PRICING AND PICKING A HOTEL for your Do-It-Yourself
Tour of the Honolulu Marathon is easier than doing the
same for air flights. Yes, there are some discounts,
such as those offered Seniors, and you sometimes can
get a fifth night or a rental car free, but hotels generally
do not suddenly change prices overnight like the airlines.
Nevertheless, prices vary greatly. The reason, to quote
the old Real Estate adage: Location! Location! Location! And
in the case of the Hawaiian Islands: Season! Season! Season!
Fortunately for those of us who run the Honolulu Marathon,
the race comes during the so-called "Low Season."
Luxury comes into play, of course. You'll pay more if you
want to stay at a hotel on Waikiki Beach like the Royal
Hawaiian than if you stayed at the Hawaiian Regent, where
you need to cross Kalakaua Boulevard to get to that beach.
Within those hotels, you'll pay more or less depending on
your view of the ocean. The least expensive hotels are those
a block or two inland, where you have to walk to the beach
to see it. For instance, a room at the Ocean Resort Hotel
can be had for as little as $65 a night compared to $500 for
the best rooms at the Royal Hawaiian.
One excellent choice that I'll recommend is the Outrigger
Reef on the Beach, the headquarters hotel for the
Honolulu Marathon. I stayed there with the Runner's
World pacing team i n1999. Rooms began at $115
a night, $240 if you wanted that view of the ocean.
Those prices are per room, whether one person or two
persons sharing. Additional persons, up to a maximum
of four, cost $25 more per person per night. (Add
to that a tax of 11.416% per night.) Outrigger has
many other properties, not only on Oahu, but on the
islands of Kauai, Maui and Hawaii. For those staying
in one of their beachfront properites, Outrigger also
offers a Special Marathon RunPak. The package includes:
official training T-shirt, runner's cao, fanny pak,
carbo-loading dinner vouchers and other marathon accessories.
(To qualify for the RunPak, you have to stay at least
four nights; only one RunPak per room.)
To contact, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts,
telephone toll-free: 800/325-7171. The Web site is: http://www.outrigger.com/.
For runners, location on the beach sometimes is less
important than location near the start or finish of the
race, which are several miles apart. Given a choice, I
usually prefer locating near the finish line, which in
Honolulu's case is in Kapiolani Park at the southern end of
Waikiki Beach. When the marathon used to start at Aloha
Tower, this was more important. With the start now in Ala
Moana Park, most of the Waikiki hotels are reasonably
convenient to both start and finish.
Location is also important on the
other islands. On Maui, Kaanapali Beach has the best
beach. One of my favorite hotels is at the end of
that beach: the Sheraton Maui, which features a luau
on the beach as well as nightly torch-lighting festivals
at sunset, a great way to end the day before heading
off for dinner. On the Big Island, Kona is location
for the Ironman Triathlon. Following is a selection
of hotels. Prices quoted are for two people staying
in a room; the lowest figure is for a no-view room
on the back of the hotel, highest figure for a deluxe
ocean view. These prices are from 1999 and may be
slightly higher now, but the range will be about the
same
