NCEP: Hawaii

[picksthemusic]

So, my ILs are taking us (the whole family - 8 adults and my two children) to Hawaii next Spring. We want to go to Oahu for a few days so FIL can see Pearl Harbor, and then Kauai for the rest of the time. DH and I have been twice, once for our honeymoon (Oahu and Maui), and again when DD was 18 months (on Kauai). They were going to go to Italy this Fall but decided against it, and so will be using those funds to pay for Hawaii. They are definitely wealthy (though I think we'll be footing our own airline tickets, which is more than fine with us if we're getting free hotel and food, haha). His parents are very well off and can afford the good life, and MIL wants her Hawaii experience to be top notch (restaurants, room service, housekeeping - so no condo rentals).

Where would you stay on Oahu (Honolulu or North Shore)? Where would you stay on Kauai? We are considering the St. Regis on Kauai, but are open to suggestions.

Thank you!

[mdgirl]

Would you be renting a house on Oahu? The only hotel up there is Turtle Bay and while it's nice I wouldn't necessarily call it top notch (maybe the bungalows), and your food options are limited. I think the Four Seasons (the old JW Marriott) will be open by that time. I'm not as crazy about that part of the island, though. The Halekulani in Waikiki is beautiful and then you're right in the middle of everything, too.

When exactly will you be going in the spring? If it's early the North Shore can be rough and rainy. I've always stayed in Poipu and I like the area. Once at the Sheraton, which I didn't like, once at the Hyatt, which was a very nice resort, and once at Koa Kea, which is more boutique-y and very nice. For a big group I think it's pretty hard to beat the Hyatt.

[stealthmom]

Neither for Oahu. Four Seasons in Ko Olina for sure. If they want to go kid-friendly then maybe Aulani.

If they specifically want to stay in Waikiki either the Royal Hawaiian or the Halekulani.

[stealthmom]

May 24, 2016 18:20:49 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

People get all boo about Waikiki, but I like it, esp. if it's only for a few days. There's a great udon place that's walkable from the beach hotels, and if you have a car, a great shaved ice place further in land. And omg, the malasada place that I cannot remember the name of.

Leonard's. :-)

[WanderingWinoZ]

we stayed at hte st regis princeville & I thought it was nice, but not super swnaky/worth the money. I'd stay up in that area, but maybe a condo or house with that same/similar view.
My main complaint was that they didn't really have porches or even many rooms with ocean views. I like to sit in my room, open the door & enjoy the views.
Don't get me wrong- it was a swank hotel, but I htink we paid less for overwater bungalows in Tahiti!

Do the open door helio tour of kauai- amazing!
We also like the snorkel on the napali coast - it was so cool, we took a big motor boat & went in some o the caves.

[kitkat2613]

I think Poipu area (Sheraton or Hyatt, probably, although I think there might be a couple other nice ones on the south shore), mainly because I think the water is a bit calmer in spring on the south shore. But the Princeville/Hanalei area is beautiful and a bit less hotel-y. More condos and houses up in that area. I found the south shore in general to have more tourists than the north shore. I second whoever said to go on the open door helicopter tour. Amazing, although I spent the first ten minutes convinced I was going to fall out, ha. After that I was fine. Also, drive up the Waimea Canyon.

[WanderingWinoZ]

i didn't do this, but it looks super cool.
it's inter-tubing down the old irrigation canals
kauaibackcountry.com/tubing/

[rootbeerfloat]

May 24, 2016 18:53:54 GMT -5 stealthmom said:

Neither for Oahu. Four Seasons in Ko Olina for sure. If they want to go kid-friendly then maybe Aulani.

If they specifically want to stay in Waikiki either the Royal Hawaiian or the Halekulani.

Or The Kahala if they want to stay in Honolulu.

I prefer Poipu on Kauai.

[stealthmom]

May 24, 2016 19:44:25 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

May 24, 2016 18:53:54 GMT -5 stealthmom said:

Neither for Oahu. Four Seasons in Ko Olina for sure. If they want to go kid-friendly then maybe Aulani.

