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Lanai Trip

slip

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My wife and I were talking about our Maui trip next year and I brought up heading over to Lanai. That's the only island we have left to go to.

She definitely wants to go and asked about going before we go to Maui next year. If we are going to go from Molokai, we would stay one or two nights. I know there isn't a lot there but we would be fine spending 2 nights there.

So I started looking and the Oceanfront Four Seasons is only $1,850 for a Garden view room per night and going up to $2,650 for an Oceanfront Deluxe and then a few options in-between. That does include free airfare from Honolulu. :)

Then there is the Four Seasons Sensei in Lanai City starting at $880 a night. There is a Nobu restaurant at that location.

Lastly, there is Hotel Lanai that is in Lanai City and starts at $380 a night.

We talked about it for a bit and we may stay at Hotel Lanai and go to a dinner at the Nobu.

I started looking at flights and so far all I see is a direct flight to Lanai from Molokai but on the way home we have to go to Kahului then to Molokai. I will check with Mokulele and see if there are other options later in the year.

If this doesn't work we may just go next year when we are on Maui in April. We would just take the ferry over and spend one night there.

We probably would have gone last August but that was before my wife's diagnosis and she just wasn't up for it at that time.

Our daughter will be with us in April and we know she will be fine with checking out another island. After the Maui trip and if we go to Lanai, she will only have the Big Island left to see.

So we'll see, either a short separate trip or a combined trip with Maui.
 

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How about finding a Molokai local to take you over on a boat? A few years ago we went from Maui to Molokai that way. They even picked us up at the beach near Ka'anapali and dropped us off later in the day. It was a friend of a friend kind of deal. One person took us to and from Molokai while another drove us around the island. Im sure some of the locals you've already met know somebody that could do this.

I our case, we went to Molokai for the day. L think a couple of days in Lanai would be fun, though the hotels are a bit expensive. I stayed at The Lodge at Koele, before it became a Four Seasons and it was a great location. It felt more like being in the English countryside rather than on a tropical island. They even served High Tea in the afternoon. We enjoyed hiking the Munro Trail. A 4WD jeep is a good rental vehicle on Lanai. Some of the sights would be hard to reach on a regular car.

We usually take the ferry from Lahaina when we visit Lanai. You can walk to the beach by the Four Seasons from the ferry landing and make a day trip out of it. There isn't all that much on the island, but it is a nice place to visit from time to time.
 

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The only time I went to Lanai was on a Trilogy trip. This was before the big hotels were built so there really was only what was in Lanai City. We were just there for a short time, but did get a short tour of the island.
 

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How about finding a Molokai local to take you over on a boat? A few years ago we went from Maui to Molokai that way. They even picked us up at the beach near Ka'anapali and dropped us off later in the day. It was a friend of a friend kind of deal. One person took us to and from Molokai while another drove us around the island. Im sure some of the locals you've already met know somebody that could do this.

I our case, we went to Molokai for the day. L think a couple of days in Lanai would be fun, though the hotels are a bit expensive. I stayed at The Lodge at Koele, before it became a Four Seasons and it was a great location. It felt more like being in the English countryside rather than on a tropical island. They even served High Tea in the afternoon. We enjoyed hiking the Munro Trail. A 4WD jeep is a good rental vehicle on Lanai. Some of the sights would be hard to reach on a regular car.

We usually take the ferry from Lahaina when we visit Lanai. You can walk to the beach by the Four Seasons from the ferry landing and make a day trip out of it. There isn't all that much on the island, but it is a nice place to visit from time to time.

I had thought about a boat trip. I remember you posting your story about it before. If I remember correctly it was Eddie Tanaka. His son Eddie live next door to us. It may be an option. We would have to rent a car and we would problem do a tour also. My wife would only be able to do so much. A walk from the ferry to the beach would be out if we went by ferry.

I knew the hotels would be expensive but we can do a couple days. We're still looking into options. My wife is leaning to going by ferry when we are on Maui.
 

slip

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The only time I went to Lanai was on a Trilogy trip. This was before the big hotels were built so there really was only what was in Lanai City. We were just there for a short time, but did get a short tour of the island.

