kauai north shore lodging plans keep changing!
 

My husband & I are planning first trip to Hawaii (north shore Kauai) for April or May of 2009. Yes, I always plan early... First serious thoughts were Pali Ke Kua or Hanalei Bay Villas. Then I read a couple of posts about the upcoming renovation of the Princeville Hotel, and visions of jackhammers and giant trucks on the road danced through my head. So I switched to researching vacation rental homes in Hanalei. More research of postings opened my eyes to the fact of illegal transient vacation rentals and probable future crackdowns. I don't want to be a party to illegal activities and neighborhood unhappiness, so it's back to square one. Would we be subject to a lot of noise pollution if we chose a PKK or HBV condo? Am I being a worry wart? Which of these areas is further from the hotel? Google maps and Mapquest haven't shed much light. Thanks so much for any input. This is the first question I've ever posted, though I've been reading the posts for years!

Pali Ke Kua is far enough from the Princeville that it's very unlikely you'll be disturbed by any noise from the renovation. There may be some additional traffic in the area but most Pali Ke Kua units don't get any road noise. We will be staying there in February and it will be our third stay at PKK. We absolutely love it there. HBV looks very nice too but most of those units are pretty close to the road.

As for upcoming changes to the vacation rental rules here on Kauai, Anini and Hanalei areas will undoubtedly be included in those designated as approved, as will many others.

We live in a rural part of the island, and some neighbors have turned parts or all of their homes into vacation rentals. That is what would likely be stopped.

Kauai won't stop all vacation rentals, or limit them only to the currently designated Poipu, Prinveville, and Kapaa areas.

Sorry to be so long-worded, but I wouldn't worry about vacation rentals in the areas I mentioned.

We haven't stayed at either PKK or HBV. But we always look at the villas and think how fun they look, and they don't look like they would be noisy, from traffic or otherwise.

Aloha, beatofhawaii.com

Thanks so much dfarr and beatofhawaii for your responses. They were very reassuring. It sounds like my options are open (except maybe for HBV), unless I hear otherwise. I would like to decide on our lodging by the end of this month. We've been dreaming about this trip for years!

Kerrybean,
We have a May 09 trip planned for Princeville and are staying at the Cliffs. Their units are far enough off the main road down to the hotel to avoid any disturbance, but I really would not think it would be a major issue.

I always look at it this way.........I never plan to spend much time around the condo, I'd rather be out and about during the day and in the evening, any truck traffic should be done.

we have been there before with construction at the hotewl and other areas and nothing bothered us.