Review: Sheraton Kauai Resort

Sheraton Kauai Resort is located in a prime position of Poipu Beach on the South Shore of Kauai . As Kauai tends to get a bit more rain than the other Hawaiian Islands, Poipu Beach is your best bet for avoiding rain. In fact, it’s not often I hear Poipu without the mention that it’s sunny.

Sheraton Kauai Resort was one of the first hotels to be built at Poipu Beach, and oh boy, did they get a prime location, so close to the ocean, you could toss a stone into it from your balcony/lanai. The Ocean and Beach wings offer tremendous ocean views that we so enjoyed every spare moment we had.

Rooms
Sheraton Kauai Resort is divided into three wings and a common area that includes the lobby, shops and restaurants. I would recommend that you request either the Ocean Wing or Beach Wing when you make your reservation as they are on the ocean side of the road. We stayed in deluxe ocean front room in the Ocean Wing. See this link for a property overview.

The rooms and lanais (balconies) were adequately sized. We never felt cramped or crowded. The bath had double sinks and plenty of room to store our toiletries. One unique room feature we particularly liked is that we could access the closet from both the bathroom and the bedroom.

The bed was comfortable and the air conditioner was quiet. So, we definitely slept well while staying at the Sheraton Kauai Resort.

I believe the rooms were remodeled a few years ago, so the decor was attractive and welcoming. I would describe it as contemporary plantation. It had enough of a “island-feel” too it without going overboard. To see rooms and for virtual room tours, see this link.

The room included these conveniences:

Amenities
The Sheraton Kauai Resort offers just about anything you would think you’d need and want in a Hawaiian resort. Here’s a quick rundown of what we enjoyed and/or noticed:

• Ocean front Mai Tai reception with Hawaiian entertainment and hula dancing every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. The entertainment and one Mai Tai are free-ish (included in the daily resort fee) for resort guests.
• An impressive array of cultural and ocean activities are offered at the resort. We had a chance to take ukulele lessons which was really fun. (Watch for an upcoming post on that.) I really wish we could have taken their guided tour of the tide pools. See this link for their event calendar to get an idea of all the resort has to offer. Many activities are included as part of the resort fee, though some do require an additional nominal fee.
• Onsite ocean view restaurants. We enjoyed breakfasts at Shells. For lunch, we liked sitting under and umbrella by The Oasis Bar & Grill. There, I was quite fond of their non-alcoholic drink, the Lilikoi Treat which was a tasty mix of passion fruit, mango, and pink lemonade. I don’t know if we stopped in at The Oasis Bar & Grill at a bad time, but the service was very slow and a bit unfriendly. While we enjoyed the food, drinks and setting, the service was not as pleasant.
• Though valet parking is available if you need or desire it, we found the free-ish (included in the daily resort fee) self-parking to be plenty close enough to the resort rooms. This is one of those places where, I’d feel super lazy if I didn’t self park. The parking lot was that close to the rooms.
• Ocean front exercise room. Um, we saw this, but were too busy either eating or playing to actually use it. Hey! Cut us some slack, we were on vacation. 😉
• On site spa. We didn’t have a chance to even take a peek at the spa, but it was good to know that we could get a relaxing massage to de-stress us from all the epic eating and playing we were doing. 😉
• Two on-site pools. We only saw one of the pools and it had a fun looking slide.
• Wedding services are offered on site. We got to see a set up before a wedding. (See the below photo.) Then from our lanai (balcony) we could see some of the ceremony. What a gorgeous place to get married!

Final Thoughts

• Guests are required to pay a $20.83 (tax inclusive) daily resort fee. The resort fee includes these amenities. I am not a fan of resort fees, but that’s the unfortunate norm for 3 and 4-star Hawaii hotels these days. However, you do get a lot for your money at Sheraton Kauai Resort.
• Overall, we had a pleasant stay and would be happy to return there again someday.
• This review is based on our stay in May 2010.

In an effort to be transparent, I’d like to make you aware that my stay at the Sheraton Kauai Resort was arranged by the Poipu Resort Beach Association. As always, you can trust that the advice I share on Go Visit Hawaii is the same as what I would give to by friends and family.