Hawaii in Sept- Help locate QUALITY beachfront condo
 

We are planning our first trip to Hawaii in Sept. I am unsure which route to go-hotel vs condo. I prefer a condo, but it must be beachfront and beautiful! We have had bad experiences in the past with rentals and do not want to ruin our trip. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We would like to stay on Maui and Kauai. Thanks so much!!

Kiahuna Plantation has beautiful oceanfront units
try this link to see units and rates
kiahunabeachside.com

We are staying at the Puu Poa in Princeville. I have seen the complex it is great and ocean front.

vrbo.com than get opinions on here and on www.tripadvisor.com

Where did you have poor condo experiences. In Hawaii I have rented about 5 times, my experience is that you get what you see. Knock wood I have never had an experience that I felt deeply compromised the quality of our stay. So don't worry too much. At the end of the day, you will just be sleeping and waking there.

PS I also ask a lot of questions when renting. Good you are starting early. I would book soon on the North shore of Kauai. We were booked out of a lot of places in July because we started booking in March. September is the end of the dry season there.

PS I really like Jodi of Napali North Shore rentals. She is very honest about drawbacks to units.
http://kauai-vacation-rentals.com/

The other rental agency on the North Shore is Napali North Shore Rentals. They have a nice selection but I find them playing dumb on obvious questions. This has kept me from renting from them but they have a great selection and I could just be paranoid. www.napaliprop.com

A lot of travel agents us both of these agencies when booking the north shore.

I second the recommendation for the Kiahuna. You can find ocean view units that are a little cheaper through Castle, Outrigger or a general web search (eg VRBO). The beach is great there.

On Maui, you might look at the Hale Hui Kai. It's on Keawakepu Beach which runs between south Kihei and Wailea. It's a small, well-kept complex. We stayed in unit 312 last summer and it was wonderful. It's not a fancy resort-type complex if that's what you're looking for.

You might also check out the various Wailea/Makena complexes also. The best barometer is Maui Revealed (aka the Blue Bible)

Kim

I second the recommendation for Puu Poa in Princeville. I stayed in unit 201 Memorial Day 2004, it was great. Perfect North Shore location at a reasonable price. Get the Ultimate Kauai guidebook and Maui Revealed they will point you in the right direction.

Thanks everyone for your help! Sarah: our bad experience was skiing in Canada. We rented a 6 bedroom-3 level chalet at the base of Blue Mtn. The layout was great-the bottom level had a large game room and 3 of the bedrooms. What was NOT good was the ENTIRE lower level smelled moldy! I have a son who is asthmatic--need I say more! No one was able to sleep on the lower level and most of us were sneezing by the trip's end. YUK

I would assume with the humidity there would be an issue with "musty odors". When we were in Aruba, the room also smelled a little musty, and that was at a 5 star resort! This is why I am a little nervous about the units. Everything looks great in a brochure, but reality isn't always picture perfect!!

I will look at the site you all recommended. I am open to all suggestions for where to go and eat while we are there. I really appreciate your help!

ehhhhhhhhhhhhckk! yeah that sounds rough. Mold would be a question I would ask about. I did ask our condo owner he told us and this was confirmed by another that mold can be a problem on the ground floor units at the PuuPoa. I would not rent anything beachfront without carpeting. Unless it was brand spanking new.

FYI, I prefaced my questions about mold with remarks about my nephews alergy problems.

If someone gets quiet or a realtor says I don't know than you you don't have to know about renting one of their units either. Just a thought. If I ever get an I don't know I ask them to call the owner when dealing with realtors.

www.tripadvisor.com also helps with finding out about others experiences.

Sarah: Thanks for asking for us! I just looked at the recommened condos and they look great. I will keep the "first floor" in mind when searching. Do you (or anyone)know of similar condos on Maui? Do you have any information on Kuhio Shores? They looked nice too. Puu Poa looks great too. Thanks !!