We actually stayed in the Outrigger units, which are on the same grounds.

We found the Kiahuna Plantation quite nice, with an excellent location at Poipu Beach. Monk seals would come up to rest on the beaches just about every day, you could see whales from shore, and snorkeling was good. For a layout of the grounds and a description see:
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The living units run along the long side of the buildings with the front door facing the perimeter of the property and the lanai on the opposite side, usually facing toward the ocean. The front door opens to a small hallway which opens to the bedroom and bathroom on either side. The hallway ends at the living/eating area. There is a sliding glass door to the lanai. Having no air conditioning was not a problem in early Feb, as the evenings were comfortably cool. Ventilation was thru wood jalousies. We kept the bedroom jalousies closed due to the outside lights at night, the fishbowl feeling when it was open, and the construction noise from next door. Our unit was well equipped - from microwave and dishwasher to toaster and blender. The laundry facility for the complex is across the parking lot from Unit 10.

Outrigger classifies the units as Garden View (Units 39-42), Royal Garden View (Units 35-38, 15-19, 8-11, 21, and 23), Partial Ocean View (Units 32, 33, 22, 12, and a few first floor units on 26, 16-18), Ocean View (Units 34, 24-29, 20, 13, 14, 6, 7), and Oceanfront (Units 30, 31), according to how the lanai faces. See the Oct 11, 2006 management description of what the ocean view options mean. Castle manages units 1-5.

The only significant negatives we were aware of came from off the property. As noted in other reviews, some evenings the Sheraton luaus can affect some West side units, and noise from the road can affect units on the North side of the property, especially given the openness of the units. To the East, the Poipu Beach Hotel is under reconstruction (It was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki). Units on the East perimeter can get quite a lot of noise from the construction activity during work hours (9 – 5:30 Mon – Sat, with activity starting as early as 6AM, but reasonably quiet until 9AM). We moved in Saturday night and had a quiet Sunday before being hit by the racket on Monday morning. The management was offering to move people to units at the back of the complex and some of our neighbors did that. I walked back of Unit 17 and noticed that the construction noise was less, but now there was road noise. Since the construction noise ended at 5:30 and the road noise was 24/7 we opted to stay where we were and be elsewhere during workhours. The construction noise could be no problem or a vacation nightmare, depending on whether you want to spend your days out and about or relaxing on your lanai.

We planned this trip for over a year. We have been to the Kiahuna Plantation before (this was our fourth visit) and had always booked through Outrigger. We decided to go through Castle this time due to their beachfront locations, big mistake. We closely reviewed the unit interiors on their website as well. We were placed in unit 20 which was like stepping into a basement recroom from 1960. The unit bore no resemblence to anything on Castle's website. It was musty, filthy, with cabinet doors falling off kitchen cabinets, stained bedding, unraveling furniture, pilled carpeting and bugs. When we contacted Castle (which took 2 days of phone calls), we discovered that our unit was scheduled for renovation after our visit. They stated that they had no other available units. They offered us 2 nights refund which we later found they were offering through Orbitz on a stay 4 nights get the 5th night free deal. We were stuck for 2 weeks in this dump, I couldn't wait to get home and de-louse. Please don't get stuck like we did!

My view of our February 2006 stay was probably colored a bit by the fact it rained 5 out of 7 days we were on Kauai. The location itself was nice, there was a small beach, and we were across the street from a lovely little shopping complex. We enjoyed both Roy's and Puka Dog. You must try them both! Our room was booked as 'ocean view' and from our balcony, there was sight of the water. It hardly compares to other ocean views we encountered on Maui or Oahu. The unit had not been recently remodeled, but was clean. Our kitchen was functional. The bathroom was VERY basic. The lack of AC was not an issue in February, but I can imagine it might be a bit hot later in the year. If we had more favorable weather, I might have even more positive things to say about the complex. The check-in was easy. The people were pleasant. We got a good rate for booking long in advance. We didn't hate it, but were not blown away.

A little more than we expected for the price. Poipu beach is fairly developed area with resorts ... and all amenities. With a baby, couldn't complain. Rooms had fully functioning kitchens and ocean bungalows very close to the beach. Not the most memorable of locations, but good proximity to some amazing sites and experiences (outside of the resort). And that's what it is all about...