Hawaii Accommodations

Last Hawaii post, I promise!! I wanted to group all of my comments about our accommodations in one place.

For anyone who has traveled to Hawaii, you know that things can get expensive.  Coupled with that, we didn't know for sure we were going on this trip until mid-October so we had a short window for booking our Maui accommodations.  There are some AirBnb options but not much was available to us when we were booking, and there seemed to be a large gap between shared bathrooms/hostel type places, and large homes that could sleep 12 people or more that quickly went beyond our price range.

The first place we booked was bed and breakfast called the Pineapple Inn.  I found it by just Google mapping Maui and searching "hotel".  I liked the idea of a Bed and Breakfast (even though it wasn't on the beach) and the grounds and rooms looked really nice in the photos, and the price was right.  Unfortunately they could only accommodate us for three of the five nights we were in Maui, so we needed to find somewhere else for the first two nights.

Our first hotel was the Aston Kaanapali Shores.  We found it through Expedia and the price was fine, but more than we really wanted to spend.  We even considered staying at the Courtyard Marriott by the Kahului airport, but I'm glad we didn't.  This place is just north of Lahaina which is a great tourist area.  They grounds are beautiful and we really enjoyed the pool.  There is no real beach access there though, although there are great views.  It is attached to a path along the beach where we went for a run, and also close to Duke's which is a great place to eat.

The hotel itself is really like a time share/condo place where many people are returning guests/owners.  We were supposed to be in a regular hotel type room, but we were upgraded to a three bedroom condo with a full kitchen.  It was way more space than we needed but it was nice to have the extra room for our luggage and to have two bathrooms.  It was pretty dated though, clean and spacious, but old. 

Spiral staircase up to a third bedroom that we didn't use at all.

I snapped this just before we left, hence the unmade bed.

So then we moved onto the Pineapple Inn in Kihei.  This place was adorable.  Comfortable bed, beautiful view, a fridge stocked with lots of breakfast stuff, free parking, and lots of beach stuff to borrow.  When we arrived, the key was in the door to our room, and that is how we left it too, so no messing around with checking in and out.  It wasn't really near anything though, so we had to drive or uber to get to the beach and restaurants.

Pool and hot tub were just perfect.

Sunset views from our lanai.

Looking east from the stairway

The gardens were just amazing, it felt like a lovely oasis.  The owners have done such a great job of maintaining this property, it rivalled the Four Seasons. 

I would definitely recommend this place to adults visiting Maui, although children are welcome, it would not be the best place for them.

And then we went to the pièce de la résistance, Four Seasons Oahu in Ko Olina.  We were guests of Dave's company and we enjoyed being spoiled.  We have stayed at the Four Seasons in Nevis and Punta Mita before (for other work trips) and they are pretty nice.  They know how to look after their guests, the rooms are luxurious and the food is so good.

There are three pools but we only went to the adult only one.  The beach is on a shared lagoon with the Disney Aulani.  We didn't spend that much time there but it is lovely and calm.  If you're looking for luxury, this is it!

Hawaii - Oahu - Days 7, 8 and 9

Thanks for hanging around for these recaps - this is the last one, but I will be back on Wednesday with some comments about the places we stayed.

We woke up on Thursday morning and headed back to the gym so we could both do the Pelaton (they had four bikes) and then went to breakfast.  I love a buffet breakfast but the Four Seasons really knows how to do it. 

And this is where we parked ourselves for the entire day.  We had a great spot beside the infinity pool, sunny/shady, protected from the wind, right next to the hot tub, can't beat it!

We even had lunch ordered to us pool side.  I chose the lobster roll and Dave had tacos.

We reluctantly went back to our room in the late afternoon and got ready for dinner and then waited for our dinner companions in the lobby.

We went to DB Grill with most of the Canadian team.

The food was really tasty, although we ordered way too much!

After that we went to the Disney Aulani Resort (next door to the Four Seasons) for a drink.  They had some live music and it was neat to see the resort, Disney does such a great job.  We may have to come back sometime with the kids.

For our last full day in Hawaii we were heading out for zip lining.  This is another thing we have never done but were nervous excited to try it (we do not enjoy heights).  But first up was breakfast.

After breakfast we met up with our group and boarded the bus.  We went to a zip line place, Climbworks, on the North Shore, close to the horseback riding ranch, but we took a slightly different route and saw a couple of rainbows (#becauseHawaii).

We signed the waiver and got suited up.  Another great day with the Go Pro.

We started off on this mini zip line to get us acquainted with the process before heading up the mountain.  I was not keen to step onto the other side of the gate, even being clipped in, and it took a few prompts before I actually stepped off the box and went for it.  This place has two zip lines side by side so Dave and I always got to go together.

Then we got on an ATV and were driven up the mountain into the woods, about a 10 minute ride.  Each time two of our guides went across first, while the third one stayed behind to clip us all in.  

This first one wasn't so bad, since it didn't look that high (even though it was)

They had a really great set up with some signs showing some history of the area, information about the plants they grow there, and some samples (macadamia nuts, that we cracked ourselves, cherry tomatoes, and mini bananas). The guides also told some stories like where the Shaka hand symbol comes from.  I would highly recommend this tour.

Aside from the actual zip-lining, there were a few other challenges, like pulling ourselves up to the platform.  It was way harder than I thought it would be

Another challenge was to hook into these things and then just step off the platform where you'd be lowered down to the next level.  I found this much harder than anything else.

Suspension bridge near the end

Our group and two of our guides.

On the last ride, we got to go upside down!!

When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed some chairs on the lawn next to the pool and relaxed for a bit. 

Pina Colada, yes please!

We had some drinks in the pool with some friends and then we were all loathe to go back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. 

The even that night was a cocktail party on the lawn and then inside (because of the wind) for some dinner - taco food truck, pork buns, noodles, shaved ice, and just way too much good food.

We had plans of hitting the Pelaton bikes first thing in the morning, but opted to sleep in a little bit.  Then our last trip to the breakfast buffet and then we borrowed some paddle boards and did a couple of laps of the lagoon.

After that we went for a walk around the shore.  This our hotel.

With the Disney Aulani next door

Dave went back to the room to pack up while I sat by the pool and read for a bit.  Then we checked out of our room and it was almost time to meet our shuttle to the airport (sad face).  We had half an hour so we quickly went to Mina's Fish House to get some of the delicious calamari and french fries that we had on the first night. 

Worth it!

And then we saw our friends trying out the paddle boards. 

We headed to the airport after that, had a layover in San Francisco, and then arrived home early on Sunday morning.  Our kids were happy to see us (Q says "you're back!"), and we were happy to be home. 

Check out the other parts of this trip recap:

Days 1, 2 and 3

Days 4 and 5

Days 5 and 6