If they specifically want to stay in Waikiki either the Royal Hawaiian or the Halekulani.

Or The Kahala if they want to stay in Honolulu.

I prefer Poipu on Kauai.

I always forget about the Kahala.

[kitkat2613]

May 24, 2016 19:11:16 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

i didn't do this, but it looks super cool.
it's inter-tubing down the old irrigation canals
kauaibackcountry.com/tubing/

I did this last fall!  It was really cool, and so relaxing.  Just floating along, admiring the scenery.  The tour guides were hilarious

[sushi]

With children, I'd say Hyatt on kauai (great for adults too). So much water fun. St Regis is nice, but boring and honestly not that special. The food at hyatt is darn good. I've never had better crab cake Benedict. Plus it's close to other good food off resort.

For Oahu, I agree with stealthmom. Halekulani in Waikiki or aulani/4 seasons. I'd actually prefer Waikiki (I lived there and really loved it in a way I want expecting) because there's more stuff not tied to your resort. It's far more accessible for sight seeing, too.

[puddleofgrace]

nahoku

[nahoku]

May 25, 2016 11:26:44 GMT -5 puddleofgrace said:

nahoku

 Thanks for tag!

I love Oahu and Waikiki.  I was born there and have visited many times (moved to MN when I was a month old, boo).  But we don't usually do fancy, so I'm not sure how much help I'll be!  My parents did take me and my family and my sister and her family for a vacation (Oahu only) a couple months ago and it was amazing.

One fun thing we did there is get pro photos taken at sunrise. If this is something that would interest you, I can PM you our photographer's info. She was amazing.

I will say that my sister and one of my friends (separately) stayed at Aulani in Ko'Olina this year and they both LOVED it.  The location, the service, the experience.  I think they have "cottages" you can rent out for larger groups.

For Waikiki - Halekulani seems to be highly recommended. We walked past the Sheraton Waikiki several times and I was always jealous of the people in their infinity pool (although, as you can see, it can get crowded. Also, not my pic):

[picksthemusic]

Thank you for all the recommendations! We will definitely look in to these - I'm leaning towards Halekulani for Oahu, though I'm trying to push for Aulani because of the kids.

What do you guys think about the fact that now my ILs are concerned about Zika in Hawaii? I've let them know that there are no Zika cases from the US yet, but because B/SIL will be TTC and possibly pregnant when we go, they don't want to risk it. If SIL is already pregnant when we go (and assuming she's 20+ weeks), the likelihood of a Zika infection and having it affect the pregnancy is seriously low, right? I'm in the medical field and can do my own research, but DH's family love to be hyper-vigilant on random things. I mean, I get Zika is scary, but if you take the right precautions (like bug spray), it shouldn't be a huge issue.

What say you, CEP?

[mdgirl]

Well if they want somewhere tropical in the western hemisphere it's going to be pretty hard to find a place with 0 cases, and all the cases in Hawaii have been travel related. FWIW I rarely get mosquito bites in Hawaii unless I go hiking in the forest.

[stealthmom]

May 25, 2016 16:43:20 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

Thank you for all the recommendations! We will definitely look in to these - I'm leaning towards Halekulani for Oahu, though I'm trying to push for Aulani because of the kids.

What do you guys think about the fact that now my ILs are concerned about Zika in Hawaii? I've let them know that there are no Zika cases from the US yet, but because B/SIL will be TTC and possibly pregnant when we go, they don't want to risk it. If SIL is already pregnant when we go (and assuming she's 20+ weeks), the likelihood of a Zika infection and having it affect the pregnancy is seriously low, right? I'm in the medical field and can do my own research, but DH's family love to be hyper-vigilant on random things. I mean, I get Zika is scary, but if you take the right precautions (like bug spray), it shouldn't be a huge issue.

What say you, CEP?

