Kauai Shores Hotel Vacations

We stayed here for 4 days to relax on our Hawaii tour. Unfortunately the weather was rainy, but you can use the pool even when it rains

The hotel is simple but with a sophisticated touch. They are renovating the wings. Our suite is spacious and the bed is very comfortable. We had a storm the night we arrived, part of the ceiling on our terrace was wet by the rain and made a hole. The staff offered us an upgrade to change rooms. But we were already enjoying our room and were grateful. We stay to ourselves. There are bikes for guests and yoga. We were a bit unlucky as the weather was not good during our stay. Parking is a little tight but nothing that can't be solved with a little care. The swimming pool, "hot tub" in front and the foot in the sand are a plus. We like it.

Big bed, lots of room to move around. Right on the beach. Close to shopping and restaurants. Loved it.

Absolutely beautiful hotel and a wonderful staff! Stayed here for 8 nights on our honeymoon and it was amazing!! The room was spacious and comfortable. We were a minute and a half walk to the beach. We loved the hot tub and fire pits in the evening. This is a trip that my husband and I will remember for the rest of our lives! The location of this hotel is great as well because it is on the drier side of the island and only a 15-20 minute drive to Lihue which is the main town on the island. We also loved that we could walk to the little shopping market next door and enjoy a variety of restaurants, ice cream shops as well as little boutique like shops with various goods.

Really enjoyed our stay here! The property is well maintained and very cute. Coconut Marketplace is next door which we found to be very convenient!

Amazing view

Right on the beach
Beautiful view.

Excellent experience at this property.
It's much prettier than in the pictures - it's beachfront with a great little restaurant called Lava Lava. The renovated rooms are well designed and the housekeeping staff was excellent - our room was immaculate each day.
The pools aren't big but they were never crowded. There was a large hot tub as well. Hotel stays include daily yoga each morning and free use of bikes. The location is next to coconut marketplace, which has restaurants and a nicely stocked market. The hotel is near the airport and about an hour from the best destinations on BOTH the north and south coasts.
Parking at the hotel is a bit of a pain, but overall we could not have been happier with our stay. HIGHLY recommend, especially when booked through Costco.

LOVED IT! The new room design is so clever, with cool under-bed storage, attractive mural on wall and excellent shower. We also love the pool, hot tub, beach and lawn games. Live music one evening was a nice touch. And the staff were great. BONUS: Coconut Plaza next door has so many nice shops, cafes, restaurants and full-service grocery store by ABC.

Room was clean, bed was comfortable, and nice lanai. Lava Lava was delicious and the ambiance was beautiful overlooking the Pacific. The only complaint, like many others have said, is the parking. I would suggest reserving all the parking spots for hotel guests, and make the patrons for Lava Lava only use the free valet service. With this said, we would definitely stay here again.

First things first, I paid for an ocean view room, and definitely didn’t get that. I mean..sure, you could lean out off the balcony and look around the corner and see the ocean, but definitely not an ocean view “room”. In all fairness to the staff, they maybe have two ocean reviews in the entire complex.

One front desk gal was super sweet and helpful. There were two others working the desk that seemed unfriendly and catty, and not checking anyone in while they other gal did all the work.

Nice location overall, conveniently close to the beach and airport. Nice pool and hot tub and restaurant.

It is also worth noting that the restaurant/bar has live music well into the night, so if you have a baby or toddler, it may be wise to ask for a room far from the restaurant.

We loved it here! Never felt so comfortable in a Hotel before. Great location, nice people, awesome food, really good cocktails, right by the beach, hot tub for colder days... didn't wanna leave and would love to come back one day!

Loved staying here and Id recommend to anyone visiting! The rooms were spacious, with a comfy bed, cute decor, good water pressure and nice toiletries provided. Our garden view balcony was super private with a rock wall and plants separating us from the parking lot.
The beach was a 1 minute walk from our room, and it had a rock protected area that was perfect for swimming without big waves. They also provided beach towels.
We loved using their complimentary cruiser bikes to get around (no brakes though). And the boardwalk by the ocean was really fun to explore with them. There are a few trails that can be biked to or walked to. We didn't have a car, but appreciated they had free parking if we did get one.
The fire pits, hot tub, and pool were well maintained and we enjoyed them while listening to live music from the beach club.

7 nights in a one king room:

Pros:

CLEAN! The housekeeping staff are exceptional. The room was clean and well stocked all week.

The AC and ceiling fan are quite strong and welcomed. Good water pressure, modern bathroom. The bed was very comfy with lots of pillows.

Location. On the beach with lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. Free bike rentals.

Cons:

Our room location on the property. We were right next to the maintenance dept, so we had lots of noise starting at 7am. People talking, doors shutting, carts coming and going, and equipment that would shake the walls. Our morning coffee was waving to the guys coming and going. We were offered a switch but it came with hours without a room and a room nearby so we were skeptical the problem would be solved. Room 190 should not be a hotel room or they need to move the workers. They were all very nice guys and just doing their jobs, so this is on hotel admin and planning.

Parking can be a pain. Plan to return to the hotel early and do not rent a SUV. The valet guys were great and helpful.

