TopDawg Travel

Archive for the ‘Honolulu’ Category

As I mentioned in an earlier blog piece, when I find “good deals” I have decided to share them here. Again, this is something I have steered away from in the past, but decided that these extraordinary times called for sharing these opportunities more broadly. And a lot of what I say here is strictly just my opinion and my advice to my clients. So talking about the “good deals” in Hawaii is a natural.

First off, Hawaii is always a wonderful place to spend your vacation. And, of course, I am prejudiced. Having lived there for 28 years, I can not think of any other place I would rather be. That said, I now reside in Seattle. But Hawaii is where my heart lives. There are some incredible deals for visits to Hawaii right now, however. Take as an example, the Starwood Hotels and Resort’s Hawaii have a promotion going on until March 31, 2009. It is called Sunsational Savings. You can qualify for a third night free and a breakfast or meal credit daily. At some locations, there is also a free room upgrade available; at others there is a 20% spa discount; at other hotels there is a 15% off at select restaurants.

Tomorrow, January 20, will be the celebration of the reopening of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. This hotel is offering the “1927 Package” which includes luxury Royal Grove accommodations for a four-night minimum stay (you get the first night at $19.27, with additional nights from $450 per night), dinner for two at the new Azure Restaurant, two mai tais and a memento gift. This 1927 Package is available from Feb1 through June 30, 2009.

The Aqua Hotels and Resorts have a “Nifty To Be Fifty Statehood” Special at all 12 of its Waikiki hotels during 2009. Some of the offerings include a $50 off the first night with a minimum three night stay. They also include a free amenity for guests aged 50+; a free 1959-inspired postcard; and, a half-hour mini-massage for $50.

The Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk is offering guests up to four hours of free valet parking when lunching at one of several restaurants at the Beach Walk. The offer is valid daily from 11AM to 3PM. Some of these restaurants include the Cheeseburger Beachwalk, Roy’s Waikiki, Yard House, Kaiwa, Giovanni Pastrami & Taorimina Sicilian Cuisine.

I worked in Waikiki at Shaheen’s, an upscale clothing store, in the early 1970′s. I lived in the Waikiki “jungle” in the mid-1970′s. My memories of Lewers Street and Beach Walk make me want to go there just to take that walk down memory lane. Have you been there before – maybe a long time ago, like me? Waikiki Beach Walk has changed. Waikiki has changed. And I want to say, for the better! It is safer, more friendly, cleaner. A real pleasure to visit. If you want to share your memories of Waikiki, or talk about an upcoming visit, just add your comments here.

Wow!  Have you ever had planning your vacation interrupted by a vacation action (taking of vacation impromptu)?  I call it “vacation planning interruptus”.  My vacation planning and research got interrupted by an impromptu trip to Honolulu for the first week of December.  So here I sit in a Starbucks (ah…have I been in Seattle too long???) in Waikiki at 5PM on a Thursday evening typing this.  I resisted this trip with all my heart cause to leave here is going to break that heart and it has only been held together for the past 10 years with spit and shoe polish as it was.  It was 10 years ago I left Hawaii after spending 28 years there.  And 8 and 1/2 years since I was last in the islands to see my lovely keiki graduate from high school. 

Nothing has changed…and a lot has changed.  Some for the best…some for the worse…and some, no change at all.  I could find my way around blindfolded.  The sun is just as bright and hot, the sky just as blue, the people just as warm and friendly and the bus system just as efficient.  And the politics rage just as they did when I left, crime is about the same, people are just as kind or as rude as they ever were, the pot holes just as big with temporary fixes of asphalt patch…yet sidewalks clean and Waikiki just as touristy.  They have a lovely hula show (for free) at Kuhio Beach every evening at dusk compliments of the Waikiki Improvement Association.  They light the tiki torches while blowing the conch.  There are incredible sunsets with blood red sails (and green and yellow and white sails as well), that sail across the sunset glow on the water.  The pink hotel still lights up, not only at sunset, but at sunrise…and even in the middle of the day.  There is still liquid sunshine that falls on you to ease the cooking heat of the sun.  There are a lot of cranes on the horizon and big buildings dotting the skyline.  And this month there are the additional delights of Christmas lights and decorations. 

 It is so hard to imagine that in a too few hours, I will be headed back to the cold, the dreary, the cloudy/rainy/snowy mainland.  I find myself in total rebellion of the concept or the thought. If I did not miss my TopDawg so much, I might write the rest of my blog from here forever.  But I need to go and get my fur fix, retrieve my TopDawg and start to plot my next return to paradise.  

Over the next few days I will post pictures and comments of my experiences of the past 5 days in Waikiki and Honolulu.  I will share some of my most favorite places, mention a few of my favorite people, and generally tell the story of a rebellious wahine who has to leave the islands of her heart and go back to her life.  Stay tuned…it is time to go catch a sunset through the palm fronds and breathe the fragrant pikake and plumeria flowers for a few hours more! 

Aloha and Mahalo!