Hotel for the holidays? For a number of Hawai’i visitors, a vacation here offers a less stressful way to celebrate the season with fewer hometown obligations.
Various hotels celebrate in different ways: some offer special gingerbread displays, many provide entertainment and others design special programs.
At the Halekulani hotel in Waikiki, the holiday season has become so popular that executive assistant manager Gerald Glennon finds himself with a full hotel, and half of the travelers in the 455 rooms who are there have stayed at the hotel before. That’s up significantly from the normal 30 percent of returnees, he said.
In many cases, Glennon said, "when they left last year, they made reservations for this year."
Stan and Marjie Finkelstein, of Olympia, Wash., fall into that category — times five. "This is our 25th stay," she said.
He adds, "we’re fortunate addicts."
Stan, 64, and Marjie, 59, love to travel and do a lot of it. Their destinations last year included Paris; London; Manchester, Vt.; and five trips to Chicago.
They started coming to the Halekulani in 1988. When their two sons were small, they brought the kids along every other year, they said.
Next year, they plan to expand the holiday tradition with the next generation, coming with their older son, his wife and a granddaughter.
Stan works as a director of a statewide association of cities and also is a professor at Seattle University, teaching public finance, city management and budgeting. "We live comfortably, not extravagantly," he said.
Both say they appreciate the positive energy of Hawai’i in general, and the friendly spirit of the Halekulani. "We never encountered one in which the personality of the hotel and the personality of the staff were so positive and gracious."
Glennon said this is the second year the oceanfront luxury hotel has offered a special "12 days of Christmas" program to guests, offering different holiday activities that offer something for guests of any creed.
The extra activities are free, and range from yoga, free limo rides to Ala Moana Center and mini-massages, to cookie decorating and trolley rides to see the Honolulu City Lights.
"We don’t have snow but we have shave ice," Glennon said. "We try to make the whole month festive."
State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said December traditionally starts slow but turns strong for tourism during Christmas and New Year’s.
"Hawai’i has been — and continues to be, thank goodness — a destination where people want to spend the holidays gathered around with family and friends," Wienert said.
"They tend to come here year after year after year," she said. "For the hotels, those returning guests are almost like family."
Normally, the rush then depends on the day of the week that Christmas falls on, so the surge happens between two to four days before. "Many of our properties are sold out at the holidays," Wienert said. "It’s very difficult to get a room."
She said the lower-key holiday appeals to many. "It’s really giving them the ability to spend that quality time with their family and friends away from their normal environment where there’s all kinds of distractions," she said.
"This is not a new phenomenon. This is a tradition for Hawai’i and for many of our visitors."
The Finkelsteins said the hotel program gave them a chance to connect with holiday activities that they enjoyed, including the trolley ride to the lights. "We have never experienced that in all of the years we’ve been coming here," Stan said.
"Our children are grown and gone," Stan said. "Our lives are so complex that being able to have this block of time away from the rainy Northwest here in the magnificent sunshine of Hawai’i is a respite."
Friday night we had a opportunity to stay at the Sheraton Waikiki and to tell you the truth, I really didn’t know what to expect because it’s been a while since I’ve actually stayed at the property. For my complete review visit Hawaiirama.com
Hawaiian Airlines has issued an apology and will refund $225 to a California customer who was charged a service fee for canceling her plane tickets due to her mother’s death. Jane Wilkens of Monrovia, Calif., had planned to fly from Los Angeles to the Big Island with her 77-year-old mother and one of her mother’s friends in April. But then her mother died. According to a column yesterday in the Los Angeles Times Wilkens tried to cancel three first-class tickets but was told that she would have to pay a $75 service fee for each ticket. Wilkens said she canceled reservations at the Hilton Waikoloa Village with no problems. She also canceled two first-class tickets on Delta Air Lines for a separate trip to Maine she planned to take with her mother after the Hawai’i visit, the Times said. A resolution coordinator at Hawaiian initially told Wilkens that the carrier understood that her mother’s death was "an uncontrollable event" but went on to say the fees were "fair and reasonable," according to the Times column.
"I thought that was ridiculous," Wilkens told the Times. "I bought those tickets nine months in advance and canceled seven months in advance. It’s not like they wouldn’t have time to resell them." Hawaiian said yesterday that it erred and has apologized to Wilkens for its handling of the matter. "We made the wrong call in this case, and we apologize for that," said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian Airlines’ president and chief executive officer. "We have rules, and 99.9 percent of the time, these rules make sense, but there are always going to be exceptions. This was one of those cases, and we simply dropped the ball." Wilkens could not be reached for comment. Airlines often suspend fees for flight changes and cancelations due to death of a passenger or the death of a close relative. Rival Aloha Airlines said its policy is to waive such fees and refund the ticket purchase in such cases. "It’s a matter of compassion," said Aloha spokesman Stu Glauberman.
