Aulani Planning Advice

[RJP77]

I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to Aulani and would really appreciate some advice. We will need to stay in a 1 Bedroom, preferrably Standard View. What are the booking patterns at this resort like? It's not my home resort, so will need to book at the 7 month window. Is any particular time of year easier to get my desired room than others? Is there any time of year I should avoid? Any general thoughts on the best time to go would be appreciated. Also, do I really need to rent a car? Thanks.

 

[christine*]

Aulani is kind of far out from main tourist attractions. I would recommend renting a car unless you plan on just staying and relaxing at the resort the whole time. We went in February and the weather was great.

 

[Cinderpamela]

Standard view is the first category to get snatched up so you may want to be prepared to go at least one room category up if necessary.

The harder times to get a reservation are when school is out... so the traditional break times. If you are free to book a vacation when school is in session for most people you will have an easier time of it.

That said we managed to get Christmas time at the 7 month window, but I did it all peace-meal, first got 3 nights and then managed to keep adding (when other previously full days showed up as available) to actually string 6 days together. I was online each morning when the window opened checking availability and seeing if anything opened up. We are in a Ocean View Studio for 2 nights and then an Island View One Bedroom for 4 nights. It was a Christmas miracle!!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I booked twice @ Aulani within my 7 month window for February 2012 and February 2013, both during Presidents week which is when school is out but didn't have any problem booking a week stay and ocean view. But I don't know what your 7 month window is. We have friends who have gone in August and said the resort was packed but I can say that the two separate times we have gone in February it was not. The weather was great too. You may want to google something about the weather and the best time of year to go. I remember asking a woman who worked in the shop and she said the summer (esp. August is extremely hot), almost unbearable at times. As far as the car goes, my husband always insists on getting a rental car. Even at DW. He strongly believes to go where you want to go, when you want to. I will give you a heads up about the food at Aulani....not so good and very expensive. Many people leave the premises to eat, especially dinner hours, and go across the street (just ok) and even into Honolulu and other areas. I've seen many with grocery bags from Costco, Target and Safeway too. We used the rental car a lot. Went to North Shore, famous shaved ice place, and went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation down the road from there. Also went into Honolulu for Leonards Bakery and Pearl Harbor.

 

[disneybirds]

We were able to book at the 7 month window in a 1 bdr standard view for 4th of July week. You will definitely need to read up on all the tricks of getting a reservation quickly and maybe even practice doing one online if you haven't already. I do feel that we were lucky to get a 1 bdr standard view at the time we were going. We originally tried to go the first part of June, but were never able to get enough nights together in the same type of room.

I would definitely rent a car. You will want to head out to the other parts of the island and get groceries from somewhere. We never did eat a meal at Aulani because of the reviews we read on here.