Trip Report: Our First Aloha - A Spring Break 2017 Hale Koa and Aulani Report

I am looking forward to your trip review. We were there at the same time, so I am interested in hearing your thoughts. We had a great time!

I did see you there at Aulani, I think. I just didn't connect that I had seen your pic. The weather was so perfect, wasn't it?
 


And we are originally from the coast of Washington, and my sister recently moved from Portland to be near us - so I absolutely understand as well! The sunshine and warm water was such a treat!
 
Looking forward to your trip report! We are going in early June for the first time and I have some of the same activities on our itinerary! All opinions are welcomed! I am in the midst of research and planning!! :)
 


Looking forward to reading your TR! Hope you had a blast =)

I have been remiss. No real excuses - yes, it has been busy at work since I got back, but I think I also needed time to process and remember all my favorite things! (and yes, there were quite a few!)

Looking forward to your trip report! We are going in early June for the first time and I have some of the same activities on our itinerary! All opinions are welcomed! I am in the midst of research and planning!! :)

I am so sad that I probably won't be of much help to you.... but send me any specific questions you have. I am not the fastest trip report producer, but I had some time this weekend to get the travel day and arrival day completed.... so on with the show!!!
 
Friday, March 24 – To Las Vegas via Paris

Finally vacation time arrived. DS had a half-day of school, so we arranged to fly out to Las Vegas late in the afternoon, via Southwest airlines. Hey, it’s the little things like honey-roasted peanuts that make me happy. I think DH and I each ordered an in-flight cocktail, so our vacation was off to a smooth start. It was a short two-hour flight, and we arrived in Vegas at 5:00 PM. We took a LONG cab ride to Paris (seems like the rush hour traffic made for the longest drive to the strip I’ve ever taken.) We chose Paris because our dinner that evening was at Gordon Ramsay Steak, and it was convenient. Despite that, I don’t think I’d choose to stay there again. I didn’t really like the layout of the room, the room comfort or amenities, or the customer service at registration. Also, the penny slots that we like to play for entertainment were very minimal. But that was only a little after-dinner diversion that lasted about an hour, so it was fine for the time we had. We’ve enjoyed stays at New York New York much more. However, the lobby and casino were beautiful, and depicted a blue sky over the streets of Paris. It was easy to find our dining destination for the evening.

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We tried to check in about a half hour early, but the restaurant was busy, and we couldn’t be seated until our reservation time, which was fine. We instead signed up for the players club and then toured some of the shops off the lobby, including a candy shop that was very cute, and had a door out to the Las Vegas strip, so we could people-watch a little as we browsed. We didn’t find anything we wanted to buy, however, and headed back to the restaurant. We were escorted to our table at the top of the stairs on the 2nd floor. I liked the view over the edge to the main floor dining area below.

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We had decided to go with the Hell’s Kitchen tasting menu, and although it was stated on the website that the entire table must order the full tasting menu, our waiter was very thoughtful, and without us asking, offered our teenager the choice to order off the a’ la carte menu if he preferred, which he did, because he loves a good traditional steak, and seeing this “Wheel of Beef” to choose from made his day.

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The Hell’s Kitchen Tasting Menu consisted of:

Amuse Bouche – Scotch Egg (with Berkshire pork sausage and red wine braised cabbage)

First Course – Heirloom Beet Salad (with smoked salmon)

Second Course – Butternut Squash Risotto (topped with a scallop)

Third Course – Roasted Beef Wellington

Dessert Course – Sticky Toffee Pudding

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Our round table was a little awkward with the large leather placemats, but they were still beautiful and unique.


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We began our meal with a Brut champagne to accompany our amuse bouche and bread service. Ahhh…. vacation champagne….. one of my favorite things. The second photo shows our bread service, a couple of bread selections were sweet.

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The amuse bouche was a scotch egg. I don’t think we had ever had a scotch egg, but it was very tasty, and I wouldn’t hesitate to try one again. It was a soft cooked egg deep-fried, and served over a small portion of a pork and red wine braised cabbage mixture.

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The Heirloom Beet Salad was sincerely my favorite part of the meal. It was so good, and the beet, although completely hidden underneath the other ingredients in this photo, was wonderful with the small rose of smoked salmon. The citrus vinaigrette that dressed the salad was perfect. I could have eaten a larger portion of this and called it dinner. It was that delicious. It was served with a light white wine: Vouvray, from the Loire region of France.

