On their Hawaiian honeymoon, Ari and Michelle stayed in three different hotels. Ari offered us some quick reviews of each.

Their Kona hotel on the Big Island was the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa. Not far from Volcanoes National Park, this hotel offers spectacular views of the rocky shore and the open-air Ho’ola Spa. Ari describes it as “Not the best, not the worst.”

Taking a cue from their friends Mike and Erica, they opted for Hyatts at the two other destinations. In Maui they stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Kaanapali Beach. These honeymooners especially loved the breakfasts here. Ari calls it “worth the splurge” and “a great hotel.” He also notes that there were lots of other honeymoon couples – perfect if you like to be social, but harder to feel special if you like being the stars of the show.

Saving the best for last, these two were blown away by the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa in Kauai. Known for their amazing pools and welcoming hospitality, it seems hard for honeymooners not to love this place. Ari wasn’t shy in gushing about the resort and the couple’s massage they got, “It’s one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen. Amazing, in every way. The spa was incredible, and the pool was tremendous!” They also made some good friends here, “We met another couple that we ended up hanging out with a bunch. We hadn’t expected to make great friends.”

Ari and Michelle received a bottle of champagne and upgrades at each hotel, They discovered the secret for freebies is hidden in a tote bag, “It is all about carrying a Bride Bag!”

Brian, a producer at E-Line Media and Leigh, a manager for Team Reeve at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, say no place was even in the running. It was Hawaii all along for them. “Hawaii was someplace we’ve both always wanted to go to and had never been,” says Brian, “We wanted to have a lot of variety on the trip, so we chose three islands and Kauai in particular for all the opportunities to hike.”

Their “little bit of everything” approach to the trip took them to the Big Island of Hawaii, Oahu and Kauai. Brian says they were “busy, busy, busy” throughout the whole trip. Hiking was definitely a priority for these two.

And their most pleasant surprise? The weather: “Very few rainy moments, even on Kauai (above) — which was not as rainy as everyone had prepared us for. Daytime temperatures were in the 80s, and if we didn’t like the weather, it was easy to either drive or wait five minutes and it was different!” Hawaii’s got rainbows galore … even on their license plates.