Hawaii: Moderately Upscale Trip to Maui and The Big Island

Days 1 - 4

After our layover in Oahu, we started our honeymoon at the Hyatt on Maui for 3 nights - The Hyatt was very nice and  beautifully maintained with one very nice restaurant that I would recommend, SONZ. There is a great little walkway that connects around 6 hotels. The Hyatt is the most southern hotel and I would rate it a 4 star (with 5 stars being $800+/night hotels).  As you walk north, you go by a lot of 3.5 star hotels like the Marriot and Westin. Then, you finish the walk at the Sheraton, which is another 4 star hotel with a beach. The Rusty Harpoon is on the walk and is a great breakfast for under $40 for two...................

Days 5 - 9

We flew into Hilo and drove down to the volcano staying at the Kilauea Lodge on the Big Island for 1 night - This place is an outstanding little B&B at a reasonable price.  If I could do it again, we would have stayed two nights to get more time to hike the Volcano and another excellent dinner at their restaurant.  It was less than $200 for the honeymoon suite which was large and comfortable. The meals were excellent. Breakfast was included, which wont happen at the luxury hotels. Dinner was $105 for a better meal than we paid $200 for at a couple of the restaurants in the Hilton..................For the last leg of our trip, we stayed at the Hilton on the Big Island for 3 nights- The Hilton has fantastic grounds. It is enormous and very well kept all around. There are 4 main restaurants. We ate at 3 of them. Donatoni's is fantastic. Be sure to get a seat on the water. KPC is pretty good. Again, be sure to get a seat on the water. We also ate at a Japanese place (hibachi style). I wish I could get that $190 back as I could have gotten the same meal at the Hibachi in Sayerville for $75 for two. The overall service was below average here, but the beautiful grounds made up for it.