Author Topic: Honolulu Vacation Rentals...Craigslist?  (Read 1505 times)

jeromedawg

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Honolulu Vacation Rentals...Craigslist?
« on: March 24, 2019, 07:47:22 PM »
Hey all,

Just curious what any of you would advise regarding vacation rentals in Honolulu near the Waikiki area (but not necessarily in it). Our relatives live just on the other side of H1 around the punchbowl area and we're thinking we might want to stay near them. This is in mid-August btw... Budget is under $200 for 6 people (4 adults and 2 kids). I've checked AirBNB and VRBO but there's not too much. We want to avoid staying in the Waikiki area itself since I hate how busy it is and a PITA to drive around. It is convenient walking around there however but that's about it. I've seen a few units where it's a 2 bed studio and they cram a bunk-bed + queen in one side and a queen on the other side. It looks so cramped and uncomfortable. Last time we stayed in a similar unit with my parents and the bathroom was in the room we stayed in, so it wasn't very fun lol. This time I'm looking for a minimum 2 bed/2 bath unit.

I've seen some listings on Craigslist - has anyone used that as a means for vacation rentals before? There is a lot of stigma around CL though, so I'd be a bit hesitant about this.


Any suggestions?

englishteacheralex

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Re: Honolulu Vacation Rentals...Craigslist?
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2019, 09:20:13 PM »
Try the Kaimuki/Kapahulu neighborhoods for the close to Waikiki but not right there request.

$200 for a place that will be enough room for 6 people seems a little unrealistic to me. I look at AirBnB and VRBO all the time for rentals on Oahu, because we live there and our condo is pretty tight when we want to host guests so we usually rent a place.

I've never tried Craigslist for this because it seems too sketchy to me. What time frame are you looking at? You might also try Nuuanu/Punchbowl for some cheaper rentals. When price is a concern, I usually just put the full island into VRBO/AirBnB and look for something acceptable in my price range--the location becomes secondary. There was a decent looking place in Kaneohe for a pretty good price last I checked. For relatives that are in the location you described, Kaneohe would actually work fine.

jeromedawg

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Re: Honolulu Vacation Rentals...Craigslist?
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2019, 10:44:17 PM »
Try the Kaimuki/Kapahulu neighborhoods for the close to Waikiki but not right there request.

$200 for a place that will be enough room for 6 people seems a little unrealistic to me. I look at AirBnB and VRBO all the time for rentals on Oahu, because we live there and our condo is pretty tight when we want to host guests so we usually rent a place.

I've never tried Craigslist for this because it seems too sketchy to me. What time frame are you looking at? You might also try Nuuanu/Punchbowl for some cheaper rentals. When price is a concern, I usually just put the full island into VRBO/AirBnB and look for something acceptable in my price range--the location becomes secondary. There was a decent looking place in Kaneohe for a pretty good price last I checked. For relatives that are in the location you described, Kaneohe would actually work fine.

Thanks! There are a couple places but they're older homes or apartments, which is fine at the end of the day. 2 of the 6 of us are kids, so it's more just my in-laws that we would want to have privacy for/from as well as the second bath for. Sharing 1 bath for 6 is a lot haha.
Both places I've found are either right around Punchbowl (pretty close to where my relatives are...sorry, I should have clarified but they are south of the cemetery very close to Queen's Medical Center) and the other one is around Kapahulu/Wilhelmina Rise which is further down the way. My concern staying further away is the traffic along H1, which to my recollection can get pretty nasty during rush hour.

We are looking at 8/13-8/18. There are a lot of other places but further away. I guess that's OK but I'd prefer for my in-laws to be closer to their family, since it's more for them to get together. Also, we're renting one minivan for the 6 of us, so we'll kinda be stuck together most of the time. However, if my wife's uncle needs to pick-up or drop-off my in-laws (in the case that they want to hang out on their own or with that family) he would have to pick them up. I think making him drive further than 15-20 minutes would be a bit troublesome.


englishteacheralex

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Re: Honolulu Vacation Rentals...Craigslist?
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2019, 11:15:46 PM »
Try the Kaimuki/Kapahulu neighborhoods for the close to Waikiki but not right there request.

$200 for a place that will be enough room for 6 people seems a little unrealistic to me. I look at AirBnB and VRBO all the time for rentals on Oahu, because we live there and our condo is pretty tight when we want to host guests so we usually rent a place.

I've never tried Craigslist for this because it seems too sketchy to me. What time frame are you looking at? You might also try Nuuanu/Punchbowl for some cheaper rentals. When price is a concern, I usually just put the full island into VRBO/AirBnB and look for something acceptable in my price range--the location becomes secondary. There was a decent looking place in Kaneohe for a pretty good price last I checked. For relatives that are in the location you described, Kaneohe would actually work fine.

Thanks! There are a couple places but they're older homes or apartments, which is fine at the end of the day. 2 of the 6 of us are kids, so it's more just my in-laws that we would want to have privacy for/from as well as the second bath for. Sharing 1 bath for 6 is a lot haha.
Both places I've found are either right around Punchbowl (pretty close to where my relatives are...sorry, I should have clarified but they are south of the cemetery very close to Queen's Medical Center) and the other one is around Kapahulu/Wilhelmina Rise which is further down the way. My concern staying further away is the traffic along H1, which to my recollection can get pretty nasty during rush hour.

We are looking at 8/13-8/18. There are a lot of other places but further away. I guess that's OK but I'd prefer for my in-laws to be closer to their family, since it's more for them to get together. Also, we're renting one minivan for the 6 of us, so we'll kinda be stuck together most of the time. However, if my wife's uncle needs to pick-up or drop-off my in-laws (in the case that they want to hang out on their own or with that family) he would have to pick them up. I think making him drive further than 15-20 minutes would be a bit troublesome.



Wilhelmina Rise is very pretty...great views. So H1 traffic can be bad, but it generally only gets brutal when UH starts. You will be there before UH is in session. You'll be there when Punahou/Iolani starts back, and the public schools will be back, also, but it's UH that really overloads the circuits as far as traffic goes. It always amazes me what a difference UH makes with the traffic.

Anyway--Craigslist wouldn't be my first pick. I'll be interested to see if it works out for you; if you find something good I'd love to know about it for my own in-laws when they come to visit. Another thing we think about doing is renting out a big place for all of us somewhere on the west side. It's cheaper and that way we can all be together. Almost did that the last time they came but we lucked out and got to house sit for a friend in a way bigger house than ours.

jeromedawg

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Re: Honolulu Vacation Rentals...Craigslist?
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2019, 05:21:04 PM »
One other thing I sort of overlooked was contacting the property mgmt companies directly (since they usually list the company name) and booking through them to cut out VRBO/AirBNB and the service fees.

I forgot we did this years ago when VRBO was less restrictive and allowed you to contact the owner directly with inquiries (and where I think you weren't constrained to paying via VRBO if I recall correctly).

Anyway, we already booked a place in Honolulu so are looking for something in Maui... it's pricey! I think I'm going to go about doing it this way versus booking through VRBO/AirBNB