Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

for those of you who went to maui.......

where did you stay-hotel?

what room did you get in that hotel & did you upgrade when you were there (was it a free upgrade b/c you were on your honeymoon or did you have to pay) (i have heard that once you tell them you are on your honeymoon they will upgrade you for free--true?)

how many days were you there

what did you do--what tours & and what sightseeing

if you rented a car--which place did you rent from

edited to say thanks in advance and sorry for sooo many questions!

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

I stayed at the Four Seasons Maui. I got a Mountainside (parking garage view with mountains in the far background) room. We asked about upgrading when we got there, but it would have cost about $200 extra per night!! Moral of the story, don't bank your dreams on a free upgrade - be happy with what you've booked.

We were there four nights. We went to the Feast at Lele which was great. No tours. The rental car came as a part of the package from the Four Seasons.

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

yeah-i know--i wasn't banking on the free upgrade--i was just curious if that was true or not---a co-workder who went to hawaii said that everywhere he and his wife went, they mentioned that they were on their honeymoon and usually got something thrown in--he said that they depend on the tourism a lot over there so they wanted to make a good impression, etc.......

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

I was there the first two weeks of July, and the hotels I chose were among the more popular ones, at a peak travel time. I think you can expect more upgrades when there is a lot of vacancy. Our hotels were nearly full.

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

that is so funny b/c he was there the second and third week in july!--but i don't think he stayed at the four seasons........i think he stayed at the sheraton.....
i was wondering if i should book the better room before we go or wait til we get there to upgrade to a better room

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

We stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani. We had a gorgeous ocean view room (I think all the rooms were ocean view). There was no real upgrade there. Only special was that if you stay four nights, the fifth is free, so we did that. We also paid an extra $10 a day for the breakfast. In general, we found that the whole 'Honeymooners' thing did not really work for us anywhere we went. Maybe thats because Hawaii is so used to having honeymooners there, but we didn't really get much from it. I think Alamo, where we rented our Jeep may have given us a nominal upgrade. Nothing to write home about though. Also, FYI, the airlines did not upgrade us either. American told us that their policy is to not upgrade anyone for free anymore. Nice.

If you have any other Maui (or Kauai) questions, feel free to forum mail me!

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

We stayed at the Hyatt and booked an oceanview room. Our travel agent put in we were on our honeymoon and we got upgraded to an oceanfront room.

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

We stayed at the Renaissance in Waileau and I think paid $20 a night for a garden upgrade. We received free drinks when we said we were honeymooners.

A rental car is a must.

We did the Old Laihaina Luau, which was fun and right on the beach. We also did this kayak/snorkel tour (right now I can't remember the company) that started in this preserve past Kea Lani in Waileau. We kayaked with dolphins and saw baby dolphins and saw one sea turtle.

We did the Road to Hana and found the CD helpful (you buy it at a gas station near a McDonalds-it's in most tour books).
Also ate at Mama's Fishhouse. Pricey but good.

Loved Laihaina. Cute town to explore.

Skip the helicopter tour and save money. You can see most of Maui by driving. If you go to Kauai, do the helicopter tour there.
You will love Maui even if you do nothing but hang out at your hotel!

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

I just got back from Hawaii, and the honeymoon thing got us some great upgrades. In Maui we stayed at the Kaanapalli Beach Hotel and also the Embassy Resort. Both did a free upgrade from moutain view to ocean view. In Kauai we stayed at the Sheriton and they also did a free honeymoon upgrade from lagoon (pond) view to ocean view!.In my opinion ocean view is worth the extra money, because all the rooms have balconys.
In Maui we did a snokeling trip, Luau at the Hyatt, The drive to Hana, bikeing down the volcano after watching the sunrise (I highly recommend this one)
In Kauai we did a helicopter tour and kayaking!
A car is a must, but I didnt even think to ask for an upgrade there!....... even some resturants threw in a free dessert or drinks!........definitley mention it, see what it can get you!
Good Luck!

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

When is peak considered I am going end of may just curios?

