What are the DOWNSIDES to staying at Aulani?

[crisi]

Give me an absolute break.

Kamehameha the Great was a warlord who united the Hawaiian islands through conquest and genocide. He practiced chattel slavery, rape, subjugation of women, and ritual HUMAN SACRIFICE.

So yeah the Hawaiian culture presented at Aulani is "sanitized" and it has nothing to do with colonialism or whatever neo-marxist ******** you want to come up with. It's because resort hotels aren't the place to talk about rape and genocide, even if the hotel had been built by 100% native Hawaiians.

You can (and should) visit museums and historic sites to learn about those things. They have no place in a family resort no matter who owns and operates the place.

Your cute little theory that everyone was beautiful and peaceful in the South Pacific until Europeans showed up to exploit the locals with their *gasp* capitalism might play well on Tumblr or a freshman seminar at Brown, but it doesn't hold up to even the slightest bit of historical scrutiny. "Real Hawaii" was a literal warzone.

Yes, as did Europeans throughout history. What exactly is your point? Some people are made uncomfortable by the commercialization of other people's cultures - not the sanitization - the commercialization. Other people are not. If you are the first, Aulani may not be the best vacation spot. If you are the second, you won't even notice it

 

[PetePanMan]

For us, it would be nice to have more walkable food / restaurant options. It is also important to have a car to enjoy other parts of the island, particularly if there for a week or more. Finally, although the reduced wave action is great for smaller kids, I definitely prefer a more natural beach rather than man made lagoons. Having said all this, we absolutely love Aulani.