The Polite Traveler

Tropical Plants, Hilarious Tour Guide, Wooden Art, Oh My! My Dear Polite Travelers, Traveling around an island might lead to questioning the types of exotic vegetation one might see.  As an avid—and sometimes irritating—questioner, I always have tons of questions.  So, a visit to the Maui Tropical Plantation was a perfect fit for me.  The Maui Tropical Plantation is part farm, part shops/market, and offers unique activities and dining options.  The best part, in my opinion, is the tour.  The Plantation Tour The Tropical Express Tour is a 40-minute tram ride through the plantation grounds.  Throughout the tour, guests are introduced to the farm’s vegetation: trees, plants, fruit, and their uses.  We’re also treated to some great humor.  Our guide was hilarious and educational.  Along the ride, we stopped for a coconut husking demonstration.  It was particularly interesting.  Of course, our guide interjected humor at just t...

  Simple room with no view, but I’d choose it again. My Dear Polite Travelers, You know how it is when we're traveling and tired.  Sometimes, we just want simple—a simple room with ample amenities like a television, microwave, and fridge.  Fold in a comfy bed and a clean bathroom, and it’s a travel-day win.  Well, that’s what we found at a new favorite hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites Maui North Shore.  Room W309 Since my hubby is mobility challenged, we chose an accessible room.  This one didn’t disappoint: grab bars, toiletries at chair height, a shower wand, a pull-down shower seat, and a walk-in shower.  Additionally, there were no cabinets under the sink vanity for wheelchair users.  All good. The room was comfortable, with temperature control easy to manage and ample light.  Of course, the room included a coffee maker, coffee, and tea .  The large, smart, mounted television allowed for easy streaming—great for after-...

  You Can’t Get This in a Lower-Cost Maui Hotel…or can you? My Dear Polite Travelers, When many people think of a Maui vacation, they probably imagine lying on a sandy beach near a luxurious hotel—perhaps holding a tropical cocktail.  That’s a great vision, and one I share often.  Still, this is rarely our exact reality when staying in a lower-cost hotel .  Or so we thought. After a long day of traveling, we arrived at the Hampton Inn & Suites Maui North Shore.  From the front of the hotel—directly off a main, very busy road—the hotel doesn’t scream high-end or even comfy.  But that’s not why I chose this hotel.  I chose it for its proximity to the airport and considered it a good two-day resting place before moving on to the west side of the island for the remainder of our visit.  And perhaps we could also explore the area.  Don’t Miss! Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa Review : Art, Excellent Service & Penguins...Oh My ...

Art, Excellent Service & Penguins...Oh My My Dear Polite Travelers, Maui has experienced some horrific natural disasters, including a devastating fire and, more recently, torrential rain that caused severe flooding.  However, none of that was visible during my last visit.  The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort is a huge, richly landscaped, multi-building beauty.  It includes a 40-acre oceanfront lagoon and a waterslide into a children’s splashpad.  However, I saw many more adults enjoying the splashpad than children.  It did look inviting.   Directly adjacent to the lobby is a penguin den.  Guests are invited to watch a daily penguin presentation.  I enjoyed watching them play.  They are quite adorable.     Dining & Shopping In the main building, you’ll find multiple shops, including a gallery filled with unique and quite excellent art.  My favorite shop was actually Honolulu Coffee .  As a family-owned,...

Ah Hawaii, warm breezes, friendly people, and many lodging opportunities. Some are elegant, some are shabby, and some are just so-so. For the most part, my dear hubby and I have found our stays comfortable, but not always…perfect. What is perfect anyway? In Hawaii, perfect could simply mean looking out a clean window.  For this trip, we traveled and stayed in Waikiki. We know Waikiki well. It’s easy to maneuver through town, and it’s comfortable for my hubby, who is now living with mobility issues. Yep, a complete bummer. Still, we have found ways to help him enjoy—or sometimes simply tolerate—travel. (More on traveling by air in another post) As for our hotel stays, well, that requires a bit of finesse.  The Room Across from a Jet Engine--Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki  We’ve stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki multiple times but never in an accessible room. We chose this hotel based on its location and price. It’s not fancy or elegant. This Hilton is the typica...

