Mauna Kea Beach Hotel open

Aloha Hawaii visitors and friends,

We'd like to thank all of you who emailed us their 'Mele Kalikimaka' greetings just as our dear friend Bill had done or even mailed us snail mail cards. It's wonderful to know to have so many friends in Hawaii and around the world. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas in Hawaii or wherever you celebrated the Christmas holidays.

Today, we'd like to share some top news for Hawaii, Big Island and Kohala Coast lovers. Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, the oldest and most prestigious Hawaii hotel, located on the Big Island's best beach, is finally back in business. The 43-old hotel, which was constructed by Laurance S. Rockefeller in 1965, gained reputation and attraction among celebrities and high-end clientele as one of the world's best hotels due to its premier location on picture perfect, crescent shaped white sand beach on Kaunaoa Bay. Well, Mr. Rockefeller knew why he built the first Big Island hotel right there.

When we reported on December 6th, 2006 that the hotel administration made the decision to close Mauna Kea Beach hotel for repairs and renovations after the earthquake, it was anticipated but yet unexpected news for Mauna Kea Beach Hotel visitors and hotel employees alike. Over the last two years, everybody who loves world famous Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, followed the process of the remodeling. I myself was most surprised about the decision to totally redo the famous Mauna Kea golf course. When you read more about the reasons for remodeling the golf course, it makes totally sense.

Well, Mauna Kea's soft opening happened on Saturday 12/20/08. I was so happy to hear that 365 of the former employees got rehired, after working at other hotels and even different jobs. We can't wait to shake hands and welcome those friends back. Naturally, a celebration in Hawaii comes with music, hula, speeches and blessings. Blessings were done by Kahu Danny Akaka Jr. and the Rev. Dr. Henry K. Boshard. After an extensive $150 million renovation and redesign, Mauna Kea Beach hotel is beautiful has ever.

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel has a big 'ohana' of return guests, who have come as kids with their parents and do now the same with their children. Whether they will be still able to continue this wonderful Hawaii vacation tradition, depends on having the money it takes to spend a vacation at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. With all the fancy upgrades on room amenities, room rates are going up too.

When asking for a hot deal rate quote for Keoki's birthday in March, the cheapest was Mountain view at $375/nt. on floors 5 - 8 and cheapest Oceanview Room at Beachfront Plumeria Beach Club on floors 1-4 was $625/nt. There was a Mountain View Package Deal for Room and Car for $450, which seems to be 'affordable' for Mauna Kea standards.

Well, don't let those rates 'impress' you too much. Rent a nice fully equipped Kohala Coast vacation rental with a short drive to Mauna Kea. Show up around 9am for your free Mauna Kea Beach pass at the gate entrance (number of beach passes is limited according to parking space!) and enjoy famous Mauna Kea beach just as all these VIP guests. Mauna Kea beach is public as any beach in Hawaii is. And the ocean and the ocean critters are available to anybody who wants to swim or snorkel in aquamarine, warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Share your Mauna Kea beach visit with our blog visitors. Mahalo, Pua Hawaii Vacations

p.s.

For more information about Mauna Kea Beach hotel's soft opening, read West Hawaii Today article. See location of Mauna Kea Beach hotel on our Kohala Coast Map and Kohala Coast on our Big Island map.

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Tags: Hawaii, Hawaii vacation, best Hawaii hotel, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Mauna Kea beach

Do I need to rent a car for my Hawaii Vacation?

Do I need to rent a car for my Hawaii vacation?

OK guys the positive feedback on your Maui vacation was overwhelming (see comments of this post!). We are still waiting for the lovers of the Big Island and Kauai to take their turn. Discussion is still open. We know you are out there. We love to hear from you about your past or future favorite Hawaii vacation destination.

Hey life goes on and so does this blog. As you know from our blog title, we do favor the Kohala Coast on the Big Island (being a little prejudiced cannot hurt). Let’s pick up one of the most often asked questions from travelers who visit the Big Island for the first time besides “Where are the beaches?”…”Do I need to rent a car for my Hawaii vacation?” or “Is there any public transportation on the Big Island?”

Well, if you want to see the Big Island…the hot lava spitting volcano, walk through the snow of Mauna Kea summit while star gazing, hike through spectacular Waipio and Pololu Valley… and not just lie on a beach, yes, yes, yes you have to rent a car. There is now way around it. Even if you are not much of an explorer, you want to have a means of transportation, as there is no public transportation in the Big Island. Check our Big Island car rentals links for best rates.

