Seeking good recommendations for six-month stay in Honolulu (Kailua: apartment, renters)

[metasparks]

Hi Hawaii forum readers! I will be heading to Honolulu on the last week of May for what appears to be a minimum six month stay. I know I have to do a lot more reading and research, but in the mean time I was hoping to get some recommendations for an area of the city of Honolulu that suits my desires.

My monthly rent budget is maxing out at $1600. I'd rather go lower of course. Seeking a good deal but this is what I want and I would be willing to pay for it:

• Area of town that makes it convenient for me to get around on foot or bicycle when I'm not at home.
• Area of town that is really easy for me to get to beautiful beaches and back home in relatively short periods of time.
• Area of town that is near fun & healthy things to do.
• A place to stay that is safe from home breakins.
• A place to stay that has a great view from the inside.
• A place to stay that is going to be quiet enough for me to concentrate since I'll be working from home.
• A place to stay with reliable electricity and good cell phone service.
• A place that is relatively bug-free.
• I'd love a place with a pool and a decent gym.
• I'd love a place with laundry facilities.
• I'd love a place where the higher I can live, the better.
• I'd love a place that is close to good food spots.
• I'd love a place that stays relatively cool during the hottest of days.
• I'd like a place that comes furnished with at least a bed.
• I'd like a place that includes utilities.
• I'd like a place where neighbors would be kind and friendly.
• No car for me so parking isn't necessary.
• I don't smoke and I don't have kids or pets.

So yeah... there it is! I am hoping to fly in on the last week of May, see the places I get recommendations for, and sign with one all within one to two days. Any suggestions would really be appreciated! If you know someone who rents private or is a great realtor and can help me, send me a private message! Otherwise, any good information about recommendations for areas in Honolulu that match me would be really appreciated, so thanks ahead!

[stjepan]

A hotel maybe?

[KoaKine]

Try Vrbo.com vacation rentals by owners

[metasparks]

A hotel maybe?

I'm thinking that a hotel may be way more costly than an actual rental. Wouldn't staying at a hotel exceed my $1600 max monthly budget easily? If not, what hotels would suggest that fall in my price area and what my needs are? If you don't know any from the top of your head, that's okay!

Try Vrbo.com vacation rentals by owners

So are you suggesting that six months is short enough to consider it a vacation instead of an actual relocation? I never thought of it that way, but I guess it could be true. Thanks for the link! I looked at it, and it seems that competition for the lower price units is strong and at the same time, it appears a lot of the units are booked in blocks so getting somewhere I could go month to month would be difficult because the owners place reservations for people in the same unit for small increments in the future that could force you to have to vacate. Sounds unstable.


Although I appreciate your two replies so far, I could really use some suggestions in terms of what areas of Honolulu can meet my desires listed in my original post. And then also if you happen to know a particular place to suggest, that would be cool, too. Thanks.

[newUHprof]

Originally Posted by metasparks

Although I appreciate your two replies so far, I could really use some suggestions in terms of what areas of Honolulu can meet my desires listed in my original post. And then also if you happen to know a particular place to suggest, that would be cool, too. Thanks.

Most residential rentals have a 6 month minimum, and some have a year minimum. I don't know what the rental market is like right now... if it's slow, you might have better luck finding a 6 month rental. If there are lots of renters about, then it might be hard to get a landlord to agree to it... they'll want someone longer term.

As for areas:
Most of your list screams Kailua to me. It's slow-paced, quiet, friendly area. Beautiful. Safe to bike around, and even has bike paths. Some good restaurants. There are no high-rises, though. So you won't live up high, and you may not have views. I'm not sure of the rental prices in Kailua, but I would think you could find an "Ohana" to rent for around your price range.

If you want to be more in town, you could think about Ala Moana or Kakako. You could live in a high-rise building and wake up to amazing ocean views. Some of the places will be quiet, though others might get a lot of street noise. But you can walk to restaurants downtown, bike around (if you don't mind taking your life in your hands frequently), and you're also walking distance to "Restaurant Row" and Chinatown.

But I think you need to figure out what you want... many of your requests are contradictory:

Living "in the heart of things" (so you can bike & walk rather than have a car) will be more expensive than you're looking to spend.

Living in a high rise for only six months is going to mean more noise (the high rises are in the busy areas of town) and it's probably going to mean not knowing your neighbors.

Wanting views means living high up or right on the ocean. You're price range won't get you the latter, so you either need to accept that you won't meet your neighbors, or you need to live someplace you can't really bike to. (For quiet, restaurants, and nice neighbors, I might choose Kaimuki. But to get views, you have to live up one hell of a hill. I wouldn't live there without a car.)

Also, you're not going to find bug-free. If you're in a high-rise, your apartment may be relatively bug free (mine is... but I have cats who do the dirty work for me). But you'll see huge roaches all over town as well as other delightful beasties. If you want to come to the tropics, that's how it's going to be.

[metasparks]

newUHprof... thanks for the awesome response! I appreciate the time you took to write back to me and read through my original post and analyze what I said. You are absolutely right. I need to get more in tune with what is important to me. I can't have it all, and stay in the lower prices, right?

I guess my predicament is that I want to decide on a place that would take me for six months or seven months, but that would be perfect me, and that is just VERY hard to do without coming and seeing the places in person. I don't have the ability to fly out before my permanent arrival on 5/24/10, so I'll have to go off all the information I can access about the places online.

I will check out Kailua, Ala Moana, Kakako, and Kaimuki. Thank you so much for those recommendations.

My fear is that I end up somewhere that is perfect for everything except the great view, but then is too far from the beautiful sights for a car-less individual, or too far from conveniences and fun outside of the apartment for a car-less individual. I guess I have some more homework to do.