The bar and restaurant: overpriced and okay food. There are plenty of great places nearby, so skip the hotel restaurant.

If we were in a room away from the maintenance dept, I would rate 4 stars.

HOTEL:
1. The parking situation is awful. Something needs to be done about it. We felt like prisoners at this resort, reluctant to go on adventures, for fear of not being able to find parking when we got back, to the point that we considered ending our vacation early or going to another resort. The spaces are far too small for most rental cars and very few are going to trust a rental car to a valet service. This put a huge damper on our vacation and we seriously regret choosing Kauai Shores and will not be recommending it to any of our friends. We saw a lot of cars dinged and dented from people trying to get in and out of spaces, or even getting out of their cars once in a space. Do better for your guests. You cannot call your destination a relaxing getaway if guests are constantly living in fear for their vehicles or even if they'll have someplace to park when they get back from an excursion.
2. The laundry room needs an immediate update. Three machines for the entire resort is not enough and we spend a huge portion of one of our days just waiting for a machine. When we finally got one, 2 drying cycles and our clothes were still wet, only to find out that machine should've been marked out of order. The housekeeping staff ended up taking our clothes to their dryer to finally get it finished (huge kudos to the housekeeping staff!).
3. When we went to book our room, there was no way to choose between a single and two beds. When we called, they said that they could not guarantee a choice. The only way to guarantee 2 beds was upgrading to a kitchenette, which was $100 more per night. You know what types of beds you have, you know which rooms have them. There should be a separate booking option for single bed and 2 beds, like other hotels do.
4. The bathroom door, is opaque glass, so if you plan on going to the bathroom at night, and want to turn on the light, it's going to wake up your partner. Plus, if you're shy, you can see shapes and shadows through the door. Why they thought this was a good idea is beyond me.
5. The only place to sit comfortably in the room was one lone desk chair. The seating at the table consisted of ottoman squares, with no back rests.
RESTAURANT:
1. While we were there, they went from menu service to QR code service partway through our stay, which told us, yep, the prices went up. They did provide paper menus if you ask, though.
2. If you are diabetic, this is not the place for you. They do not provide sugar free syrup for breakfast, and their sugar free soda machine kept breaking down.
3. For the most part, servers did not share the Aloha spirit. Only one server seemed to actually enjoy being there and engage with the customers. The rest basically slapped down a menu, took the order, and handed you a check, without checking partway through if you needed a drink refilled.
4. We did enjoy the live music offered, but the noise from the bar often overshadowed it entirely.

Look elsewhere if you want a relaxing stay.

Great location for Smiths Luau and easy food options in the adjacent plaza just a few steps away. Economical option- room was comfortable enough but not a place to stay besides sleeping. Two stars removed because the parking is atrocious- spots are impossibly narrow and the clientele park stupidly taking multiple spots. I can’t get too mad because the price is low but the stress of parking here was the worst I’ve experienced.

Everything is absolutely amazing. Aloha
I go every year
They are family niw.

We have stayed here now 5 times.! Love this spot. I was presently surprised as we entered the room and it was remodeled- their designer nailed it! Very well appointed and feels twice as roomy! Excellent storage under the bed too!! Ate at lava lava and of course had a great meal for our first night in paradise!! Off to see the sunrise from the hotel beach-ALOHA!!

The location is amazing. The grounds are beachfront and beautifully kept. The attached Lava Lava club has great food and is beachfront. I loved having a laundry room available for a small cost. The room had cute decor and was clean. The bed offered no support and needs to be replaced. The bathroom also needs remodeling. The staff was friendly and helpful.

Overall this is a decent hotel. The rooms are clean, the staff is friendly and helpful, and the hotel is located near a shopping center which is convenient and near the beach which is beautiful. However, we paid extra for a kitchenette room which was definitely overpriced for the minimal amenities offered. I've stayed in many kitchenette rooms and this room offered way less functionality than would be typical. There is a microwave and toaster however there is no stove and no oven. I don't always expect an oven but I've never had a kitchenette without a stove. This really limited the functionality of the kitchenette for us and limited what we could make in our room. There also was only a tiny sliver of counter space between the sink and refrigerator for food prep. There also are no grills offered on the grounds like the other nearby resorts have, so we couldn't take food outside to cook either.
Another bummer is that the coffee machine in the room is a Keurig instead of a mini coffee pot, so even though there are so many amazing coffees roasted in Hawaii we couldn't enjoy any of them during our stay because the local roasteries offer beans and grounds, not Keurig pods, with the exception of the provided coffee in the Keurig pods. They also only give regular coffee unfortunately, no decaf, so I ended up just making a watered down coffee for myself by running the pod a second time after making the first cup for my husband as I have to watch my caffeine intake.
One other notable inconvenience is that the parking lot was an absolute nightmare. The lines are painted so close together that you will need to crawl out of the car through your trunk after parking if you rent anything bigger than a compact car. They are painted so close that many people just park on a line and take up 2 spaces, so the spaces run out every night. I genuinely think if they had just painted the lines at a normal size people would actually be able to park normally and there would be more parking spaces available because people wouldn't need to waste space by taking up 2 spaces.