Hawaii Vacation Specialist-Chris

Well today I had a customer, marie who requested a blog about interisland travel in the hawaiian islands, how to do it and tips on what to do.

Christine
phone:1-800-843-8771 ext. 32 or email:  chris@hawaii-aloha.com

The topic of my blog today is starwood properties.  In Hawaii there are many starwood properties.  I have seen some good starwood deals for the fall as well as all these added benefits of staying at a starwood resort.

As in one of my recent blogs I mentioned that I have moved from Hawaii to New Hampshire.  While we are trying to take in the sights here during our time as my husband is in the military so we could be moving around more and we have gone to maine and connecticut and other towns in New Hampshire itself and stayed in about 3 hotels since we have been here.  I have to say I was shocked at the prices.  Just from dealing with people day in and day out from all over the country and how many have said why are hawaii hotel prices so expensive?  Well truthfully they are not very expensive at all.  I had this big fantasy of a cheap weekend getaway , paying somewhere between $80-$90 a night at the most for a pretty nice hotel.  Boy was I wrong.  I am finding that even the hotel prices up in this area are running about $135-$150 a night for a best western type hotel that don’t even have all the amenties of the hotels in hawaii that offer those same prices.  Mind you also that we also qualify for military rates on some of these and are still paying over $100 a night. I also checked some high end brand name hotels and guess what?  Same price, for instance the hilton for a standard room was $200.00 + tax a night.  So why is it that people repeatedly say hawaii hotel prices are so high and expect the hotels to be a lower rate than their own home town?  I’m still yet to figure that out.  Since my husband always does the hotel bills when we go out of town normally I hadn’t paid much attention, but this time we extended a night and when the desk girl told me how much I started to do a little research on hotels in the area and to my surprise it was much higher than I would have thought.  Not that these hotels are not nice and are not worth the price, but not being from the area and just going off of what I am getting from people around the country I talk to I would have expected them to be a lot lower than what they are.
I’m sure we may be able to find some motel for cheaper and you can still sometimes get a hotel for about $100 a night on Oahu and some outer island hotels for just over $100 a night, but of course you get what you pay for.
This was just a observation I had from our recent stays and then some on the side research into hotel prices in this area (New England area).   So really if you research a "tourist" area as we visited groton and mystic connecticut and hampton new hampshire which are considered I guess "tourist" areas, you will probably find that the hotel prices for a decent place to stay are not much different than hawaii and you have to understand that hawaii is a vacation destination.  Usually in a vacation destination the prices may be a little higher but that is across the board not just hawaii.

~Chris~
Hawaii Aloha Travel
www.hawaii-aloha.com
1-800-843-8771 ext. 32

Disney has a new offer!  You can add the dining package to your hotel/ticket package for FREE!

Air itinerary (2 passengers) :

Oahu  Friday, 4 May 2007  through  Tuesday, 8 May 2007

Accommodations

• AQUA WAIKIKI WAVE / Superior wave
    Adults: 2,  Children: 0,  Rollaway: N, Crib: N
  Check in: Friday, 04 May 2007   Check out: Tuesday, 08 May 2007

           Total for 2: $ 1144.00

Aloha!

Toll free: 1-800-843-8771 ext. 32

These are some of the questions I have been getting lately and some misconceptions of booking travel…

Here are some things to know about what happens when you input information for a hawaii vacation quote with Hawaii Aloha Travel.

• Personalized service:  Each individual customer gets personalized service from one of the agents.  Realize that when you go to the website and you enter in your information and actual live agent is doing your quote for you.  You get personalized service from beginning to the end of your trip.  Any problems while traveling, you can call your agent, changes before your trip call your agent, suggestions of tours to do, again call your agent.  The reason we are Hawaii Aloha Travel and book all inbound hawaii vacations is because most of us were born and raised on the islands, if not we have lived there for many years and we know the islands best.  Who better to book your trip than someone who only knows hawaii as their everyday life? 

** Some important notes when requesting a quote via email. 

* Check your junk mail.  There are many times people request a quote and sometimes our emails will go to junk mail so check your junk mail if you are expecting a quote from us.  The quote will be emailed to you right away from one of the agents, within the day unless of course you are a night owl and putting it in really late at night when we are all asleep then it will be emailed to you first thing the next day.

