Hawaiian Budget Vacation

[trip]

http://www.hawaii.com/ while not the DIS boards does have lots of information.

Here's more sites I have used.

http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/
http://www.allabouthawaii.com/aat-h.br

 

[ronandannette]

I know the words Hawaii and budget do not go together. We are lucky enough to have the trip from NY to CA paid for by points. For 2 people, a round trip for the rest of the way will only be about 800. We were planning on 10 days in CA already in Nov.
Has anyone been able to do Hawaii on a budget of sorts? I’m looking at the Waikiki area, as it seems the most economical area in the Islands. I’m ok with using public transportation and eating in the mom/pop restaurants to save money. I would like to be close to the beach in a safe area hotel .
Has anyone ever done this that could give me some direction.
Thanks

"...of sorts" being the key. What kind of money are you wanting to spend? We leave tomorrow morning for Oahu and have planned it as economically as I feel is possible without compromising on the things that make a vacation a vacation, which for us means a full-service hotel, not a condo and absoultely no brown-bagging out of the hotel room. While we are fine with walking and the occasional bus-tour we don't do public transit so a rental car is also a must. Airfare was pretty much a "given" at about $600/pp as we don't have miles or points and no low-cost carriers fly cross-boarder from Canada. We're limiting our stay to 4 night to keep it affordable.


As for ocean front hotels, I researched my brains out. The most economical choices are (not taking loyalty memberships or groupons or whatnot into account):
Queen Kapiolani right by Diamond Head, Hawaii Prince at the other end of Waikiki on the marina, Pacific Beach Hotel and the Park Shore, both of which are in between. All are 3* or better and have king rooms with a view for less than $200/night. Hawaii Prince looks the nicest but it is on the marina, not the beach, and the rooms do not have balconies. Watch out for resort fees and daily parking charges; that easily adds $50/night to your bill.

A car rental can be had by bidding $22/day on Priceline for a compact. I actually upgraded to a convertible after my bid was accepted which turned out to be a minor mistake as the rate for it would have been a few dollars lower from the rental agency directly. The original $22 was a very good rate though.

Our must-do activities & entertainment include a day of watersports (jet-ski & parasailing) which will likely cost $150/pp and a luau one evening for maybe $90/pp. The rest of the time we'll just see where the day takes us on about $80/day for fees/admissions. I'm hoping to find discount offers for this kind of stuff in some of the tourist publications once we get there though.

Not too worried about food; I imagine we'll do everything from $6 dollar sandwiches to $50 seafood dinners, depending on how the money is holding out. Our hotel stay includes continental breakfast and free coffee and bottled water, so that should help a little.

Overall, not including the pre-paid portion (air, hotel and rental car) we're planning to spend $1,200 for all of the above. This is our version of Hawaii on a budget. Good luck planning yours!

 

[donnsuz]

Thanks to those who posted links to Hawaiian travel sites. I really wish there was something like the disboards since sooo many people travel there! Oh well...

Budget travel has different meanings to different people. To me the best reason to go to Hawaii is to absorb all of the "aloha". It is the direct opposite of our Disney trips. Do not over schedule your time or you're missing the point of Hawaii. Spend a lot of time just hanging out, shopping, snacking, or have a drink (alcohol or not, your choice) at various locations - beachside or not. Wander around and find those little mom and pop joints or little locally owned shops instead of spending all of your time going from one "must do" location to the next. Depending on the length of your trip pick a couple bigger ticket items like a luau or snorkel or whalewatching trip and leave the rest of the time mostly unscheduled.

That said, I highly recommend the "Revealed" books. There is one written for each island. They have a good overview of lots of hotels and local interests. Tripadvisor is great place to get the real scoop on hotels. Also, just because you're not beach front doesn't mean that you're not in walking distance to water. We stayed at hotels that were several blocks inland and still walked down to the beach each day. It's very easy to do.

Also, I agree that Maui can be cheaper - but often that depends on what airfares look like. If you end up in Lahaina it's also touristy but not as big city as Honolulu.

I haven't tried the local bus system, but I think that it works for the immediate Honolulu area but not sure if you want to explore other areas. You generally can find a good deal on rental cars if you shop, but also be aware that parking in some areas can be difficult and many hotels charge for it. If you've got a GPS definitely bring it.

