Ever rent a vacation home in Oahu?

Liz and I are thinking of taking the kids for 10 or 11 days to Oahu over the summer. We would much rather spend time in a three or four bedroom house as opposed to a hotel-like setting. Anyone one have experience renting a house in Oahu?

Jon, I know some people who did this, except I think they were on Kauai. They went through Vacation Rentals By Owner to find and book a house and were very pleased. They had a fantastic trip.

I know a couple people here in Santa Fe who rent out their (extremely nice) places through this too.

Cynthia - always nice to communicate with you! I've sent myself a reminder e-mail to look up your suggested site at home. We've rented places before, last time in London, as we really like much better than hotels. (However, the Marriott Waikiki beach looks very nice and has a lot of recommendations on tripadvisor.com

FWIW, I've not rented a house in Hawaii, but have stayed on Oahu, Maui and The Big Island, and Oahu has most of the State's population, and most of the tourists. To see the real Hawaii, you should stay on one of the other islands. There are rentals to be had on all the major islands, and the locals are generally friendlier on the non-Oahu islands, too.

Thank you for the suggestion, Robert (a.k.a. #1,000). I will share this with my wife. Is it easy to get to and from all the islands? (We decided on this trip after watching the movie Pearl Harbor and will no doubt want to visit the Arizona Memorial.)

I have only been to Oahu twice and never been to any of the other islands. I assumed from your first post that you have been there before but if not then you need to be warned that Oahu on the South Side (Waikiki) is a commercial, crowded place to be. This is a problem in that much of the tourist stuff (Arizona, that Bay where everyone snorkles, Diamond head, to name a few) are all on the south side of the island. If you stay on the North Shore which I love it is a much different feel but then you are traveling a lot to the south side for those things and if not careful you end up feeling like you spent the entire trip in the car. At 10-11 days this may not be a problem

There are houses for rent on the North Shore but I can not speak to the price or condition. The North Shore is surf central but prime Surf on the North Shore is Nov to Feb so it may be off-season then. The only resort I am aware of on the North Side is Turtle Bay http://www.turtlebayresort.com/ where I have stayed both times. I love this place. One advantage to this place is that the grounds are huge. There are parts of the beach that the guest don't use since they do not realize it is all resort grounds. It is one of the few places on the Island that I know as a tourist you can have the beach largely to oneself. The locals obviously know about it but since it is not prime surf spots, it is only sparesly used by them.

Many thanks, Brian. I've printed your post to take home and show Liz.
JP

Can't help you in Oahu. I rented a house in Hana, Maui and it was really a wonderful contrast in island life compared with the previous week in Kaanapali resorts. I'd definitely rent again.

It is a relatively inexpensive plane ride between islands. They each have their own charms, and I am partial to the Big Island because that's where Gail and I got married (and even had a black sand beach all to ourselves one sunset), but even Oahu has its must-see things, primarily Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head. But, while Waikiki is a very nice beach, it's lined with hi-rise condos and hotels, and for that atmosphere, you can travel to Miami much easier.