All stories about "Honolulu"

Want a big fruity drink with a little umbrella in it while in Honolulu? No problem (just don't show any pictures of yourself imbibing them to your friends; what gets consumed in Hawaii stays in Hawaii). Beer's not much of a problem, either : most bars in Honolulu offer a good selection, including excellent local brews from the Kona Brewing Company. But what about wine? Hawaii's climate isn't suitable for winemaking, but it's ripe for wine drinking. That being the case, it's surprisingly difficult to find restaurants with quality wine lists and wine stores with knowledgeable staff and an excellent selection. Some picks after the jump. (photo)

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Two pilots flying from Honolulu to Hilo in Hawaii are being investigated for falling asleep at the, er, wheel. Air traffic controllers have said that they tried to contact the pilots multiple times to no avail, before the plane overshot its destination "by 15 miles while flying at an altitude of 21,000 feet." The 214-mile flight was serviced by Go!, whose parent company, the Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group, has since grounded the two pilots while the investigation continues. [MSNBC]

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In January, my wife came home with Brady Bunch-like news: She was going to Hawaii for work and, while her employer wasn't as generous as Mike Brady's boss Mr. Phillips, who paid for the whole clan and Alice to go to Honolulu to watch Mike's building be constructed, I'd at least have free accommodations. I figured the 45 days we'd be there would give me ample time to relive the Brady Bunch's 1972 groundbreaking trip. But Don Ho and Vincent Price are dead, the Hawaii episodes still give me night terrors, and no one on Oahu cares that it was the setting for television's most important three-part episode (narrowly besting the Welcome Back, Kotter where Julie delivers twins). But after a few mai tais to quell my terrors, I set to work researching this guide to the Hawaiian Brady Bunch experience.

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If you're coming to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl this weekend, well, you're probably not an NFL all-star; many players who made the squad are skipping the game. But you probably are staying in Waikiki, as the Hawaiians do an excellent job of sequestering the tourists to that small part of Oahu. Waikiki is one long chain restaurant that starts with a Hard Rock Cafe, ends with a Cheesecake Factory, and has a Planet Hollywood nestled in between. But why suffer at those Pacific outposts of American soullessness when there are local gems worth checking out? And by local gems, I mean dive bars that no tourist staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village would be caught dead in. If you are residing at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, maybe a trip to one of these spots will redeem your poor, depraved psyche. If only redemption were so easy for my New England Patriots.

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A 40-year old Navy sailor was arrested yesterday after getting caught in the act of molesting a 13-year-old girl on board a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to Phoenix. Flight attendants witnessed the man touching the girl on her lips, and she later told authorities that he had begun fondling her under a blanket as they watched movies on his laptop. The man has reportedly admitted to some of the allegations. Psychologists interviewed about this case by a local news station said that passengers often let their guard down on planes, making flights an ideal environment for situational sex offenders. [AP]

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Honolulu has a surprisingly eclectic culinary scene. With influences from Asia, Europe, and America, an ample source for fresh fish, and a limited amount of land for farming, interesting trends have developed. The city has incredibly fresh sushi, plus a locally unique cuisine featuring tropical fruits, poke fish, and a variety of indigenous spices. Some favorites come from a foreign source but have evolved into something completely new and utterly Hawaiian. Here are our favorite picks for foodies who want to get a real taste of authentic Honolulu.

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Earlier this week, a Honolulu teenager was kicked off a Continental flight taxiing to leave Newark because she experienced a coughing fit. The coughing eventually stopped, and despite the opinion of a doctor (another passenger) that the kid was fine to make the 10-hour trip, the pilot took the plane back to the gate and booted her (and her teacher) off the flight. According to Continental, the pilot was acting in the "best interest" of the kid and other passengers, since the girl was coughing "uncontrollably" in the pilot's physician-negating medical opinion. The teen and her teacher were left to fend for themselves for the night, while their luggage went on to Hawaii. The whole fiasco was likely an overreaction due to an influenza-infected Continental flight from Hong Kong that had landed at Newark on Monday. Obviously, Continental just didn't want the girl to expire en route and thus qualify for a free upgrade to first class.

