The Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa is so much more than just a place to stay!!  The wonderful thing about the Grand Wailea is the appeal to every age & gender group.  Accommodations are luxurious, the food is award winning, the Spa is 50,000 square feet of relaxation, rejuvenation and wellness and there is a golf course!  What more could you want?

You want water!!  At the Grand Wailea the fun revolves around the ocean and the pools!  I have many clients who will book one or 2 nights at the Resort, just so they can play at the water park.  If the Hilton Waikoloa on the Big Island of Hawaii is considered the Disneyland of Hawaii, the Grand Wailea is definitely the Wet and Wild of Maui!  Waterslides are big favorites.  With the wild Lava Slide with its 238 feet long drop of 3 stories or the Ana Puka Slide, a bit smaller, but takes you in a complete circle, with its 360-degree turn, will have you feeling like a teen-ager again.    My favorite is the Rapids Slide, with the whitewater rapids!  The water park area also features the only water elevator in the world, a rope bridge (watch those boys….they love to make it swing!) and 4 tile slides.

When the excitement of the pools tires you out: you can order a drink from the swim-up bar, order a massage poolside, or take a refreshing sauna.  How about a pedicure, or a henna tattoo, pool side! These spa services (and more) are available and you won’t even have to move out of your pool lounge.

The Grand Wailea also offers use of the Spa Grande cardio vascular and strength training facilities, as well as sunrise power walks, yoga, and water aerobics to help you stay in shape.  The Spa Grande, also offers nearly every spa treatment imaginable.

Families are often annoyed that at most hotels/resorts connecting rooms are not guaranteed.  Not at the Grand Wailea:  they will guarantee connecting rooms.  What a refreshing concept for families.  Also, Hawaii has passed a non-smoking law similar to Washington’s.  All rooms at the Grand Wailea are non-smoking and any smokers will be asked to smoke on the lanais or other designated areas.

Room choices at the Grand Wailea vary from the standard room, or the Terrace category, the Napua Club rooms, which offer upgraded amenities such as continental breakfast and evening cocktails.  Many rooms offer unobstructed ocean views, or views of the tropical gardens.  Two bedrooms accommodations are also available.

You will probably need to check out the fitness facility after that gourmet meal at the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a  Restaurant.  There are several other restaurants available, too.    Oh, and you can get food at the pool, too!

Thinking of a wedding in Maui?  The Grand Wailea has its own seaside wedding chapel, and a beautiful gazebo as well as the beach or gardens to host your wedding.  This year they are offering a special “Take it to the Nines” wedding package, with free nights, discounted rooms, and discounts on catering or other wedding services.  You would also have the services of the Grand Wailea wedding coordinators.

Grand Wailea, as you can see, if a resort that caters to families, weddings, honeymooners, and couples needing some time away from it all!  If this sounds like your kind of vacation, please give our office a call or email me at sandi@totemtravel.com.

Sandi Moore

sandi@totemtravel.com

When a well traveled friend dropped by to chat, she positively drooled over the fabulous beach at the Hapuna Prince Resort in Hawaii.  Since we agree it’s the best beach on the Big Island and the Hapuna Prince is one of our favorite resorts for a family vacation, we asked if she’d like to share her thoughts with the rest of the world.  Here’s her report….  we enjoyed it and think you will too!

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Okay, okay so my doctor didn’t say “Your stress levels will be reduced substantially if you sit on a beach once a month for ten days!” But if I could sit on this beach again for any amount of time, I’d do it. Some of the best snorkeling and swimming any one could want helps melt away that horrid stress at the shoulders. Ahhh…………..!

The middle of June found us on one of the best trips to Hawaii we’ve ever had. We’re very fortunate to have been to Paradise many times and quite honestly when someone asks “so, you’ve been to Hawaii a lot, which island is your favorite?” I always say, “the one I was on last.” I love them all! They’re all so different but we always have a great time no matter which we visit or how long we stay. Being on the West Coast makes it fairly easy to hop over (if you call a 4 1/2 - 5 hour flight a hop?!) even for a few nights, especially if we just stay on Oahu. Haven’t been to Molokai or Lanai yet so I can’t really say anything about them. Once in Hawaii you forget all about the flight anyway.

