Lodging choices in Molokai? What are there, please?

Aloha!

My husband and I would like to visit Molokai during our May 09 trip to Hawaii.

We would depart from Maui.

Are there any recommendations for where to stay. Anything from cottage to hotel, but preferably on the water.

We really appreciate your advise.

Lodging choices in Molokai? What are there, please?

Aloha!

The only hotel on the island is Hotel Molokai and is oceanfront. There are also condos for rent. Ke Nani Kai, Paniolo Hale, Kaulokoi Villas on West End. Molokai Shores two miles east of the main town of Kaunakakai. Wavecrest on the East End. All of these condos are on or quite near the ocean. You can check these out at VRBO or use local real estate webites, Swenson real estate and Friendly Isle real estate.

Hope this helps, happy hunting, and have a great relaxing vacation!

Jeannie

Lodging choices in Molokai? What are there, please?

Hi Bellavita,

We are in Molokai now. The more we come to Molokai, the more the magic of this island reveals itself to us.

When looking for places to stay, you are either looking at staying on the east end (across the channel from Maui) or the west end (the end with the now non operating resort. Both have their selling points. Your last option is to stay in the middle of the island, in Kaunakakai town.

We love the east end views from our condo which is oceanfront. The view and sounds of the wind and water are absolutely priceless.

I would recommend staying at least a week, if you can as Molokai is quite different than any of the other islands. National Geographic rated Molokai as one of the top 10 islands of the world because of its unspoiled beauty. It is a rural island and you won%26#39;t find folks pushing you to do stuff. You will find deserted beaches, no traffic, no shopping mall, miles of hiking trails, and many, many surprises.

I have to agree with Toby1knowbe .

When we went we stayed at the Hotel Molokai. If you are looking for a 5 star resort that will cater to your every need, forget going to Molokai because it does not have one. The hotel is old but...comfortable. Think of it as a bed and a place to crash at night and nothing more. It does have a wonderful resturant that is where the locals go to celebrate birthdays etc and...they will ask you to join in with them. Try finding that on another island....

Where you stay is not as important as actually going there.

Along with the condos aand hotel there are also some B%26amp;B%26#39;s if that is what you like.

we stopped eating a the hotel%26#39;s restaurant for a while because they didn%26#39;t have good cooks. this changed when the Ranch closed down. now everyone praises their cooking, and the crab cakes are to die for.

don%26#39;t forget friday afternoons where the kupuna are singing and playing oldies and you can mix with locals and visitors. we love relaxing in this open air place facing the ocean and our bar tender knows everybody%26#39;s name. let me have another blue hawaiian!cheers!

hmmm, it feels good to ';play tourist'; for a change..

I%26#39;m far from qualified to do so, but perhaps it would be worthwhile to initiate an informed discussion/update of the ';Legal Rentals'; issue.

Dunbar Beachfront Cottages promotes itself as ';Molokai%26#39;s ONLY legally licensed vacation rental';. I%26#39;d like to be able to say that I find this claim hard to believe, but anymore Laissez-faire seems to be the order (or lack thereof) of the day.

http://www.molokai-beachfront-cottages.com/

P.S. Been nearly four years since our last trip to Molokai, but I recall many property owners specifying ';checks only';. Acceptance of this eliminates the protective benefits of paying by credit card.

this is quite true and very sad! after years of lawyers, meetings, petitions, expenses, the owner of dunbar cottages is the only one of about 100 vacation rentals and b%26amp;bs able to obtain a county permit, although the state gave them a permit to pey their transit taxes. very few properties are even zoned, almost all the island is ';interim';. we have the hotel, wavecrest, and moloka%26#39;i shores condos which have some available for short time rentals.

local planners are now meeting with maui county to permit some owner-occupied b%26amp;bs. but by the time this is official, i%26#39;ll be dead. meantime, St.Damien faithfuls will be flocking here with no places to stay. oh well!

Many owners of condominiums accept credit cards. A few of the nicest units, very well equipped, are oceanfront at the Wavecrest Resort, They are rented by owners who give personal attention to their renters. Three of them are:

www.molokaidreaming.com

www.molokai-renta-a-condo.com and www.wavecrestmolokai305.com

Kama, the Dunbar Cottages are the only units on Molokai which have an ';Approved Conditional Use Permit'; allowing them to be operated as Transient Vacation Rentals...outside of identified resort areas.

There are ';legal'; condos in the Kaluakoi resort community (hah) and in some places which are apartment-zoned or were ';grandfathered'; in.

The list of non-resort area TVRs having CU permits and permitted B%26amp;Bs in all of Maui County is incredible short; a half page with maybe 20 properties having 100 total units.

The list for Oahu is 18 pages long with hundreds of listings.

The Maui County list can be found at:

…maui.hi.us/documents/Planning/PrmtdTVRBBSpr…

Interesting it notes there are 16,000 other visitor units operating in Maui County without permits but they are allowed to do so for various credible and seemingly corrupt reasons.

Plus they make it super costly and time consuming to get a CU permit nowadays, a process similar to land entitlment which ultimately requires a separate County ordinance for each newly permitted property.

A tough hurdle, and way to tough for Molokai, which does not have typical zoning patters, has no development capital available, and would be seen at its best via a more intimate in-community relationship that on any other island.

Appreciate all the info %26amp; insight Hale, Toby and Amber.

First visited the Friendly Isle back in the mid-80%26#39;s (when Kaluikoi was indeed a first class resort) and been back six times. Next year is all reserved, but am planning on 2010; subject to executive approval of course.

My Wife and I both love Hawaii and New Mexico, but the business environment in both states appears in serious need of improvement; so many interchangeable political roadblocks and outdated business practices and parts...parts that only a pathologist would appreciate.

Wow and Oh My Gosh!!!

Of all the questions and posts that I have placed on TripAdvisor, your responses were the quickest and the most posts!

So much to research and read about. For lodging, my husband and I certainly don%26#39;t need ';fancy';; just want to experience Molokai and peace and quiet....we don%26#39;t have the budget for all the pricey stuff on Maui, or anywhere else for that matter.

Is there a place that we can stay for just a few nights? We cannot commit to a week this time, because we have already paid for (way too expensive) airline tickets and don%26#39;t want a fine for changes.

Also, if we shop for a few groceries on Maui (which is how we take care of most of our food needs)....can you take them over to Molokai?

Hope to hear from you again on the above questions!