What You Can Do About Soaring Hawaii hotel prices.
178 thoughts on “Updated Hawaii Hotel Prices Avg. To $913 | Hawaii Vacation Rentals Avg. $251”
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I am in the “half that don’t go back”. My husband and I started vacation home rentals over 10 years ago. If we are in a place for a week or more, we wouldn’t even consider a hotel. There are so many advantages to a home. It certainly allows for a better “feel” of the place we are visiting. However the things that put it over the top for us include the fact of a kitchen that allows for meal prep and saves money (that can be spend on other indulgences). Even if you don’t like cooking and tend to go out, you don’t have to eat out multiple times a day (eg breakfast, lunch AND supper). For each of our last Hawaii trips, we rented places on the water. Never would have been as close to the water otherwise (certainly not for the cost) in a hotel. We were so close to the waves we had to close the windows at night until we got used to the sound. We’re never going back.
Aloha,
Thanks for another interesting article!
We have a small condo on the water in West Maui, that we bought 20 years ago. About 13 years ago, we began renting it on VRBO, then with the recent fees we are getting fed up and we’ve signed on some of the book direct sights, not sure Rob and Jeff want me to mention them here, so I won’t. Luckily, we mostly rent to repeat guests and use it ourselves..
By the way, we refunded 100% of our cancellations, April, May, June and August. (July my friend is/was going to use the condo.) I’m sure there will be more to come.
Mahaho
Lanell
Hi Lanell.
Thanks very much. We’ve thought about having a marketplace listing where people can list their vacation homes, and we may still do that.
Aloha.
Yes please!! I second that. 🙂 Tired of almost booking a vrbo unit until I see the grand total and have to back out. Would love to give business to some great management companies that haven’t incorporated these same methods of ‘ultra-charging’ clients.
That would be amazing! If you do, how will you let us know?
Hi Noelani.
If that does happen, we’ll be doing a post or two to let people know.
Aloha.
Thanks for the information. I looked into a Air B&B before I went to Oahu just the week prior to the shut down and left 3 days before everyone had to shelter in place. I was greatly disappointed to see so many required one stay a minimum of 30 days. In ny dreams I’d love nothing better than to do that but reality says I can usually stay 7 to 10 days at most. That being said, I found it cheaper to stay in a hotel on Waikiki Beach.
Hi Karen.
There still are legal short term rentals. Waikiki is challenging and we too often stay at hotels there.
Aloha.
Last time I heard and checked, the individual and private rentals were to become more controlled by the City Fathers or someone in authority, and stop the shorter rentals and require longer rental terms. is this still in the works and going to become law? Anyone know?
This is why we love our time share. A kitchen and washer/dryer. We can use stairs instead of elevator, but elevators are big. And beach just a few yards away
Our on island managers are spot on with all state and county regulations and restrictions. When we are not using our condo we know our managers make sure our renters feel at home, safe secure with every amenity of home. Love them and Kauai♡
Do you think VRBO/ Home away will lessen that service fee they added? I feel that fee is to much. After tax, the “ service fee” and cleaning fee it really takes a bite out of your lodging budget. Cleaning fees will probably go up due to extra sanitizing I’m sure.
I just booked a condo in Kihei over Christmas break. The prices for the same exact unit on booking.com was at least 10% and often closer to 20% higher than Homeaway/AirBnb. The layers of fees was astronomical (sometimes adding 40% to the “list price”), not that some (but not most) AirBnb add some pretty questionable charges like hundreds of dollars admin fee?!
Aloha; Thank you for the article. You bring up some very interesting points regarding vacation rentals. You ask the question whether we would switch vs. hotels. My short answer is not likely.
All four major points you make for switching to vacation rentals will also apply in the future to hotels. Granted, there will be more people at a very large hotel, but I expect changes to include social distancing there as well. I already have keyless and contactless check-in at both Marriott and Hilton chains, and I expect others do as well.
