Happy Aloha Friday and Halloween! You’ll find all treats and no tricks here today.
The much loved Mauna Kea Resort is due to re-open December 20th. They’ve been renovating and repairing damage from the 2006 Big Island earthquake. In the meantime, they’re letting us take a virtual sneak peek into the new room designs. See for yourself here. What do you think?
KGMB has a couple of video segments of Kapalua’s ziplining adventures on Maui. Looks fun and the scenery is great. Kapalua is one of my favorite areas of Maui.
Hawaii’s DLNR has begun the final stage of path improvements at the popular Akaka Falls. Due to the extent of the reconstruction work, the park will closed between December 8-19 and again for two days sometime in March or April. I look forward to having access to the Kahuna Falls when the work is done in Spring 2009.
If you’ve been afraid to check the prices for rental vacation homes in Hawaii, you might want to set aside those fears. Wendy Perrin reports that, “Rental owners in Hawaii are offering excellent deals right now, even for those Christmas/New Year’s weeks that are normally sold-out at peak prices this late in the year.” As you may already know, I think that staying in a vacation villa or home in Hawaii is a very savvy choice.
Maui’s Grand Wailea is probably the most opulent resort on sunny South Maui. Fancy staying there for as low as $175 per night when their normal lowest rate is $625? See this deal for a $375/night rate, which is a good rate, but on top of that, if you stay for five nights, you receive $1000 resort credit that can be applied towards the cost of your room. So, crunch the numbers and that works out to be $175 per night. If you are interested, you’ll need to book by today. I’m going to give this one some serious thought myself!
If you’re going to Waikiki, I suggest that a visit to Hanohano is a must do. The view from this 30th floor chic restaurant and bar is really worth the visit.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Hanohano and and had the impression that the restaurant might be beyond your vacation budget. (By the way, their new set menu options are not exorbitantly expensive.) The secret to this place is that you can get the same great view from the bar as you can from a dinner table.
We met a friend for a Mai Tai at Hanohano and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The experience begins with a glass elevator ride straight up to the 30th floor. Your view from the elevator is of Honolulu with the Koolua Mountains as the back drop. Then when the elevator door opens and we saw the view of Waikiki and Diamond Head, we just couldn’t stop ourselves from saying, “Wow!” Lang (photo on the right) was our delightful bartender. He was quite the character. If you go and meet Lang, ask him for the instructions for drinking a Mai Tai.
Another secret tip about this place is turns into a lively nightclub two nights each month. I hear that this is the place to be on first and third Saturdays each month.
Hanohano is located on the 30th floor of the Sheraton Waikiki (2255 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu). It opens each night at 5:30pm. See our other photos from our experience at Hanohano. This photo of Waikiki after sunset is a stunner.
I must credit my Honolulu friend, Dave, for telling me about this place. Mahalo, Dave!
What does a person do when they return back to the mainland from Hawaii? Well, after they’ve unpacked the next natural step is to look for deals that will help them get back to Hawaii. Tis true! Hawaii is highly addictive, you know. Let’s take a look at the latest Hawaii travel deals and news.
Most of the major airlines are offering some great round trip airfares to Hawaii. For example, the LA Times reports fares as low as $243 round trip including taxes! I’m finding fares from the East Coast as low as $447 round trip. The great thing about these deals is that the offers are valid for travel through March 11, 2009. Use a fare search engine tool like Kayak or FareCompare to find the best rates and travel dates from your city.
If you are interested in combining hotel and airfare, Orbitz has a Hawaii sale. Use promotion code 5HAWAII250 to save $250. For details, see this link.
For several weeks, Kayak and American Airlines were in a tiff and had parted ways. I’m happy to report that the two have kissed and made up so you’ll now find American Airlines flights back in Kayak and Sidestep search results. Yay!
The Canadian airline, WestJet will increase winter fights from Vancouver to Honolulu, Kona, and Maui beginning November 1st. (Source)
If Shakespeare could set one of his plays on Hawaii, which islands do you think he’d visit? The likely answer is the islands of Lanai and Hawaii. Well, at least that’s where the “The Tempest” is being filmed this November. (Source)
The Royal Hawaiian (that historic pink Waikiki hotel) is set to reopen early next year. As I reported in June, the resort closed for a $110 million renovation. Take a look at the special reopening offers that include $19.27 rate in honor of their original opening year of 1927.
Well, I’m back home in North Carolina now. I’ve had quite a few impressions from this recent trip that I wanted to share with you. So, here goes:
The Aloha spirit is alive and well! Each time I visit Hawaii, I always surprised at the kindness of the people of Hawaii. We experienced the warm Aloha spirit many times over on this trip. Here’s just one instance, we struck up a conversation with a fellow in Hanalei on the North Shore of Kauai, the next thing we know, he gave us a bag of sea shells. He wanted nothing in return. Wow!
