Where else to stay

[KGmomoftwins]

Thinking about checking out Aulani at the very end of August this summer. I think we would like to stay somewhere on the North Shore as a base for 5 nights to do some touring there and not pay the premium of Aulani. Where would you stay? I'd like to try an Airbnb but never have and it makes me nervous.

 

[dachsie]

Thinking about checking out Aulani at the very end of August this summer. I think we would like to stay somewhere on the North Shore as a base for 5 nights to do some touring there and not pay the premium of Aulani. Where would you stay? I'd like to try an Airbnb but never have and it makes me nervous.

It's now illegal for anyone to rent an Air BnB on the Northshore area. A lot of people recommend Turtle Bay

 

[KGmomoftwins]

It's now illegal for anyone to rent an Air BnB on the Northshore area. A lot of people recommend Turtle Bay

I wondered because several of the listings I saw said they had a license for short term rentals. Turtle Bay look to be about an hour from Waikiki. Looks really nice but seems removed like Aulani.

 

[HI_Tig808]

I wondered because several of the listings I saw said they had a license for short term rentals. Turtle Bay look to be about an hour from Waikiki. Looks really nice but seems removed like Aulani.

Turtle Bay is the only legal place to stay in North Shore. It is far from everything but a beautiful area.

 

[dream1211]

There is a Marriott in Laie. We had a VRBO scheduled but with the new law cancelled and booked there.

 

[kyton]

There are a few legally permitted places around Kulima Estates - basically you need a NUC permit. If the owner won’t provide that number to you, it’s a safe bet they don’t have one!

http://www.honoluludpp.org/Portals/0/pdfs/HotIssues/NUC2018.pdf - this list of ALL the legally authorised rentals on the whole island.

Have you visited Oahu before? Have you stayed in Waikiki? As a regular visitor it always surprises me that people want to stay at North Shore and Aulani. IMO they are very similar, so you are swapping like for like.

We always split our visits however we do Waikiki / Ko Olina - for our family it is then two different holidays. Ko Olina is being lazy and staying put whereas Waikiki has a mix of great beaches as well as attractions, dining and shopping.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

There are a few legally permitted places around Kulima Estates - basically you need a NUC permit. If the owner won’t provide that number to you, it’s a safe bet they don’t have one!

http://www.honoluludpp.org/Portals/0/pdfs/HotIssues/NUC2018.pdf - this list of ALL the legally authorised rentals on the whole island.

Have you visited Oahu before? Have you stayed in Waikiki? As a regular visitor it always surprises me that people want to stay at North Shore and Aulani. IMO they are very similar, so you are swapping like for like.

We always split our visits however we do Waikiki / Ko Olina - for our family it is then two different holidays. Ko Olina is being lazy and staying put whereas Waikiki has a mix of great beaches as well as attractions, dining and shopping.

Thank you I meant Waikiki in my original post. We’ve never been to O’ahu before. I noticed some of the Airbnb I was looking at had the number listed. Still looking at everything and I’m really torn I love the Disney experience but I’d like to go to Italy this summer but not sure the rest of the family is up to that and Hawaii is on our must do list.

 

[corgi_monster]

Here is some clarification on the AirBnB issue:

1. Most, if not all, residential units can be legally rented so long as the rental period is longer than 30 days. You do not need a Nonconforming Use permit, just a regular GE tax license. If you rent a place for 30 days for $1,000 and check out after 3 days, that is legal. It’s a loophole, but it’s legal. However, this loophole may be closed by August as the court is hearing a case on this matter shortly.

2. Units in resort zones can be rented for any length of time and a nonconforming use permit is NOT required. There are resort zones on the North Shore as well as a few scattered throughout Oahu. Units in the resort zones will not appear on the Honolulu DPP website listed in a previous post.

You can use this map to see if the rental is in a resort zone http://cchnl.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=31b9607333e94c64ba581461892f32e8


If you find a rental you like, message me the address and I can pull the parcel data for you and let you know if it’s a legal rental. Before my kids were born, I worked in commercial permitting, land use, and development here in Hawaii and I kind of miss doing land use research lol.

 

[Nalshersmom]

On the North Shore, the cottages at Turtle Bay were amazing! Greg was our host. He was the best! This was my husband's favorite stop on our trip. We stayed a few nights at three different areas on Oahu in order to experience as many areas in our time. We split it up between Aulani, a Hyatt on Waikiki, and Turtle Bay on the North Shore. We tried to do things only in those areas the nights we stayed there. However, at Aulani, we stayed there and enjoyed the resort for our entire 3 night stay which I loved.

 

[nkereina]

I wondered because several of the listings I saw said they had a license for short term rentals. Turtle Bay look to be about an hour from Waikiki. Looks really nice but seems removed like Aulani.

This is why North Shore doesn't make a great home base for a whole trip, IMO. Many people will do a split stay between Aulani/Waikiki/Turtle Bay, or some combination, and do activities in the respective areas during that portion of their stay. There's not one location on the island that's centrally located to everything, unfortunately. Waikiki is about the only area that's going to have many shops and restaurants around that are walking distance, unless you stay in a VRBO in Kailua perhaps.