A couple of years ago my husband and I finally made it to the island of Kauai. We went as an extension to our winter break from work, to find some much-needed sunshine from the gray Seattle weather.
Finding a deal during December on any of the Hawaiian Islands is hard to do, but somehow, I found one! We booked about 5-6 months out and were able to find a cute VRBO at a resort in Lihue town, Aqua Kauai Beach Resort. It was such a good deal we couldn’t pass it up. It had amazing views, three pools, and a long uninterrupted beach. You have to get the adult shaved ice. We didn’t realize this was an actual thing until our last day and were super sad about it, because who doesn’t love Koloa rum and shave ice!
Here are the places I would recommend for some of the best food and drinks on the island.
On our first family vacation in over five years, my parents surprised us with an all-inclusive trip to Loreto, Mexico. We stayed at Villa del Palmar Loreto. It was so much fun that my husband and I went back with our parents after we eloped to Bora Bora.
Loreto is a quaint little fishing village about 3 hours north of La Paz on the Baja peninsula. Once you arrive at the airport, you are greeted by the friendly staff from Villa del Palmar. A perk of the resort was the affordable airport shuttle service.
Once you arrive at the resort, you are greeted with hibiscus tea, and the lobby looks out onto the luscious gardens and the ocean. You’ll want to make sure you book for the all-inclusive and grab your bracelets at check-in. Our first trip with the family we had three couples, so we stayed in one of the 3-bedroom suites. The suite was insane all the bedrooms had an on-suite bathroom, lanai, and view of the ocean. When we went back for the second time, we had a one bedroom, and it was fantastic with a full kitchen, laundry, and a soaking tub. With a lanai and a view of the ocean.
My husband and I eloped to the island of Bora Bora to have a private ceremony and explore the island.
When we decided we were going to elope we knew it had to be a once in a lifetime place, so obviously Bora Bora. An added bonus is that it was not as far away as many people think, it was only 8hrs from LA.
We ended up with a top 5 excel spreadsheet because I am a nerd at heart and have to make pro/con lists and map everything out. (I will share my excel spreadsheet on the blog soon!) In the top 5 were the usual suspects, the Four Seasons, The Ritz, Le Meridian, Sofitel, and The Intercontinental Thalasso. With our list together we set out a budget and immediately a few came off. It was down to the Intercontinental and Le Meridian. What sold us on the Intercontinental was the size of the huts over the water and the newer modern finishes, plus we got one of the new huts with our own swimming pool, figured it was worth the splurge since it was our wedding and honeymoon. We also preferred the InterContinental’s wedding package as well. It was very easy to customize and on the day of they had everything planned out we didn’t have to worry about a thing.
Let me just say this resort did not disappoint it was everything a 5 star resort should be (although it was our first time staying at one). There were kayaks, paddleboards, snorkeling, and they would book any other excursions you wanted. We literally didn’t have to lift a finger if we didn’t want too. The staff was so sweet and beyond helpful. All of the restaurants were very good. Our favorite meal was at the Reef restaurant, they had a braised lamb shank that was to die for and they paired it with a bottle of amazing red wine. We loved it so much we had it twice while we were there. The happy hour at Bubbles bar was so much fun they had great craft cocktails and appetizers with the perfect atmosphere.