Vacation Help *Hawaii*

[Silverfire]

So we are planning a trip to hawaii for late nov. early dec. for probably 2 weeks. I have never been there and i dont have any experience on how to find vacation packages/flights and what not so im a noob when it comes to this stuff.
My plans are to go to the bigger busier island for maybe 4-6 days 1st then go to Kauai for the remainder of the trip.

Now what websites or places/people should i be talking to to find me the best deals? We would like to stay in a higher star place that has good service/food and all that stuff i think.

thx for any help

[Chikko]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

Heya,

Great choice, Hawaii is amazing! I've been 3 times (Although I only remeber 2, as I was about 5 years old the first time), and the remaining two times we booked directly with the hotels in Hawaii. We stayed in a condo when we went to Maui, and it was really good. Pretty much all the amenities of a 4+ star hotel, but you also got a kitchen and a lot more space. Leaves you free to go out and eat at all the restaurants you discover throughout the day, or cook something in if you're tired of eating in the restaurants. (Great for a quick breakfast in the morning.) I believe it was only about $500 for a week, and that slept 4 easily. Not sure if that's a route you are considering, but I'd definetly recommend it and do it again. Good luck!

[Duby T]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

I'm leaving for Hawaii on July 5th. I will let you know how it went when I get back in 2 weeks.

My girl and I planned this last minute and probably paid a little more than if you plan it well in advance. Our flights were $800 each and we paid a little over a $1200 for the hotel on Waikiki beach.

ALOHA B!TCH

[liquid]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

I used www.tripadvisor.com for reviews and information. It provides a ton of information, and people post candid pics from their vacations, so you can see what it "really" looks like. I used it to select my honeymoon destination in Mexico, and it was very accurate.

[kuhli]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

My tip would be to avoid internet travel agencies unless you've several very positive reviews. I went to Mexico as part of a group of 9, itravel2000 tried to save themselves some money by putting three of us in one room even though we'd all paid double occupancy rates. To make a long story short they said, well don't all three of you want to sleep in two beds? As a straight male I can say the answer was no! We ended up getting the cot, but itravel2000 pocketed the small difference between the rates.

Anyway, if you've got a good reference, all the power to you. If not, keep in mind that there'll be nobody on-site to be held accountable for screw ups!

[liquid]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

That would suck. I would recommend creating your own holiday on expedia or orbit. I did that, and am looking at doing it again for our next vacation.

[kuhli]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

How did you find expedia's prices?

[Silverfire]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

ok ill look into expedia or the orbit place. but how can i find out where the good places to stay are and what part of the island is good at that time or anytime.

[Duby T]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

ok ill look into expedia or the orbit place. but how can i find out where the good places to stay are and what part of the island is good at that time or anytime.

Why don't you try a travel agent and hear what they recommend and see what kinda price they will quote you. Then compare that price to expedia and other internet travel companies.

Every travel agent will recommend Waikiki beach in Honolulu.

[The_Stig]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

Hey bud, iv been to hawaii 6 times, and the great spot i find is waikiki in honalulu, probably most activities to do on that island, climbing the volcano, the beaches, mini golf, internation market, the zoo, sea world, hanoma bay, few spots thats pretty private on the back of the island any question about honalulu just ask!

[kuhli]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

If you type into a search engine the name of the hotel that you're interested in and 'review' or 'opinion' or 'problem' you'll usually get a pretty good collection of sites referencing how the hotel has been doing. I'd caution you from taking them too critically...there's always a whiner or a constant griper, holidaying people are famous for complaining so take it with a grain of salt is my opinion.

If there's a large proportion of the visitors that are saying negative things then it starts to carry weight in my book. The other thing to be aware of is any changes in management, some hotel's that seem to have negative track records may be fully renovated with new management and be completely different creatures...so make sure the reviews are current.

[Tuna]

Re: Vacation Help *Hawaii*

Well, i've only been there once so I can't really comment but we really liked Maui. it's a bit less touristy than the rest (so I've heard from others that we compared stories with) and still lots of stuff to do. The Snorkel trip to Molokini was def the highlight.

If you're looking for "nightlife" then I have no idea as we didn't go to a single club or anything.

Most of our trip we had a timeshare but we had to get a hotel for a couple nights which we booked on expedia, it was alright, older style condo with a full kitchen and everything, it was on the main floor with walkout to a nice putting green (which the complex made a U around) and then the beach just a little further.