From here on the East Coast, the flights to Hawaii can be daunting, and clients often ask about breaking up the trip with a stop in California along the way. Honeymooners Kaitlyn and Joe did just that, with a few days of winetasting in Napa as an “aperitif” before the main event —  their adventurous honeymoon on the Big Island and Kauai.

Hi Ann,

Sorry I am just getting back to you, but we have been busy getting settled back in.

We had an awesome time on the honeymoon!  Thank you so much for all of your help planning it.  Everything went as planned and we didn’t have any issues.  Our favorite hotel room was definitely the Andaz Napa.  We got upgraded to an Andaz Large Loft room.  While in Napa, we did winery tours of Robert Mondavi, Castello di Amaroso, and Cakebread Cellars.  Castello di Amaroso is a little touristy, but was definitely worth seeing.  We want to go back to Napa at some point so we can spend a few more days checking out the other wineries.  Downtown Napa where the hotel was located, was also very cool.  We would enjoy exploring that area a little more as well.

The Big Island was our favorite part of the honeymoon.  The Waikoloa Marriott was nice, but the rooms could use some renovation.  When we checked in, I asked about getting a room upgrade because we were on our honeymoon, but they said they were all sold out.  When they brought us to the Garden View room, it was on the first floor and the balcony walked out to a main pathway.  I went back to the check-in desk and asked if they had anything off the ground level.  They were able to put us in a corner room on the second floor.  It was much better than the original room we had a view of the pool and partial ocean.  The highlight on the Big Island was the doors-off helicopter tour we took out of Hilo to see the volcano and waterfalls.  We booked it through http://hawaiivolcanoeshelicoptertours.com/  We also drove around a lot and got to see all of the different parts of the Big Island.

The Kauai Marriott was the nicest resort out of any of the hotels we stayed at.  I would love to stay here again.  The grounds were beautiful and pristine.  We were upgraded to a partial ocean view room on the top floor upon check-in.  While on Kauai, we did a boat tour of the Napali coast through http://napaliexperience.com/, saw the Waimea Canyon, hiked on the Kalalau trail, and did some shopping.  We didn’t have the best weather while we were there, which is probably why we liked the Big Island better.  Everyone we talked to said it was the worst weather they had seen on Kauai in the last 10 years, but we still had a great time.

Overall, it was the trip of a lifetime and was everything we thought it would be.  Thank you again for all of your help putting it together!

Joe and Kaitlyn