Aulani 5 Nights too much?

M

MIALIAS

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 1, 2001
Hi

We are spending some time in Honolulu and then driivng over to the part of the island where Aulani is.

Would you recommned spending all 5 nights at Aulani OR maybe 3 nights at Aulani
and 2 nights at one of the neighboring hotels?
If so which hotel would stand up to or exceed Aulani in that area?

Thanks!!
 
MIALIAS said:
Hi

We are spending some time in Honolulu and then driivng over to the part of the island where Aulani is.

Would you recommned spending all 5 nights at Aulani OR maybe 3 nights at Aulani
and 2 nights at one of the neighboring hotels?
If so which hotel would stand up to or exceed Aulani in that area?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

If you plan to drive around the island while staying at AUL, then 5 nights are not too much. But if you plan to stay at the resort the whole day while at AUL, then 5 nights might be too much (at least for me and my family).

LAX
 
Well any recommendations for where to drive/see?
That said, may just end up at the resort.
So where else to stay that will be as nice or better close to Aulani?
 
Are you staying on DVC points/are you DVC. DVC does not have to pay the daily parking fee which was $20/day a few years back. I know the place next door (Marriott?) has a parking fee also. Don’t know much about the other resorts in the Ko Olinia (sp) area, but. If you do a google map of the area you can find out the names of the hotels and do a search on trip advisor. We alternated with one resort day, followed by an exploring day, repeat. We drove all the way up to the point (make a left coming out of resort area) to the osprey place. Had to hike in from the parking lot...I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy. It was beautiful and we saw some kind of a big seal sunning himself. Another day we went up to the north shore and enjoyed the best shrimp from Giovanni’s shrimp truck and saw some giant waves and surfers. Wanted to do the Waimi water falls but ran out of time because we wanted to see Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head. Nicos Pier has great food. You can do that stuff when staying in Honolulu. Also did a snorkeling thing...the marina is just down the road from Aulani. Honolulu is really busy, Aulani is so peaceful. Although I don’t know if that resort that was supposed to be built next door ever happened....the name escapes me.
 
We did 3 nights at Aulani and 5 nights in Waikiki. We spent our days during the Waikiki portion exploring the island while we spent time at Aulani relaxing.
 
I'm not a big fan of moving, and traffic can be rough anywhere in Oahu. If you have the points to spend, and you don't have another use for them, I'd use Aulani as the home base for the whole time.

If this is your first visit, you'll easily spend a day at Pearl. You might have an easier time getting to the North Shore from Ko'Olina than from Waikiki or you might not; I don't know.. And, don't discount the value of just parking on the beach and watching the ocean with a good book for several days.
 
Starport Seven-Five said:
We did 3 nights at Aulani and 5 nights in Waikiki. We spent our days during the Waikiki portion exploring the island while we spent time at Aulani relaxing.
Click to expand...
This is such a common theme and I genuinely don't understand it. Waikiki is no closer than Aulani to the places people "go exploring." It's closer to Diamond Head and baaaarely closer to Pearl Harbor. That's it. It's equidistant to Kualoa Ranch, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Dole, and further to the North Shore and Ka'ena Point.

When people talk about Aulani being "far" from things, they completely gloss over the fact that the things you want to do on Oahu are on all four corners of the island. NOTHING is close to everything you're going to want to do, including Waikiki.
 
CaptainAmerica said:
This is such a common theme and I genuinely don't understand it. Waikiki is no closer than Aulani to the places people "go exploring." It's closer to Diamond Head and baaaarely closer to Pearl Harbor. That's it. It's equidistant to Kualoa Ranch, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Dole, and further to the North Shore and Ka'ena Point.
Click to expand...
For us it came down to cost. The Courtyard in Waikiki was just over $100/night. The point value for Aulani is 2-3x that and cash rate is 5x. When we were only going to sleep at the hotel, it didn’t make much sense to spend the extra for Aulani.

Unlimited points/funds? We would stay at Aulani the entire time as it’s a beautiful resort. I don’t think we missed much though by doing a split stay.
 
Starport Seven-Five said:
For us it came down to cost. The Courtyard in Waikiki was just over $100/night. The point value for Aulani is 2-3x that and cash rate is 5x. When we were only going to sleep at the hotel, it didn’t make much sense to spend the extra for Aulani.

