Aloha And Bula from Hiapo! Happy Thanksgiving!
As we start the Holiday Season, Thanksgiving reminds us to count our blessings. I am thankful that I have been able to visit several new resorts this Fall (some new, some new to me!) Here are my reviews. Please call so we can start planning your next escape and share your reviews with me. I truly enjoy finding the perfect destination for each client, and hearing all about your trip and seeing pictures upon your return! The smiles in those photos bring a smile to my face as well.
First
was the new Honua Kai. Finished about a year ago on the North side of
Kaanapali Beach, Honua Kai raises the bar on fine Hawaii condominiums.
Fine touches abound inside and out of the studio, one, two and three
bedroom units. Starting with the common areas, 3 pools form the focus
points. One of the pools has a nice waterslide for little and big kids,
a sandy-bottomed area, a couple of grotto caves with waterfalls, and
water fountains for the delight of your little ones. Signature red umbrellas
highlight the beautiful grounds surrounding the pools, where you will
also find cabanas (for a Hawaii bargain price of $25/day!) and covered
couples lounges. Next to the pool, you will find creative dining served
up by Dukes Beach House, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which
also handles poolside service. In the main lobby, you will find Aina
Market, featuring an amazing selection of local gourmet favorites, a
gelato bar, a fresh and creative sandwich menu, and some of the better
beer and wine selections available on Maui.
Inside each of the suites, you will find some of the nicest amenities available in a Maui condo. Kitchens replete with marble counters, stainless steel Bosch appliances, plenty of nice dishes suitable for entertaining (including my personal requirements: a martini set!). Each bedroom has its own big screen LCD TV (with all digital cable), some of the most comfortable beds on Maui (let alone in a condo), and a separate bathroom with DEEP tubs, and separate glass-enclosed showers. Even the living rooms have queen-sized sofa beds featuring the same fine linens found in the bedrooms, and another big screen LCD TV. The in-room Bosch washer and dryer made it convenient to unpack clean laundry when we got home! Complimentary wireless/wired Internet further add to the long list of amenities.
Other services include 2 gyms with state-of-the-art equipment, available underground valet parking (think hot car relief), and a kids club that takes 3 years and up (the only one I know of that takes under 5 years in Maui). Daily maid service and room service make this condo feel more like a full service hotel. Do yourself a favor; the next time you are thinking about a condo in Hawaii, there are few nicer places than Honua Kai. My wife is already bugging me to plan our next stay.
There
are very few places in Hawaii that feature the same kinds of individual
bungalows as found in other parts of the Pacific. Add to that a dearth
of resorts that include meals other than breakfast. Finally, there are
no other places in Hawaii that allow you to disconnect from the outside
world the way that Kona Village allows.
Built on 80 acres on an oasis surrounded by old lava flows, 120 individual thatched roof huts line the shores of the ocean, beach and brackish pond. Run more like a family operation, you will feel your many stresses melting away because of the many little touches: no televisions, radios, internet access or clocks are in the rooms, thus eliminating the constant droning white noise of the outside world. Cell phone use is highly discouraged outside of your room. Even the path lighting is subdued. Just as a blind person has other senses enhanced, you will find more stars in the sky, more rhythm in the waves crashing to shore, and notable by its absence: a complete lack of busy sounding noise common in most resorts.
Quiet does not mean boring. Kona Village features a full activities desk with sailboats, kayaks, snorkeling gear (AMAZING snorkeling conditions and turtles abound), cultural activities, hieroglyphics tours and a full gym are offered complimentary. Massages, golf, and helicopter tours from their own helipad are some of the options available for an extra charge. Weekly paniolo (cowboy) BBQ’s and twice weekly Luaus are included in the meal inclusive rate.
Nowhere else in the US will you find a more genuine and relaxing stay than at Kona Village, as evidenced by their HUGE repeat clientele list. Check out of the world, and into Kona Village.
Amazing Big Island beach is almost an oxymoron. While you can find stunning ocean views, swimming beaches are rare. Then, if you are looking for a 5 star resort in addition to a great beach, your list gets very short. Fortunately, compromise is not necessary if you choose the Mauna Kea. The most northern resort on the Kona side, it is a good hour or so from the airport. Situated on an amazing cove with the type of white sand that dreams are made of, the Mauna Kea was always a nice resort with the perfect location. A couple of years ago a sizable earthquake caused some minor damage. This gave the owners a perfect excuse to close the entire resort and spend $150 million to not only make the needed repairs, but to completely redesign the rooms.
Now, with only 258 rooms total, you have a state of the art resort with everything one could ask for in a Hawaii resort. Brand new rooms feature great beds, big screen HDTVs hidden in a wall cabinet, iPod docks, dimmable lights that have master controls at the door as well as your nightstand, and the bathrooms: THE BATHROOMS! Twin sinks that are WELL LIT (and dimmable) L’Occitane bath products (including their fizzy bath cubes!), and in the bathroom area is a tub big enough for a 6’3” me to float! It has a design that lets you fill the tub to the brim (neck high for me) and if you splash a bit too much, IT DOESN’T MATTER as the whole bathtub area is tile and drains into the shower area. This shower area has a huge rain-shower-head in addition to a hand held shower. Many of the rooms offer a view outside to either the mountains/golf courses or the ocean. These rooms feature a second balcony off of the tub area (with a privacy curtain, of course).
Dining options abound with 5 different restaurants, plus room service, a weekly luau, a special Sunday brunch (this whole chain is famous for their gigantic brunches), as well as their famous Saturday Clambake. If you are a drinker, make sure you check out Monettes steak and seafood restaurant, where you will find one of the most exotic liquor selections anywhere, and the Manta & Pavilion Wine Bar (named after the spot where they attract manta rays at night) where they offer 48 different wines “on tap” letting you sample many different wines without necessarily buying an entire glass.
Mauna Kea, I think I’m in love.
So please get with me soon to help you decide where you would like best to go in the next year or so. Look forward to hearing from you. Click here to enter to win a FREE trip!
Mahalo,
Aloha, and Bula !
Hiapo
Hiapo
Cockett ,
Your Personal Travel Specialist
McCoy Custom Travel
Specializing in Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, the South Pacific and the World.
PO Box 275 Kahului, Maui, Hawaii, HI 96733
Toll Free 1-800-588-3454 x102
Local 213-784-4910
Click
here
to call me on our dime I'm ext.102.
My Travel
Photo Gallery
Sweepstakes
- Win a FREE Trip
McCoy Travel has 17 years of Excellence in Travel.
Hawaii's largest "inbound" Vacation Store
Top 10 Fiji Vacation Planners in the US
visit us at: www.mccoytravel.com
Hiapo@McCoyTravel.com
Visit my Happy client letters, click here.
Visit our most recent Newsletters.
"We strive to get you the most for your money, but NOT at the expense of YOUR travel experience."