*We do send followups after our initial quote.  This is not to bug you or push you or pressure you.  We just simply want to make sure you got your quote as I mentioned above we do go to junk mail sometimes, sometimes people have a slip of the finger and enter the wrong email address, so if you don’t get a quote you submitted for then either try again or call us.  If there is a number provided which I believe is a required field however , some don’t want to give their phone number and give a fake, then we will call you if we can’t get through to you via email or if we need more info to do your quote.It’s best to look at the quote right away and ask us for any changes right away because a quote does not hold space for anything so the faster you work with us to get it just the way you want it, the better for you.  As courtesy knowing an actual agent is taking the time to plan your trip and give you a quote, if you are not interested a simple email would be appreciated to just let us know, or if you are finding a lower price send it over and we can try to beat it or match it.  You are not locked into us if you ask for a quote, however we do try to give the best customer service and price to all our customers.

**If you can give us as much info as possible under the details portion , the agents do love that.  It helps us better get to know what you want and need as every customer is different and it gives us a better feel for what you want.

• What if I received my quote and it is not what I wanted?  Well to that I say contact the agent and discuss what it is you want.  While the quotes via email do work great, being it only takes a minute of your time and then you put it in our hands to plan your trip, it doesn’t always convey exactly what you want if it is just a simple one with dates, hotel and car. 

If you don’t know what you want that is understandable as that is why most people come to us, so we can help guide them of where to go and what to do.

Don’t send requests for one day on each island.  I get so many requests for this and it is not practical.  When I get these I will alter it and send it out explaining what and why I did what I did.  It’s not because I am trying to "control" your vacation and not give you what you want.  It’s simply because I know it won’t work.

So why can’t I do one night on each island?

*Well for starters it will get pretty expensive.  You have to plane ride from island to island.  That is 5 interisland flights you would have to pay for.

*Vacation time is wasted.  I think people get the misconception that it is a 1/2 hour plane ride, no big deal.  Think again. The flight may be short, however it’s still an air flight.  You still have to check your bags in, arrive 90 minutes prior to your flight.  Then you land, go to baggage claim, wait for your bags, get your bags, go get your car, then you are on your way, then same thing the next day and the next day.  How relaxing can that be?  Really you can’t do or see much either in that short period of time on each island so it makes no sense.  If that is the case then you should do a cruise on one of NCL’s ships to all the islands.  Then you would eliminate plane rides and check in and check out.  Simply board on Oahu, cruise the islands  getting off at each port however your bags are in your cabin, no check in and check out, pack and unpack..it’s less time consuming and more practical.  Also there are not direct flights from every single island to another.  You would think common sense they are close just hop over.  Not the case.  Not easy to get a direct to molokai or lanai, usually only from honolulu, so more than likely one or two of those flights are going to have a stop on the way , wasting even more time out of your one day on that island.

*Most of the quotes I do get for the one night on each island also say budget hotel.  Well we run into a problem there also.  Lanai has a four seasons and well a four seasons, so you aren’t going to get budget there.

• What is a log in and password?   Well we send you an itinerary making it easier for you to make payments.  You can log in to your own itinerary see it there and click pay this reservation.  Simply enter your payment info and how much you would like to pay and we will enter the payment for you.  Simple as that.  A lot of people are enjoying this feature we now have.  Let’s face it, people are busy, it’s more convenient and we are in the age of technology so why not make it easier for you.  That is what we try to do in making booking your trip simple, easy, quick and most importantly enjoyable and worthwhile for you, the customer.
• Can I create my own password?  Sure you can, once you log in.  What happens is we input your quote, and the computer automatically generates you a log in and password, which gets sent to you.  Initially you use that link, log in and use the password assigned, then once in there you may change your password to something easier for you to remember.

Even if you are calling in to get a price quote don’t be afraid to ask for it in an email as most times we will ask you for an email address for us to send you the quote we discussed as it is most preferable that you actually look at it.  The quote will have the airline, flight number, flight times (which are always local to the state you are in ) , hotels, room view, if any specials that we choose it will include a description of that, cars, tours, transfers, anything that you want in your itinerary will be all there in front of you to see.

