Hawaii $$$ Question...

[FOJMO]

We are looking at doing a trip to Hawaii next May and got several price quotes for what we wish to do through several travel agents. They all are in the same "ball park" for figures, but maybe some of you have more recent knowledge of the cost in general.

The most reasonable one we were quoted was for $8200 (this is for 4 people). Here are the specifics --

- R/T airfare for 4 from Tampa to Oahu

- 9 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort in the Lagoon Tower (suite plan with king size bed in master bedroom, pullout double size sofa bed in the living room). DH and I in the bed and our DD and her friend in the sleeper sofa. It has a full kitchen (we intend to make some meals there instead of eating out all the time). It is an ocean view room with a large lanai.

- Rental car for the entire stay (mid-sized) with pickup and dropoff at the airport.

- It includes cancellation insurance.

Let me know what some of you experts think. It is through Hawaiian Holidays in Honolulu.
Thanks, VAL

 

[ducklite]

Isn't that the place that's got a bad toxic mold problem?

If it is the one I'm thinking of, they're working on abatement, but it would seem that some services might be disrupted during the process.

I'd check into this before I signed anything

Anne

 

[FOJMO]

I just did a search and found an NBC site that talked about the mold problem at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort. But it is in the Kalia Tower and we'd be in the Lagoon Tower.

But thanks for the heads up. I hadn't heard about that.

 

[dcgrumpy]

That sounds like a lot to me. Granted i haven't been to Oahu in about 7 years, so I may be wrong. Both times i went I used Pleasant Hawiian Holidays, they had the best prices by far.

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by dcgrumpy
That sounds like a lot to me. Granted i haven't been to Oahu in about 7 years, so I may be wrong. Both times i went I used Pleasant Hawiian Holidays, they had the best prices by far.

Actually, one of the quotes I received was from Pleasant and for the same itinerary, it was $700 more!

It may sound like a lot compared to staying in a regular hotel room in Hawaii and even in a reg hotel room at the Hilton, but we want a 1-bdrm suite with a kitchen and an ocean view. That's part of the price difference compared to a hotel room. We're hoping to be able to do a little grocery shopping and save on eating out all the time. I even went into some websites for supermarkets in Oahu (Safeway, etc.) and found their ad prices comparable to here in Florida.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I don't know what days you are going. I tried 5/9 on their website and got a quote 0f $6500

 

[Steve H.]

Try Travel-Hawaii.com -- I priced out the same hotel around that time and got somewhere in the $4,200 range (without airfare). That quote sounds high to me too.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by FOJMO
I just did a search and found an NBC site that talked about the mold problem at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort. But it is in the Kalia Tower and we'd be in the Lagoon Tower.

But thanks for the heads up. I hadn't heard about that.

You might want to look a little more...it is apparantly int he Lagoon Tower as well...

http://starbulletin.com/2002/07/30/business/story2.html

(Sorry to be the bearer of bad news ...)

Anne

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by Steve H.
Try Travel-Hawaii.com -- I priced out the same hotel around that time and got somewhere in the $4,200 range (without airfare). That quote sounds high to me too.

The dates we wish to go are 5/26-6/4.

Steve, did you price it for a regular hotel room? I'm getting quotes for a 1-bdrm suite with a full kitchen. Thanks, though. I'll check out Travel-Hawaii.com

I also read that article about the mold and will keep an eye on that situation.
VAL

 

[Steve H.]

I priced it for the same room type and building you mentioned, however for some reason, the site doesn't accept 2004 dates, so I used Fall 2003 dates as an example (I don't know if there's a "high" and "low" season, per se, in Oahu?)

I've priced Hawaii vacations through that site before in the past (Maui specifically) and they've always had a very fair price.

Good luck!

 

[dcgrumpy]

I did it for your exact dates lagoon tower 1 bed Ocean View w/air

$6684.08

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Steve H.
(I don't know if there's a "high" and "low" season, per se, in Oahu?)

The way I understand it the only month considered "low season" in all of Hawaii is November.

Can't recall where I read that, maybe T&L? I did read it very recently though.

Anne

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by dcgrumpy
I did it for your exact dates lagoon tower 1 bed Ocean View w/air

$6684.08

Wow! That sounds good! Where did you go to get that rate? A travel agent? And that's with R/T air from Tampa to Honolulu and a intermediate rental car for length of stay?

Please give me more info -- I'm excited!

 

[Sharon A.]

We spent about as much as DCGrumpy last year, flew to Maui first class, stayed at the gorgeous Fairmont Kea Launi in a suite like you described for 9 nights. It also included a rental car for the length of stay. Our travel agent set it up -- she was great. She booked it through Classic Hawaiian Custom vacations. If you want the travel agent's info, I can give it to you.

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by Sharon A.
We spent about as much as DCGrumpy last year, flew to Maui first class, stayed at the gorgeous Fairmont Kea Launi in a suite like you described for 9 nights. It also included a rental car for the length of stay. Our travel agent set it up -- she was great. She booked it through Classic Hawaiian Custom vacations. If you want the travel agent's info, I can give it to you.

Yes, Please! You can PM me. Thanks!!!

 

[dcgrumpy]

http://www.pleasant-holidays.com

 

[FOJMO]

I'll have to try it again over the weekend. Their site is down for maintenance right now.

Thanks!

 

[stego]

Continental-$646 each round trip
National car-$232
Hilton Lagoon 1 Bedroom-avg. $338.76 a nite
(shudder-I got Hyatt Regency Waikiki at employee rate-$65 a nite)
I rounded up to $3500.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have been to Hawaii many times, and I would never spend THAT much to only stay in Oahu! That place reallly is not worth it. You can do much better by researching places by yourself on line. While I think Oahu is a good place to start out for a day or two, I would spend most of the trip on one of the other islands. Our favorites are the Big Island (Hawaii) and Kauai. Maui has a LOT to see and do too, but is a bit too high rise commercial for us. We only do that about every third trip.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Last year we stayed in a 1 bedroom 2 bath with full kitchen at the Kona Coast resort for a week (big island) and in Princeville (kauai) for a week, and flew 1st class. We then added on 1 night before Kona in Oahu and another 3 nights at the end of the trip on Oahu to "unwind" before heading back to the mainland. Another really fun thing to do is to stay at least one night in one of the really remote cute little B&B's on one of the outer islands. Really gives you a true feel for the area and the culture. One on the Big Island south of Kona has an outdoor shower in an enclosed garden!