PLanning to be in Kauai end of Jan - currently book in - want a better (distance) location.
Any suggestions on either of these hotels?

OOPS - meant the Coral Reef Hotel not Kappa sands - they were booked

don't know either others must though

We stayed at the Islander in November. It wasn't fancy but it was centrally located on the island and close to some good restaurants. However, I would suggest trying someplace else unless you can get a beach front room.

We enjoyed the Kiahuna Plantation condos in Poipu in the south. Poipu is sunny and has plenty of good restaurants as well, and the Kiahuna is nicely priced, casual, and comfortable.We're making our 2nd trip there next month.

Kauai is small enough that we didn't have any problem going from Poipu to any other part of the island in less than an hour.

We stayed in Kapaa on our second trip over.. It is pretty, but the road is near the condos, which can be bothersome. On top of that, we spent all of our time driving to the North Shore. They have a wonderful Hiking trail at the end of the road at Ke'e beach.