Family with teens -- recommendations pls. on good chill out...

Hello,

My wife and I and our two teens (girl 14, boy 16) will be visiting the island of Hawaii for eleven nights. The first six days will be very active. To avoid a mutiny, we will spend the last four days in a resort for total ';chill time';. We are tentatively planning to stay at the Waikoloa Hilton. My theory is that the grounds are big enough and the pools neat enough that the kids can lose themselves for much of each day. They don%26#39;t have specific teen programs, though. Also, I%26#39;m a bit worried that it may feel a bit Disneyesque for my wife and me. I note that the Kona Village Resort does have activities for teens (according to their website at least) and a nice beach as well. But, the resort is no where near as large, and I%26#39;m worried that they may feel that they%26#39;ve ';done it all'; in a day. So, my question is this: which would be better for teens -- Waikoloa Hilton or Kona Village Resort? Any other suggestions on ';chill'; places?

Thanks!

Family with teens -- recommendations pls. on good chill out...

Go to the Hilton!! We were just there. Since it was spring break, there were a lot of kids there of all ages. We saw groups of teens playing volleyball. The kids seem to roam around safely. Our kids are 12 and 13 and had a great time there. They did hang out with us mostly, but if they looked for friends, they would have found them.

I don%26#39;t know if I would call it disneyesque, but it definitely had enough to stay busy. The restaurants were very good on the property. There is an Italian restaurant called Donatoni%26#39;s and we also liked the Kamuela Provision Co. for steak and seafood. The Japanese looked good, but was booked solid. Even the hamburgers around the pool area were good.

Have a Lava Flow drink. They were my favorite. I could have spent all day just hanging out.

Family with teens -- recommendations pls. on good chill out...

TravelDad,

Hmm. This one is tough. KVR is awesome, and I cannot imagine anyone having a bad time there, of any age. It is likely that the events and things they have their may not last 4 days worth, however it is supposed to be the chill days, right? Pool side relaxing? Sounds like you have a lot planned for the first part of the trip, will the teens still want to be active? What do they like to do? I seem to recall KVR having a snorkel thing for teens – where they organize a swim with snorkels and I think a quick training thing. Probably what you saw on the internet.

The Hilton is a bit DL-ish, but they do have great pools, swim with Dolphins etc. I believe both hotels have staff that can help plan and organize stuff for kids. HD and TT can enlighten more I am sure. I have no children so I don’t really pay much attention. I was at the Hilton less than 6 months ago and there were children of all ages.

Given the ages of your teens, I think you will find it difficult to satisfy both at the same time with the same thing, outside of pizza. When I was your son’s age we used to go to Kailua-Kona and rent mopeds. They only go about 30 MPH but it was so much fun. We would ride up and down Ali’i drive exploring and just riding was fun. Your daughter may be too young. If you haven’t already scheduled it a boogie boarding lesson/session is another way they can entertain themselves. You and your wife will want time to yourselves also.

Wish I had more. Good luck and happy travels!

P.S. I was just in Wilmington on business and I LOVED it. Visited the NC and Carolina and Kure beaches, and I was impressed. Friendly people, good food and a terrific beach, I only wished it was spring or fall and not the end of Feb!

The hilton is so amazing! lots of stuff to do and large spaces to hang out together or on your own!

Rooms are nice as well. Pools are great, plus, there are going to be more teens there than other places (based on what i saw)

Thanks for your thoughts and experiences!

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