Merrie Monarch 2009

[greentara]

We are trying to find a good package deal air, tickets and hotel for the 09' Merrie Monarch festival. Anyone have any information on travel agencies we could contact????? I'm not having much luck finding information here on Kauai. I called Hilo Seaside and they said they don't even take reservations till Dec. 09'

We don't care where we stay as long as we can get to the Festival; Seaside said most hotels have shuttles, so we don't have to rent a car.

Any information would he helpful...Mahalo

[Lei Liko]

We are trying to find a good package deal air, tickets and hotel for the 09' Merrie Monarch festival. Anyone have any information on travel agencies we could contact????? I'm not having much luck finding information here on Kauai. I called Hilo Seaside and they said they don't even take reservations till Dec. 09'

We don't care where we stay as long as we can get to the Festival; Seaside said most hotels have shuttles, so we don't have to rent a car.

Any information would he helpful...Mahalo


December 08, you mean?

I usually don't even deal with Hilo hotels during MM season. I stayed at the Kilauea Military Camp last time I went. Sure, it's a drive, but I really enjoyed it there. I know Halau Na Mamo O Pu'uanahulu stays there during competition years, and you'd need someone in the military to sponsor you, but it doesn't hurt to check it out.

[IslandTrust]

Please click on this link for Hilo Hotels & B&B's
(http://www.island-trust.com/hilo-hotels-and-resorts-on-the-big-island-of-hawaii.html)
I can also get a you a list of Hilo-area vacation rentals if you need it.

[pzarquon]

For more independent, but also more chaotic, notes on Hilo accommodations, there's always TripAdvisor. Hilo Hotels (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g60583-Hilo_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii-Hotels.html) and Hilo B&Bs and Inns (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g60583-c2-Hilo_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii-Hotels.html).

Odd that you couldn't get a reservation at a "major" hotel this far out... the Merrie Monarch is one of those events that I expect plenty of people book way in advance. The vacation rentals we stay in when visiting the Hilo side (albeit not for the Merrie Monarch festival) definitely let us book a year out... provided we make periodic contact to remind them! :p

I'm definitely a fan of private vacation rentals over hotels, inns, and traditional B&Bs.

Have you tried calling the larger travel agencies? They'd likely have a package or know someone who does.

[greentara]

December 08, you mean?

I usually don't even deal with Hilo hotels during MM season. I stayed at the Kilauea Military Camp last time I went. Sure, it's a drive, but I really enjoyed it there. I know Halau Na Mamo O Pu'uanahulu stays there during competition years, and you'd need someone in the military to sponsor you, but it doesn't hurt to check it out.


Yup, Dec 08' getting a little ahead of myself... :o Don't know anyone in the Military and we didn't want to rent a car so we were looking for some place close. Hilo Seaside said they had shuttles. I'll talk to my friends it would be really cool to stay at the military camp they may know of someone in the military. If we can save money on accommodations we may be able to rent a car.

[greentara]

For more independent, but also more chaotic, notes on Hilo accommodations, there's always TripAdvisor. Hilo Hotels (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g60583-Hilo_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii-Hotels.html) and Hilo B&Bs and Inns (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g60583-c2-Hilo_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii-Hotels.html).

Odd that you couldn't get a reservation at a "major" hotel this far out... the Merrie Monarch is one of those events that I expect plenty of people book way in advance. The vacation rentals we stay in when visiting the Hilo side (albeit not for the Merrie Monarch festival) definitely let us book a year out... provided we make periodic contact to remind them! :p

I'm definitely a fan of private vacation rentals over hotels, inns, and traditional B&Bs.

Have you tried calling the larger travel agencies? They'd likely have a package or know someone who does.

I called Mokihana (sp?) Travel last week and they said they did not have package deals that included tickets but they could help us out on airfare and hotel. We all live on Kauai we will be there only for the "dance" so we don't really care that much about where we will be staying. All we need is a bed and a shower. :D I was kind of surprised that Hilo Seaside did not take reservations for MM this far in advance. I called them because of their ads on TV ~ they said they had Kama'aina rates so we thought we would start with them.

[greentara]

Please click on this link for Hilo Hotels & B&B's
(http://www.island-trust.com/hilo-hotels-and-resorts-on-the-big-island-of-hawaii.html)
I can also get a you a list of Hilo-area vacation rentals if you need it.

Thanks if you could e-mail me the list that would be great.

[greentara]

We were looking at the seating chart and it looks like the reserved seats are not as good as the non-reserved seats. Anyone have any ideas as to what seats are good????

[timkona]

We have tried 3 years in a row to get tickets to the MM. It's tough. You have to mail in your request right after Thanksgiving or Christmas or sumfin ladat. First come, first served. (supposedly :rolleyes:)

We also have a condo in Hilo. Price fluctuates based on availablity and demand. MM is peak season and rooms are hard to come by in Hilo town. You should expect to pay an arm, and a leg, and a first born child.

The part that bums me out is when you see it on TV, looks like there is lots of empty seats.

[Mililani]

We also have a condo in Hilo. Price fluctuates based on availablity and demand. MM is peak season and rooms are hard to come by in Hilo town. You should expect to pay an arm, and a leg, and a first born child.

First born child? LOL That was funny!

[greentara]

I've been looking at flights and we are going to book today ~ they are filling up fast. The only thing that's kind of a bummer is we can't get our tickets, (for MM) until Dec. 26th, and it's mail in request. So if we mail in our request on Dec. 26th and don't get the tickets we are stuck with the airline tickets! Tim, you said you have been trying to get tickets for three years, did you get your request in right after Dec?

[timkona]

Yes, we send in our request on Dec 26 each year.

[kiwidiva]

All I can say is... GOOD LUCK!

They get THOUSANDS of requests for very limited seats. It's definitely a case of who you know... I only get my tickets through a hook up - I don't know how anyone else gets theirs - you gotta use ALL your resources.