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Which hotel would be the best value for honeymoon?

Hello everyone, My fiance and I are taking our honeymoon in July, and would like to go to both Kauai and Maui. I would ideally like to stay at a four star hotel in both places. I am a Starwood member and also own the Entertainment book for Hawaii... We'd like to stay in Princeville while in Kauai, and in Wailea while in Maui. Any recommendations what the best value would be?? Thanks in advance- Jason

I think the best value in Wailea is the Renaissance. For what you get, the Kea Lani is also a good value relative to the Four Seasons, but it's not quite as nice as the best hotels in Hawaii.

You might want to spend a little while exploring www.biddingfortravel.com I found it recently. It tells you which hotels are accepting priceline bids and some of the finer hotels are now doing this due to the lack of tourism.

Jason - Congrats on your upcoming marriage. Last June, we went to Kauai for our honeymoon and stayed at the Princeville as well as the Hyatt. I believe we paid approximately $295 a night (including tax but not including parking at approx $15/day) for a mountainview room at the Princeville. We booked one room directly through the hotel website and one through aavactions.com. (Can't remember how we booked the Princeville.) I was quite suprised to find the cheapest available rate was on aavacations.com.

I think Entertainment book can help you a lot. We used it for our honeymoon and booked the Radisson Resort in Kauai (probably a 3-star but we loved it) for $135/oceanview. Then we stayed at the Kea Lani (no Ent. rates) in Maui for $400/garden view but got upgraded to ocean view. Kea Lani is a great value compared to Four Seasons, I think. We thought the hotel was fabulous, but.... I think we would have been just as fine at the Renaissance Wailea for about $230/oceanview-Entertainment. As great as the resorts are, I still felt the really overcharge - especially for the amount of time we spent at the hotel. Only 1 full day at each. Hawaii is beautiful and you can have a great time at the Entertainment hotels - I guess it all depends on what level of luxury you are used to. If you go with Princeville, we did visit & it looked beautiful. We were also there in July and the weather was just perfect.

MMN, while hotels in Hawaii may seem expensive, if you compare them with hotel rates at the world's best tropical-type hot spots you'll find that they're actually a GREAT VALUE! Foe example, many of the better hotels in the Caribbean are $600-800/night (in non-hurricane season), and not as nice as the Four Seasons. One place we stayed this summer has high season rates of $1100/nt for their standard rooms. With a 10 night minimum at holiday time(!) Tahiti/Bora Bora rates for good rooms are always more expensive than Hawaii, and food is unbelievably high priced.

Jason, My husband and I went to both Kauai, Maui, and the Big island for three weeks this summer. While on Maui, we stayed at three different hotels, the Renassiance, the Outrigger, and the Grand Wailea. We absolutely loved the outrigger. The rooms are closest to the oceon and the setting is spectacular. The renassiance was o.k. but we much preferred the outrigger which had a very tranquil relaxed feeling. The Grand Wailea was an amazing hotel but it can be loud and full of children. Be sure to check out the spa at the Grand. You won't find a spa like this anywhere; it is decadent. At each of the hotels, we were upgraded at least one category simply for telling them we were celebrating our anniversary and renewing our vows. If the hotels aren't at capacity, they may upgrade you. At the Grand, we were upgraded three categories to an incredible oceon view room. Although we may be in the minority, we didn't really care for kauai. It was pretty but the service at many restaurants was fair to poor. After being on maui and the big island where service is first class, it was a big let down.If great service is important to you, you may be disappointed. It rained five of seven days, even in June... and the visability was poor. If we had to do it over again, we would have skipped kauai and spent more time on maui and the big island. This is just my opinion. Congratulations on your honeymoon and have fun. If you have questions about the big island or maui, I would be happy to answer them. Cindy

Kauai has a very "rural" flavor to it. No big cities, no hustle or bustle, minimal commercialism (except for the resorts and small towns)....and locals want to keep things that way. If you love the pace and style of life on Maui, Kauai may not suit your tastes. But it is by far the prettiest and most peaceful of the major islands.

Hi everyone, Thanks everyone for your great replies. I think that I'm pretty set with the Maui hotel (I would choose the Renaissance Wailea), but I'm still confused about Kauai. I wanted to stay in Princeville, but it seems the best deals are elsewhere (Marriott and Sheraton) Let me ask you guys something else-- did you use a particular travel agency when booking (ie: Liberty Travel or AAA) or did you find you got the best deals doing it on your own through the net? And if you did use a travel agency, which one, if you dont mind my asking??? Thanks again, everyone- Jason