Most hotel rooms are exactly what the name implies, just one room with a bath. Most luxury condos offer two to three bedrooms with a full kitchen and baths. This can be an important feature for anyone wanting moments of privacy, be it a party of adults, parents with young children, or teens. The space that you find in a condo versus a hotel room is especially comforting. Most condos also come with a full size washer and dryer, which saves vacationers the hefty expense hotels charge for laundry.

A fully stocked kitchen is no comparison to the mini fridge that normally comes with a hotel room. All full size major appliances are provided, along with smaller ones such as coffee makers, blenders and toasters. Once you purchase the groceries for your vacation, you have the option of eating in instead of paying to dine out for every meal and snack. This will save a ton of money over the duration of your vacation. It also provides your party with an extreme convenience.

In the instance where you run short on clothing, you won’t have to purchase additional pieces when you stay at condos. If you packed too little, or if you accidentally stained your outfit, you can have them laundered in the convenience of your condo. No outrageous fees to send out your clothing through hotel services.

Staying at a vacation condo rental offers you the same hotel conveniences as you are typically located within the resort areas. Each property location typically has its own pool, some include a fitness center and barbecue pavilion.

Next time when you vacation please consider staying at a luxury condominium rather than a hotel.

The Big Island of Hawaii is one of the fastest growing and most diverse islands of the Hawaiian Islands.  The Kohala Coast has some of the most beautiful resorts in the world.  With very little rainfall throughout the year, the Kohala Coast is the perfect vacation destination!

The Waikoloa Beach Resort is the largest resort and offers a wide variety of vacation rentals.  The most luxurious complex is Kolea, which offers two and three bedroom vacation rentals.  These vacation rentals are located on the beach, A’Bay.  The Kolea Beach Club is located just steps from the beach and accessible by all of the villas at Kolea.  Halii Kai is the newest addition and offers the best views in the resort.  The Halii Kai Ocean Club is located on a bluff and features a multi layer resort style pool as well as a restaurant.

The Mauna Lani Resort has always been known as the most luxurious resort and is beginning to expand to offer more amenities.  The Mauna Lani Terrace has always been the cornerstone of the Mauna Lani Resort.  These vacation rentals are located on the beach.  The three rentals that Waikoloa Vacation Rentals manages are fully upgraded and offer amazing views.

With the economy struggling and tourism down, you can enjoy amazing rates on vacation rentals at these locations.  Enjoy up to 50% off of some of the rentals!

Kolea is the premiere vacation rental destination in the Waikoloa Beach Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Being the only beachfront complex in the Waikoloa Beach Resort, it is very desireable.  Not only is the proximity to the beach great, but it is also close to all the shopping and two hotels in the Waikoloa Beach Resort.

Kolea offers two and three bedroom villas ranging from mountain to beachfront views.  All of the villas have essentially the same finishes with just a difference in size and views.  The smaller two bedroom villas at the back are roughly 1300 square feet while the beachfront three bedroom penthouses are close to 2000 square feet.

Kolea 8C is the most popular three bedroom beachfront penthouse.  With wall mounted LCDs throughout and a gourmet kitchen you are sure to enjoy yourself inside.  As you step out on the spacious lanai with expansive ocean, beach, and mountain views you will not be dissatisfied with your choice to stay at Kolea 8C.

There is a new vacation rental website that will be great for both vacation home owners as well as travelers.  www.vacationrentalstop.com will offer an array of vacation rentals in the USA for travelers to choose from.  For vacation home owners they are currently offering a great deal on new listings and offer a nice look to their site to make your property look good.

For the first few months they will will focusing on Hawaii vacation rentals and Florida vacation rentals.  With the owners of the site currently owning a vacation rental in both Hawaii and Florida, they know those two markets really well.

VacationRentalStop.com just recently started offering advertising packages for a great rate on vacation rentals throughout the world.  They focus mainly in Florida and the Hawaiian Islands, but also advertise for other locations.  They have several listings for Kolea at Waikoloa Beach and the Mauna Lani Terrace.

While a vacation to Hawaii can be costly, it is an experience that most people do not want to pass up.  While the economy is struggling many people have continued to vacation, but are attempting to cut costs where they can.  Many airlines are offering good deals and rentals car rates are also going down.  Staying at Hawaii condos are also smart financial choices travelers are making.  Not only are the nightly rates better, but you can also save on dining in since you have full size kitchens in most condos.

Over the course of the last two years with tourism down, vacation rental rates have dropped almost 20% at Wailea condos and Oahu condos.  Due to this hotels, along with other vacation rentals, have become more competitive driving down rates and making the vacationer the only winner of the situation.

Throughout the last two years with the economy struggling some trends regarding travel have emerged.

1)  Staying in Vacation Rentals- More and more people are staying in vacation rentals.  This trend has increased almost 20% over the course of the last two years.  Also due to the real estate market struggling renters are able to get better rates.

2)  Group Travel- By staying in vacation rentals, it allows multiple families to travel together and stay in the same accommodation.  This cuts back on having to reserve multiple hotel rooms.

3)  “Closer to Home Vacations”-  In 2008 a lot of people stayed close to home for vacations.  This cut back on airline costs, rental car costs, and also it allowed for a shorter vacation.  In 2009 we have started to see this trend diminish.  Due to what happened in 2008, airlines are offering great rates to get people traveling again.

In the real estate market, we have obviously seen a drop in sales.  One thing that has increased is interest in timeshares along with multiple ownership properties.  The trend regarding timeshares could be due to the economy and vacationers getting something for free if they attend.  That is not certain though.

The Hawaiian Island of Kauai offers a tranquil setting and some amazing resorts.  While you will find some high class hotels such as the Hyatt at Poipu, you will also find some amazing condos at Waipouli Beach Resort, the #1 rated resort in the Hawaiian Islands.  Waipouli Beach Resort offers amazing beaches and is just a short drive away from amazing golf at Princeville.  Princeville is the home of St. Regis Resort and you will find luxury beachfront condos, Puu Poa, next to that.  If you budget is a little tighter for one of these high end resorts you can enjoy condos at Kuhio Shores that offer amazing ocean views for under $200/night.

One of my favorite places to vacation is the Big Island of Hawaii.  Recently we stayed in the Waikoloa Beach Resort.  This resort is great for families and offers a lot.  They recently built the Queens Marketplace, which adds more restaurants and shopping to the resort.

We rented a condo through Waikoloa Vacation Rentals.  They were very helpful and gave us a great rate.  We had done our looking around prior to them and noticed that the Waikoloa Beach Resort has numerous condo complexes.  With the economy down the rates were competitive.  We decided to stay at Kolea at Waikoloa Beach.  We chose this complex because it is the only complex in the Waikoloa Beach Resort with direct beach access.  The interiors also seem to be more spacious and luxurious than the other complexes in the Waikoloa Beach Resort.

If you ever decide to go to Hawaii I would recommend contacting Waikoloa Vacation Rental Management to help you set up your vacation.

In 2009 the condo rental market seems to be coming more competitive.  Here are some reasons why:

1)  With the economy struggling many homeowners are doing whatever it takes to get the most out of their condo.  In the slow times you will see prices reduced almost in half because they are looking to just get whatever they can versus it staying unoccupied.

2)  In 2006 and 2007 many people purchased condos in speculation.  When they found out they were going to be unable to sell them they put them on the vacation rental market causing more competition.

3)  The last reason is not as big of a reason as others, but it still has caused the market to become more competitive.  Some owners that have owned condos have let them sit vacant rather than renting them out.  When the economy became soft they looked for additional income and thought it would be better to generate it from their vacation rental property rather than let it sit empty.