Girl, 16, kicked off plane for coughing [AP]

-- Chris Mohney

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Not watching Lost is un-American and anyone who says anything different is a terrorist. Unbeknownst to us, it turns out it isn't really a reality tv show as we previously thought and isn't filmed on a deserted island where Michel's a romantic spot at Colony Surf. Michel serves Hawaiian fusion the way it was meant to be, not like Ilan's bullshit saffron fritters. He also recommends Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. As literate as he is rugged, Holloway describes Giovanni's as an "old, beat up, white van parked on the side of the street. They serve the best garlic shrimp scampi." Word.

Yunjin on the other hand, is clearly the foodie of the cast. She recommends, Indigo,
"a popular Eurasian restaurant, where diners can sample the cuisine in the main room or unwind in the opium den and Champagne Bar;" Hoku's which serves "slow-braised Kahuku pork belly and pancetta=crusted snapper."

Getting Lost in Paradise [MSNBC]

Previously: $325 Shots in Hawaii, Sumo Food, Wasabi Bistro, Wang's World, Seattle Got the Hook-Up

Perhaps if Steve Forbes had been as addictive as Forbes.com's lists, he would have made it to the White House in 2000. Best Cities for Singles, for Fatties, Best First Class Airlines...a list of lists would be endless. Today's feature is Best Cities To Get A Job. And, dontcha know, the best city to get a job is in the homebase of the nation's largest employer, the Federal Government. That's right, if the 'rental units on your case to get a job? Head down to Washington D.C. where the federal government employs over hundreds of thousands of workers in the DC area. Two of the other top 15 cities are in the DC area; Bethesda, MD and Richmond, VA. Other cities to which to go if you're unemployed are Phoenix, which is metastizing as baby boomers crave its regenerative warmth; Honolulu, where Americans craving a vacation but cowering from international travel flock; and Salt Lake City, where Mormoney (and biotech) doesn't mean mo' problems. It means more jobs.

Best Cities To Get A Job

Previously: Best Travel Sites, Most Expensive Hotel Rooms, Forbes's Best of Vegas, Airport By Forbes

$123+ Delta Sale: Delta's running a pretty comprehensive sale via Travelocity on domestic and international routes, knocking down most fares to a notch above their lowest ebb, but still not bad. The trick is that you have to book by today -- June 7 -- but given widespread availability, I have my doubts that deadline will be enforced. Sample roundtrip fares include $123 Washington DC to New York, $343 Los Angeles to Honolulu, and $575 Boston to Sao Paulo.

$769 6-Night Budapest & Prague Air+Hotel: This seemingly natural combo doesn't come up that often. The package includes round-trip air from New York, three nights in each city at typically crap hotels, plus rail travel connection. The $769 price is for departure dates in January 2007; other dates, departure cities, and better hotels are available for price bumps.

$915+ 5-Night Buenos Aires Air+Hotel: This isn't a bad BA package, though it throws in some largely pointless french-fry items to fill out the price tag (gauchos, tango). The meat of it is round-trip airfare from Miami and five nights' hotel in Buenos Aires, plus an eminently skippable half-day tour. Departure's less than $50 more to leave from new York, and about another $100 to leave from Los Angeles. Beyond that, you can upgrade your hotel, but there's only three hotel choices total. Book by June 30.

Fly Round-Trip From $123+ [Travelocity]
8 Day Budapest & Prague by Rail [Gate1]
Buenos Aires Deluxe [LatinAmerica4Less]
Top 25 [Shermans Travel]

$99 Swissotel Chicago: This reduced rate at the Swissôtel Chicago is chiefly attractive because it's valid on holiday weekends -- both Memorial Day and July 4th. Otherwise it's hobbled by numerous blackout dates through July, but still, it's not a bad location at all for a Windy City holiday.

$705 LA/SF to Auckland: Undercutting a recent sale from Qantas, Air New Zealand is offering fares to $705 round-trip fares to Auckland from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu. Fares are goof for any day in June only; book by June 5.

$100 NYC to Boston: JetBlue's selling $50 fares each way between Boston and New York all summer long. The $50 cheapie fare is most often found on midweek departures, but the sale terms could change (and this sale could end at any time) as seats get sold out.

$199 NYC to LA: American Airlines is hosting its own domestic sale covering the immediate future. One great deal in particular if you've made no post-Memorial Day plans -- $199 round trip between Newark and Los Angeles, only good for weekend after next. Depart June 2-3 and return June 5-6; book by June 2.