The public relations blunder comes as Hawaiian, the state’s largest airline, has been the industry leader for on-time performance and other customer service measures.
Negatives work in Hawaii Superferry’s favor When I first heard about the Hawaii Superferry coming to the islands I really wasn’t all that excited about it. As a travel agent the Superferry was not offering commissions or any incentive to sell the service. Additionally, I thought that the price point was too high for most people and that tourists wouldn’t really want to spend three hours on a ship no matter how beautiful the scenery is when they could fly in just a few minutes to any of the other islands. I thought the Superferry would live or die on its own merits and the marketplace would dictate its success or failure.
As time went on, and all of the negatives surfaced about Hawaii Superferry with regard to environmental factors, it put the Superferry front and center in the media. I think it turns out that this media attention has actually been very good for the Hawaii Superferry cause. Suddenly they became the "underdog " and everybody loves the underdog right? It put their CEO on all of the newscasts and gave them an opportunity to rally support for the Hawaii superferry. This has all been very good for their publicity and has really made people feel like they should now be able start the service.
While the jury is still out as to whether or not the SupeFerry will be a success, it sure has created a lot of controversy and in the long run all has helped the Hawaii Superferry cause and their business model.
Molokai, known as the ‘Friendly Island,’ is home to the second-biggest cattle ranch in the islands and was a longtime haven for lepers before the disease was treatable. It preserves the ambiance of old-traditional Hawaii, perhaps a Hawaii of 50 years ago. With only 7,000 people on the whole isle, a couple days here and you feel like part of the family: calling everyone by first name, knowing who’s cousin to who and thoroughly enjoying the hospitality.
There are several motel/apartment complexes on the island, but I was fortunate to stay at The Molokai Ranch Lodge. The buildings are only two stories high - nothing taller than a coconut tree is allowed on the isle of Molokai - but the views overlooking the garden, pool and beyond to the surrounding Pacific Ocean are awesome. No postcard captures these sunsets. The rooms have "country decor," (upscale country, for sure) and the dining room is only a short walk away from the lodge.
Friday and Saturday nights, the lodge rocks with music provided by locals. Bo Perez - Molokai’s answer to Tony Bennett - and his group put on a show that easily could be a Las Vegas lounge show.
Sunday mornings, Uncle Jimmy, the fifth-generation paniolo (cowboy) on the ranch, holds a worship hour in the stable area. With the barn swept clean, a white sheet covering the table where he preaches and with a saddle on either side, Uncle Jimmy dispenses his word of the day. He always stresses, "Keep it simple," a message worth remembering. Other days he can be found running the Molokai Cowboy Connection on the ranch, offering guided horse tours, rodeos, riding fundamentals and hauling. The Molokai Rodeo, which he founded, takes place in October and has turned into a grand festival.
The ranch also offers tentalows in its Beach Village. The tents are almost like camping out, but with a few amenities to assure comfort. Tentalows are great for family vacations or for those who want to "rough it with style." Visitors should spend time with Anakala Pilipo Solatorio, Molokai’s storyteller who can be found on the grounds. His mission is to preserve the history of the island and its natives. The garden he has created there showcases many of the indigenous plants.
Molokai is in the midst of a controversy right now; those for and against development are locked in debate. Many of the locals don’t want their island to ever change, but others say they must progress if they are going to continue to exist. Right now, the white sand beaches and the golf courses are almost empty and there is no traffic problem. In fact, there are no traffic lights on the entire island. Development will bring change, and that’s the basis of the debate. But for right now, Molokai remains a pristine paradise waiting to be discovered.
Hawaiian Airlines has issued an apology and will refund $225 to a California customer who was charged a service fee for canceling her plane tickets due to her mother’s death. Jane Wilkens of Monrovia, Calif., had planned to fly from Los Angeles to the Big Island with her 77-year-old mother and one of her mother’s friends in April. But then her mother died.
Negatives work in Hawaii Superferry’s favor
Molokai, known as the ‘Friendly Island,’ is home to the second-biggest cattle ranch in the islands and was a longtime haven for lepers before the disease was treatable. It preserves the ambiance of old-traditional Hawaii, perhaps a Hawaii of 50 years ago. With only 7,000 people on the whole isle, a couple days here and you feel like part of the family: calling everyone by first name, knowing who’s cousin to who and thoroughly enjoying the hospitality. 