We upgraded to a 3rd floor ocean front room, and were delighted listening/watching the waves crash against the shore 60' away.
The rooms are small, but no wasted space, and tastefully decorated.
We enjoyed the central location next to marketplace and Eggberts for
breakfast. Also The Fish Hut for great Ono fish dinner. Observations:
1. The A/C (Fujitsu) was top notch and quiet.
2. The bed, while comfortable, needs fitted bottom sheet as
the regular sheet they use wrinkles easily upon contact.
3. The hotel needs to provide extra kona coffee instead of charging
patrons $1.75 for a second package.
4. The pool is rather small and crowded during daytime. Trying
using it at sunrise when noone is around.
5. The birds are friendly and will enjoy eating food from your hand,
after you build their trust.
6. The oc frt units are selling for $460k, which is outrageous for
a 340 sq ft. efficiency.
7. The beach out front is posted with warning signs and is not a
good swimming beach. Go north to Tunnels for great snorkeling
or Kealia Beach for good surfing/boogie boarding.
Conclusion: a cool place to stay as a rental. Clean rooms and
helpful staff. A good value for your money. Feel free to write
with comments or questions.

We had a truly lovely stay at the Islander on the Beach. Its location is perfect for visiting all parts of the island, or just relaxing on their beautiful beach. Staff were extremely friendly, helpful, and accomodating.

We paid a similar price for a dump of a place on Maui, making us appreciate this hotel even more. Definitely go for the partial ocean view or ocean view room. Our 'partial' view was perfect, and obstructed only by a palm tree so I would recommend that!

Overall, you can't go wrong here.

My wife and I stayed at the ocean front room for one wonderful week.
The sunrise on the beach is magnificent! The Islander is conveniently located with the Coconut Marketplace within a short walking disitance. There were variety of shops, from fresh fruit stand, shave ice and eateries.
The Safeway Supermarket, ABC Stores and Chopsticks (Chinese Fast Food) were only 5 mins drive. Kauai Walmart and Hilo Hattie are 10 mins drive.
The Islander is in a prime location. We can drove to Hanalei in the morning, back for lunch and drove to Poipu Beach in the afternoon. We love everything about this hotel. Will definitely be back 2006!

The hotel just got renovated and is being sold as condos for over $200K. I had a room in the first floor with a partial ocean view. It was very nice. I could open the patio door and enjoy my morning coffee sitting in my patio table viewing the ocean. It is very clean and conveniently located. Its close to the airport and you can choose to drive either to the north or south shore. The hotel is located right behind the Coconut Plantation. It was a very pleasant hotel and I would definitely stay there again.