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Princeville Kauai

duke

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We are going to Princeville Kauai. Please advise on best activities AND best places to eat. We would love your favorites......THANKS!
 

sun starved Gayle

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This Hawaii restaurant thread started by marmite is helpful. Not all Kauai places mentioned are in the Princeville area.
 

KeithR

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Is it really true the pool bar is still shuttered? Also I’m reading there is no seated breakfast either. Disappointing,

We have reservations at Postcards and Bar Acuna for dinner in Hanalei.
 

geist1223

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Kauai: Remember there is only 1 two lane Hwy from north to south. Down south you have Waimea Canyon. To do this properly is about a day. Take a picnic lunch. Drive to the top. Resist the turn outs. Drive as far as you can and then hike past the top parking a bit. There are several View Points up there. Have your picnic lunch in the Park at the top. Then stop at all or most of the View Points on your way down. There is the Kauai Coffee Planation. There is zip lining in Koloa. There is an inner tube float down the old sugar cane canals in Lihue. There is Poipu Beach. There is the Alakai Swamp Trail. There are Cruises out of Hanapepe Bay to the Napali Cliffs and snorkeling. There is the Spouting Horn. There is the Mala'ulepu Trail that starts on the top of the Cliffs just north of Shipwreck's Beach. There is the Makauwahi Cave. Almost forgot about the light house - a National Park. You will need to make Online Reservations. Also a bird nesting area. Luau: some of the large Hotels have Luau. The two I would recommend are Kilohana just outside of Lihue or Smith Family by Kapa'a. Kilohana has the more traditional entertainment telling the Polynesian story through song and dance. Smith Family has greater diversity to honor the many people that have emigrated to the Islands. Remember Poi is not a dish by itself but to dip your Pork. There is Anini Beach. The town of Hanalei. The beach at Hanalei. To go to Ke'e Beach you need to go online and make a Reservation - either AM or PM. Kayaking up the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto and Secret Falls. It is about a mile hike to the falls. Sometimes the trail is very muddy. In Lihue there is a Costco. Cheapest gas on the Island by a lot. Great Fish Tacos at the Food Truck by Hanalei Pier or in the Food Truck area of the small Hanalei Shopping Center. Best Loco Moco is at the Food Shack on the side of the Sueoka's Market in Koloa. Jump off the Cliff just north of Shipwreck Beach and swim to Shipwreck Beach. Rum Distillery at Kilohana. But the Rum is cheaper at Costco.

The Pines Trail. The hike from the parking lot at the Pu'u O Kila Lookout to the Pihea Lookout is a moderate to strenuous hike at best, depending on weather. Steep downhill trail of rutted red dirt. Hiking shoes and trekking poles highly recommended! The views down over the Napali cliffs is amazing.

Wai Koa Loop Trail. Sleeping Giant Trail.
 

sjlola

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Give me some info on who is traveling and what activities you enjoy and I'll post some recommendations; we visit 2 times per year for the last 15 years. Know that there aren't very many restaurants on the north shore and most (other than Nanea at the Westin resort) are closed Sundays and Mondays. There is only one restaurant on the entire north shore that is truly oceanfront: Opakapaka at the Hanalei Colony Resort, about a 15 minute drive west of Princeville. Plenty of good dining, just not oceanfront (and very few with an ocean view).
 

duke

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Give me some info on who is traveling and what activities you enjoy and I'll post some recommendations; we visit 2 times per year for the last 15 years. Know that there aren't very many restaurants on the north shore and most (other than Nanea at the Westin resort) are closed Sundays and Mondays. There is only one restaurant on the entire north shore that is truly oceanfront: Opakapaka at the Hanalei Colony Resort, about a 15 minute drive west of Princeville. Plenty of good dining, just not oceanfront (and very few with an ocean view).
Thanks, we enjoy relaxing and dining. Dining can be easy, cheap, or ocean view. Appreciate you asking.
 

Ken555

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This audio guide series is excellent:



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

sjlola

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Thanks, we enjoy relaxing and dining. Dining can be easy, cheap, or ocean view. Appreciate you asking.
Only ocean view dining in Princeville would be Happy Talk Lounge at the Hanalei Bay Resort (sports bar with super cold draft beer and a pub menu; not open until 3) or 1Hotel Hanalei Bay at the end of Ka Haku Road (high-end, expensive hotel, but food and view are great). If you want cheap with a view, your best bet is to grab poke or sushi at Foodland market at the Princeville Center or bbq from Chicken in a Barrel at the Ching Young Center in Hanalei and take a picnic out to the beach at Hanalei pier for sunset; this is our favorite way to enjoy an ocean view sunset on the north shore! Dolphin is the first restaurant you'll see as you drive from Princeville to Hanalei. It's on the Hanalei River and offers both fresh fish and sushi. Reasonably priced, but not cheap (almost nothing on Kauai is cheap). Tahiti Nui in Hanalei hands down has the best Mai Tais and a varied menu; super casual. Other good options in Hanalei are BarAcuda (small plates, expensive but excellent), their sister restaurant Ama (ramen) and Postcards. Other than Opakapaka which I mentioned in my first reply, there are no restaurants west of Hanalei, just a general store with sandwiches and a coffee/juice bar in Wainiha. I can highly recommend making a reservation (only way you'll get a parking space) for Limahuli Gardens and preserve almost to the end of the highway right before Ke'e Beach. The gardens are magnificent and you hike up an additional couple hundred feet in elevation for an amazing ocean view. Another easy hike is the Wai Koa Loop Trail near Kilauea (enter the trail from the Kalihiwai dog park). 3 mile loop with a beautiful stone dam waterfall. Enjoy! There's no better place to relax on earth than Kauai's north shore.
 