If you do end up in Honolulu one of our must do's is having a sunset mai tai at the Halekulani resort. They have a Hawaiian musical group that plays most evenings. I also think that everyone should at one time go to the Bishop museum and Iolani Palace to truly experience Hawaii. If you're only there to play and shop that's ok too - you pick.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Ooooooo!!! All this talk about Waikiki Beach made me look. Right now, Hotwire has a Waikiki Beach beachfront hotel listed under their "hidden hotels" for Oct 2013 dates for only $133 a night. It's regularly $249 a night. You don't know the exact hotel before booking BUT since only a handful of hotels on Waikiki Beach are actually beachfront it's one of the good ones!

I wish I could go again so soon!

 

[beansmom]

i've only been to Maui but we love it. We spent a week there last october and are planning two weeks in January.

We get free Best Western cards from our CapitalOne credit cards, free Safeway cards thru Mypoints and a free Costco membership thru Mypoints as well.

We eat breakfast in our condo, sometimes packs a lunch and eat at the smaller places-Aloha Mixed Plate, Star Noodle, a great cheeseburger place in the Lahaina shopping area. When we are in Hana, there is nothing to spend money on so we go to the beach (free), go to Oheo Gulch (parking less than $10). You can go up Haleakala for less than $10-just the parking fee-and watch the sunrise.

Hawaii isn't dirt cheap but most vacations aren't. There are, however, ways to make it more affordable.

 

[happymommy]

How does this compare in cost to hotels.

You can look at sites like VRBO or redweek to see the costs (I think the $15 annual fee for redweek is worth it - I've rented from owners for some Disney trips as well as St. Thomas). Search Kapolei for the Ko Olina area - there are lots of townhouses, small houses, and condos for rent. I personally stick with a resort, as I'd like a pool and other resort activities on site.
Hotels can run from less than $100 for a basic one, to you name it for something like the Halekulani on Waikiki (but really, if you're in just a hotel room, how much time are you in it?).

 

[ronandannette]

"...of sorts" being the key. What kind of money are you wanting to spend? We leave tomorrow morning for Oahu and have planned it as economically as I feel is possible without compromising on the things that make a vacation a vacation, which for us means a full-service hotel, not a condo and absoultely no brown-bagging out of the hotel room. While we are fine with walking and the occasional bus-tour we don't do public transit so a rental car is also a must. Airfare was pretty much a "given" at about $600/pp as we don't have miles or points and no low-cost carriers fly cross-boarder from Canada. We're limiting our stay to 4 night to keep it affordable.


As for ocean front hotels, I researched my brains out. The most economical choices are (not taking loyalty memberships or groupons or whatnot into account):
Queen Kapiolani right by Diamond Head, Hawaii Prince at the other end of Waikiki on the marina, Pacific Beach Hotel and the Park Shore, both of which are in between. All are 3* or better and have king rooms with a view for less than $200/night. Hawaii Prince looks the nicest but it is on the marina, not the beach, and the rooms do not have balconies. Watch out for resort fees and daily parking charges; that easily adds $50/night to your bill.

A car rental can be had by bidding $22/day on Priceline for a compact. I actually upgraded to a convertible after my bid was accepted which turned out to be a minor mistake as the rate for it would have been a few dollars lower from the rental agency directly. The original $22 was a very good rate though.

Our must-do activities & entertainment include a day of watersports (jet-ski & parasailing) which will likely cost $150/pp and a luau one evening for maybe $90/pp. The rest of the time we'll just see where the day takes us on about $80/day for fees/admissions. I'm hoping to find discount offers for this kind of stuff in some of the tourist publications once we get there though.

Not too worried about food; I imagine we'll do everything from $6 dollar sandwiches to $50 seafood dinners, depending on how the money is holding out. Our hotel stay includes continental breakfast and free coffee and bottled water, so that should help a little.

Overall, not including the pre-paid portion (air, hotel and rental car) we're planning to spend $1,200 for all of the above. This is our version of Hawaii on a budget. Good luck planning yours!

Just packing to leave the hotel after our wonderful 4 night stay in Waikiki. We went everywhere and did everything we intended and ended up spending about $1,000 more than our original estimate which included an upgraded luau package, evening magic show, round of golf at Turtle Bay for DH and a little bit of shopping. (These expenses were all unplanned.)

Turns out this is a very expensive place and for the kind of money we ended up spending we could have considered a lot of other options. Undoubtedly it can be done for less but I recommend ample planning beforehand and tight self-restraint once you arrive. (P.S. - we didn't go to the beach once; I imagine if you can be content just lying in the sun and splashing in the water you could save a lot of money.)