There are free shuttles between Kohala Coast resorts, hotels and their spas or golf courses, which are provided by the hotels for theirs guests for convenience. The hotel shuttle service between Kona International Airport and the Kohala Coast hotels has to be paid for (still somewhat cheaper than taking a taxi). The available ‘Hele On’ bus covers the Island to some extend (you can request schedule 808-961-8744), but this bus service is more or less used by residents to make it from point A to point B. It’s definitely not a public transportation for tourists. Bottom line, there is no public transportation on the Big Island. Well, we don’t want to leave you in a lurch here. So, let’s get
The island with the best-developed public transportation of all the Hawaiian Islands is on Oahu. Oahu's public transportation system has a nice website with detailed information on bus routes and schedules, fares and passes. The website even includes popular tourist attractions along the routes.
Maui now has a more limited public transportation system. The Maui County's Bus website has a complete schedule of routes and times of operation. Depending on where you are staying on Maui, what you want to do on your Maui vacation and how much you want to see of the island, the bus might just be a sufficient means of transportation.

The Kaua'i Bus operates a Public (Fixed Route) bus service and a Paratransit (Door-to-Door) bus service from Hanalei to Kekaha daily except on Sundays. Good news. The Kauai Bus now provides service to the Airport and limited service to Koloa and Poipu.

That's it for today. Have fun exploring Hawaii, by car or bus. Any questions or comments, please, click the comment tag on any of our posts. As usual, we love to hear from you. Aloha, Pua Vacation in Hawaii like Donald Trump - but cheap!

p.s.

Our today's post girl is Maile from WahineStyle.com. How do you like her?

Tags: hawaii car rental, hawaii vacation, kohala coast resorts

Happy New Year from The Kohala Coast

Happy New Year from the Kohala Coast

Hope all of you had wonderful holidays and a great New Year’s celebration. Already thought about your new year’s resolution? What about making the so long overdue and longed for trip to Hawaii your 2007 New Year’s resolution?!

When you followed our blog for some time, you know that it’s all about falling in love with the Kohala Coast of the Big Island. You don’t need to have the big bucks for a 5-star Kohala Coast Hotel – OK admitted it would be nice but it is not an urgent necessity – in order to be able to enjoy the beautiful Kohala Coast beaches and resorts. Vacation cottages & homes: nicely appointed, private, fully equipped with short drives to the best Big Island beaches are available by Kohala Coast hosts.

Plan your Kohala Coast vacation for the right time of the year and it will be affordable for you. Once again, be aware that January till March are high season months on all the Hawaiian Islands, including the Kohala Coast of the Big Island. However, April, May and June offer the same beautiful weather, as the Kohala Coast has sunshine all year round (most of the time, no way to guaranty the weather though for any month of the year). Those wonderful spring months when it can be still rainy and cold at your Mainland home, are not only the perfect time for vacation rental discounts but also for Big Island car rentals and airfares to Hawaii.

Got interested? Come visit the Kohala Coast Vacation Rental Guide. Make your Kohala Coast vacation come true in 2007.

Don't miss our Kohala Coast Rental Vacancies for January for Last Minute travel to Hawaii. Aloha, Pua
p.s.
Here is our New Year's resolution for our Kohala Coast blog...with each post, we will include a photo of a beautiful 'wahine' (in Hawaiian 'girl') from the Kohala Coast. You can find more photos at Wahine Style.

Tags: Kohala Coast, Kohala Coast hotels, Big Island

Celebrate the New Year on the Kohala Coast!

Dear Kohala Coast visitors,

Sorry for not continuing our posts on Kohala Coast Real Estate or the Hawaii Big Island Housing Bubble, which we had started recently. For those who are looking into moving to Hawaii and buying a Big Island home or a lot at an affordable price (Hawaii market considered!), we promise we will be back with more information on trends of Kohala Coast real estate market at the beginning of the New Year.

First things first! Now, it’s time to get ready to celebrate the beginning of a new year. The year 2007! Time flies when you are having fun. We wish everybody a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year, which will hopefully include a visit to our wonderful island.

For everybody who was lucky and enjoys their well-deserved Hawaii vacation on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island at the moment, here is the great news about fireworks at Kohala Coast Hotels and Resorts for starting the New Year with a magnificent show:

Fairmont Orchid at Mauna Lani Beach Resort
Four Seasons Hualalai
Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel

Find the Kohala Coast hotel, which is the closest to your vacation home or resort, on our Kohala Coast Map. Happy New Year from Pua Kohala Coast Vacation Guide

Tags: Hawaii hotels, Kohala Coast hotels, Hawaii vacation

More about Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Aloha again to our Kohala Coast visitors,
After you followed our last post about Mauna Kea Beach Hotel closure, we have a little bit of new information from our Mauna Kea tennis club friends. Here is what they told us: The big guest parking lot will be serving for the hotel construction crew. Too bad for Mauna Kea Beach lovers but it does not look like there will be more beach parking and passes available. Sorry guys! It’s not quite sure where the tennis club members will be parking in the future. The ladies locker room and the storage room next to it were converted into the ‘new’ beauty salon. Air conditioned and newly carpeted, it looks pretty nice. Reason for this necessary change is that Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel never had its own beauty salon and Hapuna hotel guests always used the Mauna Kea salon.