This is the beach at the Hapuna Beach Prince on the Big Island.  Even though the Big Island isn’t known for great beaches like Maui, I have to say this beach was superb. Long, wide and very few people on it. Hapuna State Park is down from this part of the beach that’s right in front of the hotel. Lots of people walked (or ran) all the way past the park and back….not me, I’d rather watch. Seeing others “workin’ it” helps my stress too!!

The kids (13 & 17) loved having so much space to do their boogie boarding and of course we loved not having to fight for a chair or space. This age is a tad challenging so watching our guys  play together while they’re in this teenage “I’m so cool” time in their lives did a world of good for their dad and me. There weren’t many teen girls when we were there so that probably had a lot to do with them letting their boyhood show versus their “mental manhood” shouting for attention!!

The staff at this hotel was great, the rooms are big and it was nice having a large patio (lanai…sorry, gotta get with the local lingo!) where all four of us could watch the sunset. Do our kids really care about the sunset? Not so much! But when we make them slow down (put the Nintendo DS down!!) sip their juice or soda while we have our wine watching those glorious sunsets, we’re hoping this will be some of their favorite memories. It does promote conversation about beautiful things, not being something material which we definitely try to encourage at every opportunity.

One quick comment on material things…if you haven’t done the Hawaii Forest and Trail Mauna Kea Tour of the Stars, make sure you do it next you visit the Big Island! It’s spendy especially for the 4 of us (yikes!) but worth every penny. We were very lucky, the sky was so clear it was white with so many stars. I’d much rather put my money into an experience like that than any material thing!! (Boys! - Put down the Nintendo DS!!)

The bad thing? We ended up being so relaxed with comfortable beds, great food, long lazy days that we didn’t take as many pictures as we normally do. Now that we’re home we have some regrets about that but on the other hand, the memories made will always be vivid reminders; you just can’t put that in your wallet.

Speaking of wallet - another nice thing about this hotel is you can visit another hotel just up from this one, the MaunaKea. I think they have the same owners because you can eat there, use the Spa (don’t ask me why but I’m not really a spa woman - odd I know) which according to a woman at the pool was wonderful. You can even sit at their beach bar and sign your bill to your room at the Hapuna. We really liked the beach bar, Hau. And even though we were staying at Hapuna, we took the shuttle (free) between the two hotels and used the beach there a couple of times. We didn’t have dinner over there because we ordered room service at the Hapuna a couple of times (in room movies - even in Hawaii…..”boys, put the Nintendo DS down! We’re watching this movie as a family!”) But we ate at their Ocean Grill which was very good. My husband and I love beets and their beet salad is one of the best I’ve ever had. It’s served in a tall glass of sorts, can’t explain it but it really works!

We toured the Volcano which to me, if you visit the Big Island and don’t see the lava flowing……frankly, I think you’re nuts! This is earth growing people! Of course the main reason was to show the boys. Both of them thought it was way cool so we scored on that one. There are lots of things to do on this island but really, this trip was about sitting on the beach. A great stretch of sand with nothing but shades of blue stretching for as far as you can see is just what the Dr. ordered!

We had Totem Travel make our arrangements and I highly recommend them. Sandi knows Hawaii and was the one that suggested this hotel. When we looked at different hotel websites  - the boys had wanted to go to the Hilton Waioloa that was much bigger and offered a dolphin experience. While the hotel seemed like it would be very nice, we just couldn’t see ourselves having to walk too far to the beach. We wanted a great beach close, and the best view we could get for the money. Sandi listened and ended up making the perfect recommendation.

Please call Sandi @425-821-4100 or email sandi@totemtravel.com, to follow your Dr’s orders for that relaxing family vacation!

As a Europe Expert I am often asked how to choose the best European tour and believe me there are quite a few tour companies to choose from. Trafalgar, Globus, Brendan, Cosmos, Tauck, Contiki, Collette and even more, so where do you begin, what do you look for?

Let’s start with the itinerary as that’s pretty important, first you need to choose which itinerary you’d like. For that you could decide to see just one country in depth, like France or Italy. Or you can choose a region, such Scandinavia or Eastern Europe including Prague or Tallinn or maybe just go for the gold and see a little of a lot of places for a taste of each.

