Grills at Aulani

[Red Sox]

Can anyone tell me about the grills at Aulani? I saw one thread from January that said only 3 out of 4 worked when they got there and then they were shut down completely because people were not shutting them off when they were done. Anyone have a picture? Are there really only 4? Were they crowded when you went to use them? Do they have grilling tools available? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[gonzalj1]

When we were there a few weeks ago all four grills were operational. They are gas grills and the rumor was that the downtime was to install some sort of automatic shut off valve. Not sure if that's true.

We only saw one grill being used in the entire week.

 

[e46m3]

We saw one person grilling late at night tonight. Food in Hawaii is expensive. Plan accordingly.

 

[chamberj]

We were there for five nights in June and grilled almost every night. You can pick up grilling utensils at the community hall (after 4 pm, I think). Most evenings my husband was down with one other person. There are picnic tables there and some of the families grilled and ate there.

 

[Halle]

We were there in July, 3 of the 4 grills were working. We were on the 14th floor and DH, DS and DSIL thought it was more of a hassle than it was worth to get the utensils and grill.
Our GV overlooked the grills, you can't imagine how thoroughly they cleaned the grills every morning....very impressive.
For a night out check out Monkey Pods across the street.

 

[funhouse8]

We were there in July, 3 of the 4 grills were working. We were on the 14th floor and DH, DS and DSIL thought it was more of a hassle than it was worth to get the utensils and grill.
Our GV overlooked the grills, you can't imagine how thoroughly they cleaned the grills every morning....very impressive.
For a night out check out Monkey Pods across the street.

Oh monkey Pods looks like fun. Did you go for Happy hour?

 

[Mog's Mom]

We saw one person grilling late at night tonight. Food in Hawaii is expensive. Plan accordingly.

Does that include food at grocery stores? The Aulani restaurants look crazy expensive so we had planned to "cook" (actually reheat) most days......

 

[e46m3]

Does that include food at grocery stores? The Aulani restaurants look crazy expensive so we had planned to "cook" (actually reheat) most days......

Yes it does. Don't go to Safeway like we mistakenly did. A local told me to shop at Foodland or Costco. We are from California and we were still a little sticker shocked.

 

[Iceman93]

We actually grilled last night. 3 of the 4 grills were working; there was one other (Japanese) family grilling too, which worked out perfectly since there are two large picnic tables right there. We had bought steaks earlier in the week at Costco, as well as green beans and a big tray of scalloped potatoes that we cooked in the room then brought out to the picnic area.

The grill tools are available at the community hall during grilling hours, which are 4-8pm. You don't have to clean the tools when you return them--they say just to stuff them back in the bag and return them used. The grills themselves are very, VERY nice Wolf units and there is a big sign with step-by-step directions on how to use them.

Groceries are expensive, but not that much more than L.A. where we are from. Costco prices were pretty much the same. And the restaurants are no more expensive than equivalent experiences elsewhere in the islands or at Disney resorts on the mainland.

 

[DenLo]

Yes it does. Don't go to Safeway like we mistakenly did. A local told me to shop at Foodland or Costco. We are from California and we were still a little sticker shocked.

Safeway is just like here in the mainland. If you don't use their discount card you don't get decent prices. But their discounted prices beat Foodland and Costco and you don't purchase twice as much as you need. Just register for a card while you're at Safeway.

But I agree with the others the cost of everything is amazingly high.

 

[JOANNEL]

We grilled last night. Luckily we can shop at the base. Soda was expensive but everything else was ok. We are going back today after we move into a two bedroom. All the grills were used. We ate at the picnic tables, the flies came out to join us !

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

Glad to hear they are up and running again! When we were there in April they were down and not available. We are going back in February, so I was actually just wondering about this!

 

[Rest&Relax]

Just returned home, here is a picture of the grills hopefully.

 

[Rest&Relax]

Here is another picture of the area. They never seemed to be crowded when we were there last week.

 

[sissy_ib]

We grilled last night. Luckily we can shop at the base. Soda was expensive but everything else was ok. We are going back today after we move into a two bedroom. All the grills were used. We ate at the picnic tables, the flies came out to join us !

I didn't even thing about shopping on base! lol Probably since we don't here. I will have to remember that.