It's also going to be interesting to see how much the Hapuna guests continue to shuttle over to use the Mauna Kea beach and the Hau Tree beach restaurant there. They are, supposedly, going to be dropped off at the tennis center, to walk across the lawn and down the stairs to the beach, which is an easy beach access and was used in the past by quite a number of beach visitors. That’s the latest for today on Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. If you had planned a stay at the hotel and are still looking for some adequate accommodation on the Kohala Coast, have a look at these private luxury Kohala Coast Vacation Homes as an alternative option. You won’t regret it. Warm aloha for all our Kohala Coast blog visitors from Pua.

Tags: Kohala Coast, Hawaii, Big Island, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel Closed!

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel is closed!

Yes, you read it right. Now, it’s final. One of the most favorite Big Island hotels on the Kohala Coast is temporarily closed for repair due to more structural damage than originally assessed from the Kohala Coast earthquake in October. Some hotel employees anticipated this move; others were totally caught by surprise. Hotel management waited with this announcement till the last minute.

Last Saturday, the official day of closure, was a very sad moment for employees (we feel with all the employees being laid off at a time when they need their jobs the most!), guests and residents alike but safety comes first. It’s hard to comprehend that this oldest of the Kohala Coast hotels won’t be open for their regular busy Christmas crowd over the holidays. Current guests were moved to Mauna Kea’s sister hotel Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. Mauna Kea Beach Hotel will do everything to find appropriate accommodations in other Kohala Coast hotels for guests with future reservations.

Good news for Golf players who stay at Hapuna Prince Beach Hotel or belong to Mauna Kea golf club. Mauna Kea golf club and clubhouse restaurant will stay open. As will the beach restaurant ‘Hau Tree’, which is great for Mauna Kea beach lovers who like to have lunch on the beach. Mauna Kea beach will attract Kohala Coast visitors just as before or even more, as we expect the number of beach passes issued per day to increase with much more beach parking available. Stay tuned for more on Mauna Kea or Kohala Coast news. A hui hou. Pua
Kohala Coast Vacation Guide

Tags: Kohala Coast hotels, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

E Komo Mai. Welcome to the Kohala Coast!

Aloha Angela and Mike from Californa,
Sorry for the delay with this message. We were just waiting for our Kohala Coast vacancies from rental owners for December coming in. It looks pretty good for your plans, even for the time between Christmas and New Years, there are still a few vacation rentals available on the beach or ocean view rentals. If you want to save some money on accommodation, you can find great places 10 -15 minute-drives from best Kohala Coast beaches. Save money on accommodations, rather spend it on a great dinner or even better on an exotic luau on the Kohala Coast resorts.

However, remember what I said last time in my post Christmas Vacation on Kohala Coast of Hawaii Big Island. make sure that you have a flight and car reservation before checking for Big Island accommodations. If that is all taken care off, check Cancellation, Last Minute vacancies for Kohala Coast rentals and Big Island vacation homes, vacation cottages, apartments, condos and suites. If your travel dates are flexible, plan your Big Island vacation for the beginning of December when restaurants and beaches will be still empty.

Kohala Coast hotels are preparing all their beautiful Christmas decorations. The Orchid Fairmont at Mauna Lani Beach Resort displays a full size gingerbread house which fills the lobby with an enticing aroma. Who can resist that? One of the most famous Kohala Coast hotels, actually the oldest one, will be missing and will be missed though. Mauna Kea Beach Hotel announced today that they will be closed due to more structural damage than expected from the October earthquake. Quite a number of guests will be accommodated at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. Private vacation rentals might be an option for those who won't be the lucky ones to get a room at Hapuna Beach Hotel.

E Komo Mai. The skies are blue and sun is shining on the Kohala Coast. Kohala Coast rental homes are awaiting you. Come visit the Kohala Coast on Hawaii Big Island. Kohala Coast Acccommodation Guide

Tags: Big Island, Hawaii, Kohala Coast, Kohala Coast vacation rentals

Hawaiian Healing

Here we go again,
Our most recent post talked about our active volcano and how Hawaii Volcanoes National Park attracts each year thousands of visitors. Have you ever wondered what makes people want to come to Hawaii Big Island? Is it the live volcano, the exotic beauty and the diversity of our island, the white sand beaches, the warm Pacific Ocean or the unique Hawaii events like the Big Island Ironman Triathlon in Kona or Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo? I guess everybody has his own reasons why they are drawn to the Big Island.