So now that you got the know hows and what really happens when you request a quote, submit yours today!  You can enter it on our webiste or if you want to email me direct you may.  I’m at chris@hawaii-aloha.com

Here are some things you should include..

phone number
dates of travel
what island(s) you would like to visit
Where you are traveling from
Do you want a car or transfers?
Hotel View: city/mountain, partial oceanview, oceanview, oceanfront
Type of Hotel: 5 star/moderate/budget?

And also any other details you would like me to know to help me better do the quote for you to what you want.

Or you are always free to call at 1-800-843-8771 ext. 32 to personally discuss an itinerary and pricing for your trip!

I’ve had countless calls from people who are shopping the internet and can’t decide where to go on their vacation.  The podcast about over shopping the internet is a great one as I have had so many calls from people who are at their wits end and say they have been surfing the net for weeks and they give up and put it in our hands to do what we do best, which is book hawaiian vacations. 

I also get many calls from people who are deciding what destination to go to and comparing prices.  Well to that I have to say , when booking your hawaiian vacation go in with your eyes open.  You can’t expect to get cancun and mexico pricing for hawaii.  They are no where near the same thing and you can’t compare them to each other.  It’s like going in to neiman marcus and telling the sales lady well I can get a jacket that looks just like that at walmart for much cheaper.  That is something no one would do , well same concept with hawaii compared to other destinations. 

Also another thing I do get is comparing prices for two totally different properties.  There are times when I say to people "What kind of property are we looking for?  5 star resort/ moderate or budget?  Keep in mind budget doesn’t always mean bad.  We try to get properties that don’t cost so much but are still very decent.  Well often times I find myself trying to beat  an online booking agency for 2 totally different properties.  Be honest with your agent, and don’t try to haggle when you are finding a one star hotel online and trying to get them to give you a 5 star resort for the same price.  It’s not going to happen and it’s not fair to the agent to ask the impossible.   Star ratings on hotels are sometimes very different.  What one considers a 1 star another will consider a 3 star.  If you call an agent and ask them they can better tell you what at least they would consider it to be or more info about the property to have you make a more informative choice.  I have looked on some of those websites and they can be extremely deceiving.  In people’s minds they are thinking 3 star should be a good hotel, but in actuality when you get there you see what their idea of a 3 star hotel is, so don’t always go by the star system as everyone rates differently.

Why is hawaii so expensive?  Well it doesn’t  have to be.  We see so many great deals coming in every single day and to all of you that do find a great deal, book it because it’s a shame when someone finds a great deal and it disappears.  When you think about it, there are thousands of people shopping around every day for a hawaii trip.  If you don’t snatch up the deal when you find it, someone else will.

A lot of people try to set a budget for their trip which is a good thing to some extent.  You do have to be reasonable with the budget you set.  Take into consideration the time of year you are traveling, how long your trip will be, what kind of accomodations you want and the views you wish to have from your hotel room.

Another common thing people ask is why is food so expensive in hawaii.  Well it’s not always as bad as everyone thinks.  What I tell people is it really depends on how you like to eat.  I’m not saying eat fast food everyday because of course you are on vacation, but you don’t have to eat expensive meals every single time you have a meal.  Food to hawaii has to be imported obviously for the most part so it is not cheap to get it there, but it’s not outrageously expensive either.  They aren’t trying to get you all the time because you are on vacation, it’s just not cheap to ship food to hawaii.  Land.  Land is not cheap in hawaii.  There is not much of it so simple supply and demand comes into play.  Realize that yes sometimes the resorts cost more in hawaii, but their land is not cheap.  To purchase land in hawaii does cost a lot of money.

Again no passport is needed to travel to hawaii, yes we drive on the same side of the road and car as everyone else.  Well not everyone else, but the rest of America anyways.  Yes we speak english. 

