Visiting 2 Islands, Need accomodation info

My husband and I (no kids) are planning a Hawaiian trip for the end of August,2009. We want to spend 1/2 the time on Maui and 1/2 in Honolulu. We are interested in extended stay places (kitchen, etc) vs. a hotel. Right now, the plan is 5 days on ea. island. Has anybody done this (well, I%26#39;m sure people have. Have YOU done this! :)), and can you give me a ballpark figure as to what it cost you. This would include island hops and a rental car on ea. island. I would so appreciate some feedback on this! Thank you.

Visiting 2 Islands, Need accomodation info

If I am not mistaken the best rates are weekly, i.e. a week in Maui and then 3 days at Honolulu. At least thats how we always do it, and it works out cheapest.

Visiting 2 Islands, Need accomodation info

A 5/5 split is definitely doable. The biggest issue with visiting more than one island is that:

a) you have to lose a chunk of a day to do the interisland travel - still have to clear security and turn in rental car, pick up new car, pack and shift. We do it! It%26#39;s not cheap, but beats swimming - average rates are currently in a bit of price war, but we like Hawaiian Airlines - bigger planes and good service. Take a look at their website to view fares - but if budget is high on your priority list you can check with Mokulele or Island Air. If at all possible see if you can fly directly into one airport and back from another to save time and money.

b) renting condos is very popular and a good way to get comfortable, should not be a problem to find for five day periods - - BUT that is a popular travel time for families and even with economy being wonky it is in your best interest to start by reserving cars ASAP - find lodgings ASAP. If you see something that you are interested in then make phone calls rather than contact via e-mail - - better yet, if you plan to go through vrbo then I would advise sending e-mail and then phone call.

c)Rental cars are generally less costly by the week, but if you find a good rate for daily it will be about 30-35 per day for midsize car + taxes and fees

Costs? Well we travel from the westcoast so flights are good value for us - have seen people actually get some even better deals from your area! Visiting the islands, average costs for the two of us - have done many trips with average expenditure of about 3k for a week, but have gone as high as 5k per week. It depends on where we choose to stay and where we eat. I could definitely do it for less. Condos tend to be less expensive than hotels - you can save money on food by eating in or just less pricey places - I love a nice hotel, but the space and conveniences of a condo are hard to beat.

I agree with what %26#39;altitude%26#39; said: a week on Maui and three nights on Oahu. There are scads of less expensive hotels (and lots of cheat eats too) in Honolulu. You might only need a car for one day to tour the east and north shores. There is good bus service in the city -- can take you to Pearl Harbor, too. If you do get a car right from the airport make sure you%26#39;re not paying a lot to park it at whatever hotel.

On Maui you can find a nice condo for as little as $100/night plus taxes (11.42%). You%26#39;ll save by having a kitchen so you don%26#39;t have to eat out all the time, and you%26#39;ll have more space, a washer/dryer, etc.

Ignore the above if you want a lot of nightlife; then you need to spend more time Waikiki!

If you decide to visit two islands, try to fly into one and home from the other, avoiding one %26#39;hop%26#39;.

We did something similar with our two children a few weeks ago. We flew into Oahu and spent 5 nights. We then stayed 4 nights on Maui and flew back home from Maui. We even did a day trip to the Big Island from Oahu. We had a wonderful vacation. There were other places we could have stayed for cheaper, but we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Hilton Hawaiian Village ($314 + tax) on Oahu and Marriot Ocean Club ($380/nt + tax) on Maui. At the Hilton we had a 1 bedroom/1 bath with full kitchen. At the Marriott we had a 1 bedroom/2 bath that had a small fridge, microwave, dishwasher. We rented a cars on both islands from Avis. On both islands we paid $37/day + taxes %26amp; fees. They did have an interisland rate renting from the same company on both islands, but it worked out to be slightly more. Our interisland flight between Oahu and Maui was $89/pp. We didn%26#39;t pay much for our flights to and from Hawaii as we used miles.

When looking at flights, look for flights going to Oahu and back from Maui and vice versa as just the sequence of how you visit the islands may make a difference in price.

I%26#39;ve done this but only when staying for more than a week per island. 5 nights is nothing, I can take naps that last for 3 days. I%26#39;d do 10 nights on maui: 5 in Kaanapali area and 5 in south maui. You%26#39;ll save money and have a better time overall since no time wasted traveling. Plus if you stay for 10 at one place many people would give you a free night or some other discount.

Figure $100/night for a condo rental but do go higher (like $160) if you can as your options will get more interesting. Don%26#39;t forget taxes and cleaning fees are usually $150 or so. $30/day for car. $40-$80 for each inter island flight. Food 20% more expensive?

You may want to have a look at www.hawaiigaga.com which will allow you to search vrbo for availability.