At the very east we would do that. But we know we would enjoy a couple days there.
 

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Eddie was the one that drove us around Molokai. The boat guy was Uncle Walter, but I can't remember his last name. He and Eddie were at least acquaintances. There are a few AirBnB places in Lanai City that are a bit less expensive than the hotels and at least the pictures look nice.

All the locals seem to know each other on the islands, and a tour by a Lanai local might be nice. We rented a jeep from ABB Executive Rental in Lanai several years ago, when they were getting started. The owner was very friendly and gracious: http://www.abbautorental.com/. I'd rent again from Bart Baldwin. He can also give you pointers to a tour guide and where to go on Lanai. They'll bring the car to you to the dock or the airport.
 

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Eddie was the one that drove us around Molokai. The boat guy was Uncle Walter, but I can't remember his last name. He and Eddie were at least acquaintances. There are a few AirBnB places in Lanai City that are a bit less expensive than the hotels and at least the pictures look nice.

All the locals seem to know each other on the islands, and a tour by a Lanai local might be nice. We rented a jeep from ABB Executive Rental in Lanai several years ago, when they were getting started. The owner was very friendly and gracious: http://www.abbautorental.com/. I'd rent again from Bart Baldwin. He can also give you pointers to a tour guide and where to go on Lanai. They'll bring the car to you to the dock or the airport.
The tour we got when we went on the Trilogy the guide who did the island tour was a local.
 

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I'm dreaming of retiring in Hawaii some day not too far from now, but would probably go to Maui or maybe Oahu. I see several nice properties on Iwa Beach in Oahu, but they seem a lot cheaper that other areas, like Kailua. Would you know why? I haven't been outside Waikiki on Oahu, so don't have a good feel for that island. I know all the other ones fairly well.

I've started to look and almost bought a place in early 2021. I wish I had pulled the trigger then. Prices sure have gone crazy.
 

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Eddie was the one that drove us around Molokai. The boat guy was Uncle Walter, but I can't remember his last name. He and Eddie were at least acquaintances. There are a few AirBnB places in Lanai City that are a bit less expensive than the hotels and at least the pictures look nice.

All the locals seem to know each other on the islands, and a tour by a Lanai local might be nice. We rented a jeep from ABB Executive Rental in Lanai several years ago, when they were getting started. The owner was very friendly and gracious: http://www.abbautorental.com/. I'd rent again from Bart Baldwin. He can also give you pointers to a tour guide and where to go on Lanai. They'll bring the car to you to the dock or the airport.

Yes, you refreshed my memory now. It may have been Walter Ritte? Many times they just say Uncle and not the last name.

You also reminded me of something I wanted to mention in my OP. I checked VRBO and ABB and I didn’t see any offerings. Mostly what came up were condos in Lahaina and Molokai.

I remembered that was an issue for renting condos here on Molokai. Many adds for Molokai condos usually list "This condo is NOT on Maui". If you are doing a search for Molokai or Lanai, many Maui listings come up and it is very easy to not notice this.

When I searched for Lanai, many Lahaina and Molokai condos came up. It will say 16.5 miles from Lanai City. If you aren't familiar with the islands, you might think of that's not a bad drive. You wouldn't even notice that it's on a different island.

There are also a few locals here that do tours of Molokai and I want to do one of those also. It will be great to hear things about the island that I don't know about. My wife would like that too and she said if she couldn't walk to a few stops, she would just wait in the car. We will eventually do that too.
 

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The tour we got when we went on the Trilogy the guide who did the island tour was a local.

I hear Eddie talking to many of the tourists here about doing tours. He also works doing drywall.
 

slip

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I'm dreaming of retiring in Hawaii some day not too far from now, but would probably go to Maui or maybe Oahu. I see several nice properties on Iwa Beach in Oahu, but they seem a lot cheaper that other areas, like Kailua. Would you know why? I haven't been outside Waikiki on Oahu, so don't have a good feel for that island. I know all the other ones fairly well.