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DS asked for a Caesar salad with his steak, and really enjoyed it as a starter to his meal. You can see he “poached” half of my scotch egg from me. No pun intended.

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Next up was the Butternut Squash Risotto, with a large scallop on the top. Very, very good. It was accompanied by a glass of Mischief and Mayhem Pinot Noir from Burgandy, France. I was excited, because Pinot Noir is our favorite type of wine, and we’d never tried this particular one. We usually stick to Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma area of California, or Oregon. It did not disappoint, and this course was fantastic, as expected. Check out that beautiful color on the Pinot, pictured with what was left of the bread service!

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The Beef Wellington with potato puree was the main course, and it was fun to eat the dish that so many aspiring chefs seem to fail on when they feature it on “Hell’s Kitchen”. DH is a good cook when he has the time and inclination, and has made Beef Wellington at home for us before, so I knew that we would love it. Of course, we were getting pretty full by the time we were halfway through it, and wanted to save room for dessert, so I don’t think either of us finished our steak. It was served with a Bordeaux blend, Domaines Barons de Lafite Rothschile Legende Pauillac, which was a good wine pairing with the beef.


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DS had a very well-prepared steak, a New York Strip. Doesn’t that look delectable? He is something of a steak-fiend, so he was happy.


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The final course was Sticky Toffee Pudding. Oh my. So, so good, though very sweet. The little pitcher beside the pudding (more like a moist date cake, as Americans would call it) was a toffee sauce, and the square butter-looking item next to the knife is a brown butter ice cream, which helped cut the sweetness just right – and it was a great way to cap off the meal.


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It was served with a Grenache dessert wine: Banyuls, Chapoutier, Landuedoc Roussillon from the Rhone Valley in France.


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We were presented with a souvenir menu with Gordon Ramsay’s autograph, which I didn’t know we would receive, but it was a nice touch.

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This was a very expensive meal, $145 per person, plus wine pairings for an extra $75 each. Many people wouldn’t find this worthwhile, but we don’t have a problem doing one of these types of over-the-top meals during a vacation. They really make for excellent memories, and are a real treat for the palate.


After dinner, we took DS back to the room, and then DH and I went back down to the casino floor and spent a small amount of time trying to find some amusing slot machines from the scant amount to choose from.


Before long, we were back in the room, ready for a good night’s sleep before our Hawaiian Airlines Flight the next morning.
 
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I'm so happy you're continuing your TR!!
Wow Vegas...been a while since I've been but I really love it there, so much fun!
I've had friends say GR steak was some of the best they have ever had. Your dinner looks amazing. That scotch egg looks ridiculously good, and that risotto underneath the scallop looks divine.
Sticky toffee pudding is a sweet treat that I actually like!
I hope the rest of your vacation is this tasty!
 
Saturday, March 25 – Flight to Honolulu and staying at Hale Koa

Our flight was scheduled at 9:00 AM. We were still full from a delicious dinner, so didn’t even take time to stop for breakfast in the morning, figuring that we would get something at the airport if we got hungry. We were at the airport early, since we are early risers and really saw no point in hanging around the hotel room. As we had never traveled on Hawaiian airlines, it was a new experience. DS figured out the self-service bag drop pretty quickly, and we checked in pretty easily once we understood the process. It was actually nice to be able to weigh our own bags (one bag was about 5 pounds over-limit after shedding our winter clothes that we had worn out of Denver, but it was easy to swap a couple items into another bag and make it work out). I would have felt bad if we were up at the counter with a line of impatient people behind us, so it was convenient to check bags this way.


