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If you're looking for a truly unusual experience in Hawaii, the Pineapple Garden Maze at Dole Plantation is hard to top. It's the Guinness Book-certified world's largest garden maze, occupying two acres and made up entirely of local vegetation, 14,000 plants in all. Visitors navigate 2.5 miles of beautiful hibiscus-lined paths in an effort to find eight stations, each of which brings them closer to completion of this larger-than-life labyrinth. Elsewhere on the plantation, you can take a ride on the Pineapple Express, a 20-minute train tour with narrators who explain the history of the pineapple in Hawaii, as well as the story of James Drummond Dole and his world famous agricultural empire. The Plantation Garden Tour, meanwhile, is a self-guided tour that appeals to all the senses, winding through eight different lush gardens replete with everything from coffee and exotic fruit to cacao pods, which are used to make Waialua's signature single-estate chocolate. Not surprisingly, Waialua Chocolate is available in the gift shop, along with every pineapple-themed novelty you can think of. It's a tasty way to learn about one of Hawaii's most important industries. Starwood has hotels throughout Oahu, including the Sheraton Waikiki.

The next time you're on Oahu, take a break from the beach, lace up your walking shoes, and embark on a tour of Waikiki's most famous historic landmarks. The Waikiki Historic Trail is a two-mile loop that highlights 23 places of interest in the city and along the ocean, most of which are marked with bronze surfboards and plaques with historic information. Start at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center Courtyard on Waikiki Beach and then take in the Sacred Wizard Stones off Kuhio Beach, four basalt boulders thought to have special healing powers. Move on to the Princess Kaiulani statue, which has the young princess feeding her beloved peacocks, marvel at a tribute to surfing - Hawaii's favorite pastime - at Duke's Canoe Club, and then see how the royals lived at the former residence of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch. Download a map of the self-guided tour here, and if you're really into learning about the area's past, sign up for a Queen's Tour, which are led by historians who explain the significance of each landmark. However you do it, the Waikiki Historic Trail is two hours of exercise and Hawaiian history that will make your vacation that much richer. Starwood has hotels throughout Waikiki, including the iconic Royal Hawaiian.

A hundred years ago, artists like Henri Rousseau and Paul Gauguin showed the world that the tropics inspire great art. Take a walk through Honolulu's Chinatown on the first Friday of the month and you'll see how current artists are finding inspiration in this palm-fringed paradise.

Each month, the region dons a festive setting for the First Friday gallery walk. Though the event revolves around the nearly thirty art galleries, artists studios, design centers, and museums that fill the region, First Friday isn't only about art. Restaurants and boutiques join in on the party too, offering specials or live entertainment to complete the vibrant atmosphere. There's dancing on the streets! Explore places like Chinatown Boardroom where custom surfboards are displayed among rotating art exhibitions. "Monster Mash," a group show that depicts all sorts of monsters "mixed and mashed" hangs throughout the month of October. See digital art at Pygoya Gallery, and sip a glass of wine as you browse the paintings by local artists and historical photographs at the Cathedral Gallery. Be sure to catch a live jazz set at Next Door, and indulge in a dinner of authentic Hawaiian cuisine at Hukilau Hoonolulu. The event begins every first Friday of the month at 5 pm, and since the Sheraton Waikiki is just a ten minute taxi ride from Chinatown, you can stay out dancing as long as you like.

The term Shangri La was invented by British author James Hilton, who used it to describe a fictional Himalayan utopia in his 1933 novel Lost Horizon, but a modern-day version of this happy paradise can be found in Hawaii. Heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke (1912-1993) gave the name to an Islamic-style mansion that she built just outside Honolulu in 1937, having been inspired the art and architecture of the Middle East that she experienced on her 1935 honeymoon with James H.R. Cromwell. For more than half a century, she filled the house with priceless works of art from the Islamic world, and today, visitors can drop by Doris Duke's Shangri La to experience an art collection that's among the finest in the western hemisphere. Among the highlights of the more than 3,500 objects in the collection are several 17th century Mughal flower carpets from South Asia, a 15th century manuscript that describes the tragic love story of Layla and Qays (kind of a Middle Eastern version of Romeo and Juliet), and a 400-year-old enamel shrine made in Jaipur, India with a jade Buddha inside. Yet the house itself is a work of art as well, with a beautiful saltwater pool and breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and Diamond Head, the volcanic cone that's come to define Oahu for generations of travelers. Starwood has four Oahu hotels, including the historic Royal Hawaiian, Waikiki.