Our focus turns to Hawaii hotels and vacation rentals where we found some extraordinary prices and surprises. Here’s what is happening and what you can do to control the cost of a Hawaii vacation.
47 thoughts on “Cost of A Hawaii Vacation | Part 2: Hawaii Hotels and Vacation Rentals Skyrocket”
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Our last trip to Kauai we spent $1,000. at restaurants. It was a 2 week trip for 2 people. That’s less than $72.00 per day. At least 5 of those restaurants were fine expensive places like tidePools, beachhouse and others.. That does not include money spent at Costco and Safeway. Breakfast is always at our condo, Kuhio Shores, where we really like to have lunch at the BeachHouse… Next trip in May is for 3 weeks…
It is no wonder that fewer restaurants are taking reservations. Remember that reservations are for the benefit of the consumer, not the restaurant. If the restaurant has a choice between having a line of people out the door ready and willing to fill a seat immediately that is better for them than having to take a phone call and hold a table for a patron that may or may not show. So long as the restaurant is full to capacity they are not going to bend over backwards to take reservations.
Good information. When we were there in December we found that 3 weeks out we still couldn’t get the exact times we wanted for dinner. We stayed in a condo, so breakfast wasn’t a problem, and ate at small local places for lunch most of the time. Even at Roy’s on the Big Island they were short staffed, as were many of the places we visited for meals. So my recommendations are to reserve early, and be flexible with your desired times.
Hi Lee.
Thanks for your input on restaurants and your other 100 comments to date.
Aloha.
One way to save a little money is, to shop in the open air farmers markets, especially in Waimea town on the Big Island. The farmers market in Poipu Kauai is decent too. I know of a local fisherman who sells his fish. It helps to eat what the locals eat. You will need a kitchen and a BBQ.
Aloha Guys
Hi Roy.
Thanks. On the island of Kauai, we’d say the quintessential market is the Saturday location at Grove Farm in Puhi.
Aloha.
Many restaurants have limited their reservations, because they are seeing high no-shows. Owners say, guests book several restaurants, then choose one, but don’t cancel the others. Please cancel reservations if you have decided not to go, as a courtesy to benefit all owners and all prospective clients. Thank you.
Been on the Big Island since February 1. Most, if not all, of the restaurants I’ve made reversations with took a credit card when I made the reservation. I assume they will charge a no show fee if I don’t show. We always show–we aren’t known for missing a meal! Also received email and text messages the day before to confirm or cancel the reservation. If I owned a restaurant, I would do all of the above to reduce the chance of no shows.
Maybe they should charge a “reservation booking fee” applied to your meal bill when you show up. If you don’t show where you have made other reservations and don’t cancel them within a certain reasonable limited time frame the fee goes through.
That is such a shame! To book busy restaurants, decide not to use your Rez, but not cancel it is downright rude, & vastly inconsiderate.
Made the mistake last year of not having reservations, especially on Maui, so I made my restaurant reservations for our June trip back in January.
Made my dinner reservations already for my trip in May to Oahu on open table, daily
breakfast buffet is included with my hotel, plate lunch and saimin for lunch, I’m covered, aloha
Aloha! If you don’t mind me asking,…where did you reserve? We are headed there in October and I want to be prepared!
Very common here in Calif. to bring in a bottle of wine and pay a corkage fee. Is this allowed there?
Keep up the good work, you guys are no ka oi! Mahalo
Hi Valww.
You’ll have to check with the restaurant. There is nothing prohibiting it specifically.
Aloha.
We typically make restaurant reservations 30 days out for great food experiences and cook the rest of our meals in our condo after making a Costco or Sam’s run. Sam’s is great because we can order pick-up at the Pearl City location and then just swing by on our way to Ko Olina. Of course, we love stopping at Don Quijote as well for our Asian produce and seasonings. It’s like an Asian Walmart. We enjoy Foodland farms and Island Country Market but they do tend to empty the wallet quickly.
We went to KAUAI last August for 3 weeks and booked all the restaurants we wanted about 1 month in advance. We got all of them that we wanted. Since we have a timeshare, we eat out every other night. It worked fine.
Would love to know the restaurants you recommend on both the north shore and south. We have a week in Princeville as well as a second in Poipu.
Beach House, La Spezia, Tasting Room