We found a comfortable place to sit at our gate, and the guys made good use of plugging in their phones in the outlets by the seats and playing games while waiting to board. DS had decided that he was a little hungry at that point, and there was a Starbucks right there, so he was satisfied. While the guys played phone games, I took $20 over to the slot machines right there and entertained myself for about an hour, which is a pretty good price for entertainment at a Las Vegas airport slot machine! The highlight, however, was having my very first DISmeet with MAGIC4TWO (Tammie). Tammie and her husband Jim had a nearly identical itinerary to ours, beginning at Hale Koa and moving onto Aulani. They were on the same flight, and even in the same row, but on the opposite side of the plane. It was too funny, and quite the coincidence that we met right here on the DIS Boards! Tammie is just as sweet as she seemed when we were chatting on the boards leading up to this trip. The most awful thing is that we NEVER ran into each other once we departed the plane in Honolulu. Tammie and her husband Jim were meeting family there, so both of us had pretty packed agendas, I think. But nevertheless, it was FUN to meet her in person. She gave me a big hug, told me about her trip so far, which included sleeping a couple of hours in the airport USO due to a late travel schedule from their home (and how she looked so good when I ran into her at the gate is AMAZING to me!) I hope she and Jim and their family had a wonderful vacation like we did. So Tammie, if you come back to this forum, please know how fantastic it was to meet you, even though so briefly.


We boarded our flight quickly, and it was nice to turn left instead of right when entering the plane to sit in the extra comfort section, which we felt we needed to pay a bit extra for, due to the long flight. The seats were roomier, and there was a nice entertainment package to choose from, including movies, music and TV shows, and even some trivia games that played on the seatback in front of you.


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We were in row 12, seats A, B, C. Since the seats were a 2-4-2 configuration, I let the guys sit by the window, and I took the aisle seat in the middle.


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The flight over to Honolulu was not as pleasant as the flight coming back. There was a little girl, about age 1 ½ or 2, I figure, and she was NOT happy to be on the airplane. I think she cried the entire trip (screamed was more like it). She had two dads, and they didn’t seem to know how to distract her and keep her happy. They tried a few things but the only time she was quiet was when the flight attendant took her and walked up and down the aisle with her for a while. I don’t know why one of her dads didn’t take it upon themselves to do that, but it is what it is, and I don’t judge their actions. I remember flying with our son when he was small, and I was always very concerned and nervous about keeping him quiet and occupied on a long trip. They at least seemed to be calm about it, and take it in stride that a six hour plane ride was going to be a trial, and they just went with the flow. And since I’m a pretty patient person, I can mentally shut out a screaming child pretty easily, and I even managed a fitful nap with my complimentary pillow and blanket during the journey to make the time pass more quickly.


The flight crew was very good. Attentive and pleasant. We had a small breakfast sandwich meal, and a wonderful in-flight drink when we were close to arrival, a punch made of POG (Pineapple, Orange, Guava) juice and Koloa white rum. The extra comfort seats also had individual power outlets to plug in our devices so that we could stay entertained. Worked perfectly, especially for my DH and DS. DS was getting excited as we drew closer, and practiced “hanging loose”.


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We arrived a little before our scheduled arrival time of 12:40 pm. Our luggage was quickly off the carousel, and we headed to the rental car shuttle. We had decided to rent from Budget, and chose a Standard Elite SUV. I chose a larger SUV, because I had made a mistake on our last trip to Florida, and the “SUV” I reserved had so little cargo space in the back that we wound up with half of our luggage sitting in the back passenger seat next to DS. So I thought this was a brilliant plan. I pictured something like a Ford Escape or a mid-sized SUV, but this was a full-on BOAT of a vehicle – a GMC Yukon. Yes, it was wonderful and spacious, but it was also larger than what should have been responsibly driven and parked in the narrow roads and parking spaces of Oahu. Since at home DH and I both drive SUVs, and the company I had previously worked for owned a GMC Yukon (or something very similar) as a company vehicle, I was used to periodically driving a big car, so I took over as the main driver, and DH (with the help of WAZE, which was very good on Oahu) performed navigational duties.


We made our way to the Hale Koa, on Waikiki beach. This is a military resort, so the room rates are reasonable, and although it is largely without any special theming, the view and the property were gorgeous, the room was comfortable, and the eateries and amenities were great (particularly having the base exchange on the ground floor). We checked in and were delighted to find out that our room (#874) was ready. We drove down to the bottom of the hotel property, crossed the street, and parked in the free parking garage, using our room key for access to the garage. We had booked one of the Deluxe Ocean Front rooms exactly one year in advance to the day. The Hale Koa charges by rank, and is available for both active duty and retired military members. Guard, Reserves, and Department of Defense Civilian employees are also welcome, and the rates for each rank and category are explained in detail on the Hale Koa website, along with the rates offered. It is quite a bargain for the Waikiki area, and we know several people who have vacationed here and recommended it to us. The Deluxe Ocean Front rooms are a little hard to come by, as they are corner rooms facing the ocean on the upper floors, and there aren’t many of them. The balcony outside wraps around the corner, forming an “L” shape, and there are a variety of chairs and loungers outside. Here is the view from our room, as well as some photos of the balcony and the main pool below.


