With breathtaking views of Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach and Honolulu’s famous skyline, Sarento’s Top of the “I” brings a bit of Italy to Hawaii with style.

This popular, Hawaiian dining establishment has old country warmth, hospitality and live piano music are part of the atmosphere that makes this fine dining establishment one of Hawaii’s most celebrated.

Sarento’s Top Of The I in Honolulu is a two star Italian restaurant. This restaurant is quite expensive, but well worth every dollar.

The restaurant is located in the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki, in Waikiki, Hawaii.

It’s been awarded the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence award. This place features great views. When you step inside the restaurant, you’ll notice an elegant atmosphere.

This fine dining restaurant offers diners a casual elegance but with superior service. Combined with the terrific culinary offerings and has well earned numerous accolades from the local Hawaiian community.

Sarentao’s also features fine wines to meet everyone’s taste. It’s a wonderful place to dine in Hawaii and share special memories with friends and family. The Life of Luxury can help you plan a trip to Hawaii and enjoy a VIP experience in this tropical paradise.

Sarento’s Top of the “I”
1777 Ala Moana Blvd
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 955-5559

Fairmont Kea Lani Resort

White sand and calming blue waves against a picturesque cloudless sky backdrop, Maui is nothing short of paradise.  Now, it can add one more reason to visit: the new Fairmont Kea Lani.  In the past three years, the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui – Hawaii has invested $28 million in the property to continue elevating the luxurious Maui experience.

The Fairmont Kea Lani renovation spanned across every suite, villa, pool deck, ballroom, corridor, and even the elevator of the entire resort.  Every detail that is guest-facing has been considerably examined and further upgraded.

My most anticipated event for the Fairmont is the April reopening of their signature restaurant, Kō, after a $5 million transformation.  Kō (“sugarcane” in Hawaiian) is the only restaurant I have seen that has mastered the art of true Asian fusion cuisine.  Unlike the Hollywood version of a “homemade” meal, Kō’s Executive Chef, Tylun Pang, designed a menu that features traditional family recipes by taking advantage of Hawaii’s naturally fresh ingredients.

The Fairmont Kea Lani property in Maui has over 400 one-bedroom suites and each has been carefully furnished with new furniture, décor, woodworking on doors, and HD flat screen televisions.  The remaining 37 exclusive two-story villas house two- and three-bedroom villas have also gone through an extensive transformation: new tile floors, furniture, and décor to infuse modernism into a Hawaiian motif.

Leaving no stones unturned, the Fairmont has also improved its Keiki Lani kids club with a new 140-foot water slide and toddler pool.  Adults can now enjoy Maui in a true paradise fashion with two whirlpools, a swim up bar, and spa.

For the readers looking for the perfect Hawaiian place to getaway this summer, the Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui, Hawaii is currently offering a 40% discount on their room rate. To book a reservation, Click Here to contact us.

On the north side of Kauai near Princeville, you can find the beautiful Queen’s Bath.

Queen’s Bath is one of the most unique and refreshing swimming areas on Kauai. The water pool is carved into a lava shelf and is the size of several large swimming pools.

Water spills over the black, jagged lava rocks to constantly refresh the pool. This means visitors have a marvelously large solar-powered Hawaiian hot tub at your disposal.

You can reach the Queen’s Bath by taking a gentle 5 minute hike past a waterfall leads down to a rocky landscape of lava rock. Continue on for another 5 minute, walk over the rocks and you’ll end up at the scenic bath.

Be sure to call ahead of your visit to make sure it’s open to the public. The government has begun closing the site during the winter months because of lawsuits from tourists who have been hurt from natural conditions.

Directions: To get to the Queen’s Bath, take Highway 56 to Princeville. Turn right on Ka Haku Road. Turn right on Punahele and then another right on Kapiolani. There is a small parking area that accommodates between 8 or 10 cars

Dondero’s restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa on Kauai Hawaii, will satisfy your soul as well as your appetite.

Dondero’s offers its Hawaiian diners an elegant ambiance combined with stellar service make this a dining favorite for those with discriminating taste.

