# First, Second, Third Choice in Princeville or Kapaa



## Conan (Sep 28, 2007)

I'm planning for two weeks in Kauai (first time visit, next September).
One of the weeks will be Lawai Beach Resort (for the snorkeling), which I've already reserved in RCI Weeks.
The other will be in one of the Princeville or possibly Kapaa locations, depending on availability in RCI Points.

What should be my order of preference for RCI Points in Princeville?  That would be among

Makai Club at Princeville
Pahio at Ka'Eo Kai
Makai Club Cottages
Pahio at the Shearwater
Pahio at Bali Hai

Should I be looking at Kapaa instead of Princeville?  The choices there are
Vac. Int. Pono Kai
Vac. Int. Kapaa Shore
Pacific Fantasy
Pono Kai Resort
Shell Vac. at Kauai Club at the Beachboy
Aloha Beach Resort
Islander on the Beach

Thanks!


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## Kauai Kid (Sep 28, 2007)

Since you have a whole year check out the various trip reports to the resorts you are considering to get the best overall feel.  Tug reviews are pretty accurate and fortunately there is some disagreement of rankings but not much.
Tug ratings will certainly have some meaning.

Kapaa is not my favorite area of Kauai but that's just me.  Too much rush hour traffic and congestion. 

Be sure and try Joe's on the Green while you are in the Poipu area.  Great place to eat.

Sterling, 8 days


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## JeffW (Sep 28, 2007)

We stayed at Pono Kai a few years ago, we thought it was nice.  Central location on the island made it easy to get anywhere.

This year (2 weeks from now, actually), we'll be staying at Shearwater in Princeville.  I would have preferred Kappa/Lihue for location, but we blind-booked (reserved FF tickets before having a timeshare), and Shearwater was the first resort that came up that matched our travel days.  It's #3 on the TUG Kauai review (behind 2 Marriotts), so I figure it can't be bad.  Plus, I'm sure the North, Central (East), and Southern part of Kauai are very different, so it will be interesting to see what it's like to stay up North.

I think just based on location, since you already have a resort in the South confirmed, I'd try to stay up North.  I'm looking at an activity in the South (sugar plantation tour), and mapquest says it's over 90min from Princeville.  I'm not sure I want to drive that much for it (whereas if I was in Kappa, I'm it wouldn't be a problem).  If you have one week in the North, and one in the South, then nothing will be more than about 30-40 minutes away from you.

Jeff


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## aliikai2 (Sep 28, 2007)

*It depends upon a couple of things*

If you need A/C in Hawaii ( September will be in the high 80's to low 90's with high humidity)

Then the VI Pono Kai, or the Pono Kai have A/C, as does the Shell Resort.

The Aloha and the Islander, I believe are all hotel/studio units.

 The Islander units are very small, like 300 sq ft with a micro wave and a mini fridge.
The Aloha has a/c but no kitchen at all. 

Our favorite resort for the fall is the Pono Kai. 

 We own 3 annual 2 bedrooms there and use them almost every year. 

The location is great, so folks think the traffic is a problem, but even if you stay elsewhere, you still need to travel through the area and deal with the minor congestion. 

You can walk to Safeway, Beezers, and a handful of other food stores and restaurants.

Good luck on your search. Greg


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## Conan (Sep 28, 2007)

Kauai Kid said:


> Since you have a whole year check out the various trip reports to the resorts you are considering ....



Being a dyed-in-the-wool Tugger, I'll be making the commitment when the 10-month reservation period opens in RCI points, about a month from now.


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## DeniseM (Sep 28, 2007)

My first two Kapa'a/mid-island area choices are Kauai Beach Villas, and Kauai Coast Resort at the Beach Boy (Shell.)  We are not Princeville fans, because we like dryer/warmer weather - but it is gorgeous and green up there.  Lawai Beach is excellent for snorkeling!


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## mepiccolo (Oct 1, 2007)

We've only been to Kauai once but we own at Shell VC Beach Boy in Kapaa.  We absolutely loved the resort and the location (see our detailed review here on Tug).  Being as it was our first time on Kauai we traveled 2 days to the south and 2 days to the north and each way was only 30 to 40 minutes.  We're from crowded Southern California so it's hard for us to say that there's a lot of traffic in Kapaa being that we're used to 10x as much traffic than that on a daily basis.  There were plenty of restaurants, grocery stores and it's not too far to the airport (about 10 minute drive) so everything just seemed so convenient.  We went in May and absolutely loved Princeville, weren't that impressed with Poipu but I think its because that is very dry and desert-like compared to Princeville (and again, we live in dry, hot desert so it felt too much like a Southern California beach).  By comparison Princeville looked like the Kauai we dreamed about.  I should say, however, that we had excellent weather the whole week we were there in May so maybe my opinion wouldn't be so partial if it had been raining the whole time in Princeville and it had been sunny in Poipu.  But because people often say that if it's raining on one end of the island to go to the other end and you'll find sun, I would say that being in Kapaa puts you not too far from a sunny day in either direction.  The Beach Boy is also only a 5 minute drive to Lydgate which was our favorite beach.  Being that we've only stayed at the Beach Boy in Kauai we're certainly not experts but just wanted to pipe in that the resort units are beautiful, clean, so close to the ocean you can throw a rock into the water, and it has the most delicious restaurant on site that we ate at on all of Kauai.


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## Conan (Nov 2, 2007)

rklein001 said:


> Being a dyed-in-the-wool Tugger, I'll be making the commitment when the 10-month reservation period opens in RCI points, about a month from now.



I've made my bookings.  I decided my first choice was Shearwater.  It wasn't available the first night I needed, but starting the second night it was.

So I've booked the first night at Pahio at Kauai Beach (17,600 RCI points and a $39 fee) and then five nights at Pahio Shearwater (55,800 RCI points and a $99 fee).  

After that we switch to Lawai Beach Resort which I'd traded into with RCI Weeks.


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## Kauai Kid (Nov 2, 2007)

When at Lawai Resort the only view you will have is toward the ocean because the view toward the mountains is blocked by a 20 foot high black plastic tarp miles long used for dust containment. 

That negative posted the positive is there were more snorklers in the beach right across from Lawai Resort than I've ever seen.
 
Sterling


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## reddiablosv (Nov 2, 2007)

*Lots of Choices.*

IMHO, you have done very well in your selection.  I know you will not be disappointed in the Shearwater.   As I see it, your only chance of major disappointment will be your stay at the Lawai Beach Resort. While 95% of their units are great, exchangers stand a good chance of being placed in the ground floor Coral building units next to the parking lot.  These units lack privacy, some lack carpets, badly need updateing and all have no view.   It baffles me that the HOA of this otherwise fine TS resort continues to place exchangers in these substandard units!  I believe the units are so poor and below the standard of the other units in the resort that the resort should delete them from their timeshare inventory. In the meantime, the RCI Directory should have an asterick next to the Lawaii Beach Resort listing. It should indicate that exchangers should not expect to be placed in the oceanview units  shown in photos or other units reserved for owners of the resort.  Ben


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## Conan (Nov 3, 2007)

I called RCI with a question about my reservation, and the agent told me the one night at Kauai Beach Resort incurs a housekeeping fee (for stays shorter than a full week) of $119.  That's in addition to the state tax and the exchange fee.

So I switched the one night reservation I made yesterday, from KBR to Pono Kai.  Their one-night housekeeping fee is $22 (for a 1-BR which is what was available).


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