Hawaii 12/2002
Jan 7, 2003 | 7:23 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Mid-Michigan
Programs: HHonors, SPG, UAL - 1P
Posts: 442
Hawaii 12/2002
Just finished a great vacation in Hawaii. 6 Nights at HHV and 7 Nights at the Embassy Vacation Resort on Maui. We had one negative in 2 weeks on the Islands: our visit to Longhis on Maui. I would strongly recommend you avoid this restaurant. I will be posting a separate report on this restaurant.
This was my first time to Oahu, third time to Maui. I enjoyed Oahu, but prefer Maui. I stayed at the HHV on an ALON award and was upgraded to an Ocean View Suite. I am Diamond with Hilton Honors. We did some walking on Waikiki and I believe the HHV resort is one of the nicest. I would stay here again if I returned. We were given breakfast certificates that qualified for the "cold buffet at the Rainbow buffet. Each morning we were asked if we would like to upgrade to the "hot" buffet and each morning we said no. There were 5 of us and each day at least 1 ended up eating the "hot" buffet, usually my daughter. This is allowed and the wait staff is supposed to charge the difference. We had very friendly wait staff that were more interested in keeping the guests happy then nickle and diming us for up charges.
The week went very quickly. We shopped at the International Market place. Drove around the Island. Visited Diamon Head. Attended the Polynesian Cultural Center. Saw Pearl Harbor. Honolulu and Waikiki give a very different impression of Hawaii than the more sparsely occupied areas. For my vacation time I would rather spend less time around so many people.
The PCC was nice. It is divided into different polynesian villages, each maintaining their ancient culture. At the top of every hour each village gives some type of presentation. I believe there are 6 villages in total and the place is only open from noon to 5pm so if you want to see all the presentations you really need to plan well. We didn't and so ended up going back a second day which was free of an admission charge due to a promotion they were offering. They have a daily canoe parade where the different Island groups perform their native dances. If you plan on attending the nightly show I would skip the parade. The dances are all the same. I enjoyed the day, but would not feel a need to return.
Pearl Harbor was interesting. To go out and see the memorial you must watch a video. We waited about 3 hours to see the video. I think several tour buses came in just before we got there. I would try to plan this better next time. Probably trying to get there as soon as the place opened.
We used our Entertainment book for our Dining choices and the highlight was probably the Kobe steak house. This was my first time to a Japanese steak house and I really enjoyed it. The Shrimp was absolutely excellent.
Our next week was on Maui. Relaxtion ruled. In fact I got into a little trouble with the Mrs. for taking it a little too easy. So we ended up doing a whale watch and getting Scuba certified. In addition to our time snorkeling.
For the whale watch we went out for an afternoon departure with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Our previous visit we went out in the morning and I would say the waters were much calmer in the morning. For those with weak stomachs, go in the morning. We spotted several whales and watched them for about an hour before returning to shore.
Scuba was the highlight of our time on Maui. We had experienced the joys of snorkeling on a previous journey and were looking forward to spending more time face down in the water. We did snorkel on Oahu and at Black Rock on Maui. But then my father in law decided he would like to try snorkeling. The Embassy offers free lessons in their pool and then allows "students" to be accompanied by the instructor out in the Ocean. Sounded interesting so I went for it. It was AWESOME. My wife ended up going with me and we are now hooked on Scuba. We saw about 20 sea turtles many times inches from us. We easily could have reached out and touched them, but due to some federal regulation we chose not to. After this experience we decided to get Scuba certified. It took 3 more Ocean dives and several hours in the pool, 5 training videos, 4 short quizes, 1 student manual, and 1 50 question final exam. A bit of work on vacation, but it was fun work. We are looking forward to our next visit so we can further explore the Ocean. A note about the water temp. My wife is 5' even and about 95 lbs. She needed 2 wet suits to stay warm enough to dive. I am a little larger and used one wet suit.
All in all one of best vacations
This was my first time to Oahu, third time to Maui. I enjoyed Oahu, but prefer Maui. I stayed at the HHV on an ALON award and was upgraded to an Ocean View Suite. I am Diamond with Hilton Honors. We did some walking on Waikiki and I believe the HHV resort is one of the nicest. I would stay here again if I returned. We were given breakfast certificates that qualified for the "cold buffet at the Rainbow buffet. Each morning we were asked if we would like to upgrade to the "hot" buffet and each morning we said no. There were 5 of us and each day at least 1 ended up eating the "hot" buffet, usually my daughter. This is allowed and the wait staff is supposed to charge the difference. We had very friendly wait staff that were more interested in keeping the guests happy then nickle and diming us for up charges.
The week went very quickly. We shopped at the International Market place. Drove around the Island. Visited Diamon Head. Attended the Polynesian Cultural Center. Saw Pearl Harbor. Honolulu and Waikiki give a very different impression of Hawaii than the more sparsely occupied areas. For my vacation time I would rather spend less time around so many people.
The PCC was nice. It is divided into different polynesian villages, each maintaining their ancient culture. At the top of every hour each village gives some type of presentation. I believe there are 6 villages in total and the place is only open from noon to 5pm so if you want to see all the presentations you really need to plan well. We didn't and so ended up going back a second day which was free of an admission charge due to a promotion they were offering. They have a daily canoe parade where the different Island groups perform their native dances. If you plan on attending the nightly show I would skip the parade. The dances are all the same. I enjoyed the day, but would not feel a need to return.
Pearl Harbor was interesting. To go out and see the memorial you must watch a video. We waited about 3 hours to see the video. I think several tour buses came in just before we got there. I would try to plan this better next time. Probably trying to get there as soon as the place opened.
We used our Entertainment book for our Dining choices and the highlight was probably the Kobe steak house. This was my first time to a Japanese steak house and I really enjoyed it. The Shrimp was absolutely excellent.
Our next week was on Maui. Relaxtion ruled. In fact I got into a little trouble with the Mrs. for taking it a little too easy. So we ended up doing a whale watch and getting Scuba certified. In addition to our time snorkeling.
For the whale watch we went out for an afternoon departure with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Our previous visit we went out in the morning and I would say the waters were much calmer in the morning. For those with weak stomachs, go in the morning. We spotted several whales and watched them for about an hour before returning to shore.
Scuba was the highlight of our time on Maui. We had experienced the joys of snorkeling on a previous journey and were looking forward to spending more time face down in the water. We did snorkel on Oahu and at Black Rock on Maui. But then my father in law decided he would like to try snorkeling. The Embassy offers free lessons in their pool and then allows "students" to be accompanied by the instructor out in the Ocean. Sounded interesting so I went for it. It was AWESOME. My wife ended up going with me and we are now hooked on Scuba. We saw about 20 sea turtles many times inches from us. We easily could have reached out and touched them, but due to some federal regulation we chose not to. After this experience we decided to get Scuba certified. It took 3 more Ocean dives and several hours in the pool, 5 training videos, 4 short quizes, 1 student manual, and 1 50 question final exam. A bit of work on vacation, but it was fun work. We are looking forward to our next visit so we can further explore the Ocean. A note about the water temp. My wife is 5' even and about 95 lbs. She needed 2 wet suits to stay warm enough to dive. I am a little larger and used one wet suit.
All in all one of best vacations
Jan 7, 2003 | 8:31 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Mid-Michigan
Programs: HHonors, SPG, UAL - 1P
Posts: 442
None. I am an owner there so I do get treated nicely. I did ask if I got anything for being Hilton Diamond and the desk clerk indicated not. Though I do question his competence, I don't believe the Embassy Vacation resorts have any ties to HHonors.