I have mixed feelings about package deals. Sometimes I love them, and sometimes I avoid them like the plague. I planned to fly over immediately to Maui upon arrival in Honolulu to stay for a few days before flying back for the last few days on O’ahu Island before going to New Zealand.
While keeping the page open on the browser, I searched for car rentals for our stay in Maui. The offer from Thrifty was as good as anything else I could find. There were several accommodations that I could use, and I checked out the reviews on other sites.
At this point, I didn’t know much about locations, but it was clear some areas were more expensive than others. One of the criteria as a want was washing facilities, as I knew we would have lots of laundry to do by the time we reached Hawaii. Besides that, I was leaning towards a separate unit rather than a hotel. I finally went with a place closer to the airport than some of the other options, and in the long run, I think that was a good choice as we arrived late in the day and rather tired.
Let me take a moment to share the information about our condo in Paia, Maui – Kaiholo Hale – the Gardenia Suite.
It was set up like an entire apartment with all the amenities. It had a bathroom with an en suite toilet and a king bed. The rest of the place had a nice size living room, a fully equipped kitchen with a dishwasher and another full bathroom.
Outside was a small patio. They also had a cooler, lawn chairs, surfboards and an umbrella to use at the beach. We made good use of the chairs.
There were laundry facilities for free at the back of the building for the three separate apartments.
We only discovered this morning on our way out that just a short walk from our place is a tiny beach behind an unbelievably expensive restaurant. It would’ve been perfect for us at the end of the day. It’s a protected little cove, and I saw some kids snorkelling. Oh well!
Package Deals for Maui – A Good Decision
Overall, the package was a little pricy – but worth it. Having our own condo with every facility we needed was great.
Each part was treated separately, so I probably would have been as well off to do it myself in the long term.
ACCOMMODATION TIPS
- Set a per-night budget – be sure to include any additional taxes
- Make a list of must-haves and would-likes for consideration
- Determine the best location for you by reviewing maps
- Check reviews from multiple sources
- Verify the user from the review – who, where from, the purpose of the vacation
- If you have a car, verify parking and costs.