$699 5-Night Rio Air+Hotel: Need I even say that the default Copacabana-close hotel is crap, but this package still has its merits -- particularly since the $699 price is good not only for Miami departures as usual, but also from New York. The base price depends on travel dates through December of course, so the cheap times involve boiling in Brazilian heat, but that's no surprise. Other departure cities and better hotels are available for price bumps.

$99 -- Chicago 4-Diamond Hotel over 2 Holiday Weekends [Travelzoo]
$705 -- Fly to New Zealand in June (Roundtrip) [Travelzoo]
$50 -- Fly between New York & Boston (each way) [Travelzoo]
Domestic Getaways for Next Weekend [American Airlines]
$699 -- Rio de Janeiro: 5 Nights & Air [Travelzoo]
Top 20 [Travelzoo]

It's time for everyone's favorite mondo obsessive Gridskipper look at celebrities, both a-list, b-list and even c-list, on holiday. Send in your own sightings to tips@gridskipper.com, because damn it, we care. After the jump, Alyson Hannigan & Leslie Nielsen... In Hawaii! Because actors love warm weather too, you know?

Forbes has compiled a list of the most expensive hotel rooms in the United States, topped by the presidential suite (above) at the Setai in Miami's South Beach ($20,000 per night). However, the Setai suite will be eclipsed later this year when the Four Seasons New York combines its own existing pair of presidential suites into a single monster penthouse suite ($30,000 per night). Though it did make the bottom end of the list, such numbers make the previously mentioned Vera Wang suite at Honolulu's Halekulani Hotel seen almost déclassé.

Setai [Official site]
Four Seasons New York [Official site]
Halekulani Hotel [Official site]
Most Expensive Hotel Rooms In The U.S. [Forbes]

Previously: Skylofts at MGM Grand, Palms Fantasy Suites, World's Most Expensive Hotel?, The Studio Suite, Suite Action at Wynn Las Vegas

Sometimes you get the big fish, sometimes the small fish. Tokkuri-Tei is a legendary local favorite izakaya joint, serving up sushi and other dishes with rather weird flair (click the big-little sushi above for comparative popup). Go with chef's choice if you're feeling brave and/or desirous of experiencing intercultural humor from the butt end.

Big sushi, small sushi [Metblog Hawaii]
Tokkuri-Tei [Yelp]

Previously: $325 Shots in Hawaii, Sumo Food, Wasabi Bistro, Wang's World, Seattle Got the Hook-Up

Air to Top US Cities: $44+ OW through Fall: Until the end of today, April 4, o/w flights from Chicago to Minneapolis are at $44, Dallas/Fort Worth to Las Vegas $129 and Memphis to New York $124. Prices valid through October 4.

Springtime in Europe: 3-Night Trips From Just $592: Want to visit France, Italy or Ireland before the peak season? Hotel/flight combos are dirt cheap.

Hula for Less Moolah: Hwaii Fares from $373+ RT: United is offering a special promotion with tickets from New York to Honolulu at just $596 RT.

[Neal Ungerleider]

$335 Honolulu 3-Night Air+Hotel: Certainly one of the cheapest Hawaii packages ever, and no wonder considering the awful default hotel that's some distance from the beach. You can upgrade of course, for a penny or two. The $335 price is based on San Francisco or Los Angeles departure, with other cities available for price bumps. Departures are valid April 23 through June 5.

$599 London 6-Night Air Hotel for New Year's: 'Tis indeed never too early, I suppose. Depart to London from New York on December 25-28, and you get roundtrip airfare and six nights' accommodation in a dreadful Bayswater hotel. You can, of course upgrade to a better place, as well as pay more to depart from cities other than NYC. Other New Year's packages to Brussels, Paris, Prague, or Athens are also available. Book by April 20; you're looking at about $140 in taxes and fees.

$98 NYC to Chicago: Certainly drubbing the Chicago fare sale we posted earlier, this United sale allows $49 one-way trips between New York and Chicago from April 4 to June 30 on limited days. Book before April 3.

