Product Description Open Road uncovers the very best family fare for Hawaiian-bound travelers. One of Americas top vacation spots, the award-winning author of our Hawaii Guide and mother of two young kids shows readers how to get the most our of a Hawaii trip for the whole family. Explore volcanoes on the Big Island, visit Sea Life Park, the Waikiki Aquarium, Waimea Falls Adventure Park, and the Polynesian Cultural Center (where some of the exhibits and demonstrations will leave kids wide-eyed), ride an old Sugarcane Train, learn how to do hula, visit a real submarine take an outrigger canoe ride, go kite flying in Kapiolani Park, snorkel, take a whale-watching excursion, compete in ancient Hawaiian Olympic-type games and on and on. And dont forget the luaus, always a great family treat! Fully covers family-friendly hotels and restaurants on all islands.
Reviews of Hawaii Guide:
An award-winning travel guide alerts Hawaii's many visitors to the best-kept secrets and all the essentials of this island paradise. Each of Hawaii's main islands is covered thoroughly, along with two other islands rarely mentioned in guidebooks. Featuring a full range of facilities and activities, Hawaii Guide is packed with detailed information on lodgings, restaurants, shops of all kinds, sights, events, and much more. Ingram
Customer Reviews:
Okay General Guide Book, But... March 30, 2007 5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is okay as a planning resource if you are a family of 3 or 4 and all your kids are under 12. If you are a larger family or have older kids, skip this, you're not going to find the kind of information you're looking for.
This book DOES NOT contain any information on the following:
Appropriateness of any sights, activities or attractions to the different age groups (pre-schoolers, grade schoolers and teens).
Interest level or fun factor for any of the sights, activities or attractions to the different age groups (pre-schoolers, grade schoolers or teens).
Which hotels can accomodate families of 3 only (more common than you think). Which hotels can accomodate families of 4. Which hotels can accomodate families of 5 without having to book 2 or more rooms. No hotel I've ever found will guarantee adjoining rooms. If you have to book this way, you run the risk of having to split your family up with one parent and some of the kids on one floor and the other parent and the rest of the kids on another floor. Also, RQ Waikiki Banyan will tell you they can accomodate 5, but will not tell you that 5th person must sleep on a rollaway that's going to cost you another $30 a night even when it's a child. It would be nice if this book would point stuff like that out.
This book also does not give you any real cost saving tips - important when you're a larger family. For instance, most all of the rooms reviewed were $200 or more a night. If you have to book 2 rooms, that gets real expensive real quick. It would have been nice to see an affordable alternative for larger families.
Also, it would be nice if this book pointed out if familiar restaurants are in the area. Our kids tire of eating at touristy places all the time(and so does our pocketbook.) It would be nice to know if we'll be able to find a Pizza Hut or a McDonalds when we're in Kailua-Kona. But alas, that kind of information is also not present in this book.
As I said, it's okay as a general guide book and somewhat helpful to small families and families with kids under 12. But for a family of 5 with 2 of our 3 kids over the age of 12, the information just fell way short of what I was looking for.
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