National Hawaii Day is today, July 5. To mark the occasion, yours truly, a 35-time visitor to the islands, is offering up some thoughts on special hotels and resorts you should consider for your next trip. Remember to visit responsibly and respectfully. Side note: Travel + Leisure came out with their list of the top 20 resorts of Hawaii on Tuesday, July 9. I believe eight of their top picks are on my list below. O’AHU Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina: Resting alongside the Aulani Disney resort outside of Honolulu, this is a chill spot overlooking a pretty Read more
Kona
This is a re-post of a story from Hawaii in 2018. A newly discovered great drive. Classic food places. And lovely nature all around. Hawaii Big Island is always a huge treat for me. It’s the Hawaiian island I know the least, partly because I haven’t been there as often as the others and partly because it’s so darn huge; as big as all the other islands put together. We only had a couple days, and I wanted to stay in Hilo as we had visited there in 1968; the first year our family took a trip to Hawaii. My Read more
The damage has been almost entirely to private homes, far from areas frequented by visitors. But the volcano that has pummelled the southeast corner of Hawaii Big Island has certainly had an impact on the state’s vital tourism industry, officials say. I chatted by phone on Friday with Ross Birch, head of Hawaii Big Island Tourism. He told me there’s no doubt that the uncertainty has hurt his island’s economy. He also agreed that a lot of the concern isn’t necessary. “Less than 10 square miles has been affected by the volcano,” he said. “The island is 4,028 square miles.” Read more
