We love this feisty little Hawaii hotel chain, Aqua Hotels, for taking a modern spin on Waikiki resorts. Alas, they've only been able to grab second-tier (and sometimes extremely second-tier) locations to showcase their chops.
But that will all change as the chain announced yesterday it would take over management of the Park Shore Waikiki , a property that has had some renovations done and has a super-primo location but has always been relegated to the B-List.
If past is prologue, Aqua will do some nice renovation to mod out the place, put in a spa, ideally bring in a nice restaurant, etc.
Having a decent operation managing this place will be awesome -- I personally can't wait to test drive the Aqua take on the pool deck, one of the best in Waikiki and one of the few with 270 degree views taking in both Diamond Head and the western end of Waikiki.
[Ed. Note: Alex Salkever is the founder / editor of Hawaiirama.com, a travel blog covering the islands.]
As part of its eight-figure renovation quest, the legendary Kahala Resort on the South Shore of Oahu has decided to become a pet-friendly property. That means kitties and puppies (and other critters on leashes) can luxuriate in this resort setting tucked away from the bustle of Waikiki and the city of Honolulu.
Alas, I have but one question. One of my favorite parts about the old Kahala Mandarin was that it had lovely parquet floors in the rooms. In the tropics, they tended to buckle. So the resort, as part of renovations, replaced them with carpets. The carpets are nice but were already showing signs of wear and tear (only a few months in) when I stayed in one of these rooms in January.
Now my question is, should a pet-friendly resort have carpets, particularly in a tropical clime? Can a nuclear-powered steam cleaner chase out the odors or will guests sans fido be treated to a doggie downer odor in these otherwise quite lovely renovated rooms?
Judd Apatow's newest man-child comedy, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," comes out today, and a bunch of it was filmed at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu. Supporting actress Mila Kunis even plays a Turtle Bay desk clerk in the film.
The resort turns into a romantic ground zero when Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) and his newly ex-girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) both drop in to get away from each other. Fortunately the hotel has a few bars that lead to some choice Apatow comedy moments for Peter.
Turtle Bay has plenty of beach, plus pools, golf courses, tennis courts and a surf school. But if you're willing to head further afield, Jaunted has some movie set travel ideas for ya.
The people at the Four Seasons Maui are really keen to get guests in to see their grand new renovations, and after having a 6 for 5 special, they've now got a new promotion called the Suite Life, available for guests who book a suite for five nights or more.
As part of the Suite Life deal, you'll get quite a few nice inclusives: limousine airport transfer (or free parking instead), champagne and local snacks on arrival, and gifts like a Four Seasons beach bag full of beach towels and sunscreen. Throughout your stay you'll also be entitled to breakfast daily and (the bit we especially like) free WiFi in your room.
We're always thrilled by free WiFi (although we look forward to the day when it's standard), and that's one of the best features of the Four Seasons Maui renovations. All rooms also now have large flat-screen HD TVs and iPod docking stations, too. The Suite Life welcome gift should be encouraging us to spend more time at the beach, but with everything we need in our room, we may not want to leave it.
Over at the Four Seasons Resort Maui they're not only pretty happy at scoring well in the Conde Nast Readers' Choice Awards--they were rated the best resort in the US--but they're also glowing with pride over their recent renovations, and their special winter 6 for 5 deal.
The renovations have seen new Hawaii-inspired furnishings in all the rooms and suites, along with "new intuitive technology", which might be great, but we're not really sure what the heck it is. As part of the whole refurb deal, the Four Seasons Maui has also added a significant collection of museum-quality art, and reckons that in combination with the Four Seasons Hualalai, they actually are caretakers of the state's largest collection of Hawaiian art.
Their favorite deal at the moment is a sixth night free promotion running from January 6 to February 14, 2008, where guests who book five nights get one complimentary night. Rooms rates start at $620. Seeing all that Hawaiian art won't cost you a cent extra.
After a rough Monday, who can resist starting their day with a picture of an adorable baby dolphin? (Dolphins are the new unicorns!)
This youngster is the newest member of the dolphin family at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. The baby girl bottlenose was born on October 9, at 3:42p.m. and she has been nameless ever since because the hotel, along with Dolphin Quest Hawaii, are holding a Name-the-Baby contest.
Name entries for the Name-the-Baby contest should be a Hawaiian word representing a person, place or thing relating to the Hawaiian Islands. Dolphin Quest Crew Members will pick the winning name.
The contest winner will receive a photo of the newly-named dolphin baby, a gift certificate for a complimentary Dolphin Family and Friends Program, and a one night stay at Hilton Waikoloa Village on Hawaii's Big Island. Entries will be accepted until December 9th, 2007.
To enter the contest or for more information call Dolphin Quest at 808-886-2875.
So hurry, you only have five more days to name that baby!
More baby dolphin pictures after the jump. Because every Tuesday morning should be so cute.
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
...we are so hitting this place up.
When you want to take a holiday in paradise, check into Room 2609 at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua on the island of Maui, Hawaii, and make sure the conditions are right for a rainbow.
This view probably doesn't happen every day, but even without the rainbow you'd probably feel like you'd struck your personal pot of gold if you could overlook both the swimming pool and the bay like this. In fact, the big attraction at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua is really the golf, so it's possible that some guests might even feel dissatisfied with this view, lacking any golf greens as it does. But not us.
A big word of caution, however: the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua is currently CLOSED. It's getting a $125 million renovation-come-transformation ready for January 2008. Guest rooms are getting remodeled, there's a new spa and fitness center and a new Japanese restaurant. But the views should remain more or less the same.
Big thanks to HotelChatter reader Dan who sent us these killer views from the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Dan said he stayed in the Rainbow Tower Room #1119 and could look out the window to this view ; that's gotta be something like being in paradise. Dan, did you ever leave, or have you moved in permanently?
You can also check out a video view from the 31st floor, and one more perfect view from Dan after the jump.
