BEAT OF HAWAII AND BEYOND

When TripAdvisor’s list of the dirtiest hotels in America came out last week, the Laie Inn on Oahu’s North Shore was missing. A wrecking ball saved it from the list and innocent guests will no longer have to endure its nightmare.

Laie Inn closed in October and is being demolished this week. This is good news for the 45 year old Mormon Church owned property adjacent to BYU-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

When I stayed there several years ago, it was Pro Bowl Weekend and this was the only hotel with a vacancy. That should have been the first warning flag but we were desperate.

Not only did the Laie Inn reek of fake reviews, it also remains the single worst hotel I’ve ever had the privilege to stay at. This is the hotel that first perked my interest in TripAdvisor reviews and the issue of review fraud.

I remember having paid $100/night and encountered the following issues:

• Blood-stained sheets and towels.
• Dangerous parking lot; so much so I was afraid to leave the room.
• Worst bed and bedding ever (think I Love Lucy).
• Broken plumbing and lighting fixtures.
• Missing and broken windows, some boarded, some not.
• Loose electric wires hanging outside room.
• Unfathomable guest laundry (photo)
• Pathetic continental breakfast.
• Oblivious management.
• Outrageous price.
• False advertising.

All of the Laie Inn reviews on TripAdvisor have been removed, post wrecking ball. The Church is planning a new 200 room hotel in its place that may be branded a Marriott.

Did you ever stay at Laie Inn? If you have any memories to share please leave a comment.

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(Photo taken on a property walk during my stay at Laie Inn; dozer added for effect).

Our friend Arthur Frommer, spoke yesterday on his blog about a question we’re also frequently asked. His readers, like ours, are often unable to replicate a fare that we’ve researched and know is available. Arthur gave his good thoughts behind the discrepancies and points to the provisional nature of air fares typically presented on the meta-search sites.

Here are my thoughts:

Meta-search companies, like Kayak, Momondo and others, do not generally show fares available “now,” but rather fares that were recently found.  That is true for example when looking at a fare calendar.

Only after you input specific dates, or sometimes when your search is turned over to the provider who is paying the meta-search company, will currently available pricing be presented. Because initial pricing is looking back at what someone last paid, it can vary a lot from site to site.  Final pricing for your trip can also sometimes be significantly different than what you first see, even staying on the same site.

I recently spoke with the CEO of one of the meta-search companies, who explained that the reason they do it this way is two-fold. First, the cost to perform the actual fare and availability search is relatively high. It can be up to $1 per search. Second, presenting past fares is far faster and less expensive for them.

Suggestions:

Always go beyond the fare calendar to check specific dates and flights and determine actual pricing.

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It’s unusual to see a Hawaii mileage sale, so this is a great find. Instead of 40,000 miles round trip, you can visit Hawaii for only 32,000 miles.  From the East Coast, smaller cities, and even most West Coast cities, this represents excellent value.  I typically think of miles as being worth one cent each, by which calculation you fly to Hawaii for the equivalent of about $300.

• Book by February 2
• Valid either starting on the Mainland or in Hawaii
• Travel from January 26 through May 12
• Fly any day of the week (subject to availability)

Recently TripAdvisor contacted me to verify that I authored an unfavorable, three star review five years ago. They gave me two weeks to respond or else my review would be removed from their site. That’s right, before I questioned Trip Advisor’s authenticity I was a frequent contributor.

So why, 5 years later, has TripAdvisor questioned my review?

• The email indicated that the verification process is random.  Having never received such an email, however,  I’m frankly suspicious about whether that is true.
• I noticed that the hotel I wrote about has responded to virtually all negative reviews. Is it possible they asked TripAdvisor to authenticate mine?

Too little, too late.

I can appreciate that, just perhaps, TripAdvisor is making this effort in order to attempt at least some form of verification.  After all, if you write fake reviews, you may have some trouble keeping up with all of the different email addresses in order to respond timely and thus keep the post active.

Here’s what I suggest TripAdvisor do:

- Implement a Real Name feature like we see on Amazon reviews. This requires that the reviewer confirm his/her identity with a credit card.

- Link reviewers to their hotel booking if their stay was booked on an Expedia site.

Why won’t TripAdvisor clean up its act?

There appears to be far more financial value in quantity of visitors and reviews than in having a virtually assured review authenticity.

Until then.

While consumer generated content (reviews) have definitely changed travel, reviews simply will not be trustworthy unless a credible identity verification process is in place.  Until then, TripAdvisor reviews will remain corrupted by the travel industry, and thus I suggest using them with a great deal of scrutiny and skepticism.