zentraveler

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Is it really true the pool bar is still shuttered? Also I’m reading there is no seated breakfast either. Disappointing,
Yes. True for both. We have been there a couple of times recently. The pool bar has been closed since Covid, and no one seems to think it’s coming back. I think the no breakfast is fairly recent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that doesn’t come back either. Good excuse to go to the Kilauea bakery and in a pinch, the sundry store opens early and has coffee, pastries, and breakfast food.
 

tstiv1996

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Yes. True for both. We have been there a couple of times recently. The pool bar has been closed since Covid, and no one seems to think it’s coming back. I think the no breakfast is fairly recent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that doesn’t come back either. Good excuse to go to the Kilauea bakery and in a pinch, the sundry store opens early and has coffee, pastries, and breakfast food.
I second Kilauea Bakery... Breakfast Stromboli is a must
 

Ken555

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My favorite casual restaurant near Princeville is the Kilauea Fish Market. I could eat there every day and be happy.

 

daviator

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Yes. True for both. We have been there a couple of times recently. The pool bar has been closed since Covid, and no one seems to think it’s coming back. I think the no breakfast is fairly recent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that doesn’t come back either. Good excuse to go to the Kilauea bakery and in a pinch, the sundry store opens early and has coffee, pastries, and breakfast food.
MVC apparently decided that any amenity that doesn’t make them lots of money isn’t worth having, and apparently their contracts with the various HOAs don’t require them to operate the restaurants and bars. They do so only if they want to, and in several cases across the portfolio, they don’t want to any more.

It's too bad the HOA contracts don’t require some level of basic resort services that includes things like the pool bar, but apparently they don’t (and we probably aren’t privy to the terms of those agreements.)

If I were a direct owner at WPORV, I’d be emailing the HOA board members regularly to complain about the F&B cutbacks.
 

zentraveler

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MVC apparently decided that any amenity that doesn’t make them lots of money isn’t worth having, and apparently their contracts with the various HOAs don’t require them to operate the restaurants and bars. They do so only if they want to, and in several cases across the portfolio, they don’t want to any more.

It's too bad the HOA contracts don’t require some level of basic resort services that includes things like the pool bar, but apparently they don’t (and we probably aren’t privy to the terms of those agreements.)

If I were a direct owner at WPORV, I’d be emailing the HOA board members regularly to complain about the F&B cutbacks.
To be honest, I can see why they don’t reopen the pool bar. The pool never seems to be packed and when I’m there, at various times of the day, And it’s very easy to walk into the bar and get something to take back to your chair with you. They may even have people walking around, I’m not sure about that. This isn’t a swim up bar remind you. Depending on where you are sitting, it could take longer to walk over there than right into the restaurant. A lot of people are just drinking less And drinks for the part area are not hard to come by.

Sure, it would be great to have, but at the expense of many other things that the resort could spend money on (like staff at the front desk at busy times, housekeeping for on time or early check-in, more music for the afternoon and dinner times, etc.)

it seems to be a matter of priorities, and then there’s the matter of finding staff in that area and then Hawaii in general. That seems to be the issue for a lot of the resorts. May also relate to the breakfast issue as well.
 

Ken555

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Years ago they also served food by the pool bar. I remember when it was crowded. Last time I was there it was like a ghost town, other than the sports event one day where they SOLD SEATS BY THE POOL BAR.
 

KeithR

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We were told that the entire restaurant is being renovated and a large bar will be where the divider to the inside is now. Labor is still a significant issue on the north side due to affordable housing shortage as evidenced by restaurants still only being open 5 days a week. Heard at properties like the Grand Hyatt down south there aren’t issues but they have an aging labor pool and will have issues eventually.

At the Maui properties there wasn’t any issue last year and the bar was packed every day until close.
 

Hindsite

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It's too bad the HOA contracts don’t require some level of basic resort services that includes things like the pool bar, but apparently they don’t (and we probably aren’t privy to the terms of those agreements.)
If the HOA "owned" F&B and marketplace and Spa facilities then the costs would be in the maint fees. I'm sure the management company would love to cream off another 10-15% for that, and that owners would not appreciate the cost increase. I'm happy they aren't included as I bought self catering accomodation on purpose and don't generally use on-site food outlets. Others do use them so its great to have the choice as long as they cover their costs.

We've seen some resorts drop the affiliation agreements with adjacent hotels as owners didn't want to pay the fee t the hotel for the access.

Raising it with the HOA if one route, but the better route is via the guest satisfaction survey as that impacts pay for the management team.
 
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