jerseyfinn

I think we have some sort of Star Trek mind-meld going on here.

Hawaii is indeed paradise and one wants to extend their time on which ever island they select to be their paradise. Waikiki was for us, a nice place to visit but then again we walked all the way from the Hilton to Diamond Head and back one day & enjoyed the sights and neighborhoods -- we're not urban-minded travelers for a destination such as Hawaii, but you can indeed do some interesting dining there. I think that you might enjoy the Ihilani as it's a JW resort on a beautiful lagoon. It'll feel like surburan paradise and you can show your GF the full experience. We absolutely love the Wailea section of Maui and you already know the sunsets which await you. Please post your impressions on the Marriott Wailea as we've not been to Maui in several years and the now closed Renaissance was our favorite place then.

Have a great trip. Then again, when it comes to Hawaii, it's difficult not to have a wonderful time.

Barry

PS: Another hint about Hawaii travel learned the hard way. We fly from the east coast and learn that it's best to fly an open jaw itinerary. That is, you fly to the west coast one evening and stay at a hotel & get up the next morning for a flight to the island of your choice. You arrive in paradise around noon and life is good. We book a night departure home flying red eye to the east coast. You get your butt kicked flying, but you get an extra 2/3 day in paradise ( either get a late check out or leave bags at the hotel and relax ). anything to prolong paradise.

pinniped

That's a great tip - especially for non-Oahu visitors. From the West Coast, you can get 757's into the smaller airports (LIH, KOA) and avoid HNL entirely. Of course you can get to OGG too, but OGG also gets widebodies from ORD, DFW, etc.

I know various airlines have different rules on stopovers and open jaws to/from Hawaii. When we did a two-island trip on AA six years ago, we set it up so the West Coast stop was a "regular" connection and we used the open jaw in the islands. That allows us to fly directly in to OGG and out of KOA. We bought a cheap one-way in the middle. We completed the entire trip without HNL.

When we went back to visit Kauai and Oahu, we booked the award to/from LIH and used HNL as a stopover since it was a legal routing to LIH. That trip was on UA.

(I vaguely remember trying to pull the entire OGG/KOA trip off as one award with a stopover. I was denied that but forget the exact reason: I had to fork over $60 or so per person to get from OGG to KOA.)

SF12345

I absolutely will. Thanks!

By the way, I was looking into the JW when I was initially booking the trip and just couldn't decide if it made sense or not. We are both city people but my GF loves hiking and the seclusion I think the JW would provide. She just doesn't get to enjoy it because I'm SUCH a nightlife city person and hiking is probably #20 on my top 10 things to do. I MAY book the JW if the prices are right or if I decide to use more points but I was actually looking to book a room at either the HHV, Sheraton Waikiki, or the Prince. I think I can book either of the first 2 for about $120 or the Prince for about $80 utilizing priceline. Since we've got the mind meld thing going, do you think it makes sense to pony up the extra points or $$ and book the JW? My only concern is, I DO want her to at least experience Waikiki (the prostitutes were gorgeous if I recall correctly ), but my understanding is driving from the JW to Waikiki can be a real hassle with traffic. Any thoughts? Or any suggestions on where else to stay in Oahu? I haven't booked the room yet. I'm kind of dragging my feet

jerseyfinn

Our own last Hawaii experience ( which included the Ihilani ) was 5 years ago which makes us even more homesick for Hawaii. The basic problem out in Ihilani land is the rush hour traffic which can make an early morning itinerary or a late afternoon run problematic. Others might better speak to the present traffic paradigm.

I look at some Ihilani rates and I do not see anything encouraging in terms of value deals. Sounds like you're set for the city. I recall a really nice Thai restaurant located near the Hilton which had entertainment as well as fantastic food. Then again, there's lots of great night stuff there. Likewise lots of great dining near the Maui Marriott at some of the nearby upscale resorts such as Nicks Fish house at the Kea Lani ( avoid the Grand Wailea Hotel up the beach . . . just an opinion, but it was simply OK/unremarkable food at resort prices ). There used to be a kayak rental place near the old Renaissance. Hopefully those guys are still around as one can do a carefree morning paddle on a tranquil morning.

Sounds like your longest hike will be from the pool to the hotel room. BTW do you know where Charles Lindburgh's grave is? Bit of a drive to get there, but makes for a nice day if you drive the Hana Road with your GF ( have the hotel pack you a picnic lunch ^ ).

Happy travels.

Barry

AnalogMan

My wife and I own a unit at the Ko Olina Beach Club and we like it very much. Here is some information that I hope will be useful.

You can get daily maid service for a fee. The normal cleaning schedule is a mid-week service and full clean once a week upon check out.

The Ihilani is two lagoons (and a nice walk) away from the Ko Olina Beach Club. For the snorkeling fans: There is more fish in lagoon 1 since the Ihilani has been at the Ko Olina resort longer and they feed the fish regularly. Participation in the fish feeding is free ^ There are two condo towers between the Ihilani and Ko Olina Beach Club. Last I was there (Mar 2008) the Disney timeshare construction had not started yet.

I believe it is possible to book larger than a guestroom through Marriott's website. The one bedroom is big and spacious. It has a full kitchen (including cooking/eating utensils), washer/dryer, dining area, living room, bedroom, and a sitting room. The lanai (balcony) of the one bedroom is also a good place to sit and enjoy the weather. The two bedroom is a one bedroom plus a guestroom with a double door between them. There is a three bedroom unit, but I am not too sure about its details (it's relatively new).

There is a town nearby, I believe the name is Kapolei. There is a K-Mart, a movie theater, several grocery stores and restaurants. We tend to go there to eat or cook (one bedroom has nice big kitchen) instead of eating at the resort's restaurants.