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Priceline is a great way to keep accommodation costs down. I’ve used it myself when traveling throughout Hawaii.

The deals are even cheaper now than in our last Priceline report on Hawaii hotels in June 2009. Following are some examples of Winter deals on 4-star properties recently achieved through Priceline bids, as reported on Bidding For Travel.

1.  Prince Hapuna Beach (Big Island):  $75/night.

An unbelievable price for one of the best locations in the state.  A Beat of Hawaii favorite on the iconic North Kohala Coast.

2.  Hyatt Regency Maui:  $131/night.

A fine hotel located on 40 oceanfront acres at Kaanapali Beach.

3.  Hyatt Regency Waikiki:  $93/night.

Directly across the street from Waikiki beach.  A great value.

4.  Hawaii Prince Waikiki:  $82/night.

Another Beat of Hawaii favorite.  At the Ala Wai Canal entrance to Waikiki.  All rooms feature ocean/marina views.

Note: Check for hidden resort fees and other costs.  Priceline or not, remember that hotels are quickly joining airlines in the ancillary fee game.

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This summer is going to be different than last.  Here’s what to expect and our suggestions.

As you know, we’re frugal travelers, as are most of our visitors. Therefore, traveling well while saving money is at the top of the list for vacation planning.

1. Airfares are going to be higher.

Certain markets and occasional sales will be the exception.  Otherwise, all indications are for relatively high airfares this summer.

Here are two examples:

• LA to Honolulu is priced at $550 to $600+ during the summer. That is about $100-$150 below normal and is a good value.
• San Francisco and Oakland on the other hand, are priced much higher, with most dates at the traditional $700 or higher. If you look at nearby airports, however, flying out of Sacramento on some dates can save you as much as $150, and flying out of San Jose can save you as much as $300!

Inter-island airfares are high and going higher.  If you can flying directly from the mainland to your destination, so much the better.  Use inter-island flights sparingly to save money.

Suggestions:

• Consider buying air now, or in the very near future.
• Don’t forget to check alternative airports.
• Find and reserve workable car and hotel that can cancelled, before buying air.

2.  Accommodations are going to be cheaper.

There is a glut of hotels, condos and vacation rentals in Hawaii.  Since lodging is typically the largest vacation expense, you should be able to make up for your increased air cost here. Book accommodations that can be changed if you aren’t able to find exactly what you want in the beginning.  Then keep watching for deals.  Don’t forget about trying Priceline or negotiating with the hotel directly.  Both of these work great in Hawaii.

3.  Consider a package.

While I don’t usually like packages, sometimes to Hawaii they just make sense.  This may be true over the summer when airfares are at their peak.  An example I’ve used before is Pleasant Holidays.  They buy bulk seats on United and put those together with a variety of accommodation and car rental choices.  Sometimes (but not always), this is the cheapest way to go.

Suggestion:  Check pricing for air, accommodation and car separately before purchasing a package from anyone.  Make sure it is truly a good deal and that the accommodation is what you want.

4.  Car rentals can be tricky, so watch out.

Here in Hawaii we had a difficult car rental situation over the holidays and it may rear its head again this summer.  Rental car companies have reduced inventories in line with fewer visitors.  Therefore, peak rental periods can result in either no availability or extraordinarily high pricing ($600/week for a compact).

Suggestion:  Rent the car just prior to booking the air.  That way you’ll know in advance if there’s going to be a problem.  Then keep checking right up to the rental to see if you can find a better deal.  Here are more in depth car rental suggestions.

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There’s a huge shift afoot in travel reviews; one you won’t want to miss. Today’s post covers what it means to the travel consumer. If you’d like to see my analysis of what it means for your business, I invite you to read more about it on my other site, TechSpokes.

“Places” on Google Maps now incorporates extremely useful review content and sentiment analysis available from across the web. Google’s extraction algorithm is very accurate and yields excellent results.

This is going to change the travel review landscape and shift focus away from site’s like Expedia’s TripAdvisor. Rather than having to visit TripAdvisor, you’ll find a plethora of useful review information from multiple sources (including TripAdvisor) on Google Places. This could have a big impact on visitors to and advertising value of other review sites.

Here’s how Google Places works.

Finding hotel reviews

Go to Google Maps and either enter a specific property or the name of a city (or island) and the word “hotels.”

