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hawaii planning...

BGRed

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oh, where to start this thread...

My wife and I, with our six year old twins and my inlaws, are traveling to Hawaii on March 2009. We have our flights (frequent flyer into HNL) and are thinking of splitting our 17 day trip between Maui and the Big Island.

My father-in-law owns a 2 BR week at Horizons-Branson that is a good trader; but, I don't see anything available right now.

I think that I am down to several decision points --

1. Book all through a Hawaii travel specialist - I have an offer from a company called blue-hawaii.com that came in about $1600 less than a similar itinerary that I put together myself. Locations - Big Island: Resortquest Kona by the Sea. Maui: Resortquest Kanapalli Shores. Has anyone worked with blue-hawaii? Or, can anyone recommend an alternative travel specialist.

2. On our own itinerary, I had narrowed down Maui condo rentals to Noelani Condo Resort (3 BR) or Resortquest Mahana on Kanapalli beach. And, our Big Island choice Kona Bali Hai.

3. Sign up through Starwood for a timeshare preview at the Sheraton on Kanapalli. We'd get a garden view 2 BR for $750 total for 5 nights plus some restaurant & car rental bonuses.

4. Put in an II trade and hope that something comes through in time to get our plans finalized... :crossfingers:

This is a wide open post -- looking for some good advice to a first time Hawaii traveler. This might be the only Hawaii trips for the inlaws, so I would really like to have ocean view. We're planning to balance activities with some leisurely beach days.
 

lprstn

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Well you can always do a cruise (something you can pay on and see all the Islands too!)...rent a timeshare, do a package deal.

However, more than likely you will get the Hawaii week you want if you put in an ongoing search.

Also...

We did Hawaii with our mom and 4 kids, and it was cheaper and easier just to stay on 1 island and enjoy the Island life. We stayed for 14 days in Kaui.

So some ways to save $$

- try to get a TS trade, or "Extra Vacation" or "Getaway" because you at least need a 2 bedroom.
- stick with the condo's because you will save money on eating out ... which can get expensive
- Don't worry about booking a ton of tours, lots of Hawaii you can explore safetly on your own
- Purchase your tickets to Honolulu (Ohau) STAY there for a few days (3 or less) THEN you can take a flight to the other Islands. (I wish I would have done that)

Wyndham has getaways in Hawaii for discounts too

http://www.ownergetaways.com/Offers/specific.asp?Preview=True&Package=4520

Hawaiian Vacation
6 Days/5 Nights for $408
pp based on double occupancy

YOUR PACKAGE INCLUDES:

5 nights accommodations at our Waikiki Beach Walk resort (if available),for 2 adults at the OHANA Waikiki West, OHANA East or comparable area hotel for 2 adults

Plus, your choice of either:

Paradise Whale Watch Cruise for 2 (retail value $73)
OR
Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial/City Tour for 2 (retail value $66)
OR
$50 Dinner Certificate to the Shorebird or Ocean House Restaurant
 
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wa.mama

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All your options are good ones. Just depends how "sure" you like things to be. If your FF miles are getting you to HNL and you can be flexible about your stay in the other islands, then go wide open for your requests during the 17 days. Include Kauai and Oahu - otherwise you'll be missing out on some great Marriott places. Also include Kona Coast II on the BI - it's a good place for families. (you can see I'm partial to all these places!)

Hawaii has had a lot of availability due to the high airfare. Tons more available this year than last. Sometimes we make a reservation at lodgings that have generous cancellation policies, then cancel if our trades come through. Good luck and enjoy the islands!
 

alanraycole

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If you're looking for the lowest price...

hold out for your II trade and open your options to all the islands. If it gets closer to your time and nothing becomes available, use Priceline. I have almost always been satisfied with the results using Priceline, although there are strategies for insuring you get what you want. If it wasn't for timeshares, I would be a Priceline junkie... I love what they have done for me... usually.

Having said that, neither of the above options will guarantee ocean view. In fact, I would guess that using either strategy has less than a 50% chance of landing ocean view. But, wanting to save money and desiring ocean view are goals in opposite directions.

You can rent timeshares here on TUG, eBay, and redweek. Travelocity and Orbitz are also helpful.
 
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DeniseM

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Your best bet for an ocean view is to rent directly from an owner who owns an ocean view unit. With the state of the economy, there should be some good deals on Hawaii Rentals.
 

LisaRex

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Sorry, I've never worked with a travel agency so I can't help. I have heard that Pleasant Holidays has some great deals to Hawaii. The problem is that the accomodations are usually not ocean view or ocean front. So if that's what you want, you should rent them on your own.

There are some great rentals available via the owner on VRBO. I rented a great ocean view (what others would call ocean front) condo at Kaanapali Shores for $329/night. There are some awesome units at Mahana. If it's just the two of you, I'd also consider Maui Kai, which is very affordable but has very nice accomodations that are as close to the ocean as you'll find on Maui.
 

alanraycole

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Sorry, how could I have forgotten...

Have you checked out the Interval Getaways? Granted, there won't be much showing up now for March, if any. But, there are likely to be plenty after the first of the year. The closer to the desired dates, the more show up, generally. The Getaways are often unbeatable deals, but aren't likely to get you ocean view. If you want to get an idea of what may be available in March, check out what is available now and for the next two months.

Since ocean view can cost twice and maybe even four times or more of what garden view can cost at the same resort, consider all the money saved on lodging that then can be spent on activities, such as snorkel and fishing excursions... you can't get better ocean views than that! How did I come up with this reported differential? If you look at prices for the same resort on a site such as hotels.com, there can sometimes be a doubling of room rates when comparing the cheapest rooms to ocean views. Then consider that you can often cut the advertised rates in half by "naming your own price" on priceline.com; but the ocean views are rarely, if ever, offered through such discount sites. That results in a quadrupling of price when comparing possible rates of garden view to advertised rates of ocean view!

That leaves a lot of money for adventure ON the ocean... just a thought.
 
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CATBinCO

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When we did our multi-island Hawaii trip two years ago we also rented a condo on Maui (the owner was a flight attendant who lived in MN). We stayed in central Maui (Maalaea area) and it was good because we ventured over to the west and south ends of the island. It was also very breezy and we did not need AC in the unit! On the Big Island we did the same thing - rented a condo from an owner.
 

LisaRex

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The downside of renting from the owner is that many insist on 7 day+ rentals. However, the savings can be great.

Other places I'd look in Maui:

Kaanapali Alii
Polo Beach Club
 

hibbeln

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We rented at this place on Maui after being unable to get an exchange. I was specifically looking for someplace that we could sit outside and look right at the ocean. It doesn't have a pool, but is a 3 minute walk to a very fun and swimmable (even for 6 year olds in March) beach, and is a 30 second walk in the other direction to a cove and a surfing beach. The views (especially at sunset!) just can't be beat. Nothing fancy, but a friendly little place in a good location. The two bedrooms worked great for our family. We had the top floor unit (not the penthouse unit on the roof) in the northwest corner of the building, which gave us big windows on the north side looking out at the surfers. Lovely! They are all individually owned, and this one was obviously used to having kids there because they had a large variety of childrens' DVD's in the unit. The lawn between the unit and the ocean was great for the kids to run off steam. And the rocks and little beachy coves gave them endless fun times.
www.punahoabeach.com
And their prices are unbelievably good for Maui oceanfront (we couldn't even touch it anywhere else).
 
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