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

Wotif.com, the last-minute hotel discounter that you saw on Beat of Hawaii this week, was recommended today on Arthur Frommer’s blog.

In addition to Wotif, we also use last minute hotel discounters Need it Now (Australia and New Zealand only), and Rates to Go which is owned by Orbitz.

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Would you like a vacation in Hawaii, brief or extended, without any costs for hotels or condos? Do you have a cottage, apartment/condo or house that you are willing to exchange?

If so you may want to consider a home swap. This is a growing travel industry trend and may be a perfect solution in our stagnant economy.

I found everything from a Kauai beachfront home to a condo in Lahaina, and even a yurt in Pahoa. Properties are posted with photos, descriptions and maps.

Here are two sites to consider: Home Exchange (20,000 listings and a $99/year fee) and Home for Exchange (10,000 listings and a $59/year listing fee).

Home Exchange was featured in a recent movie called, “The Holiday.” Here’s a clip from the movie which may inspire you to consider a home swap (especially if it includes Jude Law, Kate Winslet or Cameron Diaz).

Suggestions for a successful home exchange:

Do your own research, check with your insurance company regarding liability issues, obtain additional photos or video of the property you’re considering, set up a written agreement and obtain references.

Have you ever tried this? We’d love to hear your experiences with this innovative way to travel for less.

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.

You might be wondering whether this is a good time to visit Hawaii, given the economic slowdown. The answer is a definite and resounding, YES. Here’s why:

1. Capitalize on fewer advance bookings. Economic woes are causing people to plan and book trips with less lead time. We’re seeing this as a great opportunity to find better deals by thinking ahead of the crowd and making your plans early, while bookings are softer than usual for summer or after Labor Day.

2. Consistent value. Hawaii prices are quite reasonable when compared with international alternatives. Foreign currencies, including those of Australia, New Zealand and French Polynesia for example, have become more and more expensive (when bought with U.S. dollars). On our recent trip to French Polynesia, we saw costs jump 20%+ from trip planning to our actual travel. Coming to Hawaii, you can be assured of value without regard to the dollar’s strength.

3. Competitive air fares. Even with Aloha’s bankruptcy this week, there is a great deal of competition in the U.S. Mainland to Hawaii air corridor. While prices may not be the cheapest we’ve ever seen, they will likely remain reasonably low, especially when you take advantage of seasonal fluctuations. Until early June, and following Labor Day, are excellent times to find good prices. During the summer, try shopping for different days of the week, using a tool such as Travelocity’s flexible date search. Prices from one day (or week) to the next can vary by hundreds of dollars.

4. Negotiate hotel deals. Watch for hotel deals, in much the same way as for air fares. In addition, consider booking a reservation and then just prior to the non-refundable cancellation period, look again to see if you can find a better deal directly from the hotel (try website and phone), the online agencies, last minute specialists like wotif.com, or on bidding sites, with help from the biddingfortravel.com forums.

5. Car rental options. Same advice I suggested for hotels applies here.

Once the economy starts to sense a bottom, Hawaii will be on an up-tick in terms of pricing. I suggest you get over here as soon as you can to take advantage in the interim.

Where’s Kainaliu? 10 miles south of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.

Will an Angel touch you if you go there? Not exactly but you’ll feel better after.

Kainaliu is home to the Aloha Massage Academy and Aloha Angel Café.

The Aloha Massage Academy offers a one hour massage for $30! I couldn’t believe the price so I decided to check it out for myself. Undercover work has its advantages.

I didn’t have high expectations since the massage would be given by an advanced student. I was wrong. My massage was worthy of the expensive ones offered at the major hotels.

The studio ambience is relaxing and professional. My masseuse used a variety of techniques including hot stones and reiki. I was so relaxed I could hardly get off the table when it was over.

Feeling stress free for only $30 left a nice feeling of Aloha on my body and wallet.

Afterwards I floated across the highway to Aloha Angel Café where I’ve eaten before. Lunch for two was $21. The food was above average for what you’d expect at a coffee shop and service prompt. You’ll dine outside on a verandah that wraps around an old theatre.

I felt touched by an angel and I think you will too.

Details:

Aloha Massage Academy, located on the highway in Kainaliu. Appointments recommended. We made ours two days in advance. Call 808/937-6019.

Aloha Angel Café, on the highway in Kainaliu. No reservations needed for breakfast or lunch. Call 808/322-3383.

1. Seasonal timing. Look for the best Hawaii airfare deals to be announced on the Wednesday two weeks prior, then one week prior, to ending of a “high season.”

The first round of discounts are with the more distant locations (longer trips are less spontaneous so the airlines have less to lose in lowering those fares first). The second round of discounts are from nearby west coast locations, where travelers can be more last minute (the airlines could lose more high-season traffic when lowering fares too soon).

Going out on a limb, I’ll suggest that for the highly desirable and affordable August (”shoulder”) season travel, look for July 30 and August 6 as potentially the best buy dates.

2. Wednesday is the key day. I’ve known this for several years, but a post on Peter Greenberg’s blog today got me thinking. Wednesday’s are the day to buy airline tickets. In my mind this started years ago when the majors offered their best internet deals late on Tuesday night. And while, as Peter pointed out, weekends are when the airlines start to test new fares (both up and down), just after midnight on Wednesday morning is virtually always the best time to buy.

With oil (and jet fuel) in the stratosphere, look for airlines to be more tricky than ever in trying to strap you into higher priced seats. They are even taking out lavatories to reduce weight and add more seats. They have to.

But the deals, as you saw yesterday, are still out there to be had. We’ll keep giving the deals to you as quickly as we can find them.

3. Subscribe to Beat of Hawaii so that we can get you the best airfare deals first: email or RSS feed.

And please, let us know how it works for you.

I just found several airfares seriously worthy of mention. Some have very limited availability, so if you’re interested, I suggest you you jump on them without delay.

All are 14 day advance fares for travel March 31 to June 5:

1. Houston to Honolulu $347 (CO).

2. New York (LGA) to Honolulu $459 (CO, DL, NW, UA, US).

3. Newark to Honolulu (nonstop on CO!) $440 (CO, DL, NW).

PS: I used Travelocity flexible date search to find availability.

1. Ride The Bus for $2 each from Airport to Waikiki.

When it was standing room only I told Jeff to meditate on how much money we saved. We eliminated the cost of hotel parking ($15-$20 per day), rental car and gas. Honolulu is congested and parking not easy to find.

You can bring 1 suitcase to place on your lap or under your seat. Bus 19 or 20 will get you from the Airport to Waikiki. Frequent riders can buy a 4-day bus pass for $20 at all Waikiki ABC stores.

Another option is to rent a car in Waikiki for a day to explore Oahu and take The Bus for your local travel.

You’re not a good fit for The Bus if….you want to make an entrance at your hotel, plan to spend most of your time outside of Honolulu or travel with heavy luggage.

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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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