dingo

Between Turtle Bay and Waikoloa Village which is better? I'm starting to plan an anniversary trip and have enough points for about three free weeks at Hilton. Any suggestions or trip reports on either of these two properties?

Thanks...dingo

Tim_T

A recent trip report
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/001332.html

den1k

Not Turtle bay, I was there in September and it is in need of updating, both inside and out.

Karen2

Waikoloa is killer and my whole family's all time favorite. Since you will have an award, you can afford the dolphin visit! They make a great grilled fish sandwich overlooking the dolphins. Terrific Towers room - free Mai Tais! I would only stay a week though. I did like Turtle Bay's location - very old Hawaii. Not a great beach, though, unless you are a surfer. Keeping in mind that Waikoloa's beach is next door; they have only a lagoon (environmentalists won).

Karen2

I just read the other trip reports. One additional piece of advice. Waikoloa has a free shuttle both to its sister hotel's beach AND to the shopping and restaurants nearby. There is plenty of cheap chain food there PLUS Roy's - not cheap but really excellent. If you get the upgrade to Towers, you only need lunch, believe me. The romantic rides in the boats at night will top off any evening for the anniversary couple!

rxziebel

Just one other comment, the Turtle Bay Hilton is very quiet!

Andrew Yiu

Defintely the Waikoloa Village. Turtle Bay is extremly quiet, I drove by it once, don't pick this hotel unless you really wanted a resort vacation and don't plan on going anywhere except the beaches. It's a good long drive from city centre.

Banton

I've stayed at both recently and there is really no comparison - the Waikiloa has it all over Turtle Bay - as a hotel. If you enjoy surfing, however, Turtle Bay is close to the great surfing beaches on the north shore of Oahu. It's also rainy and the surf is rough around the hotel and makes ocean swimming tough. however, Waikiki is only about 45 minutes to an hour away, and there is even a bus, that for $1 will take you anywhere on the island if you don't have arental car. The Waikiloa really requires a car and there is no beach there.
Enjoy

outoftown

Turtle Bay is a nice low rise with golf and tennis and peace and quiet. It's quite a ways from the tourist trap of Waikiki. I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki and had by far the worst experience of any Hilton; lousy room, outrageous charges, lousy service. The Hilton Waikoloa Village on the big island is beautiful. Golf course butts up against ancient petroglyphs you can see via a walking path. To get to your room from the lobby, you take a boat or a train. Nice. I have never stayed there, preferring a nearby B&B, but it is classy. The beach there I think is short and manmade. Natural shore is lava rocks running up to the water, but the best snorkeling by far I found was near Kona...giant tortoises, dozens of species of fish and crystal clear water.



[This message has been edited by outoftown (edited 11-23-2000).]

Bigtex1

I have stayed in all three of the Hawaii properties within the past two years. Each has its good and bad points.

Hawaiian Village - Good Points: Downtown; free trolley outside; can walk to a lot of restaurants; Waikiki beach next door; great shopping onsite and usually good "organized" activities onsite. Bad points: Downtown; poor parking; outrageous prices for in-room services and if room faces the city - then NO VIEW of the ocean.

Turtle Bay - Good Points: VERY QUIET, laid back, peaceful place. Near North Shore surfing beaches (which we both like very much); cheap bus ride to downtown which is also a lot of fun to ride, and easy access to east side of Island. Bad points: Run down when I was there two years ago. Really need a car (but they are cheap in HI) and very limited food choices if you do not have a car.

Waikaloa Village - Good Points: The boat ride back to the room from dinner each night; the water slide at the big pool; very peaceful also, and a nice shopping village via the shuttle (also has a ROY's Restaurant - which makes up for a lot of other things). Bad points: ISOLATED - need a car for sure if you want to do Kona, Hilo or the valcano or the highlands (which you can see from the room if on the land side). Outrageous dinner costs in their restaurants; no real beach (must walk or ride to shared beach with - I think - the Ritz Carlton). NO real sceneary unless you go to the Hilo side (unless you are a fan of lava tubes/rock)!

My choice - an Oahu property since that island is more interesting/fun than the Big Island.

JayBrian

A few years back I stayed at the Kona Hilton on the Big Island. It was a nice property but I am not sure if it is still a Hilton property.


Jay

Dudemon

I travel to Oahu for business regularly and primarily stay at Sheratons, but I would prefer to stay at a HHonors member.

Any suggestions?

honu

Well, unless your business takes you to the North Shore or Laie, your two options are Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Doubletree (Alana Hotel, I think it's called). They're both in Waikiki, which can make for a very congested commute...

Andrew Yiu

The HHV is quite nice... I stayed there couple of times and got a huge suite with 2 bathroom on the rainbow tower each time with my Gold Status.

Eastbay1K

I have stayed at the Prince a few times, but its just left Starwood. The HHV isn't too far from there, either. The good thing about both of those properties is they are on the "downtown" side of Waikiki, making the ride a bit shorter and less congested.