I'm not sure I understand the issue. We don't have zika in Hawaii. So what exactly are they concerned about?

[picksthemusic]

May 25, 2016 18:00:31 GMT -5 stealthmom said:

May 25, 2016 16:43:20 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

Thank you for all the recommendations! We will definitely look in to these - I'm leaning towards Halekulani for Oahu, though I'm trying to push for Aulani because of the kids.

What do you guys think about the fact that now my ILs are concerned about Zika in Hawaii? I've let them know that there are no Zika cases from the US yet, but because B/SIL will be TTC and possibly pregnant when we go, they don't want to risk it. If SIL is already pregnant when we go (and assuming she's 20+ weeks), the likelihood of a Zika infection and having it affect the pregnancy is seriously low, right? I'm in the medical field and can do my own research, but DH's family love to be hyper-vigilant on random things. I mean, I get Zika is scary, but if you take the right precautions (like bug spray), it shouldn't be a huge issue.

What say you, CEP?

I'm not sure I understand the issue. We don't have zika in Hawaii. So what exactly are they concerned about?

That's what I said. Except apparently Hawaii has the species of mosquitos that can carry the virus... And I guess that's what they're concerned about? I'm trying to educate.

[stealthmom]

May 25, 2016 18:02:16 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

May 25, 2016 18:00:31 GMT -5 stealthmom said:

I'm not sure I understand the issue. We don't have zika in Hawaii. So what exactly are they concerned about?

That's what I said. Except apparently Hawaii has the species of mosquitos that can carry the virus... And I guess that's what they're concerned about? I'm trying to educate.

Right but so does the mainland. And hawaii only has aedes albopictus. The mainland has that one and aedes aegypti. I looked at the CDC maps and it looks like the upper left hand corner of the US is all that is free from those kinds of mosquitos- north of new Mexico and west of kansas. Everything else is in their range.

It's funny bc we're moving back in a few weeks and I'm nervous about zika. I feel much better about it here.

Maybe go to Alaska? Lol.

[ribollita]

My kids had a blast at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu, but I am very glad I visited for a few days at the end and spent the majority in Princeville. I just LOVED the Princeville and Hanalei area. I would not personally want to stay at the St. Regis with MY kids, but maybe yours are more sophisticated, lol. I was not expecting to be very wowed by Hawaii but I simply loved Kauai. Loved.

ETA: we did visit the St. Regis twice and it's lovely, the view is amazing, and the location is excellent.

[kitkat2613]

Also, not sure if you've ever been to Kauai before, but just in case you haven't, you kind of have to rent a car there. There is very limited public transit, and it is a much less tourist-developed island than Oahu. It's very spread out.

[tres3]

We loved the Kahala on Oahu.

[y4m]

We rented an Airbnb in Kailua on Oahu for a family vacation just like yours and it was amazing. We had a pool plus were steps to a gorgeous beach. Bonus CEP points because that's where the Obamas stay.

[aurora]

May 25, 2016 18:14:17 GMT -5 stealthmom said:

May 25, 2016 18:02:16 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

That's what I said. Except apparently Hawaii has the species of mosquitos that can carry the virus... And I guess that's what they're concerned about? I'm trying to educate.

Right but so does the mainland. And hawaii only has aedes albopictus. The mainland has that one and aedes aegypti. I looked at the CDC maps and it looks like the upper left hand corner of the US is all that is free from those kinds of mosquitos- north of new Mexico and west of kansas. Everything else is in their range.

It's funny bc we're moving back in a few weeks and I'm nervous about zika. I feel much better about it here.

Maybe go to Alaska? Lol.

LOL. You won't avoid mosquitoes in AK but it's true that you're safe from the Zika carrying variety!

We've been going to Hawaii since I was a baby and never really noticed mosquitoes until this past Christmas on the Big Island (where Dengue fever is an issue). I don't think it's outrageous to consider the possibility that Zika could eventually take root there, but I agree that it's also possible in a lot of the rest of the U.S.