What an amazing week on Kauai!!
The resort is beautiful with gorgeous views. It is close to the airport (7mn) and centrally located which is perfect if like us you want to see absolutely everything (45 min. from Hanalei Bay & 45 min. from Waimea Canyon).
Most beautiful experience to do absolutely in the Wailua area while you’re there: paddle or kayak the Wailua river up to Secret Falls. Kauai SUP in town rents SUP for the day that you can carry on top of your car easily. Not to be missed!
That being said, the Lihue/Wailua area is not the nicest area on the island though. Barry’s condo is a great location to stay for the night but no nice beaches around, not many great restaurant options, and the area feels a bit abandonned (big resort destroyed 30 years ago by a hurricane sadly standing by the beach on the side of the main road 3 minutes away). We highly recommend the North shore and its small towns (Hanalei, Princeville, Kilauea…) with an adventure/laidback atmosphere with gorgeous white sand/turquoise water/lush mountains background beaches and very good restaurants (Bar Acuda & Dolphin, our favorites).
The condo’s host, Barry, is very nice and really responsive at any time. Great communication. Late check-out arranged easily months before we arrive. Thank you Barry that was really convenient for our late flight back home. We appreciate!
Unfortunately Barry seems to rely on poor local property management/housecleaning so we encountered a few issues at check-in and during our stay that didn’t make the experience worth the expensive price but can be easily corrected for future guests, including:
- had reserved 8 nights for 4 guests including two kids (10 & 12) but no sheets were provided for the sofa bed at check-in, and after a first delivery of two stained fitted sheets only on the first evening, it took the property management 24 hours to buy some top sheets at Walmart that were finally delivered without being pre-washed
- Beach and kitchen towels were found still wet in the dryer at check-in (had to dry them ourselves)
- No laundry detergent available for our use in the condo as it’s usually the case and we had a hard time finding some dish soap
- Had to request another kettle, which I use a lot unfortunately, to replace the old rusty one available (arrived the next night)
- Some windows need small repair for more convenience, can’t be closed from inside (we had to close them from outside)
- curtains would need to be changed (the one in the bedroom has mold all over and the one by the sofa bed is rusted at the top and can’t close easily)
- The cleaning was ok but not 5 stars (under sofa bed, around the toilets and on the lanaï especially - a carpet was drying on the entrance harmchair at check-in).
A few other important things to note that we hadn’t noticed but are indicated on the listing:
- 3rd floor condo without elevator (hadn’t paid attention to that information)
- No much space around the master bed and no furniture/racks to lay your luggage
- No bathtub as indicated in the listing (not a big deal for us but we recomment a listing update)
- Sofa bed is very uncomfortable with an old and thin spring mastress (needs an update)
- No curtains on the corner window by the master bed (would make a nice improvement to the bedroom since the light stays on all night outside in the stairs and parking lot)
- Bathroom is updated and looks nice but it is small for 4 with no room to put your belongings
- Didn’t find the advertised putt and pitch area in the resort, not sure where it is located (which was not a big deal - my husband and son went golfing next door anyway : not very welcoming golf course with tourists but a pretty decent one at the end of the day).
Overall Barry’s condo is a great one or two nights quiet stop on your way between the South and the North shores but we recommend a few small updates and a better property management/housecleaning.
Thanks Barry for your warm welcome and help during our stay! We’ll definitely be back on Kauai!