My husband and I just returned from our first trip to Kauai and spent all 7 nights at the Waimea Plantation Cottages. We loved it. We stayed in a one bedroom ocean front. Every morning we drank coffee on the front porch looking out over the ocean. It was so peaceful. Yes the cottages are old, we knew that and it is part of the charm. Our cottage was clean, and my only complaint would be that the mattress was very hard... as for the brewing company, I ordered a sample platter of their beers and could not drink any of them. They might want to rethink the beer thing and concentrate on food and service, either that or learn to make good beer.. The plantation is beautiful, I have many postcard pictures. Listening to the ocean at night and feeling the breeze through the windows. I know I smiled the entire week... If you like the feel of a big resort, dont go.

We had previously visited the Waimea Plantation property, so at booking time, we requested a cottage in the lawn area.

We were booked for 7 nights - May 25 - May 31, 2008. Upon arrival on Sunday afternoon, the front desk people put us in cabin 84, the 3 bedroom closest to the Reception/Lobby building. (They supposedly upgraded us from a 2 to a 3 bedroom.) We knew the cottages were old and somewhat funky. What we did not know was that they turn on high-powered floodlights- affixed to the Reception/Lobbly building - all night long that lit up all 3 bedrooms of our cottage like a gas station! Since the cottages do not have air conditioning, we had to keep the windows open, and the floodlights kept us awake throughout the nights. The window coverings were very lightweight cotton partial window curtains. We tried hanging towels from the curtain rods, but couldn't cover the open window part or would have suffocated.

Our complaints to the front desk staff about the floodlights brought comments of "oh, that is always a problem." They said we could email the management about it when we got home. There were many other vacant cottages during our 7 nights there, and we wonder why they chose to insist that we be put in 84.

In addition, when we checked into our cottage, the garbage can and recycling bin at our cottage was full of previous guests' garbage and recycling. Finally, after our being there for 2 days, we had to call housekeeping and ask that it be emptied.

The charm of the beautiful grounds, the pleasant swimming pool, and the laid-back, non-touristy atmosphere of the Waimea Plantation property was greatly diminshed by the intrusive floodlights into the bedrooms.

We booked 5 nights in the cottages, after staring at the awesome pictures they have in the web site. It looked like colonial style cottage, with a spectacular blue ocean in the front and a paradise beach.

The fact is that what we found was something different:
- Our cottage (we were upgraded to a 3 bedroom) looked old, and just as if no maintenance had been done in the last years: key lockers and courtains were broken, and some moquito nets had holes.
- The cleaning was horrible. I even asked reception if we were suposed to wash the kitchen stuff. Some cutlery had rests of meals from previous guests.
- The beach was full of debris. You could not step on the sand.
- The ocean water (the first 200feet, at least) is brown. Note that the pictures only show ocean in the horizon, where it is blue. But the Waimea River (a.k.a the Red River) is next to that beach, and all the brown water mixes right there.
- There was an army of mosquitoes. Don't know if it is their fault, but the fact is that we didn't see so many of them anywhere else in the island.
- The area is not the best in the island. If you are looking for nice beaches, and nice restaurants, you'd better move to the south (Poipu) or north side (Hanalei Bay).

Apart from that, the place is quiet, the garden is very nice (with palm trees) and we enjoyed the barbeque for dinners.

We stayed three nights to attend a wedding, and it was amazing! We booked a one bedroom cottage but were upgraded to a two bedroom cottage. We were separated from the ocean by a lawn, and we could hear the surf breaking. The cottage we stayed in is called "Unit B", and it was secluded from many of the the other houses, so we felt as if we had the entire property to ourselves. The kitchen was large, and there was a separate eating area. It was a little retro, and could use a bit of updating, as could the bathrooms. We were in other cottages, and many of them have very modern kitchens and bathrooms. Although our cottage could have used a bit of modernization, it was immaculately clean.

The living room was also very spacious and had a dining area in front of the large sliding glass doors, which led to a large ocean facing deck. The bedrooms were huge, and there was a sitting area adjacent to the master, with a day bed and chairs - very cute. The mattress was wonderful, as were the pillows and linens - all of great quality (high threadcount, feather pillows, etc).

The wedding was hosted at the property, and it was amazing. They were married on the lawn facing the ocean, and it couldn't have been a more perfect setting.

We would definately recommend staying at the property; it's ideal for couples looking for peace and quiet. The beach in front of the property, however, is not ideal for recreation. It's murky because the nearby river empties into it, and sharks like murky water. Also, the surf is a bit rough. There are many wonderful beaches nearby, so this isn't really a problem, and the pool area is nice.