Heh, I don’t know if they still do this, but when we rented a car on Maui the agency’s contract specifically forbid us from driving up to Haleakala. Every agency forbid it. But we drove up there anyway and saw scads of rental cars (identifiable by their bumper stickers – I’ve heard they may have stopped putting those on).
And on the Big Island, we were forbidden from driving on the Saddle Road. But there was no discernible reason, it was a perfectly safe and well-maintained road. The only thing we could think of was they didn’t want us to chance breaking down all the way out in the middle of nowhere. (Of course, we drove it anyway.)
I think also they don’t want you going over the big mountains since it will wear-out the brakes and transmission faster = expensive maintenance. I think they also prohibit driving down to the Waipo Valley due to the extreme grade and wear and tear on the car. It could also be they had too many incidents with flatlanders not being able to negotiate the curvy roads.
I had some weird altitude reaction on Saddle Road. I understand there’s no good reason why – it’s not that high. But if my husband hadn’t been driving I would have been stranded. I felt drunk.
Saddle Road is no longer an issue - it’s been completely rehabilitated/renewed. The old road used to be more windy, potholed and dangerous, but now it’s a big, smooth modern beautiful road. I don’t think the rental car companies even forbid driving on it any more.
Depends on what you mean by “affordable.” I put in 3/26 to 4/5 as dates on VRBO and 1709 rentals came up for Maui alone. You need to book out longer if you intend to stay for a month, but lodging inventory is very high on Maui.
For instance, if you forego seeing the ocean from your unit, there’s this one for $145/night in Kihei.
Or you can book this ocean front 1 bdrm in Kihei at one of the few resorts that is actually ocean front (many resorts are across the street) for $225/night
Personally, I’d target something like this for $218.
Then there’s this:
In Napili, here’s one for $205/night:
On Redweek, there’s an ocean view studio at the Westin Ka’anapali villas for $229/night.
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Also note that the OPer never mentioned his/her budget. If she is willing to pay in the $300s, that is a very nice budget for a 1 bdrm.
As the owner of a condo on the Big Island that we rent out, I can confirm that places are likely to be available on the Big Island as well - unless it is the Iron Man or Merry Monarch, occupancy rates usually aren’t that high. I just checked our condo, for example, and it is booked through 30 March but so far empty in April. I’m not going to suggest it to the OP - it’s 2 bedroom so probably more than she needs - but it does illustrate that places are still available.