Join me in a Favorite Waikiki Memory

  Why We Might Not Return: Hilton Garden Inn, Waikiki My dear polite travelers, Imagine waiting three years to revisit a pleasant memory.  You’d probably be thrilled to be on that journey.  Right?  Well, I am, and ...well, I’m lukewarm to some aspects of it, especially our room: #1537.  But the Ocean is Right There! In our room, #1537, we have the ocean view and the fresh breezes associated with it.  Still, due to the central, otherwise excellent location, it’s noisy—very noisy.  Thus, those breezes remain outside all night.  Darn.  The pleasant sweet-ocean-air-in-our-room-memory I dream of often eluded us on this trip.  Now, it’s just sad. The Good & the Weird Beyond the noise, it is a comfortable room—especially the shower—but there’s not enough counter space.  Instead of a long counter or desk, the hotel designer thought a long built-in seat would be a clever idea??  Hint.  It’s not.  We can only ...

Viva The Pink Palace My dear polite travelers, Welcoming tourists for nearly 100-years and a member of the Historic Hotels of America, The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a paradise fantasy come true.  The 528-room oceanfront resort has it all: luxury, history, pool, restaurant , bar, and glitz. As of now, we’ve never stayed here, but we always drop in.  We’ll sit and enjoy the surroundings while breathing in the ocean breezes.  Pour yourself a Mai Tai while checking out my pictures.  Aloha! More by The Polite Traveler  Two Waikiki Restaurants to Try & One to Skip What to Know Before Visiting Honolulu’s Hawaiian Airlines Airport Lounges Look Closer at the Hilton Garden Inn, Waikiki

Dining in Waikiki My dear polite travelers, When traveling, I sometimes feel that we are always searching for our next meal .  Is this place good?  Does that place serve wine?  Well, for our most recent trip to Waikiki, we decided to revisit one of our favs and test the waters on a few more.     Hula Grill: The View & So Much More For those of you who follow me, you know how much I love the Hula Grill.  It’s a great combo of good food, affordable prices, friendly staff, and one of the best views in Waikiki.   For this trip , we kept it simple with bar food: a hamburger with fries, battered portobello mushroom, and Hula Grill Tacos.  Every dish was good, not great, but good—with one exception.  The battered portobello mushrooms were excellent—crunchy on the outside, and moist on the inside with an enticing, earthy flavor.  Hula Grill;  2335 Kalakaua Ave., Suite 203 Cheaper Than a Flight to Italy: Arancino di Mare...

Hello Polite Travelers, On the CA road again for a journey to Palm Springs from Davis, CA.  Those of you who know these freeways, know it takes time to travel short distances.  So, we overnighted in Arcadia before heading out the next day to our destination.  Arcadia is one block over from Pasadena.  In fact, you wouldn’t know which town you are in if not for the signs.  In SoCal, it’s one town/city right after another.  There’s not much reason to visit this area unless you need a rest.  It’s full of people, stores, roads, and cars. The room was simple and clean, which made me feel comfortable staying there.  Omicron had just hit, and I was a tad concerned about exposure.  Shockingly, not many wear masks in this hub of CA —could be dangerous for we oldsters.  Well-appointed with a large mini-fridge and microwave, I was surprised the electricity in our room was substandard.  We had issues charging our electronics.  Not...

Imagine a trip to a tropical island.   The air is fresh with smells of the ocean, sand, and something that can’t be put into mere words.   It is more of a feeling, rather than something that can be simply discussed or splashed down on a cold page.   Now, imagine Hawaii.   If you’ve never been, you are probably picturing swaying palms, sandy beaches, and tanned bodies lying everywhere.   Even if you’ve been to some of the Hawaiian Islands, you may be visualizing this right now—great vision to invoke mid-winter.   Keep this vision as we move on.      The big island, Hawaii, always held great interest for me since I was a young child because of the many romantic stories about the cowboys on the biggest cattle ranch in the US, the Parker Ranch.   Of course, in Hawaii, those cowboys are called Paniolos.   So here I am, a much older version of that little girl swooning over ranch life and horses and expecting to see cattle roaming ...

  The Happy Places Meals can be quite expensive at the Big Island’s Hilton Waikoloa Village Hotel.   So, we improvised.   Finally in our happy place, especially for those who decided to listen to salespeople instead of enjoying the beginning of their vacation. ( Timeshare post )     Since this was our first night, we were a bit tired and didn’t want to search for the best deal on dinner , we stopped at the only bar open onsite, sat outside, and shared a very nice Caesar salad.   It was excellent.   And the best part is the happy hour wine.   Amazingly, they had a very nice California Chardonnay for $5.00 a glass.   Beware, the bars and restaurants are expensive.   To save more than a few dollars, follow our lead and take advantage of happy hour.   Each bar has its own version of happy hour.   And even if they say that they only have a certain type of drink for happy hour and you want something else, ask if it can be in...