Archive for the 'Kauai' Category
Kauai’s St. Regis Princeville hotel to reopen after $100-million makeover
September 27, 2009 6:01am
The St. Regis Princeville is set to reopen Thursday, Oct. 1, after a $100-million redo designed to give it more Hawaiian flavor.
The 201-room, 51-suite Kauai hotel has added a spa that features taro-suffused treatments and added such touches as koa wood trim, raffia and coconut palm hardwood floors. And the pool area (pictured above) also has been redone.
Then there’s the view, which wasn’t redone but is priceless. The hotel looks out on Mt. Makana, which starred as Bali Hai in the 1958 film version of “South Pacific.” The human star of the movie, Mitzi Gaynor, will return to help celebrate the grand reopening of the hotel, which has been closed for more than a year.
Hotel-review site Oyster.com launches Oahu pages; more Hawaii coming soon
September 23, 2009 1:28pm
Dreaming up a trip to Oahu, I come across special rates of $189 per night at Hilton Hawaiian Village. My conditioned first stop is TripAdvisor, where traveler-written reviews of this hotel include lots of raves and some cautions. Of course, with user-generated reviews, you do some wading and sifting, not always sure whose advice to take and whose to toss. Some of the tips seem relevant to my potential stay, and others don’t. But all in all, I get an interesting lay of the land here, from a range of perspectives.
Then I go to Oyster.com, a relatively new hotel-review website, which Travel blogger Jen Leo covered just after the website’s launch in June. The site, packed with reviews by undercover journalists and about a gazillion photos, launched its reviews on Oahu late Tuesday. In the footsteps of its predecessor destination pages (Aruba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Miami, New York, Las Vegas), the lengthy, thoroughly detailed pages — with a well-organized layout for easy perusal — lure me in immediately.
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hawaii’s largest hotel resort, ranks as one of Oyster’s list of best kid-friendly hotels on Oahu. And at the top of this hotel’s review page, I get a concise pros and cons list. As the mother of a toddler, I immediately focus on the calm beach and lagoon, as well as the noted animals (parrots … and penguins?). Among the cons, the fact that the hotel is a ways to Waikiki restaurants, and the supposed crowds at the resort, give me pause and get me to keep reading. Read the rest of this entry »
Hawaii: Hotel deals worth island-hopping for
August 9, 2009 10:45am
The recession may be bottoming out, they say? Well, then, get yourself to Hawaii before everyone else begins rushing back for their much-needed vacations. Hotels are, and have been, offering astounding incentives to get you visiting the islands sometime in the remainder of this year. Following are a handful of great deals that have come across my desk of late (prices below are pre-tax):
During the annual Kona Coffee Culture Festival due to hit the Big Island Nov. 6-15, host hotel Keauhou Beach Resort, in Kailua-Kona, is offering rooms for $119 per night, with breakfast included. Call in this reservation, asking for the “KCCF” rate.
Aston Hotels & Resorts are having a sale, with rates starting at $113 per night at the budget Aston Paki Maui in Lahaina. This is for stays of at least two consecutive nights between Aug. 24 and Dec. 21. Ask for the “fall specials.” I found this rate for a one-bedroom garden-view unit in mid-September, with the “best daily web rate” for a comparable room being $156. Read the rest of this entry »
Pleasant Holidays offers cancel-for-any-reason coverage
August 6, 2009 10:26am
Pleasant Holidays, the giant package-tour operator based in Westlake Village, this week began offering cancel-for-any-reason coverage to customers who book its trips to Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and Costa Rica.
Unlike its regular Protection Plan, which refunds trip deposits if you cancel for reasons such as illness, death or job loss, the new Cancel Anytime Protection Plan Plus covers you for virtually any unforeseen cause, said Jack E. Richards, president and chief executive.
The downsides: Cancel Anytime Protection costs more (starting at $119 instead of $89 per adult) and reimburses you for only 80% instead of 100% for many of the covered causes. And of course, as with all such plans, there’s plenty of fine print.
For plan details, visit Pleasant Holidays’ website, call (800) 448-3333 or contact your travel agent.
— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
Photo: Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Hawaii. Credit: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times
Hawaii Superferry declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy
June 2, 2009 6:34am
After sailing stormy seas for more than a year, Hawaii Superferry declared bankruptcy on Monday. The filing came two months after a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling caused the company to suspend operations.
The Superferry, the only passenger ship connecting the islands, had shuttled vehicles and passengers from Oahu to Maui from August 2007 until March of this year, when the Supreme Court ruled that a state law allowing the company to operate while an environmental study was being conducted was unconstitutional.