Dondero’s features delicacies that include seared olive-crusted ahi with caponata, organic rack of lamb with gorgonzola and cauliflower soufflé (a favorite of Chef Valentino’s son), okinawan sweet potato gnocchi with smoked prosciutto in cream sauce, and pan-roasted sea bass with fresh tomato concasse and caper dressing.

This fabulous Northern Italian Regional cuisine is carefully paired with wines from all over the world. Delectable desserts and a cappuccino or port round out the repast.

Dondero’s
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa
1571 Poipu Road,
Koloa, Hawaii USA 96756
808-240-6456

Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course

Here at the Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course on Kauai, nature renown designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. have conspired to create a stunning venue for the star studded PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

A unique and unforgettable golfing experience awaits you – one that will bring every aspect of your game into fresh and thrilling focus.

Even the Golf Shop at Poipu Bay is rated as one of the finest in America… with a full line of Grand Slam and resort logo wear featured. The PGA Grand  Slam is one of Golf’s most exclusive events.

Recent Grand Slam winners include Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, and Greg Norman.

For them, in addition to Nick Faldo, Ben Crenshaw, Davis Love III, and a host of other golf greats, the ticket to tee off at Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course is victory in The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, or the PGA Championship.

For you, its a little easier: Simply book a tee time!  Poipu Bay Golf Course

Courtesy of: worldisround.com

On the Hawaiian island of Molokai, there is a wonderful coconut grove that was planted in the 1860′s by King Kamehameha V. King Kamehameha V. was nicknamed Kapuaiwa, and selected this particular site due to the seven sacred ponds located here.

The King ordered 1,000 tall, royal coconut palm trees to be planted on Molokai to represent each individual warrior in his mighty army, in addition to shading his sacred bathing pools of the ali’i (royalty).

The Kapuaiwa coconut grove is located on the south shore of Molokai, approximately 1.5 miles west of the town of Kaunakakai.

Sadly, not many of the original coconut palm trees still stand today. The original one thousand coconut trees covered about an area of ten acres. Now only a few hundred of these beautiful palms are still there.

Due to the danger of heavy coconuts falling from the tall palm trees, entering through the palm tree grove is not allowed.

But all is not lost. Take in a fabulous sunset view of the Kapuaiwa Coconut Grove from the nearby Kiowea Beach Park.

You can also view a concrete military bunker, located at the ocean’s edge of the grove as a real historical reminder of WWII.

To reach the Kapuaiwa Coconut Grove, go east on Highway 460 from the town of Kaunakakai. You will then see the Kapuaiwa Coconut Grove on your left, across the street from Church Row.

The Kanaha Pond State Wildlife Sanctuary on Maui, was once a royal fish pond. Known in Hawaiian history as the twin ponds of Kapuoho in honor of King Kapiiohookalani.

King Kapiiohookalani started building these ponds over 200 years ago for storing and fattening fish.  The twin ponds were named after his children, Kanaha and Mauoni.

The Kanaha Pond is also an important breeding location for three endangered Hawaiian birds: the Hawaiian duck, the stilt, and the coot, as well as the endangered sphinx moth.

Located on 143-acres, this preserve is a stopping point for Canadian geese as they migrate south for the winter. About 200 stilts make the two-foot-deep pond their permanent residence.

In 1951 the Hawaiian government formally designated the pond as a bird refuge. This pond was designated a registered natural landmark in late 1971.

Bernini Honolulu

I heard about this cute little restaurant from a friend, so four of us gave it a try one evening. We finally located it, and I must say, the exterior lighting and appearance of the Bernini Honolulu eatery was very classy and attractive, (reminiscent of Taormina Sicilian Restaurant in Waikiki).

The interior is tastefully decorated as well, very upscale, and attractive. My only criticism of the Bernini Honolulu interior decor and lighting would be to either get rid of the refrigerated display case and its bright fluorescent lighting immediately inside the entrance.

Or, if this display case is necessary, install some cool temp. incandescent lighting inside to highlight whatever you want to emphasize. The fluorescent lighting in the case wages a battle with the rest of the very classy lighting throughout the restaurant.

Now for the important topic — the food:

We first tried a sampling from their Antipasti selection and chose the Chef’s Selection of the Day $28.00 — A trio including Tuna Carpaccio w/ Sicilian Lemon Sauce, Porchetta – Homemade Slow-cooked Pork Ham, and Venetian Style Marinated Octopus and Potato Lightly flavored with Anchovy.