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I loved the lounger on the narrow side of the “L”, and made good use of it throughout our stay to sunbathe or relax in the shade. This room had one queen-sized bed and a sofa bed, and DS never minds sleeping on a sofa bed, so we didn’t mind booking this room instead of a standard. The balcony, the views, and the spacious floor made the decision of which type of room to book very easy for us.


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I had read about the buffet restaurant at Hale Koa, “Koko at Kalia”, which served a surf & turf dinner buffet on Saturday nights, with all you can eat snow crab legs – yum! So at 5:00, we headed that direction, and explored the resort as we went. There is a huge banyan tree in the courtyard, and the entire area was beautiful, and smelled heavenly. We also passed the luau lawn, which we would see on Monday.


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At the restaurant, there was quite a lineup to enter the dinner buffet. Apparently it is VERY popular with the locals as well, and there were obviously several regulars that were being greeted by name, especially some older folks. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating, but even the indoor seating is open-air, as we discovered is very standard on Oahu, and probably all of Hawaii.


We settled in at a lovely table in the center of the indoor area, and I promptly ordered a Hale Koa Signature Mai Tai made with light rum and a dark rum float, to start things off right. DH tried the “Tropical Itch” which came with a mini back scratcher (not pictured, as DH took it out before I could snap this photo, LOL!)


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There were 4 varieties of Mai Tais on the menu, and the next one I tried was called the O’ahu Mai Tai, made with Coconut Vodka.


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Everything we drank was tropical and delicious! And all the drinks were reasonably priced – around $8 to $10, as you can see from the menu. DH got a virgin daiquiri or some such, so we all had tropical drinks on hand.


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There were lots of choices for dinner – particularly dishes with an oriental flare, such as fall-off-the-bone spareribs, sticky rice, peel and eat shrimp, fish, roasted duck and some delicious poke. They also served a couple varieties of fish, and a beautiful prime rib.


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There were varieties of house-made ice cream and other desserts, and the entire family’s favorite: snow crab legs!!! They were served warm from bamboo steamer baskets, and there was drawn melted butter to accompany it. I prefer my crab warm and dripping with butter (sorry, Disney Cruise Line, as enticing as your huge crab claws are, I can’t enjoy the chilled way they are served). Here we are at dinner, along with a plate of delicious crab legs.



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We just look like we’re having an awful time, don’t we?? This was another great family vacation meal.


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DS made a special friend at dinner, and named him “Kiwi”. This funny little bird was just hopping around the restaurant, having a grand old time. He was very entertaining. I’m sure he was waiting for a spare crumb to drop. I feel sorry that the restaurant probably has to clean their carpets daily with all the visiting birds. The funny thing is that we kept seeing “Kiwi” following us all during our vacation. He was out at Kualoa Ranch, followed us to Aulani, and we even think we spotted him back in Wyoming as well. I guess he got pretty attached to us. J


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After dinner we walked down the path to the ocean, and checked out the open air bar on the beach (Barefoot Bar) and each tried another drink while we listened to the surf and watched the sun set. As it’s a public area, everyone was welcome, but the military patrons enjoyed a couple dollars off their drinks by showing their room key or military ID. We tried the “Blue Hawaii” and “Hawaiian Punch”.


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We sat there for a while, and listened to the waves crash, and then headed back to the room, since we had a busy day ahead of us on Sunday.
 
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Barefoot bar is my go to weekend bar after a day on the beach. DH and I stop there almost every weekend. I think (for the money) it's just an amazing little place to hang out for a while. And the beach there is great, nice and big and non-rocky. Waikiki isn't the most gorgeous beach in the world, but it's "my" beach.
 
So far, your TR is about 2/3 photos of food......I love it!!! A girl by my own heart! Really enjoying all the details (especially that risotto pic...yum!!). Can't wait to read all the rest! It's almost our turn!!
 
