Hawaii trip advice please!

[KimKelly]

We have made reservations at the Hilton Waikoloa on the big island of Hawaii for our family for Spring Break this year (kids ages 7 & 10). Tonight I was checking recent reviews on this hotel on Trip Advisor and got a number of pretty bad reviews. So here are my questions:

- Has anyone stayed there? And what did you think?

- I'm thinking of changing to Kauai.... any reccomendations for hotels there?

We are really trying to make this a kids vacation. Our last Hawaiian vacation was at the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui and we loved it. We'd love some pools with water slides, etc, fun stuff for kids. Any ideas?

Aloha,
Kim

[donleyk]

I don't know what the resorts in Kauai may offer but I don't think of that island as a kid's island. Do you think you'll do much away from the hotel? Are the kids into hiking and beaches?

[ClaraB]

We're taking the kids to Oahu this Friday, and from what I've researched, Oahu will be very kid-friendly. The sheer number of beaches alone will keep them entertained for days, not to mention all the stuff to do in and around Honolulu. You may have your reasons for not going there though...

[TKay]

How timely. We are also planning a trip to Hawaii with our kids during spring break. I'm interested to see that you liked the place you stayed in Maui. That's where we're going (although we haven't picked our hotel yet). I have been to both the Big Island and Kauai (though niether time with kids). While I haven't stayed at the hotel you mentioned, I do think the Big Island is more kid-friendly. There are the volcanoes and the national park there. But I'm not an expert on the area.
As for Kauai, when dh and I went there for our anniversary, it rained every single day. As in, was not sunny. Ever. The island is much smaller and, while beautifu, there's not as much to do. The irony is that that's why we picked it in the first place. We just wanted to lounge on the beach. We didn't get to do that at all.
Anyway, good luck with your trip planning. Maybe someone else can provide more insight.

[KimKelly]

TKay... we LOVED the Kea Lani in Maui. We actually got married there and then last year returned with 5 other families. It's a great place for kids, they have a fun water slide and it is right on the beach. We snorkeled right off of the hotel beach and saw fish and sea turtles. There is also a free (one of the only free things!) outrigger ride off of their beach. The guys take you out and talk about Hawaiian lore. Sometimes they dive down and bring up urchins, etc. We saw lots of turtles in the 40 minute ride.

The restaurant there is highly rated, but we thought it was just ok. The food was definitely good, but the service left a bit to be desired.

The rooms are all suites, with microwave and fridge. The bathrooms are huge with walk in showers. It was nice to have the kids sleep on the pull out bed and my husband and I still got our own bed and room.

They have a guy who runs around with a torch every night and lights all the tiki's... my kids loved that.

Hope you enjoy your trip! Sounds like we are going the same week.

Kim

[misskitty100]

I have stayed at the Waikoloa and I couldn't imagine being a better place to take kids your age in Hawaii if they like swimming, water slides etc. What were the negative comments about?

The Hilton also has a lagoon with turtles and fish that is fun to kayak in and around aside from the train and boats that take you around the hotel property.

Your kids might be old enough to do the Dolphin Quest program too but even if they aren't, it is just amazing to watch the dolphins up close.

[Hoodone]

We're leaving for the Big Island on Friday. My kids are little, 2 and 4, so we've rented a condo. I was really interested in the dolphin program where you are staying, but the kids are supposed to by 5. We are planning to do the volcanos and whale watching for sure. Also, we'll probably take turns with the kids and the others can do some snorkeling, sea kayaking and similar. Your kids might be old enough for some of that. I decided not to do the submarine because it is expensive and a friend of mine who'd done it said it wasn't all THAT great. But if your kids are into submarines, that might be a fun thing to do with them. Mine are a bit little for that expensive a thing. 4-yr-old is demanding me...sorry no more info than that.

[slknight]

What were the negative comments about? A friend of mine just went last weekend and took her two kids. I can ask her specific questions about it if you want.

[KimKelly]

I've been reading review on the Trip Advisor web site and most of the negative comments are on service and cleanliness and the largeness of the site. I don't have a problem with the size of the complex. We are on vacation and will really not have any schedule and we do enjoy lush grounds. The service (there were a few mentions of really rude employees) and cleanliness is a bit of an issue though if it really is bad.

I usually take these reviews with a grain of salt and I've never had problems on really any vacation that I've done. I feel that many times it is your attitude that will be reflected in the employee, so if you treat them well, they will most likely treat you well. But the number of reviews on service on this site was higher than I've seen before. Comments of dirty rooms, lots of mildew, cocroaches, and even sand fleas in beds... etc.

MissKitty, your comments are exactly why we chose this hotel! The kids love pools and waterslides, they will love kayaking - I wasn't aware that they could even do that! Can you snorkel in the lagoon as well? It must be a pretty good size lagoon. Yes, we do plan to do the Dophon Quest. The kids and I are going to do it together. Did you do that too? Was there anywhere that you ate that you really liked? Any other activities that you would recommend?

