Can anyone suggest a NON-resort luxury hotel in a great area of Kauai (beautiful beach, great restaurants, close to a town)?

Our budget is about $500/nt.

Thanks for any suggestions

Same question - what is a non- resort luxury hotel?

Resorts are big and less personal such as Hyatt, Hilton, etc. Like an enclosed little city. Non-resort - smaller but still nice. Boutique hotel would be nice. Something with less big buildings and cement and more beachy feel.

Only "boutique" hotel I know of on Kauai would be the Koa Kea down at Poipu. Due to economies of scale, hotels by nature need to have a fair amount of rooms, although with the exception of the Marriott in Lihue (which is very nice btw) they are all low rise. Not sure what the rates are at Koa Kea and the rooms are reported to be small. Have not been inside it myself, it had not opened when I was there in 2009.

Might also take a look at Hanalei Bay Resort up in Princeville, mix of condos and hotel rooms, rent from an owner if possible. Bar is supposed to be opening this month and the restaurant later this fall. Stores and restaurants in both Princeville and Hanalei - about a 15 minute drive away.

Good definition! I was also going to suggest Koa Kea, but I was also there while it was under construction. It gets great reviews though. I don't know of anything comparable on Maui, although there's the Hotel Hana Maui in Hana.

Hanalei is a beautiful, magical place to stay. We spent part of our honeymoon there back in the days of the Hanalei Plantation hote.

Sounds like you'd be happy at Koa Kea-it is a boutique hotel on a great (Poipu) Beach

Also, it's close to lots of restaurants: Merriman's, Josselin's, Keoki's, Roy's, The Beach House, Plantation Gardens & has it's own restaurant, Red Salt, that gets good reviews.

This is great, thankks so much for the recommendations. I will check them all out!

have eaten at Red Salt - it is very good but very expensive. Hotel is small and more boutique than most of the others. Nice beach there as well..