We had an amazing time at Kauai Country Inn. We are a young couple (28yo/32yo) from the East Coast (and we are quite picky and hard to please). It is always scary (or adventurous depending on your outlook) to stay off the beaten path, but when we first arrived we were pleasantly surprised to see that it looked just like the pictures on the website. The location of the Inn is perfect, as the Kapa’a restaurants and shopping are close by, and you are equidistant to the North and South beaches. We loved turning off the main highway and driving up into the rainforest at the end of everyday—made us feel like locals. The air just smelled good! The Orchid Suite was immaculately clean like no one had stayed there before us. It was cozy and friendly, like our own place. Terrific details like the tiled shower, stuffed-animal monkey hanging on the lamp, cedar-lined rooms, beach chairs, towels, cooler and Hawaiian touches. We loved the posters on the wall from Mike and Martina’s previous ad-exec life in L.A. The kitchenette allowed us to save tons of $$ on breakfast and lunch, which we packed into the provided cooler daily. Mike and Martina were welcoming and friendly, and genuinely seem to love what they do.
We’d suggest going shopping at Safeway and stocking up on breakfast and lunch options, especially bottled water which can get expensive. Our favorite trips were definitely up North, to Ke’e Beach, Tunnels Beach, and ‘Anini Beach. Poip’u Beach in the South was worth seeing but much more touristy. Lydgate was terrific for easy snorkeling and was really close to the Inn. The trip up to Waimea was long but worth the views.
The only thing that could’ve been better is had there been a washer/dryer (which we think they are installing). Next time, we would also probably stay in one of the other suites with better air circulation (because the Orchid Suite is like a half-basement with the walk-out lanai on one side but small, low to the ground windows on the other). This wasn’t really a problem though because we were pretty much out from 8am to 8pm daily and we’d turn the air on to sleep. We would definitely recommend this experience! Staying at Kauai Country Inn makes you feel like you’re in the home of long-time friends instead of in an overpriced cookie-cutter hotel.
Thanks to Martina and Mike!
Kari&Scott from NJ