Surj-993C2S

During our trip to San Fran in March, we want to spend a few days away in Hawaii (never been there before) - relaxing rather than doing too much of the touristy things (my wife will be 5-6 months pregnant by then).

So where to stay chaps? Kaui? Ohau?
I dont like high rise hotels but know nothing about the islands there either - prefer somewhere with a beachfront (really dont want to do much at all!)

Is it possible to stay there in such a place for ~$200 a night?

TIA

Bokonon

We (the family) are VERY partial to Kona area on the Big Island. Not so much for beaches, but not a whole lot to do either. Less touristy than Maui or Oahu IMO. Don't know about finding $200/night, but our favorite place for pampering is the Hilton Waikoloa Village. You go there for a few days and you won't want to leave. Sign up early to reserve a place for the Dolphin Encounter.
http://www.hiltonwaikoloavillage.com/

-terry

viperbob

After staying just about everywhere in the Islands I just now go to Maui, and the Kannapali area up North. Great beaches, nice hotels, nice little town close by for sightseeing and dinners.. $200 per night is possible in some of the condos in the area. Most of the major hotels may be more, but call and see what kind of pachages they have available...

steve g

Took our honeymoon, last year in Maui - Kannapali. Definately on our list of vacations todo again. If you go to Maui - definately go to Mama's Fish House in Paia (sp?) which is a great little town. Do the downhill ride down the volcano too.

Randy M

Maui is nice but over the last 10 years has become very commercialized and dense. Right now there should not be as many people over there as say summer or spring break. If you are a scuba diver I would recommend the Cathedrals at Lanai.
Kona is very nice as an alternative. Less commercialized but a different experience than the typical Hawaii vaca. I've stayed at Kona Village Resort there and has probably been the single best resort I've ever been to. Definately not $220/night.
Have you thought of going to Kauai? I've never been there but have heard that it is pristine in its beauty and sparsely populated.
I'd avoid Waikkiki (sp?) like the plague. You will feel like you are just part of the herd there. Have fun Hawaii is great.

adsc4s

Kauai is beautiful and I would highly recommend it as a place to do nothing or golf but I think you will be hard pressed to find anything for $200/night. If you are going to blow your budget, stay at the Hyatt Regency.

Glen

Kona Village Resort. Absolutely unique experience, no tourist trap, dont rent a car, wont need one or even want to go anywhere, snorkel with seaturtles, take trips in glass bottom boat, all food is amazing. Nowhere else like it, You will find the people You meet there to be amazing folk also. Perfect for Your wife's state also.

deleonl1

Another vote for the Kaanapali area of Maui...my wife and I went on our honeymoon there and were beach front. We were right next to Black Rock...a great snorkling area and every night you get to see someone dive off the rocks into the water. It was very laid back and the drive up and down the coast is awesome. There are some great shops and restaurants in Lahaina. We also went to Oahu and stayed at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach...not a high rise and right on the beach as the name says. It's a great location for all the touristy stuff and if you're lucky, you might catch Don Ho in town...that was pretty funny. I think any island you pick would be great.

FlyYellow

our favorite is kauai followed by maui.

In kauai, we like the marriott in lihue (very close to airport).

In Maui, I'll vote for the kanapali area as well.

Kauai has more natural beauty, better hiking trails, great beaches and is less commercial. They call it the garden island because of its floral beauty

Maui is more commercial, more stuff to do, has Hana (rainforest that is awesome) but more crowded with traffic.

Hope that helps.

lexpilot

Kaanapauli is great. Good surf and hotter than Kauai. But the place we keep returning to is Kauai. Specifically Poipu Beach. Best weather, nice beaches but the bodysurfing is better at Kaanapauli. You can find inexpensive accomodations a couple of blocks off the beach at Poipu for way less money. Maui is about 8 degrees hotter than Kauai. Next trip we'll probably go back to Poipu. Waikoma Stream Villas is where we stay.
This year its Palm Springs, again. We can stay there a month for about 2 weeks worth of Hawaii expense. We drive our own car and can travel all over SoCal and eastern AZ.

Tom W

Hmm. We've stayed on Kauai (Marriott in Lihue), the big Island (both Kona Village and Hualalai/4 Seasons Resort on the Kona coast), and Maui (Kaanapali at the Marriott and Wailea at the Renaissance). Our favorite resort is the Hualalai (the others didn't come close) but we like Kaui the best of the islands (for all the same reasons as Boris). That said, we are going back to Maui in 3 weeks (5 days in each Kaanapali and Wailea) as we got a deal we could not say no to.

Suwipin

Another vote for Hualalai/4 Seasons Resort on the Kona coast. We went there for our honeymoon and we enjoyed it a lot (despite me stepping on a sea-urchin).

In Maui, we stayed at Hale Napili (pretty cheap, around ~$100). It's not a resort, but it was okay with us as we were out most of the time. We drove the Hana Road (full loop) in a Miata... that was quite an experience, especially on the off-road part

Randy M

Pin, That off road part can be a little crazy. My wife and I took that loop once. Nobody around for miles then we go around a bend and there is this giant Polynesian guy selling giant marijuana buds on foot long sticks!!! From that I gathered things are a little different on the backside......

CP

My favorite is the Wilea area in Maui. Love the Kea Lani. Don't know about $200 per night though.

CP

Jim Morton

I vote for Weilea on Maui as well.

I am stayed at the Hilton Waikaloa on the big island (2 times), Mariott Kawai Lihui as well as the Grand Wailea on Maui. I would rank them Grand Wailea, Hilton Waikaloa then Marriot's....

FWIW, I spent 10 days at the Grand Weilea and never wanted to come back to real life. The Hotel is unbelievable and the spa is equally good. We liked the Hotel but also traveled into to Kehei often for meals to offset the resort meal costs. If you go to Maui, also check out Makena Beach. The color of the small bay as well as the beach is unique !

In addtion to Hana for the (7) pools, going to the top of either Halakala (Maui) or Mauna Kea on the big island is worth the experiance.

$0.02...