Hawaii Hotels

October 2005

Hale Koa
2055 Kalia Road, Honolulu, HI 96815-1998
1-800-367-6027 (CONUS)
Contact 8AM to 4PM Hawaiian time, daily except Sunday and federal holidays.
http://www.halekoa.com/index.html
$110/night for a Garden View Room
Room 546 Maile tower for the first four nights; Rome 839 our last night, Maile tower. This was our second stay at the Hale Koa (October 2005) and just like our last visit, we truly enjoyed this visit. Our room was clean, comfortable and with a wonderful view of Waikiki area. Everyone was friendly, especially Geri, our cute and always smiling waitress at the pool bar. If you are military or a DOD employee, this is THE best place to stay while in Waikiki. The prices are excellent (based on your rank and type of room (garden vs. ocean view)), no taxes, and all the amenities a 4-5 star resort provides. And the beach is the best in Waikiki!! Room 839 has a great corner balcony, so we had views towards the mountains, and could also look around the corner towards the water. The room looks larger too. Room had a king bed, a small sofa and desk. Room 546 had two queen beds.

Kilauea Military Camp
Hawaii National Park, Hawaii
808-967-8333
reservations@kmc-volcano.com
$108/night; Room #AL
This is a military only camp located inside the Kilauea National Park. Rooms are priced based on rank and type of room. We had a very nice apartment with living room, fireplace, tv, desk, microwave oven and mini refrigerator. The tiled bathroom had a Jacuzzi. Bedroom included a queen bed and dresser. The camp is quite old and needs a facelift, but the place is in a perfect location inside the national park. The apartment was very clean and well kept. On post includes a general store, gas station, dining facility, etc.

Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort
78-6740 Alii Drive
Kona, hawaii
808-322-3441
reservations@outrigger.com
http://www.outrigger.com/hotels_detail.aspx?hotel=93
$121.44/night for a partial oceanview room
I selected this hotel based on positive reviews from Trip advisor. However, our room (#645) was horrible (stained carpeting and torn bed spread), so we asked for another room. Carpeting should be clean so that I can walk comfortably barefooted. The carpeting in our new room #515 was better but still needs replacing. The bathroom above ours leaked one day and we had to ask for maintenance to come in and fix the problem. Maid service was poor two times: Left used glasses on the table and left used towels in the bathroom floor, yet they took the other used towels.

On the positive side, our room was large with a king bed, two chairs, table and ottoman, desk/chair; fabulous view of the pool area and ocean/tide pools. Service at the bar was great, although drinks were a little pricy. Excellent dinner at their main restaurant. We enjoyed the mai tais while watching the sunset and seeing the many turtles sleeping on the rocks in front of us in the tide pool. Nightly entertainment was quite enjoyable. I would definitely return here only if they upgrade their rooms. We were at least lucky to have been upgraded to an ocean deluxe room without any additional charges. Pick a room closer to the ocean to avoid the street noise.

This place is located about 5 miles from the center of Kona on Alii drive. Also, Kahaluu beach, next to the hotel, is the BEST place for snorkeling. Bring an underwater camera!! I had the opportunity to swim within inches of turtles, Moorish idols, triggerfish, puffers, parrot fish, etc. This is the best place for snorkeling, especially for beginners. Just up the street is a shopping center, where you can grocery shop: Pick up the large bottle of mai tai mix and dark rum and save on your bar bill by making your own mai tais. Good place to shop for bottled water, sandwiches, and sushi! An internet cafe is there too. Overall we did enjoy our stay, but again, would like to see the place upgraded. Maybe there are other rooms that are refurbished. Ask before you book. One last thought: We spent five nights there. I think the next time we will book a condo like we did when we visited Kauai. This way we could have a kitchen to cook our breakfast and have a more comfortable place to stay.

October 2002

Hale Koa
2055 Kalia Road
Honolulu, HI 96815-1998
1-800-367-6027 (CONUS)
Contact 8AM to 4PM Hawaiian time, daily except Sunday and federal holidays.
http://www.halekoa.com/index.html
$107 per night for a partial ocean view room.

The Hale Koa is available to military and government personnel only. Facilities include 2 pools, pool bars, a few restaurants (including the Hale Koa Room for fine dining). It's located on a lovely part of Waikiki beach. In addition, there is a Post Exchange. Across the street is a parking garage for $4/day.

Our room for the first portion of our stay was in #1008 in the Ilima tower. Terrific ocean view out to the right of the balcony, mountain views to the left and facing the Maile tower across the way. The room was a decent size with 2 queen beds, a very small refrigerator in the bathroom, t.v., and small table with 2 chairs. The balcony had a small glass table and 2 chairs. Nothing fancy, but very clean and well kept.

Our second room, #860, had the same setup as the first room and was located in the new building, the Maile tower. I had requested a room with a diamond head view, which we got (see it in my Hawaii photos section). However, it was pretty funny to see a speck of diamond head peeking through the Waikiki hotels.

Kiahuna Plantation
2253 Poipu Road
Poipu, Kauai, Hawaii 96756
Managed by Outrigger and Castle Resorts:
http://www.outrigger.com/details/property.asp?code=kpr
http://www.castleresorts.com/KIA/
The Poipu resort area has many condos to rent and from many real estate companies. After doing my research, I choose to rent directly from a condo owner, Lynda and Will Gill, who qouted me a better price than Outrigger and Castle Resorts.

See their web site for details and photographs of their condo: (http://www.kiahunakauai.com)
Email: summergill@earthlink.net
800-734-5975 Pacific Standard Time

We paid $715 for 5 nights and an additional $52 cleaning fee, which we paid directly to Castle Resorts, the company that manages the Gill's condo.

The condo, located in building 17, room #108, sits close to the main road. However we did not encounter too much noise. Lynda supplies a noise machine in the bedroom, so we slept to the sound of rain. We did hear a rooster or 2 in the early morning but it didn't really bother us.

What a great condo! We felt so at home. The place had a large bedroom with a king bed, full bathroom with hair dryer, fully equipped kitchen, living room with t.v. and a dining room. Their condo is on the second floor and has a large balcony facing other buildings and the lovely grounds. In the nearby town of Koloa, we shopped at the grocery store and purchased breakfast foods. It was great having breakfast "at home". There is no a/c but the condo remained cool throughout the day and evening with the tropical breeze.

Across the street is the Poipu Shopping Village where we dined at Keoki's (twice) and Pattaya Asian Cafe. It was only a 5 minute walk to Kiahuna beach from the condo. Located on the beach is a hut where one can get beach towels and chairs. Also on site is a laundry facility, which we used once. Nearby is Piopu beach where we swam and snorkeled one day. We even saw an amazing sight: A monk seal sleeping at the waters edge. A very rare sight!

I highly recommend Kiahuna Plantation, especially the Gill's condo. Lynda was very helpful with Kauai suggestions and was a very nice person to correspond with. If you decide to rent from them, please tell them you read about their condo on my web site and send them my regards.