Cleaning will change everywhere, including hotels. My concern with vacation rentals is that cleaning regimens will vary widely, and become yet another thing the renter has to investigate and determine whether they are comfortable. Granted, hotels can become lax as well, but you typically have a larger chain of authority to answer to, and for the guest to use as a complaint channel, if necessary. If a guest finds a vacation rental lacking in cleanliness, it is not as simple as changing to a different room in a hotel.
I don’t know the percentage of vacation rentals owned by someone who is off-island. I do know in a couple of ones we rented, both the owner and manager were off-island. Yes, there was a local contact for problems, but as you mention, if will fall to the owner to ensure that inspections will take place. I see this being far harder to enforce/police than at a hotel.
It doesn’t bother us to cook our own food, or go out to eat, but a very large number of people find the convenience of in-house food services essential for their vacation. We’re not rich, so hotel restaurants are typically out of our price range, and we’d rather enjoy local cuisine. What’s a trip to the Big Island without visiting Ken’s and Broke Da Mouth?
Finally, when I travel for business, I prefer the consistency of chain hotels. A bit boring perhaps, but at 150+ nights a year, boring when arriving at 2:00 in the morning after delayed flights is quite alright. The common amenities and location offered by the hotels even on vacation is a big plus for us. Vacation rentals can be “unique”, both on the positive and negative end of the scale. Online reviews can be skewed; pictures can be deceiving. When arriving, I’d rather not have big surprises.
Tighter regulation of vacation rentals is certainly coming, even more than it has recently. Some of those regulations will drive the pricing up, and may improve consistency. It may also shrink the available market.
Overall, I’d say our experience with vacation rentals, albeit small, runs about 6 out of 10. Cheaper generally than hotels, but less convenience. Hotels stays on average, run about 7 out of 10. Both can have issues, both offer advantages. I would expect over time to see about the same mix of rentals to hotels as we have today. It will be an interesting study to watch how this develops.
Is part of the reason because you are using points for the stay vs. paying out of pocket for a vacation rental?
Alfred;
For better or worse, I am saving my points over the last few years for retirement usage, when our incomes drop.
We used vacation rentals on the Big Island before we bought our house there, in order to be able to stay in neighborhoods we were interested in. To that end, they worked well. The variance between the rentals was significant. In one case, we had a beautiful place, less than one year old, and very nicely set up. In another, it was extremely worn, poorly furnished, and barely tolerable.
In the future, would I consider a vacation rental? Absolutely. But to believe a vacation rental will be cleaner or safer than a hotel may be expecting a bit too much. The beauty is that everyone’s requirements are different, and hotels fit some people, and vacation rentals fit others.
I do feel for those owners that have one or two properties, and are using them to supplement their income. For those that are leveraged to the hilt, and in it soley for the money, not so much.
Thank you for this encouraging article about the short term rentals. We are owners of two condos in Kihei, Maui in an area zoned for legal rentals. It is comforting to hear about future hopes for the business. We have totally refunded, or if the guest desired, applied money to their future rental. Right now we are taking a loss, but under the circumstances it is the right thing to do. Our bills are the same for property tax, mortgage, insurance, etc., but we can not rent the properties at the current time. It is wonderful to see in print the benefits of our type of rentals. As are most owners, we are happy to answer questions about legality and any other concerns. Am many have mentioned the license number is a good indicator of legality. People can also check for our authenticity through long standing on Google Business, a Facebook Page and Instagram. Thank you Beat of Hawaii for your always current news about all things Hawaiian. I love receiving your e-mails.
Hi Linda.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Nicely said Linda! I too own on the Big Island and share your feelings. We have lost our fair share of rentals in March, April, and. May. Looking forward to helping out renters in the near future to enjoy their Hawaiian vacation again!
We own several beachfront rental properties in Ko Olina and experienced a similar scenario. Fully occupied for April & May prior to the pan demic. Now zero dollars revenue with all of the costs as you describe. I wish the State of Hawaii would reduce our property taxes from Hotel / Resort to residential for half the year. This would allow us to pay $1,000 for the six months instead of $7,000 x 2.
The federal government already turned down our HOA PPP application stating that neither HOA’s or individual vacation rental owners qualify under the terms of the PPP program.
So it’s all out of pocket for us unfortunately.