Once you’ve chosen a place or region, next figure out how long you can be gone. Escorted tours start at about 8 days and range on up to traveling for more than a month. I find that most settle for somewhere in between. A couple weeks is just about perfect for me, I think that when traveling you should always come home just a bit BEFORE you’re ready rather than waiting until you’re tired of traveling.

So let’s say you’ve decided on a country, like Ireland, with timeframe of 2 weeks, now we can narrow down the tour company that is right for you.

Cosmos is a budget company that offers wonderful tours with 3 star hotels a bit farther out of town, daily breakfast and a couple excursions included.

Trafalgar and Brendan are a bump up with 3-3 ½ star hotels nearer the center of each city, daily breakfast, some dinners and more sightseeing excursions included.

Globus and Collette bump up another notch with many very central 4 star hotels, daily breakfast, a few more dinners, a maximum of 40 seats on each coach and even more sightseeing excursions included. Collette even adds in door to door service, they’ll pick you up and drop you at your door, so from the time you leave home Collette is taking care of you.

Tauck is one of the most inclusive with 4-5 star city center hotels, daily breakfast, dinners included almost every night and all sightseeing excursions included with some added benefits such as small groups and special personalized service.

Contiki is strictly for 18-35 year olds that would rather travel with a younger crowd and has excursions with a more adventurous flair.

As you can see, no matter your personality or travel preferences there is an Escorted tour company that will fit for you. So when you are ready to plan your European tour call Totem Travel at 425-821-4100 or contact us by email. We look forward to working with you!

I thought it was an error because the price was so low, but I’ve tripled checked and it’s true!  Until November 30, you can fly roundtrip from LAX to Fiji, stay 6 nights at an oceanfront resort on the Coral Coast, eat 3 full meals a day and enjoy a selection of alcoholic drinks for just over $3000 TOTAL FOR TWO. 

Accommodations are at the Hideaway Resort on Viti Levu and I’ve been there twice.  Hideaway is a solid 3 - 3 1/2 star located on a nice stretch of Coral Coast beach.  The food is good, there is a generous pool area and the location is great for ziplining, river rafting, snorkeling, village tours and shopping.  Take a look at the image gallery online.

My favorite feature is the Fijiian style bures, because they’re much more fun than an ordinary hotel room!  Each bure has a nice wide porch complete with hammock, either a king size bed or 2 doubles, a spacious modern bathroom and an outdoor shower.  Score!

Space is limited but it is available, so call or email linda@totemtravel.com right away if you can take advantage of this deal.

As a travel agency specializing in international travel we are frequently asked about cash, credit and debit cards, travelers checks and other money matters as it relates to traveling abroad.  Here’s our recommendation for most destinations including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, Mexico and Central America -

Travel with $2-300 in cash, an ATM card and two major credit cards.  Call the customer service number on the back of each card before you leave to advise that you’ll be out of the country.  The bank will note your travel dates and destinations and this will forestall a security hold for “unusual activity”.  You should also verify your daily limit for ATM transactions and check on any credit/debit card fees for international purchases. 

ATM machines are located in all major airports, near major tourist attractions and throughout the cities and towns just as there are here.  Plus most hotels, restaurants and stores accept major credit cards.  The ATM is normally the least expensive and most convenient way to get cash and the only trick is to convert your daily limit in U.S. dollars to the local currency then take out that amount.  That way you get the bank rate of exchange with the lowest possible fee.

The worst place to get cash is a currency exchange counter!  They either charge astronomical fees or have a terrible exchange rate and they are masters at advertising only one aspect of the transaction…  We also do not recommend travelers check unless you don’t have credit/debit cards.  Travelers checks are not widely accepted and they are a hassle to use. 

One more suggestion - if you are buying something expensive (e.g. jewelry, original art) use a credit card and make sure your receipt states specifics for the purchase. Fraud is not a common problem but if your emeralds turn out to be green glass most credit cards have fraud protection and will reverse the charge if challenged and documented.

If you have other questions about international travel or need assistance planning your next trip call the experts at Totem Travel.  We have travel agents that specialize in the most popular destinations.