Slknight, I'd love to hear what your friends thought of the hotel! And I'd also be interested to hear the highlights of their trip or any restaurants that they liked that were good for the kids as well.

Hoodone, I haven't heard of the submarine. I'll have to check into that!

Thanks everyone. It's always fun, yet difficult to plan something so far away. When there is so much $ involved you just want it to be fun!

Kim

[misskitty100]

Kim,

My assumption is that if your room has any cleanliness issues you could easily request and recieve a new room. I have never seen cockroaches or any other bugs while staying in Hawaii although I have heard plenty of stories from people that have!

If you want to give Red Sail Sports a call they can fill you in on all the water activities at the hotel plus they do catamaran sailings and other things too. Here is their website: http://www.redsailhawaii.com/hi_index.html We purchased the watersports package and did a sunset cruise on their catamaran. The Dolphin swim and the sunset cruise were the highlights of the trip for us.

Yes, we got to swim with the Dolphins. All I can say is that those Dolphins are REALLY big when you are right up next to them . If my kids were older it would be a total thrill to get to see them interact with the Dolphins. When we were there they also had a professional photographer taking pictures and of course, those were for sale later that day. We bought 3 of them - I remember thinking they were expensive but I can't recall how much they cost.

Our favorite restaurant was Roy's which is at the Kings Shops. Donatoni's at the hotel was AWESOME too for a fancy, romantic dinner! We had the buffet every day for breakfast and it was wonderful too! In Kona, there are some great family friendly places too. There is a Starbucks, DQ, Subway (I think) and other quick places for food at the Kings Shops adjacent to the hotel. There is also a Costco between the Hilton and the town of Kona for pizza, salads, roasted chicken & hotel room snacks but you need to bring your Costco card.

If you haven't already, pick up the Big Island Revealed guide book (someone on the BB recomended it a few weeks ago) and I have enjoyed reading. Lots of info on stuff to do with kids and restaurant recomendations.

The property is HUGE! Do you know where you are staying? We stayed in the Lagoon tower and had a ground level room so we could use our sliding glass door to go out. The pool was right outside as were palm trees with hammocks. It was a bit of a hike to breakfast everyday but you could always take the boat or tram if you didn't want to walk. We were also close to the Dolphins which you can see all the time. Even if they aren't doing a program with them, they were swimming and jumping in the air - it was amazing!

[KimKelly]

MissKitty thank you!

I have requested the Lagoon Tower, but they said that we are "scheduled" to be in the Palace or "other" (I can't remember the name now) tower because of how we booked (Thru AAvacation.com). They did put in a request for me, so we'll see what happens. My daughter is very excited about the dolphins! Which program did you do? I'm thinking of one where the kids and I will do it together, I think it was about an hour. My son can do it alone, but my daughter wouldn't be able to unless I went too, but I want to so it will be fun.

Would the sunset cruise be fun for kids? I will go and look at the site after I post here.

Thank you for so much info! I feel much better now.
Kim

[cchhbb]

DH and I spent a week at the Outrigger next to the Hilton in 2000. We had a very nice meal over at the Hilton and thought the Dolphins were great to watch.

One thing I would recommend against was the helicopter ride to see the volcanos. It was really expensive and we were really disappointed. We didn't see anything like the pictures that they showed.

[misskitty100]

MissKitty thank you!

I have requested the Lagoon Tower, but they said that we are "scheduled" to be in the Palace or "other" (I can't remember the name now) tower because of how we booked (Thru AAvacation.com). They did put in a request for me, so we'll see what happens. My daughter is very excited about the dolphins! Which program did you do? I'm thinking of one where the kids and I will do it together, I think it was about an hour. My son can do it alone, but my daughter wouldn't be able to unless I went too, but I want to so it will be fun.

Would the sunset cruise be fun for kids? I will go and look at the site after I post here.

Thank you for so much info! I feel much better now.
Kim

I don't remember which Dolphin program we did but it lasted about an hour and was totally amazing!

If your kids enjoy being on a boat I am sure they would like the sunset cruise. You ride on a catamaran and when we went there were only 2 other couples on board. It is an all you can eat/drink type deal but everyone was very lowkey - nobody was drunk or anything like that (thank goodness!). Red Sail Sports picked us up at the hotel and we drove down to the beach about 5 or 10 minutes away. We walked onto the beach and into the water and climbed on board the catamaran. The crew was really, really nice and let anyone "drive" that wanted to, took pictures of us whenever we asked etc. Part of the catamarn had woven rope type stuff (sorry I don't know what the real term is) and you could sit or lay on it right above the water - it was really fun.

[KimKelly]

CCH, my daughter is so excited about the dolphins. She has loved them since she was born, so this will be a real treat for her. I put in a request with the hotel that our room be in the Lagoon tower which is near the dolphins. Hopefully we can get that to work out.

Thanks for the tip on the helicopter... I don't think that activity will be on our list. My husband is an airline pilot and doesn't do well with other people at the controls!

Kim