Barefoot bar is my go to weekend bar after a day on the beach. DH and I stop there almost every weekend. I think (for the money) it's just an amazing little place to hang out for a while. And the beach there is great, nice and big and non-rocky. Waikiki isn't the most gorgeous beach in the world, but it's "my" beach.

We enjoyed Barefoot Bar. They also had some live music happening there, which I forgot to mention. Anyplace with a beach is a good place by me, and we enjoyed Waikiki - I didn't think it was as horribly crowded as I had feared.

So far, your TR is about 2/3 photos of food......I love it!!! A girl by my own heart! Really enjoying all the details (especially that risotto pic...yum!!). Can't wait to read all the rest! It's almost our turn!!

Yep, that seems to be a recurring theme for all of my trip reports. We really love to take food photos. LOL! I'm excited that it's almost time for you to go!!! You'll have a great time, I know!
 
Keep it coming have been enjoying your TR.
I love hearing about wonderful properties that our military families get to enjoy at good rates!!
Kerri
 
Sorry Paris was a bit disappointing. We really liked it when we stayed there in 2015. However, the last time we went to Vegas, we noticed that it had gone down hill a bit. The blue sky is a nice touch. The meal looks fabulous though. That sticky toffee pudding is totally calling me right now.

Ah, Hawaii:) The resort is beautiful. The food and drinks look great. I could do with one of those Mai Tais too:) The one with coffee liquor looks really interesting. Hope the rest of the trip is just as good.
 
Hi Leslie, I'm back! So fun to see you started your report. You are so sweet to mention our meet at the airport. It was such a pleasure to meet you, too! You are so friendly and genuinely sweet. It is funny we never saw each other again. That baby on the plane. :faint: I felt bad for your family because you were seated so close to her. I just wanted to go get her and help those dads. I always like to tell parents of toddlers flying that infant Dramamine and gummy bears do wonders for little travelers and for everyone else concerned. It just "calms the waters" I discovered it by accident when my oldest was a toddler and would get motion sickness. DDIL used Benadryl also to help keep little ears open and it helps them sleep, too.

We loved Hale Koa! I didn't expect to like it that much. We did the Sunday Brunch and it was fabulous. Our Uncle was really impressed, and he has done everything so it made us feel good that we chose that meal. I still say Hale has the best Mai Tais on the Island!
 
Hi Leslie, I'm back! So fun to see you started your report. You are so sweet to mention our meet at the airport. It was such a pleasure to meet you, too! You are so friendly and genuinely sweet. It is funny we never saw each other again. That baby on the plane. :faint: I felt bad for your family because you were seated so close to her. I just wanted to go get her and help those dads. I always like to tell parents of toddlers flying that infant Dramamine and gummy bears do wonders for little travelers and for everyone else concerned. It just "calms the waters" I discovered it by accident when my oldest was a toddler and would get motion sickness. DDIL used Benadryl also to help keep little ears open and it helps them sleep, too.

We loved Hale Koa! I didn't expect to like it that much. We did the Sunday Brunch and it was fabulous. Our Uncle was really impressed, and he has done everything so it made us feel good that we chose that meal. I still say Hale has the best Mai Tais on the Island!

I'm so glad you're back, Tammie! I wish we could have visited more. I'm always a little shy with people I first meet, but you made it so easy to chat with you - thanks for a great first DIS meet!! That is wonderful that you did the Sunday brunch at Hale Koa. I've heard great things about it, and we would have absolutely been there if not for our tickets to Pearl Harbor on Sunday. Then we might have seen you! LOL! Hope you had a fantastic trip, and that your family had a great time.

Great tips about the infant Dramamine and gummy bears (and also the Benedryl to help them sleep)! I'm going to tuck that information away in my back pocket for someday with grandchildren. I used to make it a tradition to have gummy peach rings for my son. How funny to realize that it might have been more beneficial than just being a sweet "travel treat"! But it absolutely makes sense to keep them swallowing when taking off and landing. Much easier on their little ears. I felt badly for that poor little girl, not to mention her dads. How they kept their good humor the entire flight is beyond me. I would have been wound up tighter than a corkscrew if it was my baby screaming the entire flight. It didn't bug my "menfolk" at all - my DH has noise cancelling headphones, and they both kept occupied watching movies the entire flight.

Yum - memories of Mai Tais are dancing in my head!
 

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