[ISLAND HOPPING]
Big Isle romance
Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island has declared February "Romance Month."This month only, kama'aina couples can book a "Double Bubble" vacation package for $189 per night that includes a room, a bottle of champagne and a bottle of bubble bath.
Restaurant specials will add to the romantic ambiance. Donatoni's Italian restaurant will celebrate Venetian Carnival Fridays and Saturdays to the end of the month, with a colorful four-course prix fixe dinner that costs $59 per person.
On Valentine's Day, Donatoni's will offer a dinner for $65 per person that includes a champagne toast, salad, appetizer and main course. The main course choices are mixed grill of lamb, steak, sausage, shrimp, mahimahi and scallops, or oven-roasted veal tenderloin and shiitake mushrooms. The feast ends with white chocolate, raspberry and mint chocolate mousse.
Proof of Hawaii residency for the kama'aina "Double Bubble" room package is required upon check-in. Room rates are based on availability. Call 1 (800) HILTONS (445-8667), or call direct at (808) 886-1234 and ask for package code P-Zero.
Course tops with readers
Golf magazine has presented Mauna Lani Resort's Francis H. I'i Brown Golf Course with its eighth consecutive Gold Medal as one of the "finest golf resorts in America" in its biennial reader survey.Mauna Lani has been a Gold Medal winner since the magazine started the program. It is one of only 18 courses nationwide to have received the award in this recent survey.
Editor Brian McCallen said more than 20,000 subscribers were queried "to yield a broader spectrum of opinion." Readers were asked to evaluate resorts they patronized in 1999 only, so the latest improvements would be taken into account. Criteria included golf specifics, cuisine, accommodations, service and amenities.
Mauna Lani Resort is on the Big Island's Kohala Coast, and features the award-winning Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows, an oceanfront property surrounded by acres of ancient Hawaiian fishponds. Amenities include two 18-hole championship golf courses, tennis courts, and a new Mauna Lani Spa. Call Mauna Lani at 1 (800) 367-2323 or (808) 885-6622.
Pleasant stay at Westin
Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays has partnered with The Westin Maui to offer Pleasant's guests the resort's "Sunsational Savings" when they travel now through Dec. 22, and stay in select accommodations.Guests who stay for six nights receive the sixth night free, plus a $125 meal credit. A six-night minimum stay is required, and the meal credits are per room, per stay, applying to food and beverage consumption at hotel restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Six-night holidays start at $978 per person, double occupancy, reflecting a savings of $348 per room. Included in each package are fresh flower lei greeting, daily Dollar Rent A Car, accommodations, all hotel and car rental taxes, and more.
The Westin Maui features five huge free-form swimming pools, a swim-up hydro-spa, five restaurants, and a multi-million dollar art collection.
For reservations, call (800) 242-9244 or go online at www.2Hawaii.com.