My husband and I are planning a 7 day trip to Kauai next July. We definitely want to fit in all of the nature/scenery/hiking/ and beaches on the north coast--kee beach, napili,canyon--and also to veg out a day or two on the south beaches--poipu area. Since I am just in the planning stages and need to make lodging reservations, my question is? Should we just choose one hotel--Hyatt or Marriott and drive to each desination?? or will we be making a mistake by not splitting up our accomodations and staying half of the time in the Princeville area?

catherinee,

We've stayed at the Hyatt and loved it. It's a great resort hotel.

With 7 days I would stay in one place.

Seeing the north shore on day trips is fine. We did that our first two trips, but because we fell in love with Haena and Hanalei, we ended up doing a lot of driving to get up there everyday. Poipu Beach is nice, but IMHO it pales when compared to Makua (Tunnels) and Hanalei Bay.

You could also stay on the north shore the whole time and then plan two days for driving to the south and west seeing Poipu and Waimea Canyon. The Princeville Hotel is not my cup of tea, but is nice, there are many condos in Princeville, and there are tons of rentals in Hanalei and the Haena area. Have a great trip.

-Bill

Hi Catherine. I had a similar dilemma. We are planning a June '06 trip to Kauai, and I also couldn't decide about where to stay. We've decided to go for a split between north side and south. I don't believe it's much of a drive in distance, but from what I've read both locations sound wonderful, and I wanted to experience both.

If I were visiting Kauai in the summer, I would stay on the northshore and drive down to Poipu for daytrips. The northshore is breathtakingly beautiful and I love the northshore beaches.

If you want to do any hiking in the canyon, it will be quite a drive from the north shore, especially if you want to go early to beat the heat and do a lunch kind of hike.

We always stay somewhat in the middle near Wailua so a drive to the north or south is not a big deal. IMHO though North shore, esp. in the summer is the best. But Ke'e beach will be crowded then too, which is why we end up going south a few times and do some hiking in the canyon. But you can't go wrong, even so called long drives in Kauai are amazingly beautiful.

To those of you who have stayed in the north area--any suggestions for condo rentals? There are so many, its hard to decide--and i've heard some stories of places not being well kept.

On the north shore I have rented a house in Hanalei, so I can't personally recommend a condo, but I do know that Pali Ke Kua in Princeville is very highly thought of by many posters here. Another place that gets raves by posters here is:
http://www.kauaivilla.com/

-Bill

If you're still looking for a hotel, try Courtyard Kauai at Waipouli Beach. We stayed there last september and the hotel was just recently renovated. The room was nicely furnished. It is also somewhat centrally located between the north and south shores. If you like fresh tropical fruits, do check the farmer's market just north of Waipouli. They don't have it everyday, so ask the locals about days and times.

Catherinee -

I stayed at the Villas of Kamali'i #49 the last week of August 2005. It was in EXCELLENT condition - I was extremely happy w/ the townhouse. However, it does NOT have an ocean view. Also, it only has airconditioning in the bedrooms, so it was a warm in the living room in late August. Here is a website to give you more details.

http://www.kauaivacationrentals.com/...o&Avail=&Stay=

Have a nice trip.

We had the same dilemma when planning our first trip to Kauai (we were there in late September). We ended up doing 4 nights north shore and 4 nights south -- it does mean you lose some time on the "transition" day, but we're glad we did it that way. There's such a lot to see, and we just didn't want to spend time driving north or south to get to where we wanted to be. (One of my vacation rules is that I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn if I don't want to!)

When deciding where to stay, I did a ton of research here with Fodorites, and also on Flyertalk.com. Checked in with Trip Advisor, too. For north shore we stayed in Princeville -- the hotel is lovely but outside our budget, so we stayed at Pu'u Poa condos, right next to the hotel on the cliffs. Arranged that through Princeville Vacations, and we were pleased. Had a very nice condo (architecture is a bit odd, very modernist, but the views are outstanding, and it was very convenient to be walking distance from the amenities of the hotel.) We would probably stay there again, but would also consider Kilauea or Hanalei, both of which we thought were charming. Staying at north shore allowed us to explore all the beaches in that area in a more leisurely way, and enjoy the laid-back vibe. It't not a place for rushing around! ;-)

We also stayed four nights in Poipu, in a condo rented through Suite Paradise. This was less successful, and I would know better next time (I've posted some info about this already in another response, trip report will come eventually!) We spent quite a lot of time at the Hyatt, which we thought was lovely. Next time, I'd save hard to stay there... The Poipu area was much busier than north shore, and weather was more stormy, wind and rain (surprisingly, since n. shore usually gets more rain). Weather was not a problem when we drove to Waimea Canyon which is in the shelter of the mountains. I think that would be a really long trip from Princeville, but it is so worth seeing and spending time around.

We're thinking back to our time in Hawaii and feeling very nostalgic, especially over the weekend when we watched our Iz DVD...

When we did that trip a few years ago, we stayed near Poipu for a 3 days (the Hyatt Regency) and then in Hanalei for another 4 days (a B&B that doesn't exist anymore). We also wanted to do specific hikes on both the north and south coasts (Waimea Canyon and NaPali coast) and didn't want to spend hours driving from one side of the island to the other.

Regardless of what you do, have a great time. Kauai is a beautiful place.
I think this is the way to go (unless you enjoy spending hours driving). The distances aren't much, but there is only one road from the North Shore to the South Shore and it runs through Lihu'e, which is the largest town on the island. If you get stuck in traffic (it happens more than you think) it could more than double the amount of time you are driving.

thanks for your suggestions of condos etc. I think we are going to book two separate places from your responses--and check out some of the condos you've mentioned.