Another misconception I get from people seeing me on the website is that I am from hawaii and I probably look a little different so I am hawaiian.  Just because people are born and raised in hawaii or even just live in hawaii doesn’t make them of hawaiian blood.  That is the great thing about hawaii.  There are so many cultures and races mixed it’s the most beautiful thing to see all these different people living together.  It makes for a great big melting pot.  Just because all of us are not hawaiian doesn’t mean we don’t know the islands, of course we do, we are from there, born and raised for most of the agents with hawaii aloha travel.  Once you live in hawaii, you are an island girl or boy for life I like to think.  It’s always said you can take the girl (or boy) out of hawaii, but you can’t take hawaii out of the girl (or boy). 

So if you are looking for a tropical destination, full of rich culture, great history and a mix of people who have the most beautiful personalities in the world then hawaii is the place to go.  I am one of those agents away from home as bruce mentioned in his podcast and have been away for a few months on a temporary move as my husband is in the military and believe me I missed hawaii from the moment I stepped off that airplane.  It’s not the same and there really is no place like those tropical islands in the pacific.

So if you need some help booking a trip to a place that will always be home in my heart no matter where I am you can call or email me and I would be happy to give you a helping hand!

1-800-843-8771 ext. 32
chris@hawaii-aloha.com

Today we had a conference call with Karen the director of Leisure Sales for the kona village which was a very enlightening call for us.  Karen was extremely friendly and answered all of our questions very thoroughly.  We learned a lot of things about this resort and got the inside scoops from her.  I just wanted to share a few things that we talked about.  This resort will definately give you a unique experience!  If you want to experience hawaii in the fullest this is the place to stay.

When booking the Kona Village Resort you are getting your hale (house) which is what their rooms are called, your meals are all included, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Spa servies are extra, alcohol is not included.  May and September they do not have the children’s program as those months hawaii usually sees more of an adult crowd, however children are always welcome at the Kona Village.

This resort is about 4 miles north of the kona airport, just north of the four seasons.  They do not have shuttles but taxi service can be arranged with the property.  If you are not getting a car rental, no problem!  They have hertz rentals on the property for you to rent if you may just want it for a day or two as with this resort you won’t have to leave much!

The meal plan is mandatory but why not?  You get 3 meals a day with fresh ingredients prepared by a top chef!  Why would you want to eat anywhere else.  Their selection is huge, with something for everyone.  If you are vegetarian , no problem!  They have a luau on their property which has a minimal fee.  They do turkey for those who don’t  eat pork (kalua pig).  They have thought of everything to make their guests happy!

There are no resort fees here.  Snorkeling equipment is free of charge, umbrellas for the beach are free of charge.  Non motorized equipment is included.

The rooms do not have TV’s or phones, no internet access, but if  you are going to hawaii, you aren’t going to watch TV talk on the phone or do work.  You are there to relax and enjoy and spend quality time with your loved ones.  Cell phones do work at the property however they respectfully ask that you do not use them in public areas as the guests of this resort are there to do their "hawaiian getaway".

The map of the property does look enormous, though it only takes about 10-15 minutes to walk from one end to the other.  If you are a disabled guest or have a hard time getting around it is suggested to book in the core part of the hotel so you will be close to everything, however they do have bellman with golf carts that may assist you if you need it.  Told you they think of everything.

There are always 2 places available to eat your meals, weather it be luau night and a restaurant or 2 different restaurants open.  They have 3 lounges.

Meal times run breakfast from 730am-930am, lunch 1130am-2pm, 2pm -4pm they are open for salads and sandwhiches for those late lunchers or snackers, and dinner is from 530pm-930pm. 

They do have refridgerators in the rooms which they stock for you daily with soda, juice and water.  Also coffee makers with replenished coffee daily.

There are 2 pools on property for your enjoyment . If you want more of a sandy beach you should book the Sand Area, The Lava section is oceanfront however not a sandy beach and then there is the pond area for those first timers or perhaps you would rather spend that extra money elsewhere and don’t have to be oceanfront.  Either one you pick I’m sure you will enjoy it.

The Kona Village has a lot of satisfied customers who repeatedly return, so  jump on the bandwagon, book your hawaii dream vacation today!

For your special island getaway to the beautiful Kona Village call or email me today for a quote.

1-800-843-8771 ext. 32
chris@hawaii-aloha.com