{"id":596,"date":"2012-07-09T20:13:50","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T20:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/blog\/?p=596"},"modified":"2012-07-09T20:13:50","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T20:13:50","slug":"hawaiimoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaiimoon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Three years ago when I was invited by Starwood Hotels to their Rendezvous in Honolulu, I had mixed emotions about taking the trip having never visited Hawaii before.\u00a0 I convinced myself that I could break the seal on Hawaii with Honolulu because it wasn\u2019t quite the same level of awe inspiring beauty found on Hawaii\u2019s other islands.\u00a0 I made myself believe Honolulu was a business city with a fine beach, a Miami but much further away.\u00a0 And having now returned with my bride to both Maui and Kauai, I feel fortunate that I was right.\u00a0 I saved real Hawaii for my honeymoon.There\u2019s something to be said for traveling to a far off exotic place, a place where one\u2019s passport is required and the language is foreign.\u00a0 But what if you can get that far off exotic experience without those hassles?\u00a0 Maui and Kauai do just that.\u00a0 It takes eleven hours to fly there \u2013 it certainly meets the requirements of being far and off.\u00a0 And one quick look around will check the box for exotic.\u00a0\u00a0 Not having to exchange currency is an even bigger bonus, although one can certainly make the case that the dollar I know doesn\u2019t quite go as far on the islands.\u00a0 Is that Hawaiian dollars?\u00a0 I have not one morsel of regret spending the most significant vacation of my life, right here in the US of A.<\/p>\n

The jury is still out as to whether we enjoyed Maui or Kauai better.\u00a0 We were told that Maui was \u201cfast paced\u201d compared to Kauai and indeed we can corroborate that.\u00a0 There\u2019s simply more to do on Maui.\u00a0 We personally liked an island where there was more to do but we wouldn\u2019t presume to make that choice for others.\u00a0 Kauai probably has more natural beauty unto itself, but Maui has higher elevations and Maui has the famous Road to Hana.<\/p>\n

On Maui we enjoyed a five night stay at the gorgeous Grand Wailea resort, a Waldorf Astoria Resort.\u00a0 Wailea Beach is immaculate and the ocean views here are priceless.\u00a0 Maui afforded us the opportunity to take in a Haleakala sunrise, where the tour van picks you up at your hotel at three in the morning.\u00a0 That was not a typo!\u00a0 You are driven to an elevation of roughly 10,000ft \u2013 the view from up here is breathtaking \u2013 literally.\u00a0 At roughly quarter to six in the morning, you stand huddled with your mate, wrapped in hotel blankets and two layers of sweatshirt, bearing the forty degree temperature coupled with forty mile per hour winds, and you watch a mystical sunrise over the crown of the volcano.\u00a0 It\u2019s nearly heavenly.\u00a0 And all that and back to your hotel before ten.\u00a0 On Maui you can also enjoy the Road to Hana, which, if driven by one\u2019s self we\u2019re told can be renamed the Divorce Highway.\u00a0 We chose to take another tour van here and we were blessed with an exceptional tour guide.\u00a0 Hana itself is nothing to write home about at all \u2013 but the Road To Hana, and the Road From Hana \u2013 well you could write a novel about each.\u00a0 We saw the most beautiful rain forest and the most beautiful desert, all in the course of one day.\u00a0 Waterfalls every few hundred feet and an oil painting in every direction.<\/p>\n

Kauai is super laid back.\u00a0 We enjoyed a three night stay here at the Grand Hyatt Kauai.\u00a0 You just feel so far from the real world here.\u00a0\u00a0 The natural beauty is almost unreal.\u00a0 On Kauai we\u2019d enjoy a luau hosted by our hotel, so not quite as authentic as we might have liked.\u00a0 But we also experienced mystical sunsets including one in a town called Hanalei.\u00a0 In Hanalei we had our one and only celebrity citing \u2013 a real A lister even \u2013 Beau Bridges.\u00a0 We were seated at the very next table, too close for me to even say to Jaime, \u201cHey, that\u2019s Beau Bridges at the next table.\u201d\u00a0 So instead I pulled him up on my phone, on the IMDB, passed my phone to her and said, \u201cDoes this look about right?\u201d\u00a0 Beau, his wife, and daughter, were simply there to enjoy a nice dinner as we were.\u00a0 The last thing they needed was an interruption from the paparazzi especially this far from civilization.\u00a0 So instead, strategically, to force an interaction I said, \u201cExcuse me.\u201d\u00a0 Beau\u2019s wife said, \u201cBeau?\u201d and then Beau turned to me, ready to be super friendly if need be.\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t need.\u00a0 I said, \u201cWould you mind taking our picture?\u201d\u00a0 Beau\u2019s wife was apparently the better photographer but nonetheless, we now have a picture taken by the Bridge\u2019s family and they will never know if we knew their celebrity status ever.\u00a0 A much better use of our fate.<\/p>\n

We loved every second on these islands, from our spa treatments, to sitting poolside, to lounging on the beach, to private cabana dinners, to learning how to say Humuhumunukunukuapua\u2019a two times fast, to the delicious seafood, to the sunrises and sunsets, to the glorious natural environment.\u00a0 Although we both saved our visit until now \u2013 we will not delay in returning.\u00a0 Is it too soon to renew our vows?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three years ago when I was invited by Starwood Hotels to their Rendezvous in Honolulu, I had mixed emotions about taking the trip having never visited Hawaii before.\u00a0 I convinced myself that I could break the seal on Hawaii with Honolulu because it wasn\u2019t quite the same level of awe inspiring beauty found on Hawaii\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHawaiimoon - hotel-lobbyists.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hawaiimoon - hotel-lobbyists.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Three years ago when I was invited by Starwood Hotels to their Rendezvous in Honolulu, I had mixed emotions about taking the trip having never visited Hawaii before.\u00a0 I convinced myself that I could break the seal on Hawaii with Honolulu because it wasn\u2019t quite the same level of awe inspiring beauty found on Hawaii\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"hotel-lobbyists.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-09T20:13:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/hl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/DSCN7957-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Administrator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Administrator\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaiimoon - hotel-lobbyists.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-09T20:13:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-09T20:13:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7337468c442591eaef3e875984ccc733\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hawaiimoon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/\",\"name\":\"hotel-lobbyists.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7337468c442591eaef3e875984ccc733\",\"name\":\"Administrator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7d38732f1c54ea3b013155241790b65?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7d38732f1c54ea3b013155241790b65?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Administrator\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/author\/administrator\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hawaiimoon - hotel-lobbyists.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hawaiimoon - hotel-lobbyists.com","og_description":"Three years ago when I was invited by Starwood Hotels to their Rendezvous in Honolulu, I had mixed emotions about taking the trip having never visited Hawaii before.\u00a0 I convinced myself that I could break the seal on Hawaii with Honolulu because it wasn\u2019t quite the same level of awe inspiring beauty found on Hawaii\u2019s […]","og_url":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/","og_site_name":"hotel-lobbyists.com","article_published_time":"2012-07-09T20:13:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/hl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/DSCN7957-300x225.jpg"}],"author":"Administrator","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Administrator","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/","url":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/","name":"Hawaiimoon - hotel-lobbyists.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-07-09T20:13:50+00:00","dateModified":"2012-07-09T20:13:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7337468c442591eaef3e875984ccc733"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/07\/09\/hawaiimoon\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hawaiimoon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/","name":"hotel-lobbyists.com","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7337468c442591eaef3e875984ccc733","name":"Administrator","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7d38732f1c54ea3b013155241790b65?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7d38732f1c54ea3b013155241790b65?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Administrator"},"url":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/author\/administrator\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}