Unlimited points/funds? We would stay at Aulani the entire time as it’s a beautiful resort. I don’t think we missed much though by doing a split stay.
Click to expand...
Yeah the cost factor is 100% legit. I just laugh when I see people say things like "you should stay in Waikiki... and explore the North Shore." Uh...

617119
 
Stay at Aulani if you are using points. Spend most of a day at Pearl Harbor, most of a day on the north shore (Waimea), most of a day hiking Diamond Head, some time at Waikiki Beach. The rest of the time doing tours or at Aulani. Food at Aulani is outrageously expensive so hit a market for cereal, deli, etc
 
We have been to aulani many times snd can’t wait to return. Wr always do a one bedroom ocean view. We do a minimum of 10 nights and always wish we had more. We get groceries on the way there. And do appetizers every night on our lanai. We go out to dinner half the time. But we have belt all around the island as well as the other islands do we only go to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.
 
If you will definitely be staying in Honolulu I would visit the places closest there. The places I mentioned closer to Aulani avoids having to go back into the Honolulu morning traffic nightmare. Just a little bit when going to North Shore. Was really surprised by morning rush hour....but there is only that one main highway. We also spent part of one day walking up the beach towards paradise cove to see the sea turtles there...they were the smaller ones, but really great to see. Found out a couple years later there’s a walking path on the road...better idea because it was kinda scary. We also snorkeled in that cove. Water shoes are a must. Paradise Cove used to have a great luau too. A little pricey but don’t have to worry about driving back.
 
Where you stay depends on what you want out of the experience. We've stayed at Aulani on points 3 times, and it is an easy base to travel all over the island. Our pattern has been to go do stuff in the morning, nap and swim in the afternoon, and find dining at Kapolei or nearby in the evening. The Four Seasons is right next door, Monkeypod is across the street. There is excellent Thai and Korean fusion, all the chain stuff, and some neat surprises in Kapolei. Honolulu is 35-50 minutes away, and offers foodie tours, restaurants, lots of traffic, and some sight-seeing. We go to relax, eat, visit and enjoy all the different things. North Shore, Zippy's, Kualoa Ranch, Pearl Harbor, etc. Get a GO Oahu card if you are stuck for ideas.
 
crazydad123 said:
Where you stay depends on what you want out of the experience. We've stayed at Aulani on points 3 times, and it is an easy base to travel all over the island. Our pattern has been to go do stuff in the morning, nap and swim in the afternoon, and find dining at Kapolei or nearby in the evening. The Four Seasons is right next door, Monkeypod is across the street. There is excellent Thai and Korean fusion, all the chain stuff, and some neat surprises in Kapolei. Honolulu is 35-50 minutes away, and offers foodie tours, restaurants, lots of traffic, and some sight-seeing. We go to relax, eat, visit and enjoy all the different things. North Shore, Zippy's, Kualoa Ranch, Pearl Harbor, etc. Get a GO Oahu card if you are stuck for ideas.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what we do, except we go in the winter so it's pitch black at 5pm and we're usually in bed by 7, so we don't do many proper dinners. We find it helps us with the jet lag coming home to keep mainland hours, especially for the kids.
 
crazydad123 said:
Where you stay depends on what you want out of the experience. We've stayed at Aulani on points 3 times, and it is an easy base to travel all over the island. Our pattern has been to go do stuff in the morning, nap and swim in the afternoon, and find dining at Kapolei or nearby in the evening. The Four Seasons is right next door, Monkeypod is across the street. There is excellent Thai and Korean fusion, all the chain stuff, and some neat surprises in Kapolei. Honolulu is 35-50 minutes away, and offers foodie tours, restaurants, lots of traffic, and some sight-seeing. We go to relax, eat, visit and enjoy all the different things. North Shore, Zippy's, Kualoa Ranch, Pearl Harbor, etc. Get a GO Oahu card if you are stuck for ideas.
Click to expand...
WHICH PLAYS IS THE THAT/KOREAN?!
 
We have spent 8 nights at Aulani once and ended up driving out to the other side of the island everyday. Waikiki is hard to get in and out so Aulani isn’t a terrible base. This time we split our 8 days in three locations.
Waikiki: 3 nights and do the Waikiki thing such as Diamond Head, shopping, Hanauma Bay and Kailua area to kayak.
Aulani : 3 nights to chill, Central Park of the island like Dole Plantation, Japanese Temple and Pearl Harbour
North Shore Turtle Bay : 2 nights. Polynesian culture center, Waimea beach and water fall. Macdamia nut farm and shrimp truck.
 
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