Hawaii - Planning a 10-night Hawaii trip for a son and his mother

Hi everyone. I am planing a 10-night Hawaii trip for me and my mother. she's 52 years old. Because of this, I cannot priceline bid for hotels which I usually do, because I really want to guarantee a 2-bed room for us.

The budget set for the hotels is $2000-2500, and minimum 3-star, and 4-star preferred. total travel budget is about $5500.

Apr 29, 30 May 1, 2, 3, 4 Waikiki Marriott Beach $1276.37 ($255 a night) Partial Ocean-view room, booked directly from Marriott.com

QUESTION 1 : Apparently Waikiki marriott beach is a good/so-so property. Is there another hotel 3/4 star which I can
guarantee a 2 dobule-bed in Waikiki? any suggestions? the fact that Marriott can guarantee a 2-bed room was the biggest point.
Although I can get $200 a night at Marriott via kayak, but am not sure if I can get a guaranteed 2-bed room this way nor Stay credit.

May 4 Flying from HNL to Kona
May 4, 5 Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa $251, Mauna Kea Luau 4th eveing, drive to Hilo on 5th and do a helicopter tour of volcano

QUESTION: Courtyard Marriott in Kailua Kona is going at $140, but seems like it's 40 minute drive to Mauna Kea resort.
Is Mauna Kea luau worth all the trouble? sounds like Courtyard Marriott King Kamehameha's luau is pretty bad.

Flying from Hilo 7PM to Maui 8PM nonstop
May 5, 6, 7, 8 Hyatt Regency $1050 ($350 a night)

QUESTION 2 : This is where the budget is getting tight. Initially I was looking into Marriott Ocean club for $250 a night. HOWEVER,
It seems that near Lahaina, most 3/4 star hotels/inn only have 1 bed with a sofa-bed. Marriott ocean club has no 2-bed room,
westin, sheraton, whichever. Hyatt Regency has a specific 2-bed room but $350 is a bit stiff.

Alteratives were Aston Maui Kaanapali vilas which has 1 king or 2 double bed rooms for $200 a night,
but it said it doesn't guarantee a room type. Another hotel is Outrigger Aina Nalu, which I can get a 2-bedroom 1 bath
room for about $215 a night, but the review of the hotel sounds pretty mediocre.

May 8, 9 $149 Ohana HNL airport
Not really other good alternatives to this

So the total comes out to about $2726 out of $5500 budget. Is this ratio (50%) too high out of total budget?
the $5500 budget is coming soly from my mother and I could contribute maybe $500-1000, and that would drive down the ratio to
40-45% of total budget, but if I can save in alternative hotels it would make sense to do so.

- Two deal-breakers -

1. I can get a Hyatt Platinum status by Visa Signature offer, if I can get a good upgrade, I could go for hyatt regency on Maui.
2. I can get a Marriott Gold status by requesting a trial via phone. Marriott stay in Waikiki/Waikola might benefit from this?

Hotwire allows searches for upto 4 per room so theoretically 2,beds

Most hotel rooms that have only 1 bed usually have a sofa bed if that works for you

You may want to consider "risking" priceline anyway.

I believe most hotels in Waikiki have very few rooms that don't have 2 beds. If you're able to list the request in the notes area of your reservation, there is a very good chance you will get it.

Look for timeshare rentals from owners, usually can get a one or two bedroom suite with separate kitchen living and dining area that should be much more comfortable for you
Look at my resorts network etc to find these, no timeshare tour required

May 8, 9 $149 Ohana HNL airport
Not really other good alternatives to this

1. I can get a Hyatt Platinum status by Visa Signature offer, if I can get a good upgrade, I could go for hyatt regency on Maui.
2. I can get a Marriott Gold status by requesting a trial via phone. Marriott stay in Waikiki/Waikola might benefit from this?

Why no alternatives except airport?
Can you consider Hyatt in Waikiki as well as Maui?
Couldn't hurt to have Marriott Gold if you stick with your current plans.

About the luau on Big Island--any event at Mauna Kea will be nice, and if you stay in Waikoloa, the drive is not that far.

No way would I stay at the Ohana HNL Hotel more than 12 hours, certainly not two nights.

In Waikiki I'd look at the Outrigger Waikiki Beach or Reef. The OWB is running specials because the hotel is under going renovation.

The trouble with the Marriott Waikiki is they have one very nice tower, one not so nice tower. I think that is where the so so reviews come from.

No way would I stay at the Ohana HNL Hotel more than 12 hours, certainly not two nights.

In Waikiki I'd look at the Outrigger Waikiki Beach or Reef. The OWB is running specials because the hotel is under going renovation.

The trouble with the Marriott Waikiki is they have one very nice tower, one not so nice tower. I think that is where the so so reviews come from.

oh. what I wrote to meant is we fly from maui to HNL may 8th 9PM, and my mother's flight out to South Korea is may 9th 7AM. so it's just one night stay before her flying home.

Thank you for the tip on Marriott Waikiki! could you tell me which tower is better than the other?

Okay, I may be booed off the stage here, however, there are plenty of nice-enough hotels in Hawaii which you could stay in, and probably cut your hotel budget in half. Lets face it, you aren't going to Hawaii for a romantic stay where you are going to want to spend a long time in your hotel room.

I am by no means suggesting that you look at booking 65.00 per night flea bag motel rooms by any means. However, there is definitely a happy medium between 350.00 per night in Maui and a fleabag.

I stayed at the Royal Lahaina Resort on Maui in 2010 and was quite happy. We were booked initially into a Garden Cottage, however, as is the norm for this hotel, they were overbooked. We were told that we had been "upgraded" to a Ocean View room in the tower.

Having just spent five days in Waikiki in a hotel tower, waiting for the elevator got quite old really quick. I pushed back at the staff, telling them a tower room was unacceptable, and finally a manager got us into an Oceanfront Cottage.

We stayed three nights, and it was great. And honestly, even a garden cottage would have been fine. They are listed at 179.00 per night on Kayak for both one and two beds.


Long story short, you are going to Hawaii to see Hawaii, not see the inside of a Marriott.