Pros: This is a beautiful resort with impeccably maintained grounds and two
swimming pools, one of which features waterfalls and grottos. The front
desk staff here is lovely and welcoming. The lobby is beautifully designed,
cool and breezy, surrounded by koi ponds. There are also many other
amenities, including grilling areas and a very nice small restaurant/bar,
“Happy Talk”, that (as of this writing) is closed on Wednesdays. The large
restaurant, “Bali Hai” is completely closed for now. Front desk staff will
provide access to a “hospitality area” by the pool with a shower and
changing areas while you wait to check in at 4PM or if you need to stay on
resort grounds after 10AM checkout for $25./day. Unit 7204 has very nice
lanai with a wonderful ocean view of Hanalei Bay. The shower has
excellent water pressure. As stated in the listing, there is no kitchen, but
there is a mini-fridge, coffee maker and minimal dishware for coffee and
snacks.
Cons: This condo is located at the far bottom of the property, necessitating
a ten-minute walk from the front desk and/or parking. I would not say that
the beach is “steps” away from the beach, more a steep 15-minute climb up
and down the hillside. Unit 7204 had very dirty floors upon our check-in.
As always in Hawaii, one removes shoes indoors, but the bottoms of my
feet were black with soil after five minutes and I wore clean slippers indoors
from that point on. The bathmat was filthy. The bathroom sink has very
poor drainage. Only one extra roll of toilet paper is provided. The front
desk will sell you extra rolls for $1. No extra trash can liners were provided.
The mattresses are very comfortable, but the pillows are painfully hard,
more the density of a very firm sofa cushion than bed pillows. There were
functional issues with the ceiling fan. The A/C unit operates inconsistently,
noisily surging in and out of “power-saving” mode with no evident solution
on the remote control. Lastly, this unit is managed by a large Mainland US
corporation, Vacasa— communication with them consists of a poorly-
functioning pre-recorded phone tree and “fake” texting. There is not an
actual person answering texts or calls, just poorly-worded automated
replies. After some trouble, I finally did reach an actual Vacasa employee
on Kauai who very kindly addressed some of my concerns, but she
neglected to tell me that she does not work on Wednesday and Thursdays,
leaving me to assume that she was simply ignoring me when I tried to
reach her. If you are expecting a well-managed, hospitable resort
experience or a typical hosted Airbnb stay in unit 7204, you may be
disappointed.