Content Sources

Reviews are presented in meaningful, expandable snippets from a variety of sites including:

Frommers, TripAdvisor, Priceline, VirtualTourist, IgoUgo, newspapers, blogs, and Google itself.

Many other sources are also included.  You’ll find Beat of Hawaii reviews listed there too.  If you’d like to find reviews only from one particular source, you can enter that site’s name.

Sorting Results

At this time, when reviewing multiple properties, you can sort based on the number of stars in the reviews or by neighborhood.  I expect to see many additional choices to add functionality in sorting soon.

Sentiment Analysis

A simple set of bars is used, together with expandable snippets, to represent the sentiment of reviewers overall, in the following categories: rooms, service, location, value and dining.

Integration with Google Maps

If you click the star next to an item (let’s say you’re considering several properties), that selection is moved to the map. I find this very handy.

Review details

The list is extensive, including price, property size, amenities and features, activities, neighborhood, parking, and more.These are sourced from multiple sites, which are listed so that you can drill down if you require more information.

Photos and videos

There’s quick access to much more aggregated visual content than was previously available.

Owner Verification

Locations which have been “claimed” by the owner have additional information listed as owner-verified.  Owners can add posts, events, promotions and more.

I know this is where I’ll be starting any hotel search I do from here on. Please let me know your thoughts.

Hot on the heals of yesterday’s deals from Dallas, United has a fantastic price from Miami to all the Hawaiian islands. There is availability that goes into December, depending on your dates and which island.

Also, if you didn’t see our update, the $400 deal from Dallas is now good to all islands as well.

• Airline: United Airlines.
• Price: Approx. $400 round trip (all-inclusive).
• Dates: Through December.
• Availability: Until December 2010.  Not all dates, and no peak summer dates are available.
• How to find dates: I used Kayak.

Comments.

Updated 1/13:  The same deal is now available to Kahului, Kona and Lihue, which makes it even better, since inter-island airfares are getting quite expensive.

We haven’t seen Texas to Hawaii deals this good in quite some time. United encroaches on American’s hub to bring this one to you.  Interestingly, while there is quite widespread availability in the next couple of months, there are available dates all the way into December.

• Airline: United Airlines.
• Price: $411 round trip (all-inclusive); Summer and some other dates approx. $100 more.
• Dates: Through December.
• Availability: Best in in next 60 days. Not all dates, and fewer dates in April and May.
• How to find dates: I used Kayak.

Comments.

If you’re available to make a reservation between now and January 19 for travel from now through March 11, Hawaiian has a new offer for you.

Each day they’re offering 10% off round trip airfare between a different island and the US Mainland.  Today, for example, that island is Kauai.

If this offer doesn’t work for you, there are other Hawaiian Air offers currently available, which include:

• 5% off using the Hawaiian Affiliate programs.
• Hawaiian’s new Coach Plus, which can save you money if checking bags while providing a 25% inter-island discount.

Comments.

Travelocity is back in competition with Expedia. Hot on the heals of new Roaming Gnome ads (in case you haven’t seen enough of him), there are two significant new features. I’ve always liked Travelocity, but have migrated away from using (and suggesting) it over time, and find myself much more frequently at Kayak. We’ll see if these new features plus others likely right behind them might be enough to sway me back.

Deals on a map

First, a new deals on a map feature, that may be useful for finding Hawaii deals from your area. Here are my tips after taking it for a test run.

• If you only want to see deals from one mainland airport, but are interested in what’s available for all the islands, select Hawaii as the destination. All of the island airfare and airfare plus hotel deals will be shown.
• What if you live some place like San Francisco where there are multiple airports available to leave from? If you enter a Hawaii city as your point of origination, and North America as the destination, the map will show multiple airports. Just zoom in and you’ll see deals for all the airports in your area.

Travel-Deals

The other new feature is the Travel-Deals page, which is a less visual but equally well laid out way to find Hawaii (or other) deals. Again, use it either of the two ways suggested above.

As a final thought, the OTA’s (like Travelocity) are in the business of selling packages.

Airfares alone do not bring them profit. Be sure to do your homework and check what’s available elsewhere before buying a package deal from anyone. Often, but not always, your best deal is had by buying airfare and accommodation separately.

Look forward to your thoughts.

American is sticking its nose into Continental’s turf, thus affording you a very good deal from 40 degree Houston to 80 degree Hawaii. This offer is via Dallas. You can also fly on Continental’s non-stop instead, where the price is $30 more (roundtrip).

• Price:  $455 roundtrip (all-inclusive)
• Travel dates through February
• Book online at aa.com