TammyC

We were planning a family trip to these islands in January or february, however, with school schedules it seems that it will work out better if we go in November-not much time! We are thinking condo on both islands and here are a few our travel agent brought up: Big Island-Kona by the sea, Kanalona at kona, aston royal sea cliff resort, mauna loa and the kona coast resort. I like a tropical garden setting with nice grounds and quiet, nice pool for my two boys. Ocean front is not neccessary. On Kauai we are looking at Kauai coast resort, Kiahuna Plantation, Poipu Kai and Lae nani. In November is it less likely to rain in poipu than kapaa? If we choose poipu Kai which area has nice pool and good beach access? Some of their units look a long ways from the beach. All of your comments would be helpful and appreciated-this is a great board!
Tammy

islandmom

Aston royal sea cliff resort is pretty white architecture white pretty flower bed areas throughout with fountains etc. I would describe it as a long and narrow property leading to the ocean. Very pretty. Just not wide open and lush grounds type property. We stayed there before. It is very nice.

Poipu would be the last spot to get rain, however you have to know that rains hit anytime, especially around Nov., it's unpredictable as we have spent weeks of flood rain and cold when we lived there.

JohnD

Suggest that you verify that the Kona properties you are considering have a sandy beach that matches your expectations (In my experience some areas of Kona have more lava than sandy beach).

Suggest you also consider the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Marriott on the Kohala coast of the Big Island. It has a quiet pool with waterslide, sandy area and 2 jacuzzis. It is also next door to Hawaii's disneyland:Hilton Waikoloa. Good snorkeling can be found in front of the Hotel in A-Bay, a crescent shaped sandy beach with occassional visiting turtles. The resort has ancient fish ponds, that might suffice for your tropical garden needs, but since your going to the "garden isle"(Kauai) anyway, I think you will be fine. You will love the Big Island and Kauai!

Sarah

offers all over the net vbro.com to start, check out go-Hawaii for other options-links. I would be sure that I am near a swimming beach. Some brochures have beautiful beaches in front of them but you find out that there is a dangerous current that renders the beach unsafe for swimming. I also don't like to be directly next to public access beach paths. Sometimes night marchers in the way of loud youths may make a bonfire while you are trying to sleep for that all important morning hike! You also don't want to be near any parking lots which in some cases can be right next to the beach path (morning car slamming when you are recovering from yesterday?s morning hike). A good agency like Hanalei North Shore Properties will apprise you of these issues with properties they offer.

It has been my experience that condo's on Hawaii are pretty much what you see in the photos. I think it does not hurt to mention that you are a regular visitor. I have only been burned by a bad experience once on Oahu. It was clear the company I used banked on the idea that most mainland tourists were one time Hawaii visitors, most other agencies are smarter than that. It was also the first season the condo owner rented through this agency. So don't be timid there are a lot of great properties out there. Any concerns just contact the Hawaii visitor?s bureau and they will tell you of any outstanding complaints against the owner/agency.

PS I also prefer properties that are stand-alone units and do not connect to a larger complex. If you are stuck, a complex is not entirely intolerable but there is an institutional feel and lack of privacy that I prefer to avoid.

Jillwen

In May, I stayed at the Kauai Coast Resort with my parents and 2 college age kids. We all really loved it. Stayed in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit with a kitchen/dining/living room. There was a washer/dryer in one of the bathrooms. I thought the place was very pretty. The pool is nice with a waterfall and the grounds are lovely and well maintained. Although located beachfront, I don't think you'd want to swim there - rough water. But it's nice to walk along. The location was great since you can walk to the Coconut Shopping Mall and it seems midway to either the north or south of the island. A good snorkeling beach (Lydgate) was only about a 5 minute car ride away.

kip

Re Poipu Kai units. We prefer the Manualoha units for their lay out and proximity to Brenneke Beach and Poipu Beach Park. We actually prefer some of the gardenview 2 bdrm units over the "oceanview" units. They are a better value as the oceanview from the pricier units is not that terrific. Manualoha has the prettiest pool with a nice view down to the ocean. The Kahala units are further from the beach but some have nice views. I've liked the one bedrm units there better than the 2 bedrooms. For some reason the 2 bedroom units in Kahala tend to be on the ground floor with poor views or at the back of the complex. You also need to watch the Kahala units as some of them back up against the road. I would not rent in either the Regency units or the Makehuena (?) Both of these complexes are a long way from the beach. The development at Poipu Kai includes houses surrounding a wide greenbelt and path that leads all the way to the Hyatt. Closer to the Hyatt but still part of the Poipu Kai is another set of condos called Poipu Sands. These are very nice units with nice views. We haven't stayed in them for two reasons; the first is that the wind can come howling through that spot- must be a little microclimate- and Poipu Sands is closest to Shipwreck Beach, a beautiful beach in front of the Hyatt, but not a swimmable beach, especially in the winter. We've stayed at Poipu Kai a number of times and it's worked well for us. It's affordable, is well maintained and has good secunity, it's close to the Hyatt and a very short walk to a great boogie boarding beach and a great swimming beach. We have also stayed at Kiahuna, Whaler's Cove, Koloa Landing Cottages, and had one short stay at Waikomo Stream Villas. Another fun thing to do with kids is to spend a day at the Hyatt. There are generally day rates available at the Hyatt that run half the px of their lowest priced rooms. You get use of the room from 9-6pm but better than that you get use of the entire resort. The pools are a blast and floating in the lagoon is blissful. At the end of the day I am always ready to get back to our condo but happy that we did the resort thing for a while.
Re:Kiahuna. We still have not recovered from a trip that we took there a number of years ago. We hit terribly stormy weather and it was cold in those units. The are only louvered windows in parts of the condo and it was damp and chilly. The units there are also smaller and some of them are a long way from the beach. I think that Poipi Kai is a better value.

islandmom

Kona isn't a prime beach area. Mostly rocky and rough.

ymunnik

We spent a week at Kanaloa at Kona in February. Our condo was oceanfront, on a lava cliff. No beach but a great pool. There is a small snorkeling beach within walking distance. The condo was quiet, private, and very clean. The furnishings could use some updating but all in all, we were very happy there.

klqkauai

I would recommend Kiahuna Plantation and Whaler's Cove on the sunny south shore. Whaler's Cove may be a bit of a splurge but the views are phenomenol, but Kiahuna has lovely grounds and the complex itself is oceanfront even though all units are not. I believe the weather is more dependable in Poipu than in Kapaa. We stay in Poipu and have hit rain many times while traveling to or through Kapaa. The Big Island has many lovely condominium units as well. We prefer the Kohala coast as opposed to the Kona coast. The resorts, IMHO, are much nicer on the Kohala coast. I would recommend the Mauna Lani Point and Terrace Resorts. The grounds are beautiful. I would also suggest the Vista Waikola condos. The beaches are much nicer on the Kohala coast than in the Kona area. Good luck.