Honolulu in mid NOV, hotel suggestions?

[iownyou]

Hi everyone,
I'm goin to hawaii with my wife in Nov for 2 weeks. Got the tickets already, very excited.
We have never been there before, and there seems to be so many hotel listings on expedia.... we are not sure what to do....

Basically what I have in mind is that, we want to stay in a nice place with ocean view for about 1 week... willing to pay 150-200$ per night.....if possible....
for the second week maybe we could stay some where away from the beach and save some money on hotels.....

not sure if that's a good plan


any suggestions??

[Mars2012]

I would stay in one hotel in Honolulu unless you want to split your stay between Waikiki and some other part of the island. Waikiki is fairly small and you can walk to a lot of places and the bus system is wonderful. Waikiki has a long strip of beach and there are hotels all along it. If you don't want to be in a really busy part, you might want to find accommodations on the extreme either sides of Waikiki (Diamond Head side or Ala Moana side).

Decide whether you want to stay in a hotel or a condo. With a condo, you will have kitchen facilities and can prepare a few of your meals rather than going to a restaurant the whole time. A couple of hotels within your budget would be the Holiday Inn Beachcomber, which is right across the street from the beach. A budget hotel in the same area would be the Aston Circle hotel. Aston properties have a resort fee tacked onto the room rental and also note that the hotel taxes are quite high (just under 14%, for condos too). If you rent a car, there is usually a charge for parking at the hotel...depending on where you are, it can be upwards of $30 per night.

There are condohotels, which are individually owned condos that are managed by a central management company. You will get a standardized room and maid service. An example of this would be the Aston Banyan and the Aston Sunset. These are right next to each other but about a five minute walk to the beach. Some owners have opted to manage their condos privately and you'll be able to book these through VRBO or Homeaway, etc. Sometimes the private rentals include parking. These owner direct rentals are a bit more risky if you don't know what you are doing. They often ask for a large deposit up front and full payment within a month or two of your stay. You need to read reviews to find out which ones are rated highly and worth renting.

If you plan on renting a car, you can put a reservation in at Costco.ca (you will be forwarded to Budget or Alamo), or Discount Hawaii Carrentals. You can cancel up to one day before you get there. You will be paying a premium if you just walk up without a reservation. If you don't rent from the airport, you can just grab a cab outside of the baggage area. It will cost about $35 to get to Waikiki. There are shuttles too, but they stop at other hotels along the way and you have to share. Another option is Hawaii23 Transportation which is a cab service that charges a flat $23 from the airport. Haven't used them, but they are highly regarded on another forum.

November will be a slower month unless you go during American Thanksgiving. Good luck with your trip planning!

[98vtec]

Hi everyone,
I'm goin to hawaii with my wife in Nov for 2 weeks. Got the tickets already, very excited.
We have never been there before, and there seems to be so many hotel listings on expedia.... we are not sure what to do....

Basically what I have in mind is that, we want to stay in a nice place with ocean view for about 1 week... willing to pay 150-200$ per night.....if possible....
for the second week maybe we could stay some where away from the beach and save some money on hotels.....

not sure if that's a good plan


any suggestions??

You're going to have an amazing time !!! I was there in 2010 October for our honeymoon and loved every second of our 2 week trip. We did a cruise on the first week (did 4 out of 7 islands (Maui, The Big Island, Kaui and Oahu).. I would seriously look into doing a cruise for one of your weeks there. I got a killer price and paid $999 each. Best 2k I have spent in my life!

If you have any questions at all just PM me. I have loads of tips about renting cars and what to visit and stuff like that !

[nepean19]

Try vrbo.com

[wszeto28]

When I went to Honolulu, I stayed at the Trump Hotel. It's a bit pricy but it has been the best hotel I've EVER stayed at.

Also, 2 weeks in Honolulu might be a bit much. You'd be better off splitting your time between Honolulu and Maui. You can visit Kona if you'd like but people usually go there for volcano flows and they've stopped flowing for about 3-4 years.

[98vtec]

I saw lava flowing into the ocean from Kilauea. I was there Oct 2010. I do agree with wszeto28 though. 2 weeks is long for Honolulu. We were there 1 week and it was perfect..

[wszeto28]

I saw lava flowing into the ocean from Kilauea. I was there Oct 2010. I do agree with wszeto28 though. 2 weeks is long for Honolulu. We were there 1 week and it was perfect..

Lucky! When I went, they had said that there had been no lava flows for the past few years. The closest thing I got to experiencing a volcano was putting my hand over the steam vents lol.

[overboost]

I also agree, spending 2 weeks in Honolulu is a bit much for a vacationer. Should explore another island while you're there.

When I went to Honolulu, I stayed at the Trump Hotel. It's a bit pricy but it has been the best hotel I've EVER stayed at.

Also, 2 weeks in Honolulu might be a bit much. You'd be better off splitting your time between Honolulu and Maui. You can visit Kona if you'd like but people usually go there for volcano flows and they've stopped flowing for about 3-4 years.

[hilroy97]

Hi iownyou

We visited Oahu this year for the first time (2 adults, 2 girls ages 11 & 6). Spent a total of 16 days on the island.

First 7 days we rented a private home on the North Shore only a minutes walk from the nearest beach and short walk or drive to many other beaches. You will find a beach for every need on the shore. The total was $1750 for 7 nights.

We then went to Waikiki for 9 nights. Stayed at the Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk. This is very close to all there is in the area. $2200 for 9 nights. Full 2 bedroom, 2 bath, full kitchen condo with pool, etc. Very nice place to stay.

We found both places through vrbo.com . The Wyndham is a timeshare which we went to a presentation for. 90 minutes I'll never get back but we did get $150 for our time.

One thing we did that would recommend to anyone would be a visit to the Polynesian Culltural Center http://www.polynesia.com/ . The night show was fabulous.


Ed

[iownyou]

thanks for all the replies...

if i decide to visit another island.. most likely maui, is it possible to get there by a cruise from honolulu? or should we book a flight now? another question is should we stay in maui or go to different island on different day trips.

[jetersucks]

I wouldn't island hop that often. Not on day trips. There's too much to do. But with 2 weeks, you have a lot of time so you could easily fit in some time to spend 3/4 days on Maui or Big Island, etc if you wanted.

[erikaem]

2 recommendations for you. If you're looking for a suite at a good price, I recommend the Waikiki Banyan. There is a hotel that operates out of the building, but many of the units are available by owner or via a rental company called kokoresorts.com. I've used them twice.

Another approach, if you want a swankier hotel but still at a good price, try Priceline or hotwire. Check out www.hoteldealsrevealed.com to find out what hotels in Hawaii people are getting.

[iownyou]

is it possible to get from one island to another by boot? if so, should i book it early or wait until i get there...

[redkid]

i'm taking the cruise to go around island + staying a few extra days in oahu + kauai, wanted to do maui but wifey heard better comments on the other
all island i read are great
lanai and molokai seem to be small and maybe worth of 1 day, unless u want to stay longer in a less urbanized place
hotels go for $100 for low end but for $130 u can get some decent 3*s probably worth to pay even up to $150

[iownyou]

i'm taking the cruise to go around island + staying a few extra days in oahu + kauai, wanted to do maui but wifey heard better comments on the other
all island i read are great
lanai and molokai seem to be small and maybe worth of 1 day, unless u want to stay longer in a less urbanized place
hotels go for $100 for low end but for $130 u can get some decent 3*s probably worth to pay even up to $150

are there cruises with rooms that goes to different islands??