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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Never mind the jellyfish, spring breakers are coming!
Hawaii will be hopping come spring break 2008, based on news from travel portal studentuniverse.com.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is the No. 1 destination booked through the site. No surprise there. The oceanside hottie hamlet has been immortalized as Spring Break Central since at least the 1960 movie "Where the Boys Are," if not before then.
A user-posted comment at the all-things-movie Web site imdb.com says the film, shot on location in Fort Lauderdale, is where "the perennially tan George Hamilton first acquired his swarthy complexion."
And the MTV generation thinks it discovered the place. Pff
Boston is the No. 2 choice for spring breakers, followed by Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Denver.
Denver's emergence on the list could indicate a shift in student tastes toward more active outdoor adventures, according to Renaud Cyr, Student Universe vice president of airline product.
Internationally, London is the top choice for students well-heeled enough to fly overseas, followed by Amsterdam -- no doubt the choice of the most serious and studious travelers -- Paris; Rome; Florence, Italy; Frankfurt, Germany; Madrid, Spain; San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico and Sydney, Australia
StudentUniverse.com started in 1992 as a travel agency exclusively for college students, aiming to provide travel at discounts greater than were offered elsewhere. Now online, the portal pledges to pupils and professors they will save an average of 13 percent over what the general public pays on other travel sites.
Hualalai hoo-ha
The Four Seasons Resort Hualalai is getting another round of national ink in Travel + Leisure magazine, as are other Hawaii hotels and resorts.
However, Hualalai is No. 9 on the magazine's 2008 list of the top 500 hotels in the world, as reported in the magazine's annual January hotel issue, released this month.
It is also posted online.
The ranking for the Hualalai resort is based on T+L's 2007 "World's Best" reader survey that was reported on in this space in July.
Still, it's kind of a rush to see a Hawaii property in the magazine's online slideshow of the top 25 hotels worldwide.
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai
» A stylish and family-friendly, beachfront, bungalow-style resort
» 243 rooms, 3 restaurants, 3 bars
» Competitive edge: Ocean views from every room.
» Rooms to book: Those on the ground floor, with large stone-and-glass outdoor showers.
» Don't miss: The "Surf, Sand & Stars" night on the beach, with s'mores, campfire, and telescope.
Source: Travel + Leisure
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Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com