Trip to Maui or Kauai in July
 

I am planning a trip to either Maui or Kauai for July. We are planning on staying a week & I am having trouble deciding on a place to stay.

We like smaller boutique hotels and b&bs, but will stay in a hotel.

The things that are important to us are:
*being right on the beach with chairs & umbrellas
*having a pool is a plus
*being close to restaurants/shopping/activities
*a clean updated place is the most important thing.

We have not booked our tickets yet, so any information that you have for Maui or Kauai would be greatly appreciated. Almost forgot--I would love to spend less than $200 a night.

Thanks for your help!

ttt

If restaurants and shopping are important to you, I would choose Maui over Kauai. For under $200/night, you could stay in a nice condo in the Kihei area of Maui which has lovely beaches and is very convenient to several restaurants and shopping areas.

Here are some links regarding island lodging you might find interesting.

http://www.stayhawaii.com/

http://www.bbonline.com/hi/

http://bestbnb.com/hawaiisbestbnb.html

-Bill

You can try these sites:

www.mauihawaii.org This site is great for anything on Maui.

www.vrbo.com

www.bookit.com

This site is the home site of the 'Revealed ' books. You can click on many things without buying the book:

www.wizardpub.com

Click on the map of the island you are interested in.

The click on: links

Then you can choose from: "the basics", "activities" or "where to stay".

I would agree that Maui sounds better for you than Kauai.
July is a busy season in Hawaii because of summer holidays. The desirable, affordable accomodations will go first. Makena beach, south of Wailea is a lovely beach for sitting, as is Fleming beach and Kapaula beaches up by Kapalua are also nice. The Maui Prince Hotel is on Makena beach. It doesn't have a very good pool, but the hotel is much more affordable and mellow than the big name Wailea hotels. Fleming beach is where the Ritz Carlton is. Not going to fit in your budget, but the beach is a public park.