When you arrive in Hawaii, or any destination for that matter, you don’t want to get stuck trying to find your luggage when many bags look alike.  Plus, similar looking bags have a higher chance of being taken by mistake. To make my luggage stand out, I’ve been custom labeling it for years.  Above is [...]

What I Learned From hotelchatter.com’s $254 Waikiki Parc Deal. Even after traveling extensively for decades, I keep learning. Hotel Chatter’s post: In this situation, Hotel Chatter had a Waikiki Parc offer that at first glance looked like something worth pursuing.  In my opinion, however, it was not. Here’s the purported deal: $254/night average price for [...]

When we want to get away and escape Kauai, the first place that comes to mind is the Big Island’s Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel.  We just concluded our fifth stay there last week. Where to find the best deal: This is not the $69 night experience we told you about in February.  The hotel’s website [...]

Hotel: As you may know, Kauai’s Princeville Resort is getting a facelift and rebranding in 2009.  We were up there recently to check on the start of construction. The rooms are being gutted and the furnishings sold by liquidators.  Everything looked gaudy and tacky with ridiculous sale prices.  We resisted the urge to take home [...]

I saw press releases this summer for a company called Tourism Radio. Offered exclusively by Advantage Car Rental, and available only in the United States on Oahu and Maui, the service purports to offer three types of audio information: Customized (GPS based) “history and anecdotes about your surroundings.” “Intellipoint” alerts about road safety warnings and [...]

As we indicated was likely last week, Mokulele Airlines today confirmed that starting November 19, they will offer new jet service between Honolulu and two points. Initially, flights will be to Kona on the Big Island and Lihue, Kauai. More destinations will likely be added early next year. The service is an arrangement between Big [...]

I was asked recently how to fit in and not look like fresh tourist meat when visiting Hawaii. What first came to mind are these 7 tips. 1. Drive something other than a convertible. No problem if you do, but you’ll stand out. Also think about sun damage to your skin and an unexpected rain [...]

Food costs here in Hawaii can be very high (or not). I’m often amazed by visitors fresh from the plane buying hundreds of dollars of overpriced food at the grocery store. If you’re going to be here for a week or so, just a little extra planning could put hundreds of dollars of savings in [...]

Last week I made a reservation to fly to Honolulu for an upcoming trip.  Hawaiian Airlines offered me two options that were either new, or that I hadn’t previously noticed. The offers were for car rental and bus transfer at my destination, Honolulu. Here’s the deal they offered and how it looks to me: 1.  [...]

Here’s my update on how a negative hotel experience turned out to be something positive. The Millenium UN Plaza Hotel refunded 50 percent of our recent six night stay due to the incorrect room category we were given. Would we consider Millenium UN Plaza for our next trip to the island of Manahattan? Definitely yes. [...]