Tons o’news today, folks….
- Kona Village Resort bungalow and Hawaii’s only all-inclusive style resort is back on sale! (I wrote about a similar deal back in December and I’m somewhat surprised to see it again.) The deal is $275 per night and includes meals, luau, and activities. The deal is valid for stays between February 20 and June 15 with blackout dates of April 4-11.
- Smith Travel Research and Hospitality Advisors indicated that Hawaii hotel room rates dropped 10%, to an average of $183 per night, compared with this same time period in 2008. This news just reinforces the message that a Hawaii vacation is definitely a bargain right now. Perhaps an additional hidden value of that 10% rate reduction is that other freebies are being offered such as resort credits and free breakfasts. Hawaii is on sale, folks!
- The Inn at Mama’s Fish House was just named to Coastal Living’s list of the top 10 romantic island inns. This lovely inn is nestled along a picturesque beach near Paia on Maui.
- In other romantic news, the BedandBreakfast.com has named Hilo’s Shipman House Bed & Breakfast as a top romantic pick.
- While I was visiting Hawaii, I read the news that a bill has been introduced to ban smoking on Waikiki Beach. For what it’s worth, I’d like to say I’d be in support of this ban. Waikiki Beach is too beautiful to be an ashtray and littered with cigarette butts.
- Lost actor Daniel Dae Kim who plays the role of Jin has joined forces with Chef DK Kodama to open a build your own burger restaurant in the Kahala Mall on Oahu. The name of the restaurant is The Counter. KITV has a video segment about this new restaurant. Oh my gosh, those burgers look delicious. Seriously, why couldn’t they have opened this restaurant a week earlier while I was on the island so I could try it?
- After 20 years of discussion, work has finally started on the Lahaina bypass roadway, per Maui News.
- For some quirky news, the Guinness World Record for the largest ukulele ensemble was attempted and I believe achieved yesterday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu. The previous record included 401 people in Sweden in 2007. Yesterday, over 900 La Quinta Inns national conference attendees assembled to play the ukulele led by Hawaii’s Kelly Boy Delima.
Sheila Beal
