Early research needed

[5kidsmommy]

So the other day my husband sprung the idea on me that he wants to go to Hawaii for our 30th anniversary. It's four years away so I have plenty of time to plan. I told him I'd look into the various options. This supposedly non-Disney lover says "we'll just stay at Aulani". I'll admit I laughed. He claims to not be a Disney lover but when it was time to plan our 25th anniversary we went to Disney.

Basically he likes the service at Disney. He likes the ease of stayingin their properties which I get. That though is at the parks. Aulani looks gorgeous, but I just want to make sure it would be a good fit for us. I know this is an Aulani board so obviously people might be a little biased but I'd like the good and the bad. It will just be the two of us. We would most likely rent points and would get a rental car. Other than that that's all about I know. We just want a relaxing trip of lounging and possibly a little sight seeing.

Any advice welcome. Like I said we have plenty of time but I'm a planner.

 

[alohamom]

If it is just the two of you I am not sure Aulani is the best fit.
It is a lovely resort and our family really enjoys it. The service is as good as other resorts we have stayed in Hawaii but Aulani is kind of compact compared to others, even the Marriott Ko Olina Beach club down the road. They actually have a much more customer service focused approach that Aulani does and so much more is included there than at Aulani.
Would you consider staying on a different island?
How long do you want to stay?
What about a split stay between the North Shore of Oahu and Aulani?
I know you are just starting to look at this vacation but I honestly don't know if Aulani is the exact fit for your goal of relaxing.

 

[kyton]

How long will you go for and have you been to Oahu before? Those would be my 2 priority questions.

Personally as nice as Aulani is, I wouldn’t stay there if I was childless. I know there have been other posters that have and loved it but IMO it really is targeted towards families.

Ko Olina is a master planned gated community - which is nice but is a somewhat sterile environment that is quite secluded from the rest of Oahu. Easy to travel to the North Shore from there but to travel into and out of Honolulu / Waikiki can be a nightmare depending on day of week and time of day.

if it was my first visit to Oahu I would do a split stay - a portion in Waikiki then a portion either at Ko Olina or Turtle Beach. Personally I would choose Four Seasons at Ko Olina over Aulani but that is because in my eyes it is more of an “adults” place - The Marriott and Aulani are both very family oriented, even though they both have adult only pools, there are still lots of kids around.

 

[parkhopmom]

My DH and I just got back from Aulani. We were celebrating our 35th anniversary. No kids, just us. Loved it, would do it again in a heartbeat. We have been to Oahu before, so just went out a couple of times to see some things we’ve missed, but had no trouble relaxing and enjoying the resort. We spent time in the lazy river, lounged at the beach and the loungers in front of Ama Ama were especially peaceful. Also enjoyed the ‘olelo room.

 

[dachsie]

I loved Aulani but if you want to experience Hawai’i, I would recommend a different island than O’ahu. I loved the Big Island and I have been told Kauai is outstanding. We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Beach on the BI. There are several resorts there besides the Hilton in Waikoloa. Good luck in your research

 

[Noodlez]

I did a trip with just my husband in October and we can’t wait for our next! The only thing I found aimed very much at families was the Lu’au (Paradise Cove next door was more inclusive of adults).
We rented a car for 3 days in the middle of the week. This gave us time to explore and hike, but also a few days of relaxation. We also caught the bus to Honolulu a couple of times.
During the time we were there there was pool work going on so there wasn’t a dedicated adult pool. When we wanted a little more peace we found it quieter by the ocean than pool. The slide was still fun though!

 

[nkereina]

The ease of everything at WDW is not as prevalent at Aulani. Aulani is located in isolated planned gated tourist community called Ko Olina that's on the northern west corner of the island. Its a little secluded making for longer commutes to get to a lot of places, and you would definitely need a car to explore. They also don't offer transportation to and from the airport, but its easy enough to drive yourself if you're renting a car anyway. Aulani does offer great service, but they don't have anything like magic bands so they're the same as any other resort with charging back to the room. And you can make dining reservations, but there are only two TS restaurants on-site.

We stayed at Aulani for 6 days as part of our honeymoon, so obviously with no kids. However, that was at the tail end of a 16 day trip. The other resorts we stayed at were geared more towards adults. So I would agree with PPs and at least do a split stay, staying part of your trip elsewhere (Waikiki perhaps) or even on a different island, and then moving to Aulani. It also depends how long you will be there.

 

[Pooh2]

We celebrated our 30th anniversary at Aulani and loved every minute of it!
We rented points and went in September to make it attainable.
We got a rental car (watched the rates which came down by over $100 a week prior) so we toured and walked beaches most mornings and came back to float in the cove in the afternoons.
Our stay was 9 nights followed by our first trip to Disneyland for 3 days. Glad we had the DL trip to look forward to or it would have been harder to leave Aulani!
The lazy river and pools closed up by 8ish at that time of year so we went down to float in the cove after the pools closed up. The water was so warm and the sky was so bright with stars it looked like it was straight out a disney movie!
Have fun planning your trip!

 

[5kidsmommy]

Thank you all for your responses. I will take a look at the other resorts mentioned. Neither of us have ever been to Hawaii. We always meant to go but life and a gaggle of kids just got in the way. I’ll talk over the various options with my husband. Thanks again. Now I’ve got lots more research to do but now I’ve got some starting points.

 

[newdeal]

Don't stay in Waikiki. It is terrible and isn't Hawaii at all. We have been to aulani twice. Once without kids and once with kids. We have also stayed in Waikiki once. I would never stay in Waikiki again. Ever. It's just a city and isn't that nice. KO olina is great and aulani is great with our without kids. It is however just a place to stay. If I wasn't a DVC member I would strongly consider turtle bay. The north shore is really great. That said it's only a hour drive max from aulani so if the price is much more than aulani I would pick aulani and just drive to the north shore one or twice.

 

[dis_stephen]

I agree on not staying in Waikiki. We've split time on where we stay in Hawaii every time we go. First trip, we split time between Oahu and the Big Island, last time around we split time within Oahu (staying at the North Shore and Aulani). Each time we would VRBO a place instead of a hotel

Waikiki doesn't feel much like a vacation to us.