suggestions on where to stay on Kauai?

SBbride67

My fiancé and I are planning on honeymooning in the Princeville area of Kauai, Hawaii for 7-8 days. We're open to both the resort experience and the vacation home option, but the $300's per night is our maximum budget. Something that isn't too dated looking & has an ocean/coastal view is a must. Has anyone stayed at a place they'd recommend in the area? Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

Jells2dot0

Check out the Westin Princeville. It may run more than $300/night depending on where you are going, but the rooms have kitchens and BBQ access. Also, it may be tough to find a room with a direct oceanview with $300/night. It might be doable at the Westin, but you'll have to request it. They assign rooms randomly and you book room by size, not view, there.

JennyColada

Jells2dot0 said:

Check out the Westin Princeville. It may run more than $300/night depending on where you are going, but the rooms have kitchens and BBQ access. Also, it may be tough to find a room with a direct oceanview with $300/night. It might be doable at the Westin, but you'll have to request it. They assign rooms randomly and you book room by size, not view, there.

I always have good luck at playing sweet on check in. But if a specific room (ocean view, etc) is super important then make a reservation on the phone and mention it. On more than one occasion on check in I've pulled the "I requested [blank] and was told that you can accommodate me. It's unfortunate that I've found out that you are unable to stick to your promises and this will be very useful in my future planning needs. I regularly schedule trips for my business travels and will be sure to stay with [competitor] in the future." I tend to get what I want (or better) most of the time. But always end with a smile!

Jells2dot0

Jennycolada said:

Jells2dot0 said:

Check out the Westin Princeville. It may run more than $300/night depending on where you are going, but the rooms have kitchens and BBQ access. Also, it may be tough to find a room with a direct oceanview with $300/night. It might be doable at the Westin, but you'll have to request it. They assign rooms randomly and you book room by size, not view, there.

I always have good luck at playing sweet on check in. But if a specific room (ocean view, etc) is super important then make a reservation on the phone and mention it. On more than one occasion on check in I've pulled the "I requested [blank] and was told that you can accommodate me. It's unfortunate that I've found out that you are unable to stick to your promises and this will be very useful in my future planning needs. I regularly schedule trips for my business travels and will be sure to stay with [competitor] in the future." I tend to get what I want (or better) most of the time. But always end with a smile!

It might work at some hotels/resorts, but the Westin is a timeshare resort. So, people own specific weeks and units. If all of the owners book their units, you may only be left with units that are non-oceanview. As a frequent business traveler, I know that no resort or hotel will guarantee any particular request. I've been essentially living at a hotel since November, but checked out for a few days this weekend. I requested the same room i've been staying in for almost 3 months and they still could not guarantee it. I'm sure i'll get it when I check back in, but they specifically told me that they would do their best, but couldn't confirm it right then.

erinlin25

We stayed in Princeville at the Bali Hai Resort ( a Westin Resort)-- it was a time share gifted to us though so I do not know what the actual cost per night was.  The grounds were pretty and we enjoyed the apartment style living with the full kitchen.  Westin has a few resorts in Princeville as well. The pools were nice and you could do other activities (tennis, volleyball, and other daily activities set up at the resort (one day they had a lei making thing, and an art show, or trivia night, etc--but we did not do any of those since we more into seeing the island). 

One thing we did not like was there was no air conditioning and it was super hot in the rooms.  We ended up buying an extra fan because the one in our room did not cool it down much, so we slept with the sliding door open with an extra box fan to keep the room cool.  Sounds like that was not always a norm at other resorts but I would recommend AC if it is an optioN!

My real thought on Princeville though is you will do a lot of driving for the majority of things to do were on the opposite side of the island near Lihue and Poipu. The little market they had in princeville was so expensive we would have rather drove to the safeway or walmart instead (which we ended up doing later that week).  The point of making food at home was to save money and our grocery bill on the first night was nearly $200!  We were close to some cool little beaches that we liked finding/exploring, but still had to drive everywhere.  We liked being close to Hanalei and explored that our first day.  The zip lining tour at Princeville Adventures was AWESOME and highly recommended.

Other than that if we ever go back we would for sure stay in Lihue or Poipu so we did not have to drive so much.  The good restaurants and things to do were a 30-40 min drive in our opinion.  Hanalei (about 10 minute drive) had a cool coffee shop that had good breakfast and then a fun restaurant/bar called Kalypso that we liked.  There was I think 2 restaurants in Princeville and one was an overpriced steakhouse (my husband is vegetarian) so that one did not appeal to us and the other was a little order and take out style that looked good, but we did not eat there since we usually made breakfast at "home" and had lunch or dinner wherever we were for the day (which was not princeville for the most part). 

We went to the St Regis (in Princeville) one afternoon for happy hour and that hotel was gorgeous.  I am guessing more than $300/ night... but it was cool to have lunch at the pool and enjoy some drinks along with the view.

If you guys like Rum, you have to go to the Koloa Rum Plantation!  It was in Lihue and they have daily free rum tasting!  We got to taste 4 different rums and then you made that into a mai tai + they had this awesome rum cake that I wish I bought more of.

ashley0138

You should really consider spending a few days on the South Shore in Poipu.  Much drier side of the island.  The Grand Hyatt is amazing, nicest hotel on the island! But adjacent to the Grand Hyatt is Poipu Kai, a large area of condos and houses to rent.  We rented several condos and a house their for different people in our wedding group. Check our vrbo.com  The condo is great because you can stop at Costco for food, liquor, etc. and not have to pay hotel rest prices for every meal.  

carly324

Agree on the above... we are going to Hawaii for our honeymoon end of September/October this year.  We did so much research and asked everyone we knew.  We were originally going to stay in the princeville area- but changed our mind because it is in fact pretty rainy.  We decided to stay in Poipu at the Grand Hyatt.  We are doing Maui the first week and Kauai the second.  

Side note- if you are looking for some pretty cool pictures- there is a guy on FB we follow and just booked a hiking tour with him.  On facebook look up Hike Kaua'i with me.  He posts awesome pictures of the island- almost everyday

kiwikiss56

carly324 said:

Agree on the above... we are going to Hawaii for our honeymoon end of September/October this year.  We did so much research and asked everyone we knew.  We were originally going to stay in the princeville area- but changed our mind because it is in fact pretty rainy.  We decided to stay in Poipu at the Grand Hyatt.  We are doing Maui the first week and Kauai the second.  

Side note- if you are looking for some pretty cool pictures- there is a guy on FB we follow and just booked a hiking tour with him.  On facebook look up Hike Kaua'i with me.  He posts awesome pictures of the island- almost everyday

It sounds like we are having similar honeymoons! We are going 6 days in Maui and 5 in Kauai staying at the grand Hyatt the end of September too . We are leaving on the 22nd...can't wait!