Hawaii Site Inspection Trip: Maui

I'm in Hawaii to look at hotels for an incentive trip I'll be running in 2012. When I say "look at hotels" this usually means flying into a place, spending the night, trying a few restaurants and meeting with the sales, management and other staff of the particular resort.

But can't all this be done via the internet?

Online, photos can be doctored up, distances obscured, and food exaggerated. But even if the resort is just fine, it's often the intangibles that make a hotel exceptional. I'm in the incentive business. If a client dreams about Hawaii, reaches her sells goals, and is disappointed by the hotel, I have failed. But on the flip side, if the hotel proves to be even more than the property of his dreams, I score major points.