Here is our trip report from one week in Kauai. We flew from DFW to Honolulu, caught the Wikiwiki (love that name for the airport shuttles) to the inter-island terminal and on to Hawaiian Airlines to Kauai. HA is now flying very new Boeing 717’s, nice aircraft and super service, they still have “open seating in coach” even though the boarding pass had seat assignments.

After arriving in Kauai we collected our luggage and called the Marriott shuttle from the complimentary phone and the driver said he would be there in five minutes. After he picked us up, I was surprised that we did not exit the airport onto to the highway, but rather pulled around to the end of the terminal and onto a private road that connects the Marriott to the airport via the golf course. What a perfect way to enter the resort as it was very peaceful and not at all what I expected having been to Kauai before and remembering the way the town of Lihue lines the main highway. As we were meeting up with family who were renting a minivan we had no need for a car. Actually, if you stay at the Marriott and just want to hang out you really don’t need a car as several restaurants and shops are within very easy walk of the resort. If you did want to venture out for one or two days only it would be easy to rent a car for just those times.

The Kauai Marriott is a beautiful property with lush and manicured landscaping set into a harbor right at the Nawilili beach. We were traveling staying using Marriott miles which only entitled us to a garden view room, I had called the local reservation office and they offered an upgrade to pool view/partial ocean view with lanai for $40 per night, I thought that was a good idea especially the lanai part, upon check in we were further upgraded (complimentary) to a full ocean view. The room was very large with a king size bed with super comfortable mattress, fold out sleeper couch, desk/table with two chairs, a wardrobe with a large TV, and a small refrigerator. The bathroom was large with granite counters and granite surround around the tub. The room felt very fresh, modern colors with Hawaiian touches. I thought, this might be the nicest Marriott I had stayed in yet (and I have stayed in a few Marriott’s).

The first day was spent relaxing by the beach. Our preference was to try to find a shady spot and this beach has many due to the large strip of landscaped grass between the walkway and the beach, there were ample chairs and towels available, no one had to run out at 6am and try to reserve a spot, just whenever we got the urge. for beach time we were always able to find our own spot. The pool is large, some say the largest Hawaii although I thought Grand Wailea seemed bigger. There were always plenty of spots poolside.

to be continued..

The second day we did the Movie tour, a guided island tour with about 14 guests in a specialty equipped tour bus where they played movie clips and took us to many locations, mostly beaches, where various movies were filmed. Probably the best spot was Anini beach just before Princeville, the beach is great and it was fun seeing the house from Vegas Honeymoon.

We then took a helicopter tour, I had previously heard some advice on this board to “go first thing in the morning” or “avoid the rain”. Well, I have to disagree with both these pieces of advice, we went at 3pm in a rain storm and it was terrific, our pilot said this is the best time to go because there were so many waterfalls and the lighting was perfect. The flight was very smooth. We were on the tour with a local who had lived on the island for 25 years and had never done a helicopter tour, he was amazed. I know it is expensive, but I honestly believe that if we had not taken that tour we would not have fully appreciated the beauty of this island. If there ever is anything considered as a “must do”, a helicopter tour on Kauai must rank right at the top. Note that I did a helicopter on the Big Island a couple of years ago, when the volcano was in full spewing, and felt this was a much better experience.

Days two and four were spent on the two resort golf courses. Excellent courses, the last five holes of the Nickalas designed courses had spectacular ocean views. Made better by my pars on numbers 16 & 17 which led to a win in the “annual family tournament”.

We also did the Botanical Garden tour close to sprouting horn in Poipuu . While in Poipuu we stopped in the Hyatt for lunch. We stayed at this hotel on our last visit, and I was thinking how different the general ambiance was compared to the Marriott. I felt the Hyatt was well, stuffy, while the Marriott was much more “friendly”.

For restaurants we ate at Dukes upstairs twice and downstairs at the bar once, we also ate at the Café Portofino which is a short walk from the hotel, Kuhios at the Marriott and one night at the Brick Oven. Dukes was a favorite as evidenced by the number of times we went back, we thought about driving to the Beachhouse, or Café Pacific, just too much effort. Everyone loved the Brick Oven, we had a “super” which included their homemade sausage, outstanding. We ordered two pizzas for five people and at first thought, boy have we ordered too much, that is until the last piece was quickly consumed. Got to say, I was just in Chicago two weeks before and I though this pizza was much better. Finally, I thought that Bubba’s Burgers were just ok, give me Cheeseburger in Paradise any day.