We also ordered Grilled Scallops with Eggplant in a Balsamic Reduction Sauce $14.00 All antipasti selections were quite tasty, however a little sparse with respect to volume. We ordered a bottle of Prosecco, (Flor Prosecco), to accompany our antipasti ($39.00) , which was quite good.

The main dishes we ordered were all under the “Pasta” heading and were all spaghetti offerings including Ricci de Mare – Fresh Sea Urchin – Peperoncino Style $26.00; Vongole Bianco – Fresh Clams in a White Wine Sauce $22.00; Chicken Carbonara – Creamy Spicy Chicken Sauce $18.00; and King Crab – in a Tomato Cream Sauce w/ Broccoli $24.00.

We enjoyed an excellent meal at Bernini Honolulu.

The Blue Pool (also known by its Hawaiian name as Heleleikeoha Falls or Helele’ike’oha Falls as well as Blue Angel Falls) on the Hawaiian island of Maui, could very well be one of the most scenically located swimming pool waterfalls in the world.

The beautiful waterfall  faces the ocean as it’s sheltered by rocks protecting its picturesque plunge pool from the crashing waves. If there was ever a place you could take a dip and contemplate the scenery, this is it!

In Hawaii, it’s rare for a waterfall to fall right into the ocean (or almost). This is one of those rare occurrences where there is a waterfall on one side of you and the sea on the other.

The falls are typically light flowing. If it hasn’t rained for a while, it probably trickles. Nonetheless, the location makes it easy to forget whether the falls are flowing or not.

At one time, Blue Pool was known only to the local folks. Now it is written up in all the guidebooks, and is quite a busy place. Busy isn’t necessarily bad, but Blue Pool is just that – a pool. Small. I recommend that if you want to visit Blue Pool, try to go early in the morning to beat the crowds and catch the sun at the best angle.

Blue Pool is located at the very end of Ulaino Road (about ½ mile west of airport road) on Maui. Ulaino Road is 3 miles long, and is wide and paved for about a mile, then becomes narrow and dirt.

There is a small parking area at the end of the road, with parking enough for about 6 cars.

Although this attraction is sometimes referred to as “Seven Sacred Pools,” there are many more pools than that, and none of them were sacred to the ancients. Still, the basins and waterfalls are a stunning sight within the Haleakala National Park and are a terrific way to cool off after a long day on the Road to Hana.

These beautiful waterfalls and tranquil pools trail through the Ohe’o Gulch and flow into the nearby ocean. The Pipiwai Streams flow into these falls and pools starting inland about 2 miles, with the nicest and easiest to reach pools closer to the shore.

The land where the pools are situated was donated to the Haleakala National Park so that the pools would always be open to the public.

Visited by tourists and locals alike, there are many things to do here such as hiking, sightseeing, cliff jumping, swimming, and people watching. The area is always crowded, so come early to get a spot or stay 10 miles away in Hana to arrive by 10 am.

The Pipiwai trail is one of the best hikes in the island of Maui. It is 4 miles long and takes anywhere from 2 ½-5 hours. There are many stunning waterfalls along the trail, with the last being 400-foot Waimoku Falls.

Please be aware of the weather situation though, as the area is prone to dangerous flash floods, especially if it is raining hard at the higher elevations of Haleakala .

Directions:
Take Highway 30 to Hana which turns into Highway 31 after Hana. The parking lot is located just past Mile Marker #42 on the ocean side of the road.

Surf Lanai Restaurant – The Royal Hawaiian

The Surf Lanai Restaurant is located in the luxurious The Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Oahu. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is also known as the “Pink Lady” … a truly Hawaiian landmark.

Surf Lanai Restaurant is a terrific outdoor restaurant, that showcases a wide variety mainland classic dishes that are dressed with local Hawaiian ingredients, and served with Hawaiian style.

This upscale, outdoor beachside cafe can be found next to the The Royal Hawaiian Hotel pool.

The Surf Lanai Restaurant serves both a great tasting al fresco breakfast, as well as a delicious lunch service.