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

I went to Maui (late Oct/early Nov). I went for 7 days. Stayed at the Grand Wailea. Loved it and recommend it. I chose a Garden view room and they did not automatically upgrade us or offer to upgrade us like all travel agents say they would (didn't do it in kauai either). DH did ask if they would (I was so embarrassed) and they did upgrade us to an oceanview room for free. It was nice. The weather was so nice that you can leave the screen open and no AC and listen to the ocean all night! (DH loves that sound.) Our honeymoon package didn't give us much but a free bottle of wine or champagne at both island hotels.

Tours: We did most on our own with help of our Alamo rental car. We rented a regular car because it would have been $80/day more to upgrade to a convertible (we did it in Kauai and they only charged $20 more). We went on a snorkel trip to Molokini and Turtletown (great). We drove the road to Hana (buy the $20 CD and don't do the organized tour)...long ride..nice sites but not as great as we expected...lot of work for little reward but you gotta do it. We drove to the top of Mt Halekaea (don't remember the exact name or spelling). It was beautiful! (didn't wake up at 3am to do the biking trip) We went to Old Lahiana town for the Halloween parade.


The honeymoon thing gave us a few more things in Kauai. We got free dessert and the rental car was a little cheaper.

I think I answered all your questions. let me know if you need more info.

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

For those that did the sunset bike tour down the volcano, how long were you riding? Is it very tiring?

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

We are going to go to Hawaii for our honey moon- trying to save up for the 4S in Maui and Big Island. Here it was awesome and an indulgent experience not to be missed! Heard GR8 things about Grand Wailea and Kea Lani in Maui.

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

we stayed at the kea lani in maui...the hotel was wonderful and i would highly recommend it...for the $$ we paid, we got a huge suite and free breakfast...also 5th night free....do not bank on the free upgrade....just pay for what you want ahead of time to make sure you're happy....also i highly recommend the restaurant nick's fishmarket in maui - EXCELLENT!!

we rented a jeep from alamo, decent prices, but in kauai we upgraded to a convertible instead - we got sick of the jeep....

definitely do the road to hana....it has some nice things to see along the way - nothing breathtaking, but still nice....i don't know about the cd, but i found the 'hawai for dummies' book was the best guide for this trip....it gave detailed decriptions of every stop (by mile markers) and we even found places that are not as well-known (plus we got to listen to our own CD's along the way!!)

we went up the volcano which was pretty cool....also we did a submarine trip which i wouold recommend - this is a great way to 'snorkel' without really snorkeling...

as far as luaus go, maui is the place to do them...the best ones are feast at lele and old lahaina....we did old lahaina b/c it's more festive - you share a table with others....the feast at lele is supposed to have the greatest food though and you sit only with your DH...it's up to you

FM if you have any other questions..

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

We also stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani - it is gorgeous. All of the rooms are large suites, so you can't really go wrong, but we were given a really nice corner one, very private with a huge balcony, not much of a view to speak of though. Don't remember who we rented our car from, but it was from the desk over at the Grand Wailea - that is where our hotel sent us. We did the Old Lahaina Luau, and booked a tour for the Road to Hana. I don't remember the tour compnay's name, but we called them direct after we saw an ad in one of the magazines we picked up at the airport.

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

thank you all so much for these great tips/insight----keep 'em coming!!! i want to gather as much info as possible and then sit down w/fi and select what where we want to go........we are going to go for 2 weeks & are so excited to plan this---

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

bump

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

did you get my forum mail?

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

great information. i took notes!!! Thanks

Re: Part 1 of my hawaii (maui) honeymoon question!.....

i stayed at papakea resort- they didnt upgrade- it was a timeshare resort although we didnt ask

we rented from rented from enterprise - a sebring convert- def reccomend a converitble the weather is awesome.


def take your car on the road to hana the place is out of this world and sooooo romantice with the waterfalls and all- that was our favorite day!!
def go snorkleing at molikini it is soooo cool- 2nd fav day.
we did lots and their is tons to do but very very pricey- but those 2 were my faves. have fun- imo its the best place on earth