I've started to look and almost bought a place in early 2021. I wish I had pulled the trigger then. Prices sure have gone crazy.

Ewa is a little cheaper in general. Many new homes were built there with families in mind. It is a nice area. Traffic can be an issue, especially during rush hour. That may not bother a Retiree though.

I just saw on the local news last night that the median home price on Oahu is now $1.15 million. The median condo on Oahu was over $500,000.

Always verify Leasehold or Fee Simple in the listing. :thumbup:
 

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I'm dreaming of retiring in Hawaii some day not too far from now, but would probably go to Maui or maybe Oahu. I see several nice properties on Iwa Beach in Oahu, but they seem a lot cheaper that other areas, like Kailua. Would you know why? I haven't been outside Waikiki on Oahu, so don't have a good feel for that island. I know all the other ones fairly well.

I've started to look and almost bought a place in early 2021. I wish I had pulled the trigger then. Prices sure have gone crazy.

Henry, Ewa Beach is an area very close to Pearl Harbor, and the Honolulu Airport. It's a fine area, but life on that part of Oahu is very different than life in Kailua, a bedroom community on the Windward side. You need to spend time in both areas before committing to buying anything.

Dave
 

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I'm dreaming of retiring in Hawaii some day not too far from now, but would probably go to Maui or maybe Oahu. I see several nice properties on Iwa Beach in Oahu, but they seem a lot cheaper that other areas, like Kailua. Would you know why? I haven't been outside Waikiki on Oahu, so don't have a good feel for that island. I know all the other ones fairly well..
Ewa is a little cheaper in general. Many new homes were built there with families in mind. It is a nice area. Traffic can be an issue, especially during rush hour. That may not bother a Retiree though.
As @slip stated, it's a nice area; however, traffic is the worst on the island behind Waikiki.

The rest of this paragraph is my opinion sprinkled with some facts so take it for what it's worth. We really like Kapolei (near Ewa Beach), but decided to buy on the Windward side. Very glad we did. It's hotter on the Leeward side, and most neighborhoods in Ewa and Kapolei have more of a mainland feel. While homes have lagged in value compared to the Windward side, they are catching up. We considered purchasing in Kapolei and Ewa since I'm retiring in a few years. I thought it would be okay to put up with traffic for a few years before retiring. Having lived on the Windward side for a year now, I'm so glad we ended up in Kaneohe. Even as a retiree in Ewa, you'll have to time your trips to avoid rush hour (which seems to start earlier and earlier -- afternoon rush hour starts building at 2:30PM). If I were in Ewa, it would take longer than an hour to get to/from work/home some days. Outside of one day when an 18 wheeler blocked both lanes on the H3, it's been a consistent 21- minute drive to/from work/home no matter what time of day I leave...and I'm still amazed as I pop out of the windward side of the tunnel and see the amazing view of Kaneohe Bay.

Most of my neighbors have lived in their house well over 25 years, and a good portion of those moved in the late 60s and early 70s. Lush vegetation, cooler weather, fantastic trades, and the rain isn't bad at all (rarely a downpour, and the rain doesn't last long). Given the chance, I'd do it again!

Everyone has their own opinion, so I recommend what @DaveNV stated: spend time in both areas, then commit.
 

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Thanks for the opinions. I tend to favor the windward side too, but pricing seemed much more reasonable in Ewa Beach. I know, there's a reason for that!

Hawaii Kai, Kailua, etc. seem nice. I will likely go spend a couple of months there before I do anything. I already did on Maui and liked it, but it is even more expensive than Oahu in the parts I'd like to live in.

Eddie, the singer, was a nice tour guide for us. He seemed to know a bit of the local folklore, or at least told a good story if he just made it up. LOL!

There is a Walter that is a leader of the native Hawaiian movement and is against all outsiders. That is NOT the one that took us on the boat. Eddie would know.

