Going to Kauai in the begining of December (Waimea, Kilauea: insurance, condos)

[Evidence-is-key]

Which area should we stay at in order to avoid too much rain and still be close to the attractions?
which hotel/condo/resort would you recommend?

[Evidence-is-key]

I was doing some research on the places to see and i compiled a list of places to see and I linked them to a picture in the hyperlink....it should be a good list to start off with and i just wanted to share it


Kalalau Trail - Hawaii's most famous trail on the north shores
Wailua Falls on the East coast
Opeakaa falls on the East coast
Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens on the north shores
Kilauea Lighthouse on the north shores
Waimea Canyon on the west coast
Polihale Beach on the west coast
Akaka Falls on the east coast
Napali Coast on the north side
Queens Bath on the north side
Spouting Horn on the south side
Brennecke Beach - boogie boarding spot on the south
Lumahai Beach West on the north

[Mar0]

Akaka Falls is not on Kauai, it is on Big Island.

I think that there are different things to see for different people, and many things that would interest me as a tourist are not on your list (Salt Pond, Mahaulepu, Haena, Allerton Garden...). I do not recommend Queen's Bath to visitors due to the inherent dangers associated with it and same can be applied to Lumahai in the winter.

Sounds like you will have a great time!

[Mar0]

I almost always recommend the south shore to visitors during the winter months. It may be nice on the North Shore, but the chance of rain increases substantially if you were to stay there. The whole island might be rainy (this December was especially bad) or the whole island might be nice, who knows? The South shore is historically less rainy.

There are tons of condos and hotels that you can choose from. The two main hotels are the Hyatt and the Sheraton and there are many timeshare/condo options. There will definitely be something in your budget, but you need to figure out what your budget is and what you are looking for (great ocean views, a nice pool, size, location to the beach, etc etc). Try looking on tripadvisor...

[Evidence-is-key]

Originally Posted by Mar0

I almost always recommend the south shore to visitors during the winter months. It may be nice on the North Shore, but the chance of rain increases substantially if you were to stay there. The whole island might be rainy (this December was especially bad) or the whole island might be nice, who knows? The South shore is historically less rainy.

There are tons of condos and hotels that you can choose from. The two main hotels are the Hyatt and the Sheraton and there are many timeshare/condo options. There will definitely be something in your budget, but you need to figure out what your budget is and what you are looking for (great ocean views, a nice pool, size, location to the beach, etc etc). Try looking on tripadvisor...

thanks. we definitely want to stay somewhere sunny but at the same time, we want to be able to either look out the hotel window or walk out of the hotel and be on a NICE, sandy (not rocky), beach. Any ideas?

[iskray917]

I would definitely stay on the south shore near Poipu Beach to avoid too much rain. It rains a lot up north in Princeville. And don't worry too much about being close to the attractions. Kauai is a small island and pretty much the whole island is "close" to wherever you stay.

[HankDfrmSD]

Here is some factual information to counter the "it rains a lot at ...":

Hawaii Weather Guide Featuring Maui, Oahu, Big Island and Kauai Rainfall Maps

[Evidence-is-key]

hi,
we are 28 and 30 years old. we're looking at the sheraton hotel in poipu, Kauai......for end of Nov, early dec. for 8 nights.

the price we have found for 2 people, including:

- intermediate car for 8 nights
- taxes, fees,
- $50 dollars a day hotel credit for food ($50 for each of the 8 nights!),
- parking fee,
- partial ocean view,
- insurance for the package,
- 2 for 1 surfing lessons
- does not include a $17 per night charge that hotel charges.

$2130 (about $1065 a person)



is this a good enough deal?
is this a good hotel?
is the beach good?
any pros/cons that you can think of?


thanks in advance

[mdand3boys]

What are rooms only going for? Do you want to be locked into hotel food every day, no matter how good? That food credit will make you not want to experience true Hawaii food at local restaurants.

Just my $.02.

[mogon]

$50/day for two is hardly enough to "lock you in" to the resort. It's basically one meal (breakfast or lunch, but probably not dinner) for each of you per day given usual resort pricing. So you will still have plenty of both opportunity and need to explore local kine food options.

If you back the food credit out of the package cost, you come up with a net of ~$1700 for 8 days of lodging and car. But the silly $17/day resort fee adds back in $136 so you're at ~ $1836 for 8 nights.

No, this is not any sort of exceptional deal at all; in fact, you can do a lot better in my estimation.

It's a decent enough hotel, but packages often have not the greatest of rooms and then add in some upsell pressure for upgrades.

You might want to do more research in the Starwood forum of FlyerTalk.com or on TripAdvisor.

You might also want to see what the total cost of a car on Hotwire is (and know that the rule of thumb is that you can Priceline the same car for $2-4 less per day), subtract that amount from your $1836-ish and then see what sort of hotel room you can get for the remaining amount. Otoh, car add-ins to package prices are usually the cheapest part of the package so it may not be worth the work.