Kauai hotel help
 

Have decided to get married in Kauai! Got the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook and have been checking this site for lots of good advice...here's the question. Want to stay on the North shore, we do not want to stay in a condo, would prefer a resort/hotel. We know Princeville is THE place, but not comfortable spending that much $$$. Future hubby wants to be thisclose to a beach, but it seems most places on North shore require some walking to get there. I'm leaning towards Hanalei Bay Resort...thoughts?

The Princeville is the only true hotel/resort on the north shore I do believe, everything else is condos. The Hanalei Bay resort has both the hotel rooms and condo type living. On this forum many people have said that it is now timeshare and has gone down hill. My parents stayed there for a week last May and loved it! They stayed in a one bedroom unit over looking Bali Hai. They were asked about attending a timeshre presentation and when they said they were not interested nobody bothered them again. The restaurant had good breakfasts-it came with their package. The beach was pretty far away but that didn't bother them. The grounds were very tropical and the pool area pretty. You will not get hotel like service there. Stay away from the hotel type rooms as I have heard they are old. Depends on what you want. Kauai is beautiful-especially the north shore. My husband and I honeymooned in Kauai 17 years ago! We are headed back this fall!
Good luck,
Tammy

Tammy,
Where are you staying? And why? Really want to make the right choice as lodging is such a big cost!

ks, if you want to stay at Hanalei Bay Resort, check out summitpacific.com
If he doesnt' have anything there perhaps he knows of another place.
Congrats on the upcoming nups.

Ahhhhhh a few ((D))((D)) while listening to some good local
((8))((8))
at HBR's Happy Talk Lounge while seeing a Bali Hai sunset!
211 mo' days!
Kal

Hello, my wife and I got married on Kauai in Feb. 2002 and stayed at the Hanalei Bay Resort. I can provide you with a wedding coordinator who helped us if you need it. We started out with a hotel room which you get what you see by taking a virtual tour of the room on the internet, the room was small but had an incredible view of the Bali Hai mountains and Hanalei Bay. We thought the room came with a kitchenette but all it had was a coffee maker and a microwave, so we switched to a garden view condo unit which came with full kithcen, and washer and dryer, and was about twice the size of our hotel room. We did not notice any problems with our hotel room and were impressed with the air conditioning unit. There was however the presence of Kauai's domestic (rooster) and exotic bird life within a few feet of our lanai and audible inside our hotel room. I know you don't like the idea of a condo, but if you stay at HBR, the condo's are a better value. The distance to the beach is not much of a problem because the hotel will promptly give you a free golf cart ride to and from the beach (and to and from your car) if you call them from your room or from the phone near the beach. The pool was largely unoccupied unlike the jacuzzi. No one pressured us to attend a timeshare, it was only mentioned to us as a way to get discounted activities and meals,and the timeshare we did eventually attend was the most painless we have experienced. We would stay there again, but only in the condo units. Aloha!

ok, within the past few hours I've decided condo may be the way to go...how many benefits do you really get/use by staying/paying at the resort/hotel? Am going to check out summitpacific and vrbo and see what I can find. Question, how are the people at Hanalei Bay Resort, would be nice to have helpful staff and laid back "neighbors". Kal - am honored that you responded, keep reading about Happy Talk Lounge, do they make only frou-frou drinks or can you get a good gimlet? Two 30-somethings would let the Windy City down if we had drinks with umbrellas in them!

We found the concierge to be helpfull and available at HBR. I do not recall interacting with any other guests there at HBR, a number of them seemed to enjoy playing tennis, however we did meet a middle-aged couple from the Princeville Hotel that were not satisfied with what they paid for the room at the Pville Hotel. We found the next door Pville Hotel to be a great asset in terms of increasing the number of restaurants and bars to view the ever changing beautifull sunsets from. The HBR staff consistently came to give us a golf cart ride within a few minutes of our request for transport to the beach or car, I have no complaints about them.