I searched Airbnb earlier today and there are 5 properties that come up in Lanai City, shown on the map to be right in the center of Lanai. What shows up depends on the dates you enter. Sometimes nothing shows if everything is already rented.

I know about fee simple vs. leasehold, and the type of fees involved with leasehold to lease the underlying land. I'm only looking for fee simple properties. Molokai looks nice too, but it is way too laid back for my wife.
 

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Thanks for the opinions. I tend to favor the windward side too, but pricing seemed much more reasonable in Ewa Beach. I know, there's a reason for that!

Hawaii Kai, Kailua, etc. seem nice. I will likely go spend a couple of months there before I do anything. I already did on Maui and liked it, but it is even more expensive than Oahu in the parts I'd like to live in.

Eddie, the singer, was a nice tour guide for us. He seemed to know a bit of the local folklore, or at least told a good story if he just made it up. LOL!

There is a Walter that is a leader of the native Hawaiian movement and is against all outsiders. That is NOT the one that took us on the boat. Eddie would know.

I searched Airbnb earlier today and there are 5 properties that come up in Lanai City, shown on the map to be right in the center of Lanai. What shows up depends on the dates you enter. Sometimes nothing shows if everything is already rented.

I know about fee simple vs. leasehold, and the type of fees involved with leasehold to lease the underlying land. I'm only looking for fee simple properties. Molokai looks nice too, but it is way too laid back for my wife.

Sounds like you have a handle on things. You just have to get to Oahu and see more. Yes, Molokai is definitely not for everyone. I don't even recommend vacationers to come here until they have been to a couple other islands.

Yes, Walter Ritte is the activist you mentioned. I can check with Eddie to see who it was.

And yes, I did have dates entered so that's why I didn't get any units on Lanai. The trip is still a work in progress.
 

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Sometimes AirBnB hosts can work with you if you contact them through the site or directly. They may even open up dates when they had other plans for the property.

The people at the auto rental place may also "know somebody".
 

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My wife and I were talking about our Maui trip next year and I brought up heading over to Lanai. That's the only island we have left to go to.

She definitely wants to go and asked about going before we go to Maui next year. If we are going to go from Molokai, we would stay one or two nights. I know there isn't a lot there but we would be fine spending 2 nights there.

So I started looking and the Oceanfront Four Seasons is only $1,850 for a Garden view room per night and going up to $2,650 for an Oceanfront Deluxe and then a few options in-between. That does include free airfare from Honolulu. :)

Then there is the Four Seasons Sensei in Lanai City starting at $880 a night. There is a Nobu restaurant at that location.

Lastly, there is Hotel Lanai that is in Lanai City and starts at $380 a night.

We talked about it for a bit and we may stay at Hotel Lanai and go to a dinner at the Nobu.

I started looking at flights and so far all I see is a direct flight to Lanai from Molokai but on the way home we have to go to Kahului then to Molokai. I will check with Mokulele and see if there are other options later in the year.

If this doesn't work we may just go next year when we are on Maui in April. We would just take the ferry over and spend one night there.

We probably would have gone last August but that was before my wife's diagnosis and she just wasn't up for it at that time.

Our daughter will be with us in April and we know she will be fine with checking out another island. After the Maui trip and if we go to Lanai, she will only have the Big Island left to see.

So we'll see, either a short separate trip or a combined trip with Maui.

I would definitely stay at the Hotel Lanai. The Four Seaons prices are off the hook. We stayed at the Hotel Lanai about 10 years ago before they renovated it and made it very modern. The cost was only $149/night then. You are right in the City of Lanai which has lots of places to eat and it is very short walkable. The Ferry works very well from Maui to get there.
 

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I would definitely stay at the Hotel Lanai. The Four Seaons prices are off the hook. We stayed at the Hotel Lanai about 10 years ago before they renovated it and made it very modern. The cost was only $149/night then. You are right in the City of Lanai which has lots of places to eat and it is very short walkable. The Ferry works very well from Maui to get there.

