Maui in April

[chuck1rar]

Heading to Maui in April and looking for a little advice..

Looking at staying at the Ritz, assume these types of places would have to be smoke friendly..

Or are most Hawaii indoors places these days smoke free?

Also any suggestions for a better place to stay at off the tourist trap would be welcomed.

Lastly any US sites that offer the best deals for Hawaii hotels?

Thanks

[armedak]

I think you're in for a rude awakening. Hawaii is not smoker friendly to say the least. No indoor smoking at all. But you think no worries as the weather is so nice and warm you can smoke outside right?. Wrong!! You can't even smoke at public parks and beaches. No, I'm not kidding. You might get by with smoking on the hotel balcony depending on the hotel and assuming no one complains. Most of the rental cars are even non-smoking. The tobacco tax is also in the stratosphere so bring your own and unbanded if they are cuban as you will have to go through the Ag inspection at some point. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Hawaii has become one of the biggest nanny states out there.

[DrunkenMonkey]

Dale from Dogwatch cigar radio was in Hawaii last year. I remember him reporting that he couldn't smoke in any area in his hotel, including towards the beach. Outside the hotel grounds I think he said it was ok to smoke on the public beach. Hawaii does seem quite rigorous in this area though.

I remember the episode you're referring to. I remember he said that there were issues with even outside smoking bans, but if I remember correctly, he also said that the hotel had smoking rooms. I may be confusing two different trips of Dale's, though. I'd contact the hotel and ask.

[ucla695]

Hawaii is not smoker friendly at all. I stayed at the Grand Wailea a couple of years ago and could only smoke in designated areas outside. Luckily they had benches and a thatched hut type of thing, but it sucked not being able to smoke from my deck while looking at the ocean.

[thechenman]

No smoking at the Four Seasons in Maui, except in certain designated outdoor areas...now I prefer to vacation in the Bahamas.

[HawaiiBill]

Heading to Maui in April and looking for a little advice..

Looking at staying at the Ritz, assume these types of places would have to be smoke friendly..

Or are most Hawaii indoors places these days smoke free?

Also any suggestions for a better place to stay at off the tourist trap would be welcomed.

Lastly any US sites that offer the best deals for Hawaii hotels?

Thanks

Yea, unfortunately Hawaii is no longer smoker friendly, especially at resorts. Its state law. If you make your way to Honolulu, there is a great cigar shop that allows smoking. And it is a lot more lax in the small country town where I live on North Shore of Oahu. If you come this way you are more than welcome to stop by my place for cigars. Its nothing fancy, but we have several acres of farmland and you can smoke anywhere here!.

[Ellery]

Yeah, I was in Maui 2 yrs ago at the Westin. And talk about being non-smoking. Almost the entire hotel grounds, except for 10 x 10 ft space was all non-smoking. The weather and beaches almost made up for it.

[DTH56]

As of last summer you could smoke on the balconies of the units at the Westin Ocean Resort Villas at Ka'anapali (not the Westin Maui). There are some nice house rentals to be found in both the Kihei area and West Maui. Try VRBO.com for those.

I monitor the Hawaii travel blog http://beatofhawaii.com/ to find out about unadvertised (as well as advertised) deals.

- Dave

[kyee]

Correct - the villas at Ka'anapali allow smoking on your balconies. I took advantage of that every day last summer. Hawaii has even more restrictive anti-smoking laws than California now. Sad situation.

[Erm310mce]

When I last went I played golf each day, enjoyed many smokes on the course to go along with my many strokes How's that excuse to play more golf and enjoy some of the more beautiful courses in the world