Beat of Hawaii and Beyond: Travel Tips, Deals, Events, Culture

The Kona Tiki Hotel has to be the best deal in all of Hawaii. Where else can you pay $69 a night for two and get a clean, comfortable, oceanfront room?

We just returned from a 5 day stay and give Kona Tiki in Kailua-Kona our two thumbs up for budget accommodation.

What does $69 a night give you?
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The Hawaii Polo Inn of Waikiki has a new look and name after its multi-million dollar renovation. It’s now the Hotel Equus and part of Aqua Hotels and Resorts.

With rates starting at $94 a night, we decided to do an on-site review this month. We also have a pet mule (for real) and felt that we couldn’t go wrong staying at a hotel with this name.

Our room was a Polo Executive Suite for $109 a night. When we opened the door we were pleasantly surprised by its large size and fashionable Ralph Lauren inspired décor. The furnishings, colors and comfortable bed were a direct hit. The interior had a soothing feel. It scores two thumbs up with the Beat of Hawaii team. Continue Reading »

Here’s a photo I took on the Big Island. The Beat of Hawaii team will be returning there on Sunday.

We have many great posts coming up that I want to tell you about. I’m calling them our Plate Lunch Specials to whet your appetite. Be sure to subscribe to our feed via E-mail or RSS so you don’t miss out on our grinds.

Here’s a sampling of the Plate Lunch Specials we’ll be delivering to your table:

Trip Advisor Expose. They won’t publish our negative review on a Honolulu hotel that is marketed by their affiliate. We’ll be posting the review that Trip Advisor doesn’t want you to see and asking, “How objective is Trip Advisor?”

Oceanfront Hotel Room on the Big Island for $69 night. Will this be a hit or a miss? We’ll find out this Sunday when we check in for 5 days. Starting March 1, we’ll be posting our hotel review and Big Island tips. We plan to travel on a budget and we’ll show you how.

Cheap Hotel Find in Waikiki: For under $100 a night you can stay in this renovated hotel with designer furnishings. We were guests two weeks ago. Look for our review and additional money saving tips for Honolulu.

Kauai’s New Shoreline Bike Path: We’ll be taking you on our high definition video tour that shows the progress so far. The finished path will be 16 miles long and stretch from Anahola to Nawiliwili.

South Pacific on a Franc. French Polynesia doesn’t have to be expensive. We traveled there via Hawaiian Airlines recently. For less than $100 a night we had a cottage on the lagoon. Maybe our post will inspire you to add French Polynesia to your Hawaii itinerary.

Finally, with our new HD Camcorder we’ll be able to insert video into some of our posts. It’s a new way to travel with the Beat of Hawaii.

Hawaiian Airlines and Australia’s Virgin Blue Airlines announced the expansion of their partnership today, on its first anniversary. This is great news for travelers flying to Australia via Hawaiian Airlines.

Features include:

• Single ticketing on both airlines with joint boarding passes and luggage transfer between carriers.
• Earn Hawaiian Miles on Virgin Blue flights.
• Use Hawaiian-issued E Tickets at Virgin Blue throughout Australia (upcoming).

We found their partnership very useful when connecting between both airlines in Sydney.

While it wasn’t announced, it’s likely that Hawaiian Miles Premier members will also receive pre-boarding with Virgin Blue Velocity premium fliers.

G’day Mates!

How bad is Lihue’s Oki Diner? After reading the thumbs down reviews from True Aloha and many Trip Advisor readers, we decided to check it out again, for ourselves.

We’ve been there twice in the past month, and they still have perhaps the best pancakes on the island. Now Chef Dominic Benzon has arrived at the scene. He was previously a chef at Nick’s Fish Market in Waikiki.

Chef Benzon and owner Barbie Oki rolled out their new signature dinner menu this week. During our dinner last night the place was packed with locals and visitors checking out the new menu. Continue Reading »

We look forward to welcoming American Safari Cruises, which is bringing luxury yacht cruising to Hawaii starting later this year. The 145-foot, 36-guest, American-flagged Safari Explorer will sail an 8-day/7-night itinerary with a maximum of 36 guests.

The small ship will permit destinations not accessible by larger, traditional cruise ships. They will employ Hawaii-based captains and expedition leaders/naturalists.