The company’s $85-million, 364-foot vessel, the Alakai, has returned to Mobile, Ala., where it was manufactured by Austral USA. Last fall, Hawaii Superferry suspended delivery of a second ship, the Huakai, because of the economy.
In a statement, the company said it sought other charter opportunities but found none in time to meet its financial obligations.
“Our efforts to refinance and restructure the company for this interim period with additional investment have not been successful, as yet,” the company said. “Accordingly, a filing of Chapter 11 was an unavoidable next step.”
The Superferry had been the focus of environmentalists’ complaints since the company announced it planned to begin island service. Protests, court rulings and mechanical problems caused the ship to sit idle for months. But it still carried more than 250,000 passengers between the islands during its run.
— Rosemary McClure / Special to The Times
[Photo: Hawaii Superferry during a visit to the Los Angeles area; by Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times]
Hawaii boycott? ‘We’re not coming to a place that’s having an Islam Day’
May 16, 2009 11:36am
Visitor numbers to the islands have been worryingly on the wane for a while, and now Hawaii tourism officials have another matter in front of them — and this one is political and then some. Following the state Senate’s recent approval of a bill to mark Sept. 24, 2009, as Islam Day, dissenters seem to be hoping for a boycott of the state to take shape.
As reported in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
Gov. Linda Lingle told a radio interviewer that her office had received “a lot of angry calls from the mainland saying, ‘We’re not coming to a place that’s having an Islam Day.’”
“Here we are, in a very difficult economy, and it was just unnecessary,” said Lingle, who had no authority over the resolution. “It didn’t make any sense. You know it’s going to get this kind of attention.”
As of yesterday [May 14] the Hawaii Tourism Authority had received 14 e-mails and one phone call protesting the resolution. Read the rest of this entry »
Hawaii: 3 islands, 9 nights, for around $1,000
April 10, 2009 11:08am
Want to see more than the same stretch of beach on your 10-day Hawaii vacation? If you’re not sure where to start with planning, have a look at the enticing, well-priced island-hopping packages on offer through online travel agency BeachDestinations.com.
Deal: Through the site, you can customize your trip however you’d like, but to get an idea of the kinds of bargains, I’ll fill you in on the featured sample deal: Nine nights on three Hawaiian islands, which, at time of research this morning, was about $2,016 for two people, including taxes. That includes airfare from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); hotels for three nights each on Oahu, Kauai and Maui, and hotel taxes; and inter-island flights. If the hotel you go with offers free breakfast, you’ll get that too.
To get the lowest rates, you’ll need to depart midweek. Read the rest of this entry »
Hawaii roundup: Fly inter-island for $28; Mauna Kea Beach Hotel reopens; in-flight sushi on Hawaiian
April 3, 2009 2:45pm
The Hawaiian islands are begging for a visit. Read the recent post on L.A. Times’ Outposts: “Report: Hawaii’s tourism industry in state of crisis.” If you plan to help the cause with your own dollars — after all, it’s a win-win situation, of benefit to the Hawaii economy, the state’s people and your own well-being — here are a few items to note:
Inter-island flights sale | Hop from one island to another for just $28 one-way, pretax, this month. Mokulele Airlines is having a sale (purchase by April 8 for travel between now and April 30), but I found prices just as low on go! and Hawaiian Airlines.
A fare of $28 one-way amounts to just over $34 after taxes. Read the rest of this entry »
Hawaii Superferry ending passenger service
March 19, 2009 12:05pm
The Hawaii Superferry, which has shuttled passengers and cars between Hawaii’s Oahu and Maui islands for more than a year, is getting out of the business and will make its final run later today, Tom Fargo, its president and chief executive, said this morning.
The service’s future had been up in the air after Hawaii’s Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a law that allowed the vessel to operate pending an environmental review was unconstitutional. The ruling was a victory for activists who said the high-speed catamaran would injure whales and damage the islands’ ecology. The company said it had taken steps to mitigate any harm.
Fargo was flying to Maui this morning to talk to employees and catch the final ferry back to Honolulu, which will depart at about 11 a.m. local time, company spokeswoman Lori Abe said. More than 200 employees and contractors will lose their jobs.
Hawaii roundup: Temporary park closures; Superferry’s Feb. break; a Pleasant Holidays deal
January 13, 2009 3:04pm
If you’re planning a trip to the Aloha State soon, take note:
Superferry | The Hawaii Superferry is due for its annual maintenance dry-docking, the company announced on Monday, so its ship, the Alakai, will be out of service from Feb. 2 to Feb. 17, 2009. Superferry is contacting those who had made reservations for this recently announced block-out period and is offering refunds or reservations for later sailings. Read the rest of this entry »
