The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: MilwaukeeStubble on September 24, 2014, 01:22:57 PM
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My friend and I are heading to Honolulu this December to do the marathon. It probably isn't my brightest idea [ducks face-punches], but I'm committed and looking forward to it.
That said, can anyone offer any advice on how to keep my costs down while I'm there? My biggest concern is the lodging, it seems like most of the available places are (unsurprisingly) expensive. I'm willing to get creative (e.g. bring a tent and camp at such and such place) if it works, but I'd prefer to avoid "there's a homeless camp down on second street" :).
Also, if anyone here lives nearby we should meet up! And maybe I can pay for a couch or something...
Thanks in advance
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If you know well ahead of time when you'll be there, you can very likely find somewhere free to stay via couchsurfing.org, or cheap via hostelworld/airbnb. Good luck!
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All I will say is good luck with the training!
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If you are ex-military, you can stay at base housing quite cheaply for a couple weeks. I have a friend that's ex- Air force, and does this every couple of years.
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If you know well ahead of time when you'll be there, you can very likely find somewhere free to stay via couchsurfing.org, or cheap via hostelworld/airbnb. Good luck!
Couch-surfing in Hawaii, at least on the Oahu/Maui/big island is a dead-end. They get flooded with people who don't really care about couchsurfing; they just want free accomodation. Consequently they generally ignore requests, especially from newbies. This is how it was explained to me.
You're not going to find cheap accomodation in Honolulu. I don't know if they have any hostels. Maybe North Shore, if you like to hang out with surfers. If cheap is the driving goal, options are:
1) a $50-100 hotel room on the remoter parts of Maui or Big Island (they do exist)
2) a hostel (kinda trashy IMO)
3) An AirBnB room
You'll want to avoid Honolulu if you want cheap.
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I just checked out the timeshare rental by owner site I use... tug2.net
Anyway, there are units from $900 per week, for Week 50 2014, Waikiki . Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club Oahu West Shore
It gets more as you get closer to christmas... and the site does not have as many postings as others, but everything is direct with owner, so no overhead commissions to cover.
Don't forget that food is horribly high, so having a kitchen is desirable.
http://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace/ (http://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace/)
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Will you have a rental car? If so, perhaps you can find a cheaper place in Ewa Beach through AirBnB. Traffic on the interstate is killer, though.
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I would suggest searching on Costco travel, Honolulu is expensive but has a lot of hotel inventory. Also check VRBO.
On a side note, there's basically Hawaii and then there's Honolulu. Honolulu is a giant concrete jungle jammed between a mountain and the ocean
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We did vrbo. Oahu is not that big, so you may not need to stay in Honolulu. We stayed two places: nice little bungalow within walking distance of Waikiki but off the main drag ($130/night) and in an in-law suite sort of thing in Kaneohe ($95/night). That was the best we could find without compromising too much.
There is camping available on Oahu if reserved well in advance (6+ weeks). The island is quite bikable as well! Maybe you don't want to do much biking if you are running a marathon though. Enjoy the trip!
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If you're doing the marathon I'd probably prioritize somewhere that's good comfortable beds and isn't going to be noisy at night. I've stayed at the HI in Waikiki several times, both in the dorms and in a private room. I like staying there. I don't think any of the private rooms have two beds, so no good for two friends rather than a couple.
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Travel hacking! Easy to get 2 nights at hilton/hyatt/SPG with a couple of well chosen credit card apps, and some creative manufactured spending.
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Thanks everyone for the advice!
Sorry for being so quiet in this thread. I was following along from my phone and kept telling myself I'd respond when I got to a computer :/. Just want to make sure your advice wasn't unseen :).
@flashpacker thanks for reminding me of that prioritization haha. It hadn't even occurred to me but probably would have the first night I was there.