Hi everyone! FI and I just came back from a two week vacation in Hawaii. I figured I'd share my reviews on the different hotels, restaurants and excursions we did since so many knotties choose HI for their honeymoons. Let me know if you have any questions - I'd be glad to help!
Maui
We stayed at the Sheraton on Kaanapali Beach. It was a very nice hotel - right on the beach and next to the black rock. There are so many hotels on this strip, but the Sheraton was the last one before the black rock so it seemed more secluded in a way. The pool was really nice (a lagoon style that wrapped around the whole resort and also had little waterfalls). We would go to the beach for a few hours and then sit by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. We drove to Wailea and ate at the Grand Wailea Hotel one night (Humahumas) and thought the beach there wasn't as nice as Kaanapali Beach, despite being a more expensive area. Kaanapali Beach also has tons of restaurants, bars and upscale shopping in Whaler's Village, a short walk along the beach. We ate at Cane and Taro frequently for breakfast and had dinner at Hula Grill and really liked the happy hour at Lanina's on the Beach. Out of the islands we saw, Maui has the best nightlife by far. We also noticed the most honeymooners in Maui as well. We absolutely loved the town of Lahaina (about 15 min from Kaanapali) and ate at IOs (amazing!) and had breakfast at Longhis (also amazing). We drove the Road to Hana which is a must - plan to be away for the day and make sure to bring food with you. We hiked, saw the waterfalls and the black sand beach, the seven sacred pools, etc. It's all great and so worth doing. I would highly recommend renting a car on each island. We also did a sunset cruise with drinks and appetizers - very beautiful. The luau we attended was actually at the Sheraton. It was a lot of fun, but I believe there is a more upscale one in Lahaina that actually gives you a five course sit down dinner as opposed to a buffet dinner. We spent 7 nights total in Maui.
The Big Island
We stayed at the Fairmont Orchid on the Kohala Coast. This is an absolutely beautiful resort - very quiet and relaxing. Originally, we were booked at another hotel, but the price dropped significantly at the Fairmont a few weeks before our trip so we were able to switch to this hotel and receive $300 back. (My FI booked everything through Expedia). The room at the Fairmont was the best of the trip. We had a gorgeous lanaii and two showers! This made getting ready super easy. The ocean is extremely calm at the Fairmont - no real waves and the beach is small but very pretty. The pool is okay - nothing special. I really liked the different lounges inside the hotel. The grounds are also very nice - waterfalls and greenery everywhere. We only had the breakfast buffet once. It was okay, nothing special for $30 a person. We did have appetizers in one of the bar lounges and those were very good. On the Big Island we spent the day at Volcanoes National Park - an absolute must if you stay on the Island. We also drove through Hilo and went to Big Island Candies and had breakfast in Waimea at a place called Hawaiian Style Cafe. This is a great find - super affordable and tons of food. There were both locals and tourists enjoying breakfast here. We also spent half a day in Kona and another half day in Hawi. Kona has lots of shops and tourist attractions, and Hawi is very quiet and is a glimpse of old Hawaii. We only spent 3 nights on the Big Island. The Big Island has everything - beaches, greenery, desert, lava rocks, volcanoes, but there is not much nightlife here as compared to Maui.
Kauai
Kauai is probably the most beautiful island! Alot of people we met (both locals and tourists) said this was their favorite island. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Resort in Poipu Beach and this was by far the nicest resort. The grounds are stunning - so many flowers, plants, waterfalls, bridges, lagoons, etc. and the restaurants are amazing here. Kauai was the only island where we didn't really eat at any of the local spots. Our package included free breakfast, so we had the buffet every morning which was very good. For dinner, the Italian restaurant Dondero's is fabulous, and Tidepools is also a great seafood restaurant overlooking the water. We also had sushi at the Stevens Library one night. I was super impressed with the restaurants at the hotel, and noticed they were highly rated in our Hawaii guidebook. When we checked in, we told them we were celebrating our engagement, and we received a bottle of champagne the first two nights of our stay. It was an unexpected but wonderful surprise. The ocean was too rough to swim in for my taste, but we loved the adult pool and lounged by the salt water lagoon too. As far as excursions, we drove to Waimea Canyon which was amazing! We also did a catamaran snorkel tour/trip to the Napali Coast which is breathtaking. We also saw the Spouting Horn and walked through a botanical garden. If we had one more day, we would have driven up to the North Shore, but we just ran out of time! We spent four nights in Kauai. Like the Big Island, Kauai is also very quiet, so there isn't much nightlife except on the resort.
Overall, we had the best vacation and really loved Hawaii! If I were going on my honeymoon here, I would probably just do two islands at most because it does get tiring traveling around so much. By the time we got to Kauai, we were pretty tired! We also did a lot of hiking and driving, but loved every second of it. My FI did speak to a few travel agents about Hawaii and then he booked the trip through Expedia because it was the most affordable option. We also read a lot of reviews on TripAdvisor. Hawaii has something for everyone and I would recommend visiting anytime!

