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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Hawaii’s hospitality industry beams with new magazine rankings
Honolulu is America's best romantic escape, according to a new Travel + Leisure/CNN Headline News poll -- and Hawaii's resorts have garnered their own category in Conde Nast Traveler magazine.
Nearly 60,000 responses in the T+L/CNN poll ranked 25 cities in 55 main and subcategories.
We'll get to Honolulu, but to glimpse elsewhere, New York City, New Orleans, Portland, Ore. and Wash., D.C., got more No. 1 votes than other cities -- a double-edged sword.
NYC is tops in big-name restaurants, theater-stylish people and more -- including most-overrated city in America.
Chicago is best for overall food and dining but dead last for weather.
Honolulu is not No. 1 in weather -- San Diego is. Honolulu also failed to finish first in friendliness, despite our ballyhooed aloha spirit. One too many crimes against tourists, maybe. Visitors and residents ranked us seventh in friendliness, which brings up a cool aspect of the T+L/CNN poll.
Each city's rankings appear online in two lists, one by visitors, the other, residents. Comparisons of visitor vs. local and city-to-city rankings are fascinating, if you're into that. Your columnist had a great time thinking catty thoughts about mainland metros whilst preparing this column.
Visitors say Honolulu is the No. 1 romantic escape, but residents rank it fourth. The site does not show Honolulu residents' choice rendezvous, but whaddaya bet the default is Vegas.
The eight main categories break out thusly for Honolulu, with visitor rankings followed by (residents'): After Dark 10 (24); Characteristics 7 (9); Cityscape 9 (15); Culture 20 (22); Food and Dining 20 (22); People 10 (16); Shopping 22 (25); Type of Trip 2 (6).
Among subcategories, visitors think we're smarter than we do, ranking us No. 16 in intelligence, while ho, brah, we wen rate ourselves 22! Wat-eez-up-wit-dat!?
Visitors ranked us No. 6 in pedestrian friendliness but local folks said No. 18.
For architecture and notable buildings, visitors gave us an 18 but the resident ranking is 23. Say it with me -- no more stucco mansions. Ever.
Conde Nast news
For the first time, Hawaii resorts have a category of their own in the Conde Nast Traveler magazine Readers Choice Survey, to hit newsstands Oct. 25. Results will appear online in a week, but here's a preview.
Maui and Kauai are the top two Pacific islands; Hawaiian Air is the No. 3 domestic airline; and the Four Seasons Maui at Wailea leads three sister properties as top Hawaii resort.
Of the 2006 Top 20 Australia/Pacific resorts, 17 were in Hawaii, but there are other reasons Hawaii resorts got their own list.
"Every year we have more and more people voting," said Megan Montenaro, public relations manager. The resort category has grown to where resorts themselves are the destinations and besides, Australia and Hawaii are different, she said.
Honolulu rates with T+L
and CNN Headline News
Travel + Leisure and CNN Headline News asked readers and viewers to rank 25 urban destinations based on 55 main and sub-categories. The nearly 60,000 responses were compiled and appear online.
What follows are the rankings for Honolulu in which both visitors and residents agreed on the city’s best and worst features, but mostly had differing opinions about other aspects of the city. For your convenience, cities that placed ahead of Honolulu are shown in some categories.
Best Feature - Weather 4.82 (4.92)
Worst Feature - Affordability 2.73 (2.33)
After Dark Category |
Score |
Rank (Residents’ rank) (Cities ahead of Honolulu) |
After Dark (Overall) |
4.37 |
10 (24) |
Clubbing |
4.29 |
10 (18) |
Cocktail hour |
4.53 |
9 (22) |
Live music |
4.39 |
14 (25) |
Singles scene |
4.24 |
16 (22) |
|
Characteristics Category |
Score |
Rank |
Affordability |
2.73 |
22 (24) |
Characteristics (Overall) |
4.07 |
7 (9) |
Getting around/public transit |
4.10 |
7 (7) |
Environmental awareness |
4.16 |
9 (10) |
Gay-friendliness |
3.85 |
18 (19) |
Peace and quiet |
4.00 |
9 (11) |
People-watching |
4.64 |
5 (10) |
Safety |
4.18 |
6 (7) |
Weather |
4.82 |
2 (2) (1. San Diego, 4.86) |
|
Cityscape Category |
Score |
Rank |
Access to outdoors |
4.79 |
3 (6) (1. Portland 4.87; 2. Denver 4.85) |
Cityscape (Overall) |
4.40 |
9 (15) |
Cleanliness |
4.23 |
9 (13) |
Notable neighborhoods |
3.91 |
21 (24) |
Pedestrian friendliness |
4.36 |
6 (18) |
Public parks/spaces |
4.46 |
13 (15) |
Skyline/views |
4.61 |
5 (10) |
|
Culture Category |
Score |
Rank |
Architecture |
3.89 |
18 (23) |
Classical music |
3.32 |
23 (23) |
Culture (Overall) |
3.74 |
20 (22) |
Historical sites |
4.43 |
9 (12) |
Museums/galleries |
3.78 |
21 (22) |
Theater |
3.31 |
25 (24) |
Underground arts |
3.43 |
21 (23) |
|
Food/Dining Category |
Score |
Rank |
Barbecue |
3.66 |
13 (17) |
Big-name restaurants |
4.19 |
20 (24) |
Cheap eats |
3.68 |
24 (20) |
Coffee |
4.20 |
11 (20) |
Ethnic food |
4.53 |
10 (5) |
Farmers’ markets |
3.72 |
19 (19) |
Food/Dining (Overall) |
3.92 |
20 (22) |
Pizza |
3.39 |
24 (25) |
|
People Category |
Score |
Rank |
Athletic/active |
4.27 |
9 (7) |
Attractive |
4.34 |
5 (10) |
Diverse |
4.54 |
7 (4) (1 - 6: NYC; SFO, New Orleans; D.C., Chicago, Miami) |
Friendly |
4.44 |
7 (7) (1 - 6: Charleston S.C., New Orleans; Minn/St.Paul; Nashville; Austin, Tex., Portland) |
Fun |
4.52 |
3 (10) (New Orleans, Austin, Tex.) |
Intelligent |
3.86 |
16 (22) (1. Seattle 4.6) |
People (Overall) |
4.21 |
10 (16) |
Stylish |
3.80 |
22 (25) |
Worldly |
3.92 |
14 (22) |
|
Shopping Category |
Score |
Rank |
Antiques |
3.34 |
24 (25) |
Flea markets |
3.82 |
10 (12) |
Home design |
3.81 |
24 (25) |
Jewelry |
4.33 |
8 (16) |
Luxury boutiques |
4.49 |
7 (12) |
Shoes |
3.95 |
18 (25) |
Shopping (Overall) |
3.91 |
22 (25) |
Vintage (clothing/jewelry) |
3.44 |
24 (25) |
|
Type of Trip Category |
Score |
Rank |
Active/adventure |
4.61 |
2 (2) (1. Denver 4.66) |
Business (secretly fun) |
4.47 |
7 (9) |
Family vacation |
4.62 |
4 (4) (Orlando, 4.8, D.C., San Diego) |
Girlfriend getaway |
4.54 |
8 (3) (New Orleans, Charleston) |
Relaxing retreat |
4.63 |
2 (3) (1. Santa Fe 4.67) |
Romantic escape |
4.77 |
1 (4) |
Sophisticated getaway |
4.25 |
9 (16) |
Sports vacation |
3.30 |
22 (22) |
Type of trip (Overall) |
4.39 |
2 (6) (1. San Diego 4.41) |
Wild weekend |
4.19 |
10 (11) |
Source: Travel + Leisure magazine
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