Since I'm working from home, and that last week of May is going to be in the thick of my deadlines, I don't think I can spend much time looking around for a place when I get there. It's probably either affordable one-monther for me while I get my bearings straight, nice and almost-perfect-for-me 3 monther with then more time to look for another 3 monther, or I hit the jack-pot and get to find the perfect place for me over the Internet where I can just come to and be from day-1.

Thank you again, and anyone else, any of your valuable first-hand info is greatly appreciated.

[hotzcatz]

I'ts "Kakaako" when you are looking for it, I think. Hawaiian has a lot of vowels in it and it's easy to miss a few here and there.

Where ever you go on Oahu is usually pretty well served by The Bus so getting around won't be that hard.

Basically, what you are asking for is impossible to meet all the criteria and without a clue as to which is actually important, it's difficult to even offer advice. There is also a huge difference in accommodations even within a short geographic area so just finding an apartment in one specific area doesn't mean it is going to be like you expect. Hawaii has hovels directly next to multi-million dollar places. You really should find someplace to stay for at least a week while you figure out what area you want. There is too much diversity to really give you the specific answer you are looking for.

[metasparks]

Yeah I wish I could delete my original post. It was silly to think someone would be like "HEY GO HERE!" and that spot be perfect for what I want (which was asking a lot). But whatever, I am getting to know more even by asking dumb questions! I'm still hoping to find something somehow that works for me working from home, but is also convenient enough to be a pedestrian. I have very little time to be looking when I get there, so wish me luck! Thanks for the reply and the vowel-advice!

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by metasparks

• Area of town that makes it convenient for me to get around on foot or bicycle when I'm not at home.

Stay out of the mountain areas, then. We don't have snow so some of the roads are really steep.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• Area of town that is really easy for me to get to beautiful beaches and back home in relatively short periods of time.

Oahu is pretty small, beaches are pretty close and The Bus goes everywhere.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• Area of town that is near fun & healthy things to do.

Can't touch this. "Fun & healthy" is too subjective and they all aren't in any specific area anyway.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• A place to stay that is safe from home breakins.

Nowhere that you can afford. Some areas are less likely, but none of them are exempt. Especially for a short term rental; tourists and short timers are sort of seen as "prey" from the fancy hotels and the tourist bureau on down to thieves.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• A place to stay that has a great view from the inside.

That is specific to the exact room, not necessarily the area of town so it is hard to come up with a specific recommendation.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• A place to stay that is going to be quiet enough for me to concentrate since I'll be working from home.

In the middle of things, no less, eh? I'd say somewhere away from the highway or a lot of road traffic. Again, it is specific to the exact spot and not any specific area of town.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• A place to stay with reliable electricity and good cell phone service.

Most places on Oahu unless you are really rural should have this.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• A place that is relatively bug-free.

Nowhere. Not even the expensive places are bug free.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd love a place with a pool and a decent gym.

You're pricing yourself out of your budget again.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd love a place with laundry facilities.

That shouldn't be too hard and if your unit doesn't have them the building might.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd love a place where the higher I can live, the better.

Sounds like Puna or Maui. Oh, you mean in elevation? Living in the mountains makes it difficult to get places on a bicycle. Perhaps a high rise apartment building? Those are mostly in Honolulu, Waikiki, Makiki, Kakaako.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd love a place that is close to good food spots.

You can't go anywhere on Oahu without finding food spots. "Good" is again, a subjective term. My idea of "good" may be your idea of "bait" unless you happen to like sushi, too.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd love a place that stays relatively cool during the hottest of days.

Anyplace with access to the tradewinds should stay cool, although then you have more bugs and noise, too. Manoa and Nuuanu are cooler than Hawaii Kai and Salt Lake but Manoa and Nuuanu have a lot more rain.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd like a place that comes furnished with at least a bed.

This will be specific to the unit, not to the area of town. Either a furnished rental or a vacation rental will have this.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd like a place that includes utilities.

If it includes utilities, it more than likely will not have air conditioning. Actually, very few residential places in Hawaii have air conditioning because the electric costs are too high. If it already has utilities set up, it might be a vacation rental.

Originally Posted by metasparks

• I'd like a place where neighbors would be kind and friendly.

They aren't going to welcome you with open arms if you are a short term person since they will have had decades of folks coming and going. It gets really tiring to keep making friends just to lose them again. Not that they won't be friendly, but not that friendly. Waikiki might work since everyone is transitory there.

Kailua town maybe, but it won't have much elevation. Waikiki, except it won't be that quiet. Manoa but it is more remote and walking places may not be quite so good in this area. Kaimuki perhaps. Diamond Head area and Ala Moana area might fit. Hard for say. Finding a place within two days seems a bit hopeful, but maybe it will work out.

Good luck!

[newUHprof]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

I'ts "Kakaako" when you are looking for it, I think. Hawaiian has a lot of vowels in it and it's easy to miss a few here and there.

It's especially easy before coffee on Sunday morning! Thanks for the correction.

And to the OP: just because you don't have views from your apartment doesn't mean you won't get to "see the sights". If you live in Kailua, you'll probably be in a house in a neighborhood... no real views there. But you'll be an easy bike ride to two of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And if you're working from home, you can get there all the time.

We rented a place with amazing views when we first got here. We loved the view and the lanai, but hated just about everything else. (Teeny tiny kitchen that was almost unusable for someone who likes to cook, no storage space to speak of, and worst of all was the wall-to-wall white carpeting. We have three pets with brown & grey fur! I was constantly cleaning that damn carpet.)

We bought a condo on the bottom floor of our building. I was worried that I'd miss the view. But I wake up to birds singing in my bougainvillea, and I still see the ocean every single day. It's hard to miss the views when you're on an island this small.