Hawaiian Honeymoon books/guides?

mgoss228

I want FI to be in charge of booking and semi-planning our Honeymoon.  He understands this, but is asking for me to help/give him ideas.  I really don't like trip planning (air fare, hotels = bleh), and he has limited experience with planning trips.

We both want to go to Hawaii, but don't know how to start the whole "honeymoon thing."  Is there a book/guide/good website you can recommend that I can give him that would have tips/ideas/reviews?

Or is this something I should take to a National Board or the Hawaii Board?

We don't know exactly what we want, I'm leaning towards all-inclusive, but I'm open to other options.  It would be my first time in Hawaii (FI went when he was young for a family vacation), and I want to do touristy stuff (whatever that entails).

TIA!

fancynewbecca

You could look into a travel agent. They'd be a wealth of knowledge!

I have only been to Hawaii once and we booked on Expedia. We ended up getting a pretty awesome hotel in Honolulu, but it wasn't all-inclusive.

Kaye Smith

I love Lonely Planet books too  - they may not be geared for honeymooners - but they always have a ton of great info.

I won a trip to Hawaii from Gadd About Travel/Hawaiian Honeymoons at the wedding show.  Even though i wasn't a paying customer, they've been super helpful and nice  -  http://www.hawaiianhoneymoons.com/

I wouldn't think that there would be as many all inclusive places in hawaii as there would be in say mexico or the caribbean. 

Good luck!

carrieoz_76

We've never used a TA, and we love to plan our trips, including two trips now to Maui and one to Kauai.  We've used the Andrew Doughty books for Maui (Maui Revealed) and Kauai (Ultimate Kauai Guidebook) for both islands, and we LOVE the books, and recommend them to everyone who's going.

Doughty is independent, and does everything he reviews in the book without telling ppl he's a travel writer (as opposed to some reviewers).  His maps are great, restaurant reviews spot-on, and his advice on what to spend your money on (or not) and which vendors to go with (or not) are really helpful.  It's like having a really experienced local on your side - which he is, he lives on Kauai.

We've also researched some vendors on tripadvisor to confirm that they're good.  It's especially helpful for some of the smaller vendors (we found our Maui inn, our Maui sunset sail, and our Kauai boat trip there - loved them all).  The challenge with tripadvisor and Hawaii is that most of the time everyone LOVES what they do there, and they rarely comparison shop, but it can help to supplement what you learn from the Doughty books.

Oh, and all-inclusives are MUCH less common in Hawaii than in Mexico and the Caribbean.  Resorts (not all-inclusive, for the most part) are all over the place, but we prefer to rent condos by finding a building recommended by one of the Doughty books, then finding a condo we like on vrbo.com.  I don't know that I'd even want an AI on Maui - one of the best things about the islands is that there's places to go, things to do, food to eat, etc., that you'd miss out on a lot of that if you were only eating/drinking and exploring the place where you're staying.

irshis20

I love TripAdvisor.com - use it for every trip I go on, and I travel a lot.

For Maui specifically, so many people have told me that the Maui Revealed book is the best, so when I found it at a secondhand bookstore, I bought it.

To my knowledge, there aren't any all-inclusive resorts in Hawaii. There are lots of big hotels and resorts, and some of them surely include breakfast and some activities if you purchase a package, but you won't find the adults-only, honeymoon targeted all inclusives that you'll find in Mexico or the Caribbean.

ETA: agree with the poster before me...all inclusives are for when you don't care about or want to leave the resort. We picked Hawaii as our honeymoon destination because it was a great combination of relaxation and adventure. Hawaii's way more expensive than Mexico or the Carribbean, so if you just want to stay at a hotel and lounge at the beach/pool, you might want to pick a cheaper location.

mgoss228

Thank you everyone!!!  Especially for the book selections.  FI will probably be getting a couple of those for his birthday this month   I feel a lot less clueless now!

karebear219

We booked our honeymoon for Maui through AAA and our hotel consiarge was really helpful in local recommendations once we got there. We also had family give us a gift card for our hotel, we were able to charge all our activities to our hotel and then use our gift card for the bill when we left. It was great.

holliedaye

Check out the "Revealed" guide books (Maui Revealed, Oahu Revealed, etc.), which provide anonymous reviews by local residents of restaurants, beaches, and activities; since it's more of an insider's perspective it details places off the tourist trails--and gives honest reviews of the different tourist activities, it that's your flavor. 

My girlfriend suggested I get it before visiting her when she lived on Maui and it was a gem!  She warned that I not read it out in the open or leave it in the car, since it reveals so much that the locals actually get angry when they see the cover. (I covered it with butcher paper)