Military lodging in Hawaii

I know that it is not under the general heading of 'campgrounds' but I would like to hear from anyone who has visitied Hawaii and stayed either at the Hale Koa Hotel, or Beach Cottages on any of the bases.

It really looks like an opportunity, but I want to have some opinions before I book

It has been several years but we did stay at the Hale Koa on one of our trips. We used to go, on military orders, for three weeks or so every March for about four years. Since I was assigned to CINCPAC up at Camp Smith there was no housing available for Navy there. We stayed at the Hale Koa in 1991. In 1989, 1990 and 1992 we stayed at the Outrigger Waikki Towers, across the stree from Fort Derousy (Sp). We preferred the Outrigger. The price was about the same but the Outrigger had a nicer room. While I went to work each day the wife would walk over to the military beach by the Hale Koa and use it anyway. The Hale Koa was okay but we were not all that impressed. I understand that since that time they have added another tower and enlarged it. Since it has been several years it may have improved greatly. If you rent a car you can park at the Fort regardless of where you actually stay with a temporary base pass. (Anybody can park there during the daytime but you are supposed to have a base sticker to park overnight.)

The wife and I stayed at the Koa a couple years ago. The rooms were a bit better than average, but I too was not impressed. You get a nice but basic hotel room and not even an in room coffee maker. The facility is there to provide a discount over the commercial hotels on the island. And it does, to the tune of about 50% depending on rank. Next door to the Koa is the Hilton. A superb facility with exceptional accommodations, but your credit card may melt at the price. If you want a cabin at another MWR facility then you need to book MONTHS in advance We tried to book some MWR ?beach? cottages on the north side of the island 3 months out, but they were full.

That?s the negative. The positive is that everything you might need to arrange for a nice vacation is available at the hotel. They have the tour package thing down to a science. We didn?t spend much time in the room, so the room discount was the primary issue for us.

And there is something to be said for staying at a place that caters to the military family.

There are way too many things available to recommend, but if I were going to chose one it would be the tour of the Arizona.

I will respectfully suggest this to you. If you don?t allow at least 7 days ? on the island ?you won?t be able to get your money?s worth.