Aulani: a Tropical Wonderland

Going though all the snapshots I took while in Hawaii, I realized that I failed to take pictures of my hotel room. EPIC FAIL because that place was sooo nice. Auntie Nelly booked a villa for us that could fit a total of 9 people, but really there were only 6 of us: Auntie Nelly, myself, my sister, her boyfriend, my cousin Brian and his wife. Originally, I had booked us (myself, Auntie Nelly, sister, and Ryan) to stay at the Courtyard Marriott, but Auntie was like, “Babe, there’s no pool. It’s not a resort! I want to be able to relax on my vacation.” She mentioned how she wanted to stay at Aulani for at least 2 or 3 days, and my sister and I were foaming at the mouth about it. We knew that we at least wanted to book a spa appointment and go to a character breakfast if we weren’t going to stay there.

But then bippity-boppity-boo, we were suddenly booked to stay at Aulani for a whole week!!! I couldn’t stop smiling and my sister and I kept texting back and forth about how excited we were! Real talk, Auntie Nelly is my fairy godmother. I wouldn’t have more than half of the things I own, or be able to experience more than half of the things I do without her guidance and support. And my love of Disney comes from Auntie Nelly too. I am so beyond grateful for her (#blesses). I aspire to be an independent baller like her one day, but I’m still trying to figure out how to do that.

Anyhow… upon arrival to Aulani we were greeted with a warm “Aloha” and given leis. Not fake flower ones that you can pick up at any ‘ol gift shop on the island, but a legit one made out of real orchids. I later learned that men were given black kukui nut leis. Fancy schmancy stuff, but I expect no less from Disney. They’re always on their A-game!

Our room was MASSIVE. Here’s a layout of what it looked like:

I shared the master suite with Auntie Nelly and the bed was SO huge that the middle section of it always looked immaculate and untouched every morning. We also had a shower with an enormous shower head that just rains on you, and huge bathtub with jets!! I was determined to find a Lush store to buy a bubble bar to make use of the bathtub. We also had a nice kitchen and a washer and dryer. It was like living in a super swanky condo for a whole week.

Aulani has a fantastic pool area with a lazy river, a coral reef snorkeling area, pools designated for guests 18+, and a private beach where you can paddle board. I only went to the lazy river and beach, but Auntie Nelly rented a cabana for a day and a bunch of my family just hung out there. There’s also a few food places around the pool area including a place where you can get Dole Whip for $4. For one thing, that’s the price of a churro at Disneyland, but the kicker is that you get a cup and you can fill it up with as much Dole Whip as your heart desires. AND they have a swirl option so you can have a Dole Whip creamsicle.

WHY ISN’T THIS AT DISNEYLAND?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Aulani also has a gym that’s open 24/7. I only got to use it twice, but I mean… twice is pretty good considering that I was on vacation. And their spa, Laniwai, was probably my favorite part of the resort! They have you show up an hour before your appointment so you can enjoy the amenities such as their outdoor hot tubs (there’s one specifically for women, one that has jets, and one that’s just just a small pool filled with water at 105°), multiple shower heads (that poor hot water all over you), and a little pool filled water at 45°… apparently that’s good for circulation and recommended to take a dip in before a massage. I just had a facial done because I’m too ticklish for a full body massage.

The facial was FANTASTIC. The woman was like, “If you put your hair down, I can massage your scalp” and I like, “Awwww yiisssss, mother flippin’ scalp massage!” I didn’t say that out loud, but I think my noggin is the only place where I enjoy getting massaged. She also massaged my shoulders which felt nice too, so I guess I don’t mind that either. For the facial, she asked if I had any concerns with my skin and I mentioned the pesky blackheads on my nose. So she shined a bright light on my face to examine it and proceeded to do an extraction. Have any of you ever had an extraction done? If you haven’t, it feels like someone is digging their fingernail into your skin really, really, hard. That was the least relaxing bit, but I loved everything else about it. Like, getting your face and chest wrapped in a hot towel felt soooo good and my face felt so fresh and so clean. Afterwards, I just hung around until the place closed to get more use of the amenities, like the steam room and sauna. Hanging out in a steam room with a cold towel on your face is something I highly recommend.

I WANT TO GO BACK. Stick around the blog, because I’m not done talking about Hawaii yet!