My wife and I are fed up with work and the English winter - its currently snowing outside my office window,and are interested in going to somewhere extremely pleasant and warm to charge up the batteries in mid February for a week's break only. Is Hawaii the right place to enjoy both sun and scenery? Is February a good month? Where should we stay for comfort , service, price and elegance?

Peter Field

Aloha Peter,

Hawaii is beautiful any time of year. I highly recommend the islands but for 1 week you might not have the opportunity to "charge-up the batteries".

Isn't your flight from the UK around 18+ hours each way? Isn't there a 10 hour time difference?

February is one of the most popular months of the year. The best accommodations book early.

If you have only week may I recommend, either the Florida Keys or the Caribbean. While these locales aren't as spectacular as Hawaii, they certainly are alot closer and may better serve your needs -Sun, Scenery & Relaxation.

Wherever you decide to travel for your holidays, hope to have a wonderful vacation.

Peter, if you DON'T mind the longer flight, Hawaii is the ONLY way to go compared to the MOSTLY downtrodden Caribbean! You might consider staying overnight in Los Angeles and continuing on the next day, however. Anyway, you can do past searches on this Board for TONS of info on Hawaii. There are many wonderful 5-star resorts to choose from: The 4 Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Ihilani Resort and Spa, Grand Wailea, etc.! If you decide on the Caribbean, keep the beautiful Ritz-Carlton on Cancun in mind!

Peter: I truly enjoy Hawaii and have made 4 trips in the past 7 years. However, if you are limited to a one week vacation, it would be truly exhausting to make the trip from England. Far from recharging your batteries, they will be drained. If you can get a second week, you will be ready for a truly enjoyable vacation. Hawaii, unlike the Caribbean, offers great opportunities for scenic exploration and has a multitude of top quality resorts to choose from.

Peter,
I would not attempt England to Hawaii for 1 week - we're frequent visitors to Hawaii (Maui in particular) and believe me you can't do the islands justice in a couple of days, particularly with the killer jet lag you will have. Wait until you have at least 2 weeks and then stop overnight in LA or San Francisco to break it up. We fly to London at least once a year from the West Coast and it's a horrible flight, I cannot imagine enduring another 4-5 hrs. to Hawaii on top of that. Hawaii is marvelous and is spectacular compared to the Caribbean or Bahamas -- but if you only have a week I'd head for a closer place.

Peter, if you could even add on just two more days to a full week, to allow for the travel time, it's possible one week would be sufficient to recharge, and then just stay on one island. Ideally tho, you should allow two weeks or even ten days for such a long trip I'd think. Other than that I agree with the above posters - try something closer. What about the South of Portugal and Spain, I know lots of English go there. Not sure what the weather would be in Feb. tho. How about Bermuda??

Peter, I have to agree with the others. One week (7 days) with the long flight is not worth it. I’ve done that from the Ohio and it’s not bad, but my husband refuses to do it for less than 2 weeks. But to answer your question Hawaii is the right place anytime of year.

Why not try Cancun? The ruins are nearby, they have great restaurants and so many things to do. Everyone speaks English, as least American English so you’ll have no problem. Cancun is a very "cheap" vacation compared to Hawaii, the Florida Keys and other areas of the Caribbean. You’ll get more for your money! One note: the Florida Keys are beautiful but my travel agent informed me that currently you can’t swim in the keys due to bacteria in the water.

Maui is the best. If you can tolerate the long flight from England, I think you should spend your whole vacation on the best Hawaiian island, which is Maui. Loads of scenerey and great restaurants.
LOTS more info about Maui restaurants, hotels, activities, sights, etc, at this web site:
http://www.mauihawaii.org
(note it ends in org, not com)
Jon

What about the British Virgin Islands? They are supposed to be spectacular and should have many advantages to you as a British citizen.