Itinerary:

The Big Island (departing from Kailua-Kona) for coastline cruising and whalewatching. A stop at historic Hilo and a helicopter tour are included.

Molokini. The ship will moor at Molokini, off the coast of Maui, and the site of a submerged crater which features the best snorkeling and diving in Hawaii.

Maui. Stopping at Lahaina and then cruising Maui, for whalewatching.

Lanai. For swimming snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing and hiking.

Molokai . Including the renowned mule ride down to Kalaupapa to visit Father Damian’s leper colony.

At present, Kauai is not included in their itineraries, due to the infamously rough crossing of the Kaua’i channel.

Ship:

The ship is presently undergoing an extensive renovation in Seattle prior to its inaugural Hawaii cruise season, from December 19, 2008, to May 9, 2009. It will sail again starting November 2009.

Rates: from $3,995/pp.

Travel insurance can be complicated and confusing. So when is travel insurance appropriate and advisable and when is it just a waste of money?

In the past, travel insurance was often not recommended for domestic travel. That was because airline change fees were minor and hotels allowed cancellations up to the last day.

In today’s market, however, hotel cancellation or change fees can be very significant.

In the on-screen video tutorial below, I’ll demonstrate shopping online for travel insurance for your Hawaii vacation.

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Watching Shakespeare on a Hawaii vacation seems like an odd mix. Trust me on this one. If you’re on Kauai in February, get thee to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at the KAPA Rehearsal Space.

We were at the production last week and give it our top review. Three professionally trained actors take the audience on a wild two hour ride through Shakespeare’s 37 plays and 157 sonnets. The trio of Ross Martineau, Tim Evans and Mike Scarbo play all the roles and show off their comedic talent and timing with gusto.

How can it be done? Well, you perform Othello to rap, Hamlet backwards in 30 seconds, and the History plays are condensed around a football game. Martineau sheds new light on Juliet; you’ve never seen her played like this before.

This is not the Shakespeare you learned in school. What makes this production work is that the three performers can do serious Shakespeare and therefore know how to poke fun at The Bard.

This production was staged on Kauai in 2007 and played to sell-out crowds. It’s now back through March 15, but don’t wait long to buy tickets.

Performance Details

Tickets: $18 for adults and $15 for students. Call 808-246-8985 for reservations.

Directions: The KAPA Rehearsal Space is located in Puhi across from Kauai Community College and behind the Harley Davidson Store.

Theater Info: This is a rehearsal space so you’ll be sitting on the stage with the performers. If you’re in the front row, you may be called on to assist. Great news for aspiring actors.

Jeff took this photo today at Salt Pond Beach on Kauai. Not only is this a great place to swim, it’s also a beach where Hawaiian Monk Seals enjoy taking a break.

It’s important to treat the Hawaiian Monk Seal with respect and to keep your distance. We’ve seen visitors run up to these beautiful seals in the water and prevent them from coming ashore.

There are only 1,200 Hawaiian Monk Seals alive today. They are the most endangered seal in the United States. Your best opportunity to see them is on Kauai’s south shore.

Whenever I’m in the presence of a Hawaiian Monk Seal, I consider it a privilege and gift of Aloha.

If you’re fortunate enough to be in Hawaii for Valentine’s Day, here are some events worth checking out.

Safari lovers will be at Honolulu Zoo for a Love Gone Wild evening of jazz, wine tasting and culinary delights. If you’re more into sea creatures, swim on over to the Waikiki Aquarium for Seaduction and a candlelight dinner.

Delectable Delights at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, our Pink Palace of the Pacific, promises an evening of love, passion and a meal fit for a king and his queen. How can you wrong?

At the Aloha Tower Marketplace you can join local jazz diva Melveen Leed for a special concert and Valentine dinner at Chai’s Island Bistro.

Outer island events include a Big Island Valentine Concert with the Makaha Sons at Hilo’s Palace Theater, two special dinner packages at Maui’s Grand Wailea Resort, and four course dinner at Kauai’s highly rated Mediterranean Gourmet Restaurant.

For the ultimate Valentine gift, surprise that special person with their own 50 foot waterfall and 6 acre Kauai property. Be sure to include the movie South Pacific which had scenes filmed at your new estate. The property includes a main house with just under 5,000 square feet of living space. Price tag: just $5.5 million.

Maybe the best gift of all is spending time together and taking a walk on your favorite Hawaii beach.