Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [107]
Top of Waikiki (923-3877; 18th fl, Waikiki Business Plaza, 2270 Kalakaua Ave; 5-9:30pm) Spinning at just one revolution per hour, this tower cocktail lounge and restaurant absorbs a 360-degree view from mauka to makai and back again. There’s so-so food involved, but the novelty is the slow-motion sit-and-spin.
Nightclubs
The nightclub scene has migrated elsewhere in Honolulu (Click here), but if you don’t feel like making the trek, there are still a few dance floors here for getting your ya-yas out. For weekly and monthly DJ party-circuit events, check Metromix Honolulu (http://honolulu.metromix.com).
Lotus SoundBar (924-1688; Waikiki Town Center, 2301 Kuhio Ave; cover $10-20; 9pm-2am Sun-Wed, to 4am Thu-Sat) Cutting-edge DJs spin at this tri-level club with plush, dark decor. Get down to soulful hip-hop, chill-out grooves, drum ‘n’ bass and pure house sounds, all courtesy of a killer sound system.
Restaurants by day, dance clubs by night:
Coconut Willy’s (921-9000; 227 Lewers St; 11am-4am) Live bands, dancing and drinkin’ on Waikiki Beach Walk.
Lulu’s Surf Club (926-5222; 2586 Kalakaua Ave; 24hr) DJs usually spin after 10pm on weekends for a beach-party crowd.
Luau
If your Hawaii vacation just won’t be complete without taking in a luau, you can choose from a Waikiki resort-hotel production right on the beach or a big bash outside town, for which tourists are picked up at central Waikiki hotels and shuttled to Kapolei, taking about an hour each way. Alternatively, visit La′ie’s Polynesian Cultural Center (Click here) on the Windward Coast.
Hilton Hawaiian Village Luau (949-4321, 800-862-5335; 2005 Kalia Rd; adult/child 4-11 $95/45; 5:30-8:30pm Wed & Sun) Waikiki’s only beachside luau at press time features a buffet-style dinner of Hawaiian food and just one complimentary mai tai. The enthusiastic, if not very authentic Polynesian show, with Samoan fire dancing and mid-20th-century hapa haole hula, is a crowd-pleaser, especially for kids.
Commercial luau outside Waikiki:
Germaine’s Luau (Map; 949-6626, 800-367-5655; www.germainesluau.com; 91-119 Olai St, Kapolei; adult/youth 14-20/child 6-13 $75/65/55; 5:15-9pm) Nightly dinner buffet and Polynesian-style show on the beach.
Paradise Cove (Map; 842-5911, 800-775-2683; www.paradisecove.com; 92-1089 Ali′inui Dr, Kapolei; adult/youth 13-18/child 3-12 $80/70/60; 5-9pm) Like Germaine’s, but also includes demonstrations of Hawaiian games and crafts.
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SHOPPING
Catwalk designer boutiques are found inside the DFS Galleria at the north end of Kalakaua Ave, while some only-in-Hawaii stores lining Waikiki Beach Walk. Not feeling flush? Waikiki’s ubiquitous ABC Stores are the handiest place to pick up beach mats, sunblock, snacks and sundries, ‘I got lei’d in Hawaii’ T-shirts and motorized grass-skirted hula girls for the dashboard of your car back home.
Bailey’s Antiques & Aloha Shirts (734-7628; 517 Kapahulu Ave; 10am-6pm) There’s no place like Bailey’s, which has without a doubt the finest aloha shirt collection on O′ahu. Racks are crammed with thousands of collector-worthy vintage aloha shirts in every conceivable color and style, from 1920s kimono-silk classics to 1970s polyester specials. Of the new generation of shirts, Bailey’s only carries Hawaii-made labels, including Kona Bay and RJC. Prices vary from five bucks up to several hundred or thousand dollars.
Na Lima Mili Hulu No′eau (732-0865; 762 Kapahulu Ave; 9am-5pm Mon-Sat) Aunty Mary Louise Kaleonahenahe Kekuewa and her daughter Paulette keep alive the ancient craft of feather lei-making at this humble storefront, the name of which means ‘the skilled hands that touch the feathers.’ Their previously self-published book Feather Lei as an Art has revived this exquisite Hawaiian art.
Mana Hawai′i (923-2220; 2nd fl, Waikiki Beach Walk; 9am-10pm) Unlike many other