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

This deal is too good not to mention. It can really help make your upcoming vacation much more affordable.

You can instantly get 20% off “any hotel stay” (not just Hawaii) from now through August 31 by using promotion code SEVENDAYSALE2 when making your reservation. A quick check found a huge number of Hawaii hotels in all ranges available.

Conditions: Book by April 20, 2008, for 1 or more nights.

The deals at Hotel Equus in Waikiki keep getting better.

In February we reviewed our stay in their Executive Suite. Last week we returned for a two night stay, and have updates to share with our readers.

Using Wotif we found their smaller Polo City View King for $79 a nite, based on availability. At that price, this is by far the best hotel deal in Waikiki. If you can’t find a deal on Wotif, check out the Hotel Equus Savvy Surfer Rates.

Our Polo City View room was smaller inside than the Executive Suite, but had a nice sized, somewhat private balcony. It looked out onto the apartment building next door. The street noise took some getting used to for these rural Kauai guys.

Also different, we had no built-in computer/dvd player like our last visit. There was a moderate sized LCD television (if I’d brought a cable, I could have plugged my laptop into that). We had complimentary wireless high speed internet.

The hotel has no elevator from the street to the lobby level, so you must be able to climb stairs.

As we mentioned before, hotel parking is $18 per day. On this trip we found free parking on the street where Ala Wai Canal meets Ala Moana Boulevard.

You’re A Good Fit for Hotel Equus, if you can climb a flight of stairs, don’t need a view, can be satisfied with traffic noise replacing the sound of waves, and want an upscale budget hotel.

Details: Hotel Equus is located at the gateway to Waikiki at 1696 Ala Moana Boulevard. Phone: 808-949-0061.
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As always, we pay our own way and do not accept compensation of any kind for our reviews.

A few things I found of interest early this morning (Hawaii time):

1. Expedia continues industry consolidation. Today they are believed to be have purchased Farecast for $75M. Farecast tries to predict future airfares. Expedia also disclosed that it spent over $750K last year on government lobbying efforts. Expedia is flexing its muscle while reducing your choices in vendors.

2. Virgin Blue down. Hawaiian’s partner we’ve previously discussed, Virgin Blue’s stock is down to A$0.87, following higher fuel costs, soft demand, and inability to reinvent its brand through premium services. Qantas was dragged down to A$3.62 by the news on its competitor. More news that speaks to our post on why you might now want to consider travel insurance.

3. Virtual Tourist. Popular travel forum Virtual Tourist announced its 1 millionth member. So of you haven’t checked it out, we suggest that you do.

4. Lonely Planet scandal. One of their authors claimed yesterday that he fabricated and stole parts of his book, never visited the country he was writing about (Columbia), and accepted gifts in exchange for reviews. Lonely Planet is owned by BBC. I plan to post on a lack of integrity which pervades travel writing.

5. Delta/Northwest. It appears that the Delta/Northwest merger will be announced by tomorrow. When this happens, it will mark the beginning of the airline industry consolidation that we have been discussing. This will likely impact Hawaiian Airlines, which is a highly likely takeover target.

A preview of things you’ll soon find at Beat of Hawaii:

1. We’ve heard some inside scoop about changes coming at Hawaiian Airlines. We’re gathering additional corroboration, but we understand they are aggressively shopping for more aircraft and may soon have additional routes. Stay tuned.

2. There are a number of HD videos we are editing and will soon be posting.

3. Look for a unique Maui Island report in May.

4. South Pacific on a dime (franc). We recently visited three islands and will tell all.

Hope that you are having a great Sunday.

A look back at a few of our best recent posts:

1. Top 7 In-Flight Airline Tips. These are some great tips to making the trip from and to the mainland as comfortable as possible.

2. Be cautious about sharks. They can be found in our waters at any time, but the most likely time is between now and early June.  The reason is that as the north shore surf starts calming down, the fish (and the sharks) start coming back.

3. Consider travel insurance for your upcoming Hawaii vacation. Too many changes are happening too fast. Compare the often very low cost of insurance vs. self-insuring. If Go! (Airlines) goes, as we have suggested might happen, how will you be getting around? We’ve already seen Hawaiian Airlines inter-island fares reach the $89 to $129 range for peak times.

4. Get to and enjoy Hawaii for less money, during difficult times. I just reserved a mid-size car on Maui for $90 a week (on dollar.com). Perseverance and ingenuity are the keys.

We fly 75,000 miles a year between Hawaii and the mainland. Even though we’re experienced Pacific travelers, we still get caught in uncomfortable seating arrangements. Here’s one example we faced when flying to Seoul in the most narrow seats we’ve seen!

Today I’ve put together a list of our top 7 airline tips to make the most of your flying experience.

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