Here is another, more recent powerful tendency within the Hawaii tourist industry, which Kohala Coast resorts and private Big Island holistic practitioners alike are recognizing and paying attention to. More and more tourists are visiting the Hawaiian Islands for healing purposes, with baby boomers leading the group of searching for a healing vacation in Hawaii. They want to get away from their busy lives in the fast track, take time to relax, recuperate and rejuvenate in the serenity of exotic, tropical environment Hawaii has to offer. Of all the Hawaii Islands the Big Island with representing fire, snow, ocean and earth elements, has always been considered as a very powerful energy and therefore healing island.

To further meet the needs of this ever-growing group of Hawaii tourists, the First Hawaii Island Conference on Health and Wellness Travel was recently held on the Big Island with great success. The conference helped launch the Hawaii Island Health and Wellness Travel Association, which was successful in signing up more than 100 members at the event. You can read more about this conference in West Hawaii Today’s article article ‘More than just a pretty beach’.

Anybody who is interested in alternative healing and would like to combine his or her vacation on the Kohala Coast with accomplishing some serious healing, can find a wide array of ancient Hawaiian & modern healing modalities provided by individual healers, health care professionals or Kohala Coast Spa professionals from Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage to acupuncture, chinese medicine, ayurveda, herbalism, naturopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, fitness, yoga, Pilates and more. Kohala Coast spas and Big Island retreats will help your design your healing vacation. We also recommend Five Mountains Hawaii and Kekukui.com online directory & a healing island resource guides which offer a comprehensive variety of health and healing resources on the Big Island of Hawaii. Find more information on healing vacation on the Kohala Coast.

Get started on your way to optimal health. Aloha, Pua www.kohalacoastweb.com

Tags: Hawaii healing, Lomi Lomi, Big Island

Kohala Coast Resorts and Hotels

Kohala Coast Resorts and Hotels

This post is sponsored by Kohala Coast Hotels & Resorts

Aloha Hawaii friends,
After we gave you in our first blog about the Kohala Coast lots of good reasons why to vacation on the Big Island's Kohala Coast, we would to give you some ideas about places to stay. The Kohala Coast features a select number of 5-star ocean front Kohala Coast resorts & hotels starting with the fairly recently built Hualalai Beach Resort and the traditional Hawaiian old-fashioned Kona Village resort.

Waikoloa Beach Resort Hotels

Going further north, visitors will find Waikoloa Beach Resort with Marriott Hotel (former Outrigger), Hilton Waikoloa and with beautiful ocean view Kohala Coast vacation condos like 'The Bay Club', 'The Vistas' and 'The Fairways', which are located on beautiful Waikoloa Beach Golf Course, which golf players love. It's a short drive from these golfcourse condos to A-Bay Beach. Golfcondo rates are in the medium price range. The budget traveler will not find private Kohala Coast vacation rentals in the Waikoloa Beach Resort area or other Kohala Coast resort areas like Mauna Lani Beach Resort or Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. This Kohala Coast map shows all Kohala Coast hotels, resorts and beaches, such as Spencer Beach, Mauna Kea Beach, Hapuna Beach, Beach 69 in Puako, A-Bay etc.

Mauna Lani Beach Resort Hotels & Vacation Condos

Just a short drive north, Kohala Coast visitors will find the entrance to Mauna Lani Beach Resort with 5-star ocean front 'Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows', 'Fairmont Orchid at Mauna Lani' plus luxurious ocean view condo complexes like 'The Terrace' and 'Mauna Lani Point' (Mauna Lani Classic Resorts) or peaceful fairway condos at 'The Islands'. Beach lovers will have to drive from the 'Islands' and the 'Mauna Lani Point' golfcourse condos to their favorite beaches. Again, these are luxury Kohala Coast vacation condos, whose rates are similar to the 5-star Mauna Lani hotel rates. Island visitors attending conferences or functions at Mauna Lani resort hotels or Mauna Kea & Hapuna Beach Hotel ask us again and again for places with affordable rates in or close to the resort areas. There are no low cost vacation rentals within the resort areas!

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel & Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Resort

Last but not least, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and Mauna Kea Beach Hotel complete our list of well-known Kohala Coast resorts, hotels and beaches. Actually, this is where Big island visitors find the best white sand beaches...Hapuna Beach and Mauna Kea Beach. Experience the Hawaii of your dreams ... white sand beaches, first class championship golf courses and fantastic Pacific ocean life on the sunny Kohala Coast.

Stay tuned till next time with more information on Kohala Coast vacation homes and activities. Aloha from Pua Kohala Coast Vacation Guide

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Tags: kohala coast hotels, kohala coast resorts, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel