Inns and Outs

Over the last month of travel, I have stayed in 5 major island resorts and 1 cruise ship!  The hotels have all been rather upmarket places, and I wouldn't necessarily choose to stay in such lavish properties on a regular basis.  But for this trip, I figured I might as well "shoot the works" since I may not pass this way again.

All have been very comfortable, and all have had excellent facilities in relation to their size.

But here's a rundown on the six, in reverse order, starting with the last one.

[6]  Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort (Maui).  I would never, ever have picked this place in the ordinary way of things.  I came here because I could cash in my Hilton Hhonors points for two free nights' stay.  The room I'm in would normally cost about US$400 a night for a view of the parking garage and mountain, so you can imagine the rates for a full ocean-view room.  This place is so enormous and overpowering that it's like staying in a royal palace, complete with huge columns, fancy staircases, artworks everywhere, and miles of stately corridors, whether indoors or outdoors.  Just getting to the front desk to register is like negotiating a laboratory maze -- I wonder what happens if you get lost in the lobby?  Do they refuse to register you?  To get to the bistro down by the water or to the adults-only pool area is a 10-minute brisk walk from my room, not counting the time needed to take two separate elevators.  It's also very easy to get lost here because there is a dire need for more and clearer signs in elevators, and along indoor and outdoor walkways.  With all that, and even with the cachet of the Waldorf Astoria name, I did not find the service here any better than in many other and much cheaper hotels I have stayed in.  I think it's basically a case of "more is less" because this hotel simply seems too big to be able to work efficiently.  Here's an online view of the entire monstrous structure.

[5]  Marriott Waikoloa Beach Resort and Spa (Hawaii -- Big Island).  From my picture below, you can see that this is a lovely property.  It's a much more modest size, and would be a great place to stay except that the service in the food/beverage departments was coming apart at the seams all over the place.  I had six different service glitches in a 3 night stay, including drinks that didn't arrive and a salad that came with several ingredients missing.  Even though the cost was fairly modest compared to some other hotels, I couldn't recommend this one.  High pretensions but fails to deliver the goods.

[4]  Intercontinental Resort Tahiti (2 stays).  This one wins hands down for most attractive property, with smallish buildings surrounded by beautiful gardens and plenty of ocean frontage.  Since this is Tahiti, a very rocky island, there isn't much beach.  The sand-floored pool goes a long way to make up for that.  Service people are very friendly, but not all are fluent in English (this is French Polynesia, after all).  The over-water bungalow was comfortable, but the panoramic room on the 3rd floor even more so.  The restaurant features a good choice of Tahitian foods alongside more conventionally European dishes.  Most relaxing resort all around.

[3]  Ocean Princess, Princess Cruise Lines.  An absolutely delightful, laid-back ship with a distinctly easy-going feeling to it.  As I already posted, the decor gives a strong backwards glance to the Golden Age of transatlantic steamship travel, as does the service.  But what really makes this such a great ship is the ability, among a small complement of passengers and crew, to really get to meet and know other people during the cruise.  You can imagine my chagrin when I learned that Princess has sold the ship to another operator!  Grrrr.  However, I will be taking another cruise on Ocean Princess in December, an 18-day transatlantic voyage from Rome to Miami with various stops on the way.  it's the ship's penultimate voyage under the Princess banner.

[2]  Marriott Kauai Resort, Kalapaki, Kauai.  This one had a good combination of features and was large but not too large.  The best features of this resort were the huge pool, and the attractive beach with gentle surf.  Of all these locations, this is the only one I would judge safe for small children being in the ocean with their parents.  This was the place for outstanding service quality, in all departments, and the one out of all my hotel stays that I would want to visit again.

[1]  Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu.  This resort in the form of a city of hotels is of course even larger than any 2 of the others put together, but still easy to get around because of the effective layout of the property.  I could reach the pool, the beach, or any of the restaurants in 5 minutes walk from my room, not counting elevator time.  Also, here, there is the advantage of off-property eateries and convenience stores close by, for cheaper alternatives to hotel meals and drinks.  Of all the properties I visited, this one generally offered the fewest options for meals -- it had the smallest and least varied breakfast buffet, and the less-upscale of the dinner restaurants had a pretty limited menu.  Inevitably, the sheer size of the place means bottlenecks at restaurants, pools, and bars  The front desk and concierge services always seem to have line-ups.

If/when I do return to Hawaii, it will likely be to the Kauai Marriott resort.