Unfortunately, one has to pay for parking (I think owners and some exchangers are exempt). The lot can fill up, in which case they valet park for no additional fee for the night. I had no idea parking is $30 a day. One will want a rental car though; it's very hard to get to the resort without one.

Traffic going to and from the resort from Honolulu isn't too bad. I think it's around 30 minutes to/from the Ala Moana shopping center.

love2snorkel

I too was happy when I had accumulated enough Marriott points for my "dream reward". I was disappointed to find that using points for the vacation club is a very rare occurrence. I kept calling and asking, but no luck. We used our points for 6 nights at the Ihilani and then did the 5 night promotion at the Ko Olina Beach Club. This was in Nov '08. It was a great trip. We upgraded the Beach Club nights to a one bedroom. We were surprised at how well we did in the hotel room because we are used to a one bedroom. It was our third stay at the Beach Club. We love it there. If you rent from an owner on a site such as TUG, you will not have to pay the parking fee.
It is a very convenient location and there is plenty to explore on Oahu.

NJUPINTHEAIR

JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina


Parking On-site parking, fee: 29 USD daily
Valet parking, fee: 29 USD daily
Beach Parking $29.00 per day

NJUPINTHEAIR

Courtyard Honolulu Waikiki

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...olulu-waikiki/


Wyland Waikiki

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...hu_Hawaii.html

As I recall, this was a renovation of a pre-existing hotel that was to open as a Doubletree, but I believe never did.

eduard

In late September 06 we stayed a week in this Hotel with Marriott Reward points. Due to plane problems e arrived very late after a 24 hours flight (with UAL plane problem in SFO) and we were very happy to be upgraded to a nice ocean view room on the north east side of the hotel. This was our second stay in Hawaii (it is quite far away from Switzerland) and we did not want to stay again in Waikiki.
Sitting on the lanai in the evening with a nice cocktail, hearing the birds in the tree and looking spectacular sunsets is absolutely super.

Positive:
Big clean room with very good bed ans nice bathroom
Very nice and helpful staff
Nice swimming bay
Very calm

Negative:
Pool too small
Jacuzzi walls very greasy and dirty in the evening
Parking too expensive, no possibility for free parking
Surroundings not very nice

We had dinner in 3 restaurants in the Hotel
Naupaka Terrace (medium quality)
Ushio-Tei (Japanese buffet with good quality)
Azul (very good quality but quite expensive)

Outside we had dinner at Roy’s (not very satisfied)
Ruth’s Chris Steak house in Honolulu (very good beef)
We liked the hotel and we can recommend it in any sense

vpplayer

Bought an oceanview week at Ko Olina in 2007 (while we were at the JW) but will be staying there for the first time 4-11 Apr. Will be interesting to see how it has changed with the third tower built and the ground broken for the disney resort. Will also be interesting to see if we get our room preferences as an owner. (Asked for a high floor)

jfunk138

If dry and arid is what you are looking for you can't go wrong with the Marriott in Wailea. They get something like 10 inches of rain a year there total. It's dry as a bone. If you want to be rained on, just drive to Hana, where it's a near guarantee you'll get wet. We definitely enjoyed Maui the most of all the islands. Much is said about Kauai but when we were there we had trouble finding a dry spot. The traffic in Kauai is also a pain (though not by Oahu standards). We were spoiled by Maui.

AMA

Rubs me wrongly big time to do a red eye at the end of a vacation trip, so while I do a similar outbound(overnite at LAX), on the return I usually leave HNL mid-afternoon, arrive back at LAX later in the evening, then take a late morning flight out the next day. That way, is restful and I don't really miss that much time in Hawaii. Red eye messes me up for the entire next day, so is not the way for me...

ehallison

I'm surprised by your reviews of these restaurants. We stayed at Ko'olina in May '08 and had marvelous dining experiences at Naupaka (breakfast buffet, seafood dinner buffet), Azul (fabulous Sunday brunch) and Roy's (one of the best dinners we've ever had). They were all expensive but worth it.

ehallison

We're planning a trip to Hawaii and before I finalize the air & hotel I wanted to ask, will we *like* Wailea? I've read every thread I can find on the Marriott Wailea but can't get a feel for whether it's more like the Ihilani or the Waikoloa.

We have stayed at Ko'olina twice and loved it. We walked around the Ihilani and just loved the hotel; ate there several times and loved the restaurants. Although it seems remote, it didn't bother us. Kapolei was close enough when we wanted to grab some deli sandwiches for lunch or eat a cheap brekkie at L&L. I was really looking forward to a stay at the Ihilani this time, but hubby wants to try Maui. (we've been to Oahu 3 times and the Big Island once...I guess he's right).

On the other hand, we had the misfortune of staying at the Waikoloa for one night and *hated* it. The hotel seemed bigger and more impersonal than the Ihilani and didn't have the gorgeous open architecture and spaces. Our room was tiny (we weren't upgraded despite Plat status). We walked across to the shopping center for dinner and wanted something fast since it was late. The food court was crowded, loud, and expensive. The breakfast at the hotel in the morning was expensive and very average (yes, I know hotel breakfast is expensive, but we had similarly priced breakfasts at Ko'olina and Ihilani that were much better).

If you've been to the Wailea and one or both of these other hotels and can weigh in, I'd appreciate it!

Global Express

I have stayed several times in the past 2 years at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club and find it the most ideal Marriott in the islands. You can walk down the lagoon to the other Marriott if you think you need too - but you have everything at Ko Olina and the 1 bed room suites with kitchens, living rooms and dining rooms are great!

My only negative comment is that if you need to be in downtown HNL early in the morning you have traffic. Otherwise, very quiet and highly recommended.

Global Express