We are leaning that way. We were just trying to fit a trip in if possible but it will be more convenient from Maui.

Good to hear from you. Are you two still in Honolulu? Sounds like things are getting back to normal there. I even saw that Japanese travel is starting to come back.
 

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Might want to go sooner rather than later, in case Ellison tightens things up:

Thanks for posting. There's a lot of truth there. If prices get too high? We'll make it a day trip.

2/3's of Molokai is still for sale. It used to be the ranch with the hotel and golf course, $275 Million. It's been for sale for years and no one is interested.
 

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We are leaning that way. We were just trying to fit a trip in if possible but it will be more convenient from Maui.

Good to hear from you. Are you two still in Honolulu? Sounds like things are getting back to normal there. I even saw that Japanese travel is starting to come back.

We have been here since September 30th. We plan on staying now until next year at this time. Like it better than Long Island even in the summer. They are not back to normal as far as the pandemic though. We just had a show and and concert cancelled over the last 2 weeks. We were going to see the Rascals at the Blue Note and the show the Sunshine Boys at the Hawaii Theatre both cancelled due to Covid.
 

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We have been here since September 30th. We plan on staying now until next year at this time. Like it better than Long Island even in the summer. They are not back to normal as far as the pandemic though. We just had a show and and concert cancelled over the last 2 weeks. We were going to see the Rascals at the Blue Note and the show the Sunshine Boys at the Hawaii Theatre both cancelled due to Covid.

Awesome to hear you two are enjoying your place. :thumbup:
 

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How would life in Ko'olina and Kapolei be for retiree's, compared to the windward side? Some of the properties there, near the Four Seasons, look like fairly nice resort living, not far from Kapolei, Costco, and other shopping opportunities. When you get closer to the beach, is it that much hotter than Hawaii Ka, Kailua or Kaneohe? It looks like on the Ko'olina side, the only choice is condo living, with their higher HOA fees. The windward side seems to have a better selection of homes but it has fewer resort-style communities.

I'll try to head over to Oahu in the next couple of months to scope out the area. I'm doing some preliminary investigations now, as my time to move seems to be rapidly approaching, even though it is still maybe 2 years away..
 
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How would life in Ko'olina and Kapolei be for retiree's, compared to the windward side? Some of the properties there, near the Four Seasons, look like fairly nice resort living, not far from Kapolei, Costco, and other shopping opportunities. When you get closer to the beach, is it that much hotter than Hawaii Ka, Kailua or Kaneohe? It looks like on the Ko'olina side, the only choice is condo living, with their higher HOA fees. The windward side seems to have a better selection of homes but it has fewer resort-style communities.

I'll try to head over to Oahu in the next couple of months to scope out the area. I'm doing some preliminary investigations now, as my time to move seems to be rapidly approaching, even though it is still maybe 2 years away..

Yes, the 2 years will go fast.

I think the bigger difference would be more rain on the Windward side. Otherwise, everything you wrote above, I agree with what you are seeing.
 

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How would life in Ko'olina and Kapolei be for retiree's, compared to the windward side? Some of the properties there, near the Four Seasons, look like fairly nice resort living, not far from Kapolei, Costco, and other shopping opportunities. When you get closer to the beach, is it that much hotter than Hawaii Ka, Kailua or Kaneohe? It looks like on the Ko'olina side, the only choice is condo living, with their higher HOA fees. The windward side seems to have a better selection of homes but it has fewer resort-style communities.

I'll try to head over to Oahu in the next couple of months to scope out the area. I'm doing some preliminary investigations now, as my time to move seems to be rapidly approaching, even though it is still maybe 2 years away..

Setting aside housing style, traffic, and crowds, the biggest difference will be weather. The Ko'Olina and Kapolei area are Leeward side, much drier, and hotter. Kailua and Kaneohe are Windward, so are wetter and cooler. Hawaii Kai is something in the middle, since it's South shore, and gets a little of both. If I were choosing, I'd pick the Windward side. (I lived in Kailua for a long time.)

Dave
 
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