$335 -- Hawaii in Spring: 3 Nights & Air [Travelzoo]
$599 -- London over New Year's: 6 Nights & Air [Travelzoo]
$49 -- Fly between NYC & Chicago (each way) [Travelzoo]
Top 20 [Travelzoo]

$238 SF to Honolulu: This is pretty easily the lowest price you're ever going to find for airfare to Hawaii from the continental United States. It's a very limited ATA sale: fly outta Oakland to Honolulu or Hilo for $119 each way, leaving Monday to Wednesday and returning Tuesday to Thursday, April 28 to May 13. These seats will likely be gone within a few hours, so buy now or stay home this spring.

$99 Cosmopolitan Toronto Hotel: I've been meaning to post about Toronto's new Cosmopolitan Hotel for awhile, and now's as good a time as any. The Cosmo's spare design is vaguely Japanese in its minimalism, but it's not too sparse as it primarily serves a biz clientele. It's all-suite in the Embassy Suite sense, though a good deal nicer if you can ignore the feng-shui folderol. The $99 promo is good for weekend nights through April 30, including Easter weekend; book by March 31.

$119-$129 -- Hawaii from the West Coast (each way) [Travelzoo]
$99 -- Suite at Toronto Boutique Hotel, 50% OFF [Travelzoo]
Top 20 [Travelzoo]

Finding that your latest conspicuous consumption just isn't conspicuous enough? Fortunately, the La Mer restaurant at Honolulu's Halekulani Hotel (creators of the Vera Wang suite) is hawking shots from a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue 1805 Anniversary -- only 200 bottles of this blend were made last year, mind you -- at $325 for a 1.5-ounce pour. I'll put in $10 for the first person to order it, drink it down, then spray it out in a spit-take for the camera. (Or the first to ask for a splash of Coke.) Of course, that's chicken feed compared to the $1,000+ shots you can order these days at New York's Hole in One, and that's not including the $40 cover.

La Mer [Halekulani Hotel]
Johnnie Walker Blue 1805 Anniversary Pack [Luxist]
Hole in One [NYT]

Previously: Wang’s World, Sumo Food, Wasabi Bistro, Seattle Got the Hook-up, Vegas by Limo

Nice photo-heavy review on Metblog Hawaii of Imanas Tei, a Honolulu resto specializing in chanko nabe, a thick meaty stew popular among sumo wrestlers for bulk-loading purposes. Big piles of raw ingredients are gradually stuffed into a pot at your table for boiling, and you ladle it out for gorging as needed. "Stew" is really a misnomer, as chanko nabe really just comes out as a boiled mound of goodness. You are advised to skim off the beef scum before serving, but that's a small price to pay.

Imanas Tei [Metblog Hawaii]
Imanas Tei Restaurant [Yelp]

Previously: Wasabi Bistro, Battle of the Flabby Giants, Japan Sumo Tour, Sumoblogging, Keep It Chunky

I'm a little thrown by the name "Wasabi Bistro" -- sushi? Italian? whah? -- not to mention the restaurant's website, which commands "Interact Now for Complimentary Dessert!". Nevertheless, Metblog Honolulu seems impressed by the Japanese non-sushi fare on offer, marking it pricewise as one of those unexpectedly good ethnic places which goes more for competence than ambience. Worth visiting if you're looking for a break from pineapple-ham pizza.

Wasabi Bistro [Metblog Honolulu]
Wasabi Bistro [Official site]

Previously: Wang’s World, Seattle Got the Hook-up, Busaba Eathai, Tokyo in Chocolate, Deconstructing Wagamama

The Hawaii slow-season fire sale continues with this ATA cheapie from Los Angeles or San Francisco to Maui or Honolulu. The $262 round-trip price(including taxes) is only good for this weekend, and you may have to hunt around to hit the exact fare. But it's part of a general ATA sale that covers travel through March 31 from several more departure cities, so you can still get down there inexpensively if you can't pick up and go tomorrow.

LA or San Francisco to Maui or Honolulu for $262 RT including taxes on ATA [Airfare Watchdog]
Hawaii ATA.COM Sale [ATA]
Top 30 Fares [Airfare Watchdog]
Fare of the Day [Airfare Watchdog]

Aloha Airlines is offering last-minute $99 one-way sale fares between Sacramento, Orange County, and Oakland to Maui, Honolulu, and Kona. Book by January 22 for travel valid January 23-29. Various restrictions apply. These seats will vanish practically instantly, so book 'em if you want 'em.

