HawaiiBound

Thanks Eugene. I figured someone there must have schedules. I didn't really spend much time looking, I figured they would be everywhere from all the good things I had read about "the bus". I guess I may be a bit spoiled too, don't much like having to wait for a bus, or riding one for that matter. When we go back next April I think we will keep a car the entire time. There are lots of things to see around the island and I like the freedom of being able to go where we want when we want to go.

Maximus

Check out these chairs at Target and Eddie Bauer. I don't work at either place, just passing along the info.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...sin=B00005OU8Q

http://www.eddiebauer.com/ebh/category.asp?nv=301|1323

You could put a "For Sale" sign on them your last day and probably sell them.


scott

pinniped

Agree on that...we had Tapa Tower last week, and I wasn't too bummed out about having to walk an extra 90 seconds to reach beachfront.

Honestly, if you can't get Ali'i (and you can't with an ALON), all of the towers have high floor ocean view rooms that look roughly equal. It also looked like most of them had larger minisuite-type rooms at the end of the hall.

(In Tapa, we had xx57 - a slightly bigger corner room with a Diamond Head/Ocean View, but not a suite. xx59 appeared to be a minisuite or a full suite.)

Andy100

PremEx, that is a spectacular view.. hoping to get something similar when I stay at the HHV later this year!

JerseySlime

In Oct 02, had Room 1401 in Diamond Head Tower. One of the few rooms in this tower where you could actually see Diamond Head due to the high rises up Waikiki. It was a small suite, two rooms, one with a king bed and the other with a desk, sleep sofa, and two lounge chairs. It was a tight room due to the emergency stairwell at the end of the building. You could almost shake hands with someone from the Ali'i Tower, that's how close you are (although they may not want to shake the hand of one of the unwashed masses staying in one of the "slums"). But this 14th floor room has a HUGE lanai, the biggest I've seen at all of HHV.

Stayed on an ALON and was upgraded to this room either because I was Diamond or because I schmoozed the clerk at check-in, or a little of both. Got a coupon for a free continental breakfast each day. Large beach at HHV, probably, along with the Hale Koa next door (the military resort), the widest stretch of all Waikiki. Lot's of people hang at the Super Pool, so the beach area doesn't get as crowded as one may think and, if you strolled a little to your left, even less crowded still.

Eating is not cheap within the HHV. Ate twice at Village Steak and Seafood, though. Pretty good baby back ribs for $19.95. Pay there or bill to your room. However, a short walk up Ala Moana Blvd are several less expensive restaurants. I like steak, so just around the corner is a Kobe Japanese Steak House (cheaper than Benihana in HHV). Another couple of hundred feet brings you to an Outback, and in the Ala Moana Center, the mall about a 10 minute walk from HHV, there are some good restaurant choices, including Morton's of Chicago. Again, dining in HHV is not cheap but, what the hell, you're on vacation.

JerseySlime

Almost forgot, doing HWV on an ALON Oct of this year. 5 nights on Kauai on my own, 6 nights on an ALON at HWV, 2 nights at HHV on my own to wrap up the vacation. Yes, very much enjoyed the HHV. Hope the HWV is just as nice. Different, I'm sure. Just want to enjoy the stay.

Redeemed

Just returned today from ALON at HHV. Upon check-in they told us we'd been upgraded to an ocean view room in the Diamond Head Tower. We asked if the Rainbow tower was available but told it was not as the hotel was very full. (Just minutes earlier we heard one of the bellman tell our taxi driver that occupancy was only 50-60%.) We then found out the rooms were not connecting, which we needed with our 4 young children. After several minutes we were assigned 2 other rooms in the DH tower however the bedding types were not what we requested. Another 15 minutes went by and we were given ocean view rooms in the RAinbow tower on the 8th floor overlooking Diamond Head. The location of these rooms was great. No long elevator waits as we heard several staying on high floors mention. Beautiful view over the beach and down below to the Super Pool where we could watch the nightly show. Gold breakfast coupons were given to us on check-in. Requested late check out and was allowed to keep both rooms til after 5pm. The entire staff went out of their way to make our stay pleasant. Staff really top notch. A great vacation. I'd recommend HHV to anyone. Can't see how HWV could possibly be better.

Mr. July

Just got back from HNL - two days at HHV and two at the Doubletree. I'm gold and had put in a note along the lines of "would appreciate any available upgrade/benefits" in the comment field on the reservation, but didn't otherwise call beforehand. At check-in, desk clerk noted the comments and said it did make a difference. Room was ready (I got there around 11 a.m.) and I'd been upgraded to top floor of Tapa, Diamond Head view (other posts seem to indicate that Tapa is now the Gold upgrade tower). Quite satisfied - especially since I was at the cheapest gvt "garden view" rate. Obviously, the view is great, but the extra high ceilings on the top floor made a huge difference. Although I haven't stayed in the other towers (and therefore don't have the perspective of many long-time HHV guests) I would be happy to get the top of Tapa again.

afrugal1

Howdy, folks! Redeemed 100K ALON award on 05-30-03. Immediately began to seek two (2) free round-trips. Found exactly one (1) date pair on NW which would accomodate a six (6) day stay. Held my breath and called HHV to see if award dates would match free air tickets.....and they did!!!! Mid-April next year is a go. Total costs were: 70,000 miles for the two (2) round-trip tix [SFO-SEA-HNL-SEA-SFO], 100,000 for the hotel, $46.00 for the airline fees and $197.00 [inclusive of all fees and taxes] for an intermediate rental car [will try Priceline in Jan or Feb]. Much work to still do including a request for Gold upgrade to Rainbow Tower. Should any other FT's be in the neighborhood 04-14-04, to 04-20-04, please drop me a line.

yyzflyer

We'll miss you by 3 weeks. I nailed one (much to my surprise) during the Canadian March school break. Reservation agent advised it was filling up fast.

afrugal1

Good catch, YYZ!

pinniped

I guess the rush of ALON redemptions will make availability tight from now until May 2004. I have done two ALONs in the past year - HWV in Summer 02 and HHV last week, and I got the exact dates I wanted as a Gold on the first phone call. (Obviously, I've never tried to do one during the winter, when I'm sure they are next to impossible to get.)

Frugal, you'll get that midsize car for $16-18/day on Priceline. Subscribe to Alamo.com's Hot Deals: they occasionally go ever lower. About twice a year, they send out a "50% off your next rental" code, which could drop your Hawaii midsize rental to under $100/wk without needing Priceline. It dropped my Maui SUV rental to $133/wk. last year.

afrugal1

Thank you for the excellent advice, pinniped!

techlady

I'd also add that for those of us doing the ALON during February school vacation break, now is the time to ask. I was able to get 2 award tix and the ALON then. Since we're flying in coach on American, we also specified that we wanted a powerport seat in each direction.

I was told that awards were going quickly for the last week of February.

Tenacious

I just booked my ALON for mid-April seeing as I may lose my Gold status May 1. Those Gold amenities help make the stay much more enjoyable.