Oahu - hotel/island recommendations?

love1229

Hi! 

 Has anyone ever stayed at Turtle Bay? We are thinking of staying there when we go to Hawaii for our honeymoon in June!

Does anyone have any tips or restaurant recommendations for Oahu? We are definitely going to Pearl Harbor.

dragonstarjk

We actually went to Hawaii back in May for our five-year anniversary.  We spent a week on Oahu and then a week on a cruise to the other islands.

As far as restaurants in Oahu, we enjoyed Top of Waikiki as a special last-night splurge.  It's up high and rotates around so you can see the shoreline.  It's in the Waikiki area.  For breakfast, try the Hula Grill.  It's inside the Outrigger Waikiki and it is amazing!  We went back three times for breakfast.  Also, there is an Italian restaurant over in the Ala Moana Shopping Center, I can't remember the name.  It was super fancy and really, really good.  Best French toast I've ever had in my entire life!  I liked all of these because they were places we happened to find rather than just going to all of the same restaurants that everybody recommends on the Internet. 

We actually stayed at a hotel called Vive.  It is not a big resort hotel, so if that's what you're looking for then Turtle Bay looks fantastic.  However, we saved a TON of money by staying at the Vive and were able to walk anywhere in the Waikiki area.  I would stay there again in a heartbeat!

Have fun on your honeymoon!  Pearl Harbor was great.  We also really loved driving from Waikiki to the North Shore; I think Turtle Bay is on the North Shore so you could do the reverse.

JoanE2012

We just got back from Hawaii last week.  We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  It was a pretty big resort, though we were only there 2 nights, so I can't comment on too much other to say that the one restaurant we ate at on property was good and the room was nice.

We did Pearl Harbor and hiked to the top of Diamond Head.  The next day, we left for Maui.  Personally, I didn't care for Oahu.....too busy and city-like, I didn't feel like I was on vacation.  Perhaps if left the Waikiki area, I'd of felt differently.  I do wish we got up to see the North Shore.

Oh, I will echo PPs comment on Hula Grill.....we ate there in Maui and it was one of my favorite restaurants!  They own a couple others (Leilanis, Dukes).

als1982

My mom and I went to Hawaii this past summer.  We started and ended in Oahu.  

At the beginning we stayed at the J.W. Marriott on the SWish side of the island.  We thought this area was awesome, with great walking paths, lots of included amenities (my mom enjoyed sunrise yoga every day and took advantage of the snorkel equipment, while I did a lot of lounging) and one of the top rated luaus within walking distance (though it was pretty cheesy, I think it's a 'when in Rome thing').  Right across the road were great places to eat and a grocery store where we picked up essentials.  The only negative would be if you're wanting to avoid lots of kids, the Disney resort is right next door.

After four nights in Maui, we headed back to Oahu, where we stayed at The Modern Honolulu, which is right next door to the Hilton Hawaiian Village mentioned above.  The hotel had a fantastic pool, but the rooms weren't as large or nice as the J.W.  Honolulu was okay, the beach and people watching are definitely the best part IMO.  Interestingly, it's a big shopping destination for foreigners who can't get American goods as cheap at home (which is ironic, because by my Midwestern standards, everything is expensive in Hawaii!)  We didn't visit Pearl Harbor, but we did do all 3 routes of their hop-on, hop-off bus, which was fun.