As we were preparing for the last day, my wife asked if we could visit the Fern Grotto which we had done on our last trip. So, why not? When we got to the River we saw there were still two operators, one with green boats and the other with Red ones. I also saw maybe 5 or 6 tour buses and thought to myself this could be crowded and not a lot of fun. Much to my relief, a party of 2 joined our party of 5, and we had the whole boat (a Red one) and crew to ourselves. The boat driver was quite friendly, a native Hawaiian, and gave an excellent tour on the way up the river. At the Grotto, he took his guitar, we met 3 of their ohana (family) and listened to the four of them sing all the way back to the harbor. There was a non-working family member on the boat, she was singing along quietly from her seat just enjoying herself. It was fun watching the driver try to steer and play the guitar. When we got back to the boat dock they had not yet played my request, Hookilau, but stopped the boat in mid harbor to finish that song. “What a wonderful for fishing…”

Finally, it was time to go home. I reflected on this trip that I have been to Hawaii maybe 15 times since 1985 and have been to all the major islands. I have stayed at most of the major resorts, nd I always thought that Maui was my favorite (Maui no ka oie), especially during whale watching season, but now I have to rethink that, there is something about Kauai that just seems more Hawaiian.

Bob, I have to agree with about Kauai seeming more Hawaiian than Maui. Alot of people may disagree but there is something about Kauai for me that is special. The last time I was on Maui I really noticed how awful the traffic snags were. Kauai is so much easier to navigate. Anyway, I love Kauai and go each year for a month. I stopped going to other islands a number of years ago.
I cannot wait to return to Kauai in Feb 2003. Have done the helicopter ride and loved it. I will have to try the movie tour one of these days. Glad you had a nice visit to Kauai.

I am NOT impressed with the beach at that particular resort, and the resort itself -- well, let's just say that when it was a Westin prior to the conversion, I checked OUT after just one night! That just about says it all, I believe!!

TTT
Poor Dan. Had to check out of the Westin. Must see every dark cloud that is inside the silver lining.

Hi Bob I am a long time fan of Kauai. I usually stay on the North Shore though and I never see a native Hawaiian. It kind of feels more like California to me. Everyone is white. I worry that what you are expressing about Maui is in Kauai's future. The people living on the island are constantly fighting construction.

I always think of Big Island as the locally influenced island. But I have only been a few times. I always think of the Paniolos and just the local faces that you see on the Big Island. Just seems like you see a lot more local born residents than on Kauai.

Glad you had such a good time it was nice to read your report.

What's wrong with Westin's? In the last year I stayed at the Westin Excelsior (Florence, Rome and Venice) and the Westin Palace in Milan. These are considered to be among the best hotels in their respective cities - heads of states, movie stars etc... all have stayed at them.

And they were incredible.

Am I missing something about the Westin chain?

CoachBoy

True, the beach at the Marriott is not the best beach on Kauai but it is located on a Bay and not on the ocean.

I'd also like to know from Dan.xxx why the quick check out when it was Westin.
we dropped by the palce our first trip over in '89 and it was pretty nice.

Not too Polynesian, more Romenesque but pretty nice to say the least.

Loved the golf courses there, especially the hole right under the Whaler Brew Pub. I'll par it one of these days if it's the last thing I DO !!!
Thx for the heads up on Hawaiian's "open seating" since we're flying them from Sacto to Honolulu. We usually get here around 5 hrs before we fly to Kauai anyway...;-D

Ahhhh...Extra sausage on the Super Pizza at The Brick...with garlic butter on the whole wheat....slurrrp.
Kal

Coachboy, the particular hotels you're mentioning are true 5-star hotels and belong to the Starwood Luxury Group. Every Westin hotel is NOT like that, I can assure you, and since we're speaking about Hawaii, the Westin Maui certainly comes to mind as NOT one of my favorites either!

Kal, as per the old Westin Kauai, yes, I suppose you could describe that cheap looking pool area as "Romanesque," albeit very CHEAP looking Romanesque with those ridiculous columns! The whole place reminded me of a cheap hotel in Vegas--and I DON'T mean the Bellagio either! The room was quite small, musty and unattractive as well. But then again, since we had just come from the fantastic Grand Hyatt Wailea on Maui--well, it was even WORSE!!!

I am planning to stay at Marriott in late march and early April. How is the whether at that time? Is Kauai more windy during that time of the year?
I love being able to snorkel right off the hotel beach, will I be able to do that on Marriott's beach?