To say that the condo we rented, #101C, Poipu Shores was poorly maintained is an understatement from many perspectives. We expected a high end updated condo with all of the appropriate amenities. The marketing photos looked great but very different from what we experienced.
Shortly after we arrived, our daughter tried to use the powder room toilet, which was stopped up and smelled. We alerted Vacasa to the problem. The Vacasa person on site, responded and tried unsuccessfully to plunge the toilet. A couple of days later, a plumber came and spend several hours trying to fix it. Of course all of the water in the condo had to be turned off during that time. He concluded that this was a systemic problem, which would require jackhammering and expanding the opening to the sewer. He also said that this was the result of years of neglect and attempts to gerrymander a solution. He had the cleaning crew come in to clean the floors and replace the towels he used. All very disgusting and we did not have a toilet to use on the main floor of the condo during our weeklong stay.
Also, the windows on both floors of the condo were so dirty that you could not see out of several of them. Window washers came in toward the end of our stay and cleaned most of the windows. They said that a large window in the living room could not be cleaned and would have to be replaced…because of the build up of dirt, sand and salt water over several years.
The marketing photo of this condo shows an umbrella, table and chairs in front of a beautiful view of waves crashing on the rocks below. Unfortunately the umbrella was in disrepair and had a broken metal spoke sticking out below the canvas. This was not only unsightly but also unsafe so we asked to have the umbrella repaired or replaced. We noticed that 2 other spokes had been covered with bubble wrap and taped so the problem was not a new one. On our last full day, a Vacasa staff member brought and set up a new umbrella.
The recent remodel of the condo was good, including new flooring, bathrooms (except the powder room), new appliances and a large screen TV. Unfortunately, the internet did not work and even when a Vacasa staff member connected it, we could not stream any programming. So we purchased a USB to HDMI converter cable and our tech savvy daughter was able to access programming through her computer.
The remodeled kitchen seemed nice. We were excited about cooking there, especially as COVID cases were rising in Kauai, but we found some basic items missing, including napkins, placemats, wine glasses, a vegetable peeler, kitchen scissors, etc. Also, there was a leak from the sink drain into the cabinet below.
At the end of our stay, we received a refund of $466 from Vacasa, after paying $6288 for a week’s stay. This was hardly proportionate to the problems we experienced. We definitely left the place better than we found it, with mostly clean windows, clean floors, a new umbrella on the lanai and a diagnosis of a serious plumbing problem. Even so, this condo should be lifted to a higher standard to remain in the Airbnb network.
The best feature of the condo was the extraordinary view of waves and surf crashing on the rocks below with large turtles swimming in the crystal clear water. And, of course, we enjoyed the beautiful beaches, mountains and gardens on Kauai.
Overall, we were unsatisfied with the condition of the condo, the need to have repair people there almost every day and the time it took for us to deal with the problems. Definitely not the relaxing scenario we expected. We would love to come back to Kauai but not to this condo. I plan to post reviews on other travel websites to alert future prospective customers to the problems we found.