The Days Off – Travel Guide

I checked around the hotels for CES 2010 (International Consumer Electronics Show)  and it looks like the prices are coming down. I’m going to focus on hotel prices under $100 per night in this guide, as there are many hotels in the $100+ range.

Where to get good deals on hotels for CES?

The easiest place to look is on the CES website itself. They include most resort fees that would typically get charged extra.  Circus Circus seems to have the best deal on the strip right now at $50-92 per night for tower rooms. I would avoid the Circus Manor rooms at all costs as the tower rooms are much nicer.

Excalibur widescreen rooms (recently remodeled) are in the $66-$96 range, which has the nicest rooms for under $100.

If you are on a real budget, you can stay in downtown Las Vegas for around $60 per night. I find its a hassle staying that far away from the convention center though.

Early bird rates end on November 30th (today) FYI. A nice thing about the official CES hotels is that there is a shuttle that will pick you up to/from your hotel. Parking at CES is expensive, so its best to use the shuttle.  The monorail is another option, but can be pricey at $5 each way.

Official CES Hotel List:
http://www.cesweb.org/hotelTravel/hotel.asp

If you use Expedia, check to see if you have coupons in your account. I booked a hotel last month using Expedia and they added a $50 coupon for a 2+ night stay, which is a great deal. Priceline is another option if you want to get the lowest rates available.

Popularity: 16%

View from hotel room (20th floor, Ala Moana tower)

The Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki  is located next to the marina in Waikiki. All 521 rooms are oceanfront, which means you get a view of the marina side or the Diamond head side. We stayed there early November 2009 and were impressed with the location as it was much quieter than other parts of Waikiki. The service of the hotel is probably the most memorable. When you first check-in, you will recieve hot towels (oshibori) to wipe your face (which is a nice touch after a long flight).

Check-in was fast and easy. The rooms are located in the 28 floors, with one tower facing diamond head and the other facing the marina. Priceline guests will most likely get the tower facing the marina. As you can see from the photo above, the marina rooms had a decent view. Each room has giant windows that open up, but no balcony or lanai. The rooms are huge for Waikiki, they had nice bathrooms with marble flooring, separate shower/bathtub, separate room for the toilet, and a large electronic safe. The room had a lot of amenities — slippers, robes, daily Lion Kona blend coffee, nice tropical shampoo/conditioner, lotion, complementary water upon checkin (2 bottles), and a tube TV. Internet access is available for $11.95 per day. Hotel also offers a salt-water pool and jacuzzi. Fitness center offers treadmill, elliptical machine, weight machine.

There is a free shuttle that takes you from the hotel to the Waikiki beaches. Pretty good to not have to drive to the center of Waikiki since parking is a premium there.

The hotel has a great buffet — Waikiki Prince Court Buffet. Pricey, but good quality.

For shopping, there is the Ala Moana mall about 2 blocks away. Tons of stores and a huge food court for cheap eats. The Hilton resort is about 2 blocks away the other direction, which is nice to check out the Friday night fireworks show (if they still offer it).

Tip: The room we stayed in had a mildew smell to it — its best to leave the window open as the A/C  didn’t seem to help. There is parking in the main garage for $15 per night.

Priceline has some great deals on this hotel. If you can get this for $75-$100 range, its a good deal. If you are looking for good value for your $$, this hotel offers a lot of amenities for rooms with actual oceanfront views.

Popularity: 7%

Special thanks to Jessica Berlin/Cirque du Soleil during Blogworld 2009 for providing free tickets to review the show.

That being said, Love was an amazing show. The acrobatics was spectacular and the visuals in the show are amazing. I liked how they tied together 130 songs to make 26 music pieces. The transitions between the pieces are great, making it almost seamless. I’m glad they didn’t just put all the best Beatles songs in the show and made it a “Greatest Hits” album. They used only a few of the upbeat Beatles songs and many from the later stages of their career. I enjoyed the part with “A Day in the Life” — one of my favorite Beatles songs.

The theater for the show is amazing, with basically a 360 degree view of the stage. Its been said to have cost $100 million to build. Visual effects in the show were stunning, with huge video screens to give a nice atmosphere to what was going on the stage. The sound in the theater was excellent, vocals were clear especially in such a large theater. Its like surround sound with Beatles music! Each seat has their own speakers in the headrests, which is cool.

Compared to other Cirque du Soleil shows, this one has a unique feel with its interpretive dancing. There is a lot less acrobatics, but there are some amazing stunts including rollerblading! This show doesn’t have early entertainment like the other ones, so don’t rush in too early. ”O” or “Ka” will offer more of the traditional acrobatics while “Love” has a unique vibe that can’t be compared with any other show. Definitely go if you are a Beatles fan or are looking for a different type of show experience.

Popularity: 59%

Airline meal on Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu back to LAX on an evening flight on 11/2009. They offered two choices of pasta or a turkey sandwich croissant. Premium meal options included sushi rolls or taco salad for $10. The pasta was very tasty and the chocolate cake was good. I’ll definitely go with Hawaiian Airlines if it’s within $40 of other carriers for the hot meals alone. They offer drinks after takeoff, during the meal, and coffee/water after the meal, which is a nice touch.

Popularity: 14%

Rainbow Drive-In is a well known place for tasty Hawaiian mixed plate lunches at great prices. This place is always packed. We had the Mixed plate which consisted of chicken katsu, mahi mahi katsu, and BBQ beef. One thing that stands out is the quality of the meat, which adds to the experience. The slush was really good. It reminded me of an Icee with a fruit punch flavor. Lots of people were ordering loco moco and the beef stew special as well. The Mixed plate was only $7.25, a great deal. Recommended!

Popularity: 7%

Costco in Honolulu is a great place to pick up food while staying in Hawaii. We just had 1/2 lb of fresh ahi shoyu poke for $6. Its currently $10.99 per lb. for the shoyu ahi. They put it in a plastic container for you, deli style.

This is a nice snack to have if you are a big fan of sashimi. 1/4 lb of ahi poke each is plenty! It’s about 10-12 pieces in a 1/4 lb portion. A restaurant may give you around 8-10 pieces as an appetizer for $10. Just make sure you have some utensils such as chopsticks or a spoon if you plan to eat it right away. You can also get good poke at Safeway, Times, or any local supermarket. Local supermarkets usually have more selection of poke if you are looking for something other than ahi tuna.

Popularity: 14%