I'm Back from Hawaii!

Ok guys I am back and exhausted! My body still thinks it is in a different time zone. I am all screwed up. Hawaii was great. I had been there once before (but in hs) and this trip was a million times more amazing. Here is my review (I still have to post my wedding review...waiting to get photographer pictures though.)

We started in Maui for 7 days. We stayed at the Grand Wailea. The hotel is huge and beautiful. Lots of lush gardens and great pools. The gardens are lush and give you the Hawaii feel. We got lost the first few days! During the week the hotel was pretty empty (I heard 41% capacity...this is slow season). They were doing minor renovations but you barely noticed. The weekend got more crowded which was kind of annoying because there were a lot more kids due to the waterslides in the pools. I think we were spoiled because during the week it was so empty. Never a problem to find a great beach chair and relax. You can always find a private chair or part of the pool to relax and not be bothered. They upgraded our room to an ocean view but DH asked. They did not do it on their own. I was totally embarrassed when he asked but it was worth it. We visited a bunch of hotels while we were in Maui and loved ours the best (although we really liked the Fairmont Keilani as well). The pools are so nice..waterfalls, waterslides, grottos, etc. Very happy with our choice. (PS People had compared it to a Vegas hotel which scared me before I left. It is huge but no way would I compare it to Vegas. It was much more elegant than Vegas...it didn't have that classy, yuppie feel like some hotels there...it had more of a Hawaiian feel to me!)

Then we went to Kauai for 3 days. In Kauai we stayed at the Hyatt Regency. It is great. The rooms were bigger and nicer in Grand Wailea but the hotel is so elegant and gorgeous. The pools are really nice. I absolutely loved the place.

Our biggest mistake was only going to Kauai for three days. We did this because everyone said there is more to do in Maui and not much in Kauai. There is so much to do in both! Kauai is much more tropical and lush and I wished we had more time to spend exploring the island and relaxing in our great hotel. We wished we did 4 and 6.

The weather was perfect. Only one day had a few clouds. Otherwise always blue skies. The day was 82-86F. At night it got cooler...low 70's. I didn't think the sun was too strong which everyone forwarned me it was. I never wore higher than SPF 4 (I am pretty fair skinned but I tan easily and went tanning a couple times before I left for a base tan) and towards the end I only wore it on my face and chest (the sensitive areas!). I have a nice tan but not too too dark which I was surprised!

The restaurants can be expensive in the resorts but when you go off you can find some deals. On average we spend about $100 per dinner (when we only had one drink with dinner) but went to a lot of nice restuarants and ate alot. A couple nights we went to local Thai or Vietnemese restaurants and they were a lot cheaper. I guess coming from NYC the prices didn't surprise me too much. My favorite restaurant was Spago (in the 4 Seasons-Maui) and Nicks Fishouse (Fairmont Keilani-Maui) and Donatello's (Hyatt Regency-Kauai). By the end we were soooo sick of fish and macadamia nuts!

We did lots of day trips. In Maui -we drove to Hana (not really worth the 3 hours each way), drove to the top of the volcano (so worth it!), snorkeling (great!-we swam with giant turtles), we visited Lahana for a Halloween parade. In Kauai, we drove pretty much as far as you can. It was so great! The views and scenery cannot be described. We also did the Helicopter tour of the Napoli coast. It was great. Saw all the places you see in the movies. (Take Dramamine if you get motion sickness - I normally don't and felt sick at times).

All in all it was a perfect honeymoon destination! I will post some pictures we have from our digital camera!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

PS If you want nightlife forget Hawaii! There is none. We got old the minute we got there! You are in bed by 10-11pm every night! You also get up really early. We normally go out and have drinks every night on a vacation. We did that once and only had one drink and were ready for bed. It was so strange but we didn't mind at all!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Wow great review, very detailed and helpful

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

View from our room in Grand Wailea

• 

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

A waterfall from the helicopter in Kauai (shrinking it down doesn't do it justice)

• 

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Ok..that's all my pictures for now. I will post more when I scan the rest!

PS Look for famous people when you go..if you are into that! They are around. When we were leaving Kauai a famous baseball player was in the lobby. I was a little star struck since I am a huge baseball fan. Also, we saw these two guys we really thought were famous rock stars but we couldn't figure out who they were. We wound up making friends with them and joining them for volleyball and they were cool but we were too shy to ask who they were. We have names and pictures so we are on a mission to figuire it out! Have to ask my younger cousin!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Hi-So glad you enjoyed Hawaii! I know what you mean with the time zone. When we first got there we were falling asleep at dinner due to the time difference and when we got home we were up all night. We stayed at the Hyatt in Maui and never made it to Kaui which I wish we had. We stopped quickly one day at the hotel you stayed at in Maui and it was beautiful. I hope your wedding day was everything you wanted it to be. Welcome home!!!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Also, we did a helicopter tour in Maui. It was amazing. I am so glad we didnt miss that.

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Just reading this brings me back to our trip just a few weeks ago! We stayed at the Hyatt Kauai which we LOVED and the Hyatt in Maui - very nice, but we liked Kauai better. We had the time of our lives and can't wait to go back!

That's true about the little nightlife, but since there's so much to do during the day, we didn't mind at all. We had a nice dinner each night, a few drinks and that's it!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

THANK YOU for that WONDERFUL review !!!!!!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Hee hee, I meant to write more the 1st time, but I'm at work (ugh), and boss was coming by !!!

I wanted to say I'm so happy for your review !!! I didnt officially book my HM yet, but from what you and Teri have said, I think I'm going to adjust Kauai from 4 nights to 5 nights, so instead of doing 6/4, I'm going 5/5 (Maui and Kauai)

I LOVE your pics, and can't wait to see more !!! I also want a chance to guess who your secret superstars are, LOL

Anyway, I'm so glad that you had a great time. That's what it's all about, having a wonderful HM w/your new hubby

Congrats !!!!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

looks like paradise. glad you had a great honeymoon!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Wow!! Great pictures!! Can't wait to go to Hawaii one day. Glad you enjoyed your honeymoon

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

I'm so glad you had a wonderful time on your honeymoon. Hawaii looked beautiful!! I couldn't wait for you to come back and hear your review of NRC and Royalty. I think it was the longest 2 weeks of my life (how pathetic am I?) Post more pics too!!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Liz - DEFINITELY book more time on Kauai! If we could do it again, we'd spend most of our time there! Again, we went with the recommendation to spend more time on Maui, since there's more to do, but we had an AMAZING time being pampered and lounging at the pool. How often can you do that for a whole week as an adult?!?! LOL

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Sounds like you had a wonderful honeymoon
Thats great to hear
Welcome back
;-)

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

Welcome back! I'm so glad you had a terrific time on your honeymoon! I loved the pics you posted before you left. I can't wait for your proofs!! You were stunning!!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

It looks like the ideal romantic place to have a honeymoon! I cant wait to see more pics!

Re: I'm Back from Hawaii!

I am jealous, that looks so nice!!!