pros:
5 minute walk to the beach from the condo. beach shack available where you can get towels and beach chairs for free and rent snorkel gear and beach toys for a low price.
access to the Athletic Club across the street. 5 minute walk. nice to have a pool day.
nice clean condo. bottom floor so you have the benefit of walking out the back door into the gardens. but you also hear everyone running around above you...
cons:
we decided not to rent a car while on the island (insane prices during covid summer 2021) so picking up the key from the grocery store in Koloa as instructed was a little inconvenient. Luckily they mailed a key to us in our welcome packet
DO NOT rely on Uber or taxis to get around or to/from the airport. arriving in the afternoon, we got an Uber pretty easily. trying to get to the airport at 5am, no Uber available and all the taxi companies I called didn't want to get out of bed. maybe later in the day, I would have had more luck. definitely recommend scheduling a shuttle if you have an early flight.
tips/tricks:
local public bus picks up right in front of Kiahuna Plantation and drops off in front of the Big Save Market in Koloa where you need to pick up the 2nd room key. 50¢ per person each way and it's about a 15 min ride. good grocery store to shop--much cheaper than the market in the Poipu Shopping Center that is across the street from the condos. if you plan it right, you could tour the whole island using the public bus. more walking involved, but still a great experience.
moped rentals are also a good way to avoid a car rental if you have a motorcycle license (they aren't doing any training/lessons due to covid, so you have to already know how to ride and have a motorcycle license) https://www.kauai-mopeds.com/. we rented one for 2 riders for 2 days and had more than enough time to see all we wanted to see. they drop off and pick up from the condo. super easy.