Last Minute Specials [Aloha Airlines]
TravelFinds [SideStep]

$288 Round Trip to Honolulu: It's hard to believe this isn't an error, but it books true, man. For Delta departures from Memphis, Detroit, or Minneapolis, the fare to Honolulu is only $288 round trip. Travel's good through December 8. Taxes and fees add another $30 or so.

$398 Round Trip to Osaka: This one's not as crazy cheap, but still very inexpensive for these routes. Fly on United from Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, St. Louis, or Washington DC, for travel commencing March 31 and completing by April 30. Taxes and fees likely come to about $120.

Top 30 Fares [Airfare Watchdog]
Fare of the Day [Airfare Watchdog]
Extreme winter deals to Japan [United Airlines]

$443+ Round Trip to Hawaii on Delta: Today (November 17) is the last day to book this Delta fare sale on Travelocity to Honolulu, Maui, and Kona from departures around the country. It's a decent fare for winter especially, and availability seems relatively solid after the holidays. Travel is valid through February 14, 2006. Expect about $70 in additional taxes and fees.

Next Stop: The Aloha State [Travelocity]
TravelFinds [SideStep]

Contrary to all notions of fiduciary responsibility, why not blow the grandkids' inheritance on a weekend at the Vera Wang suite at the Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu? Ms. Wang was kind enough to choose everything about the 2,135 square-foot space, from the bathroom accessories to the flowers to the china. Anything that could come from the Wang brand has done so, with high-end furnishings and such providing local color at Wang's direction. In addition to absurd levels of luxury, amenities include your own lanai deck, 24-hour butler, "Vera's favorites" movie library for the 50-inch plasma screen, and limo service to and from the airport. There's no bothersome artwork, as Wang opted instead for "beautifully framed mirrors on the walls, to reflect the stunning images and views inside and outside each room." All for the utterly reasonable price of $4,000 per night ($5,500 per night should you choose the two-bedroom option). Celebs and the well-heeled keep the Wang suite at about two-thirds occupancy, some of which are walk-ins; past inhabitants have included Diana Krall, Bette Midler, and Elvis Costello, who I'm sure left tanned and bronzed like a Greek god. More photos of the Wang suite after the jump, and like the one above, all can be clicked for a porny popup. Enjoy, since that's the closest you'll ever get unless you land a job in housekeeping.

Seattle, you so sexy. So says Sperling's Best Places, shilling a survey on behalf of AXE, purveyors of fine misogyny grooming products. The survey tagged Seattle as the best city in America for "hooking up"; in last's year survey, the quality in question was referred to as the more wholesome "dating," and Seattle was number 5. The rest of the top five this year includes Honolulu, San Francisco, Austin, San Diego, and Portland, OR. Seattleites were appropriately dubious, especially since they're still coming to terms with being the world's most lesbian-friendly city. Must be that bracing Pacific Northwest air that gets 'em so randy.

yet another ranking victory : seattle is for lovers [Metblog Seattle]
America’s Best (and Worst) Cities for Dating 2004 [Sperling's Best Places]
Seattle the top hook-up city? [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Previously: Seattle: World’s Most Lesbian-Friendly City, Girl4Girl Benefit Party, Seattleites Free to Strip at Last, Win an Extended Sex Vacation with Feisty Blogger, PDA Spot Guides

Ending today's deals roundup, Airfare Watchdog has a couple unadvertised juicy 'uns brought on by behind-the-scenes fare wars. Both represent pretty huge savings.

First is an alien time-space warp trimming hundreds off round-trip airfares on United Airlines to Honolulu from Detroit and Minneapolis ($282) and Chicago and Denver ($301). Various restrictions apply, so dig around a bit.

The other deal is a very nice though restricted American Airlines "Domestic Getaway" from New York's La Guardia to Miami for $169 round trip. This weekend only, buckos, so book now if you want to beach-bask. Departs Saturday, October 1, and returns Monday, October 3. Perversely, Miami residents can book $138 round-trip tickets to New York for an day of the week until December 15.

Airfare Watchdog [Official site]

Vera Wang designs Hawaiian hotel rooms [HotelChatter]
Short-term apartment rentals in Barcelona [Freestanza]
Helsinki�s hamburgers [A Hamburger Today]