Hotels

Where to stay in Hawaii is a difficult decision, that depends a lot on your budget and personal preferences. We've stayed at a number of the expensive, upscale resorts, but have also stayed in more basic hotels, condos, and bed and breakfasts. We've often found pretty good rates through packages or simply deals at the hotels themselves shown on their web sites.

The following is a summary of the different areas on each island that we've stayed at, highlighting places we've stayed at (often more than once) and enjoyed. This is by no means a complete list of your choices.

Big Island

Kohala Coast

• Northwest side of the island, with about a half dozen upscale resorts spread along a 20-30 mile stretch. Very dry, desert-like area, surrounded by black lava.
• Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. Our favorite resort in all of Hawaii, and great for younger children. Salt water fish and turtles swimming through pools in and near the lobby. Big pool, sheltered beach, and lots to see and do on the resort.
• Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Another great hotel, that set the standard along the Kohala Coast. One of the great beaches of the world. (Note: due to damage from the earthquake in October 2006, the hotel is closed until further notice.)
• Mauna Lani Point condos. Large, upscale condos in the Mauna Lani resort. Good value, but you don't get to use the main Mauna Lani beach. (In the interests of full disclosure, we own a unit in this development.)
• My brother has stayed at the Orchid at Mauna Lani, and comments that while it is not quite as nice as the Mauna Lani Bay, it is often cheaper due to special deals worth checking out.

Volcano

• Staying in Volcano makes it easy to get an early start in the park. Your only choice used to be the hotel in the park, but now there are many B&B's and a couple small hotels in Volcano.
• My Island Bed and Breakfast. We've stayed here twice, once in the older main house and the second time in a modern 3 bedroom house about a mile away. Very friendly owners.
• Carson's Volcano Cottages. A set of small cottages in a couple locations. Good breakfasts.

Hilo

• Hilo doesn't have any resorts, but has a number of small and mid-size hotels. You're not going to spend much time in the hotels here, so you don't need luxury. We've stayed at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and at Uncle Billy's Hilo Bay Hotel, both of which were fine.

Kauai

Poipu Bay

• Southern part of the island, tends to be dryer and sunnier than the other parts of the island, and has good beaches. We've only stayed in condos here, including Kiahuna Plantation and a privately owned condo in the Kuhio Shores condo.

Princeville

• Resort complex on the north shore, with great golf. You need to drive to get to any beaches, though. We've stayed at the Pali Ke Kua condos, which had a great view of the coastline.

East Coast

• A number of older hotels and condos line the eastern shore of Kauai. Not many good beaches, but good golf at Kauai Lagoons. Fairly central area, so good spot for sightseeing.
• Lanikai. Nice condos, with a small beach.

Maui

Kapalua

• Big resort complex on the northwest corner of the island. Good beaches, great golf, but tends to get more rain and is a long drive from anywhere else on the island. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, which was nice, but seemed just like a big hotel.

Wailea

• Newer resort complex on the southwest part of the island. Great beaches, good golf, and usually pretty sunny. Easy to get to Kihei for groceries and cheap restaurants.
• Wailea Villas. We've stayed twice in the Elua village, but there are several others. Very large and pleasant condos. We splurged for an oceanfront condo in March, which gave us great views of whales from our lanai.
• Grand Wailea Resort. Resort hotel with huge pool complex, kids (of all ages) have fun.

Kaanapali

• First resort area in Maui, with several major hotels and lots of condos. We've stayed here or nearby a couple times, but there are better choices.

Lanai

Lanai

• There are two very different resorts on Lanai, and the offer a free shuttle for the 20 minute ride between them (just make sure you keep an eye on the clock so you don't miss the shuttle).
• Lodge at Koele. A unique hotel, with marvelous rooms, common areas, and grounds. Middle of the island, cool and misty; a nice contrast from most of the other resorts in Hawaii. Well-maintained18-hole miniature golf course. Beach is twenty minutes away at Manele Bay.
• Manele Bay Hotel. A very nice resort hotel located on a wonderful beach.

Oahu

Waikiki

• Busy and cosmopolitan. Best place to do your souvenir shopping. Hotels and condos of all prices and sizes, including some famous upscale hotels. We prefer to save our money for the other islands, so we have tended to avoid these (unless we can use frequent flyer miles).
• Marriott Waikiki. A pretty nice hotel just across from the beach. Compared to several other places, this one is pretty easy to get into and out of.
• Prince Kuhio Hotel. Several blocks from the beach (easily walkable) and from Kapiolani Park, this hotel is a good value and has nice rooms. (This hotel has gone through a number of owners - including Outrigger and Radisson - and will become a Hilton in 2007.)
• Hilton Hawaiian Village. A big hotel, right on the west end of the beach.
• Ilikai Hotel. A little further west of the Hilton. No real beach (you can walk over to the Hilton), but fairly easy to get into and out of.