back for an extended trip to explore all of the Island.
We arrived back in Vancouver at 11 pm and went directly to our room upstairs at the Fairmont( I love this option). The next day we drove back to beautiful Whistler , to 2 feet of snow and the start of a new ski season, and a whole winter to plan our spring trip to ???? I would be happy to answer any specifc questions you might have about our trip. Aloha, and Cheers, Al
Feb 12th, 2005 | 02:25 PM
#11
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Great info! We're booked into the Ritz for six nights in April. Got a nice rate with breakfast buffet included. Guess you didn't eat dinner at any of the Ritz's restaurants? Windy while you were there? Where is the winery located, that looks like a fun outing.
