Splitting up hotel stay...which hotels and what days?

[PattiPB]

We also did 3 nights in Waikiki, then 7 at Aulani. I think putting Waikiki at the front was good for jet lag, and having the desire to do a number of things in Waikiki. Once we hit Aulani we toured in the mornings and hung out at the resort in the late afternoons and nights. Pure heaven!

 

[keighttf]

We almost always stay at Hilton properties (Waldorf Astoria, Hilton, etc.) when we don't go on Disney vacations and have status and points with them. Our first trip to Hawaii we were booked to stay the whole time at the Hilton Hawaiian Village because we thought the cost of Aulani was too much. We hated the Hilton because it was so not what we thought Hawaii would be like. So we actually cancelled the rest of our stay there and went to Aulani. We have now been to multiple resorts on the different islands and Aulani is by far our favorite. However we are planning on staying at the Hilton for the first three nights of our upcoming trip. We think knowing what it is, a big city with a beach, we will like it better and we plan on just traveling about the island those days so you can't beat the free nights from points.

 

[alohamom]

However we are planning on staying at the Hilton for the first three nights of our upcoming trip. We think knowing what it is, a big city with a beach, we will like it better and we plan on just traveling about the island those days so you can't beat the free nights from points.

@keighttf you may have already seen this but Hilton has a bunch of new Oahu properties including two in Kapolei and a couple in Waikiki. In Kapolei, the have opened a Hampton Inn that is connected tot he new mall and are soon to open (November I think) a new Embassy Suites. There are some nice new options in Waikiki too so you may want to look at them before you book the HHV

 

[BayGirl22]

We're staying in Waikiki a few nights too, at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort. I also have Starwood/Marriott points and it happens that our cruise line is putting us up at the Marriott for one night before our cruise. What I've read so far has been positive.
You can use Marriott points at Starwood properties too now, so worth checking out the Moana Surfrider, it looks really nice and I believe is the oldest hotel in Oahu. http://www.moana-surfrider.com/ I originally booked there with points before we worked out the cruise and Aulani parts of our trip and Marriott made more sense.
I feel similar about staying downtown to do all the touristy stuff and not wasting our Aulani time outside the resort driving across the island.

 

[cgattis]

We're staying in Waikiki a few nights too, at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort. I also have Starwood/Marriott points and it happens that our cruise line is putting us up at the Marriott for one night before our cruise. What I've read so far has been positive.
You can use Marriott points at Starwood properties too now, so worth checking out the Moana Surfrider, it looks really nice and I believe is the oldest hotel in Oahu. http://www.moana-surfrider.com/ I originally booked there with points before we worked out the cruise and Aulani parts of our trip and Marriott made more sense.
I feel similar about staying downtown to do all the touristy stuff and not wasting our Aulani time outside the resort driving across the island.

I think you are doing our exact same trip....LOL! The good news is, itvwas fabulous!! (The bad news is, it's over )

 

[BayGirl22]

I think you are doing our exact same trip....LOL! The good news is, itvwas fabulous!! (The bad news is, it's over )

Funny! I feel like we are going for a long time, 2 weeks, but those are the dates we could use points and otherwise airfare for 4 is pricey (5 nights at Aulani was cheaper). Any tips or things you would do differently?

 

[cgattis]

Funny! I feel like we are going for a long time, 2 weeks, but those are the dates we could use points and otherwise airfare for 4 is pricey (5 nights at Aulani was cheaper). Any tips or things you would do differently?

Not much!! There are 4 of us, coming from the southeast, so I feel your airfare pain! Not quite as much as our five Aulani nights, but very close.

Only thing I would actually change would've been to skip the north shore day (although we really enjoyed Sharks Cove) and worked in another day for the kids to surf somewhere else (all the beaches there were too rough that day for mine). I'd really have liked another half day at Hanauma Bay too. I also completely forgot to go by Halona Blowhole when we left there, and forgot the black sand beach when we left VNP! So yeah, I'd re-do those LOL. But the duration and order of the trip was perfect IMO!!