Last month my husband and I spent 16 nights in the Hawaiin islands. We were very excited to visit Kauai for the first time. We stayed our first night at the Hanalei Bay Resort. I was thankful that it was only one night. The location is great. Princeville is beautiful. However, our room was disgusting. Upon check-in the staff was receptive but not overly helpful. We were told to wait in the car for bell service to our room since it wasn’t easy to find. After a lengthy wait, we decided to find the room on our own. We carried our own luggage past the stinky dumpsters where we spotted the bell man smoking with his friends at the maintenance building. When we finally arrived in our room we were very disappointed in the cleanliness and view. We paid a little extra for a mountain view, but it should have been the tree view. We thought we could have drinks and enjoy the sunset at the Hotel’s Lounge, we read great reviews about it. However, the entire lounge was closed to the public for private parties the entire week. Overall, we recommend staying elsewhere.

HBR is on the North shore of Kauai, which is the least developed area on the island. We loved the slow pace and beautiful scenery. It was easy driving distance to a whole range of fabulous beaches and some great hiking. The nearby town of Hanalei is cute and friendly, with everything you need on vacation from restaurants to juice stands to surf and coffeee shops. Groceries are expensive, but staying in a condo at HBR and cooking some meals rather than eating out can save a lot of money. Driving down to the more populated area and the airport takes about 45 minutes.

The property itself is very nice, but not fancy. You need to know if that's what you're looking for. We really enjoyed it, but if you're looking for a resort with all the amenities, this may not be your place. The grounds were beautiful and well-maintained, but there is minimal staff and ameneties (e.g., you can't order drinks at the pool).

We stayed in unit 9123 and had a beautiful view of Hanelei Bay. We rented a privately owned unit, which other Trip Advisor users had recomended, and I'd definitely agree. Our unit's owners live there three months of every year themselves, so the condo was in very good condition. It had a recently renovated and upgraded kitchen and bathroom, some beach chairs and a cooler we could use on our many trips to the beach, and helpful guidebooks to borrow during our stay.

All in all, I'll definitely go back!

After lots of online research and reading travel reviews for our trip to Kauai, we booked room 4222 at the Hanalei Bay Resort directly through the owner, Joan Bettencourt, who owns both 4222 and the adjoining 4221. Info on her units are available on the following websites:

http://www.summitpacificinc.com/4222.html
http://www.vrbo.com/136314

We just returned from our trip, and were not in the least bit disappointed - the condo was everything we'd hoped for and more! First of all, the resort is very nice and well-located in the Princeville resort area on the north shore with sweeping views of gorgeous Hanalei Bay and Bali Hai. It's not far from beautiful beaches, and is close to shopping and dining in Princeville and Hanelei. The resort staff was very friendly, the grounds are very clean - so lush and pretty, and there's a beautiful lagoon-style pool, although sadly we were so busy out and about that we never used it - so much to see and do on the island. The resort has a nice little shared beach with the Princeville hotel, but it's a bit of a walk down to the beach and all uphill on the way back - you can call for a cart shuttle to pick you up from the beach. We opted to drive to some of the other beaches in the area - we loved Ke'e, Tunnels and Anini.

Joan's unit is really beautiful. It's a short walk to and from the parking area, but the resort has carts to shuttle you around if the walk is a problem. The view from Joan's condo and lanai is amazing - you just can't believe your eyes when you wake up each morning and see the bay and mountains in front of you. The furnishings are very comfortable and stylish, and she has everything stocked that you could possibly need including beach chairs, snorkle gear, coolers, towels, boogie boards, binoculars, tennis rackets and balls, beach toys, etc. It was also nice to have air conditioning in the living room because it was a little humid while we were there and many condos in Kauai don't have it. Joan is also a delight to work with and provided lots of great information on the island.

Overall we had an excellent experience and can't wait to return.

This is our third time staying in unit 7307/08 through www.alohacondos.com. We love this condo with lanais overlooking Bali Hi and the bay. The place is furnished very nicely and the kitchen is excellently equiped. We'll be booking again I'm sure!