Andy and I both noticed that more of Hawaii has become accessible for the disabled. We noticed noticed several new ramps in Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Parks on Kauai. We also noticed how many curb ramps there were in Honolulu.
Waikiki has really spiffed up! From the beautiful stone sidewalk along Kalakaua Avenue to the hotel facelifts, Waikiki is more attractive than ever.
There’s many new posh shops along Kalakaua Avenue. I’d say that it now rivals Rodeo Drive. Unfortunately, I could only afford to window shop, but still that was fun!
I appreciated the Waikiki Aloha Ambassadors that were around to answer questions. The night of my arrival, I needed directions and it was so nice to have the assistance of an Waikiki Aloha Ambassador. They’re very visible in neon green shirts. (Here’s an article with a photo of the ambassadors.)
Hawaii restaurants, hotels and shops offer some phenomenal live entertainment! We heard Grammy award winning slack key guitar master Ledward Kaapana at Kona Brewing Company and Na Hoku Hanohano award winning artist Jerry Santos at Chai Island Bistro. (I’ll have more on these two great Oahu restaurants in the future.)
I’m always amazed by the abundance things there are to do and see on the islands. Each time I visit, I end up leaving Hawaii with a to do list for my next visit. I have a feeling that this list will be never ending and I kind of like it that way.
Even though I travel light with only carry-on luggage, I over packed again. There were three shirts and a skort that I didn’t wear at all. Next time, I’m going to practice more discipline and force myself to pack less. Will you hold me to this promise?
Hawaii’s Big Island Visitors Bureau has launched a sustainable travel section on their Web site. Perhaps the term sustainable travel is a new one for you. I like how the Big Island Visitor’s Bureau defines it.
On Hawaii Island, as elsewhere, sustainable tourism today means:
Minimizing negative impacts on the environment
Promoting the local culture, including heritage, history, arts, crafts, and more
Supporting island businesses, hiring locally and buying locally
Recycling, reusing and reducing use of limited resources
Offering authentic experiences which sustain the environment and local people
Preserving the geographical character of this place
The Web site has several good articles that will help visitors understand more about the complex and somewhat fragile eco-system in Hawaii. Visitors can learn how they can make choices that will promote sustainable travel. For example, visitors can support hotels, tour companies, and restaurants that have integrated eco-friendly practices. I’d also like to point out the eco-adventure volunteer page that lists some of the projects that you can support while you are on your Big Island vacation.
With a bit of sadness, I leave Hawaii today to go back home. This trip has been action packed! I’ve taken pages of notes and Andy has captured tons of great photos with his fancy professional camera. Together, we’ll have so much to share with you. I hope to be back on my regular posting schedule beginning on Tuesday. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy this shot of a Kauai North Shore beach. A hui hou (until we meet again), Hawaii!
I feel so blessed to be able to write this postcard to you from the lanai (balcony) of my wonderful hotel room at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. As I sit here, to my left I see the surfers catch the morning waves. To my right, I see the sun casting a luminous glow on the green rugged mountains. Waikiki Beach is waking up for another lively day in paradise.
Since we arrived on Saturday, we’ve hardly stopped to catch our breath, but we’re having a blast and falling in love with Oahu over and over again. On Sunday, we hiked about four miles with a combined elevation change of 1000 feet. Yesterday, we kayaked in Kailua. So, now we have a matching set of sore shoulders and legs. When I get back home, I’ll share more details of everything.
We’ve been doing lots of sight seeing, too. All along the way, I’ve been taking pages of notes for future blog posts to share as many tips as I can to help make your Hawaii vacation go as smoothly as possible and to get the most out of it.
I’ll try to post a photo each day while we’re here. In the meantime, please enjoy this postcard view from Kailua Beach
Aloha from Hawaii! There’s so many things I’m looking forward to seeing, doing, and experiencing in this place I love so much. One of the things I love to is the Hawaii regional cuisine. It’s so fresh and delicious.
Here’s an excellent video that helps to explain what makes Hawaii’s cuisine so special. It’s narrated by Maui chef, James McDonald. In the video, you go from an Upcountry farm to the Lahaina restaurant table. I love how Chef James McDonald describes the food in Hawaii. He says, “It’s the flavors. It’s the freshness. It’s the purity. You just really can’t get it anywhere else.” I couldn’t agree more.
The much loved Mauna Kea Resort is due to re-open December 20th. They’ve been renovating and repairing damage from the 2006 Big Island earthquake. In the meantime, they’re letting us take a virtual sneak peek into the new room designs. See for yourself here. What do you think?
