Kacee

What time of year? In the winter, the weather is much more likely to be good in the south (Poipu/Koloa Landing) than the north (Princeville). OTOH, the best beaches are (IMO) on the north shore.

DELee

1. You highlight "Will be spending a lot of time hiking": Where will you be hiking? Kauai has multiple hiking spots and some of them are at antipodes of the island's highway system - which would add up to an hour (or more) each way driving to/from your hotel to the trailhead(s) depending on which hotel you pick.

2. You also highlight "Will be spending a lot of time ...at the pool / beach. Easy beach access is important": Each of the properties you've identified have considerably different pools and/or some/no/lots of immediate beach access. Are you planning to access the property's "beach" or drive/hike to beaches? As an example Koloa Landings has multiple pools and a quick path to the ocean but no beach. Marriott Kauai Beach Club has a large pool and some beach but both may be fairly packed. Are you going to sit at the beach, swim, kayak, windsurf, etc. - any primary reason to be at a/the beach?

3. You state: "Only gold, so the quality of the breakfast doesn't matter to me." Are you planning to buy and prepare food so a small kitchen is important or are you planning to purchase food on the go or even purchase what a property has to offer whether for breakfast or other meals?

4. Finally, is this trip by yourself or with others who'll want other things to do on the island?

David

sgan317

End of October, fingers crossed

sgan317

Hi David,

Thanks for the questions.

1. Not really sure on where I will be hiking, im anticipating doing a few 2-3 hour moderate hikes, I haven't done the research on where those exist on the island yet, potentially a central location could make more sense?
2. Kayaking, Snorkeling, and Surfing for beach activities
3. Small kitchen isn't important, will probably do something grab and go in the morning and most other meals offsite
4. Trip is with a buddy who only wants to do these activities

beachfan

Without saying what month you are planning on going, impossible to give decent advice.

If it's not the rainy season, easy answer, Westin Princeville is the only choice on the north shore and north shore is the prettiest, and has the best beaches. Hiking is good as well.

If going during rainy season (which in my experience is November to mid May), then something on the south shore would be better. I would choose the Hyatt over the Starwood choices, but perhaps others have stayed at the Bonvoy properties.

October is not rainy on the north shore, but often windy. If you are a surfer, it's great, if you are a snorkeler, it's too rough to go in. My thoughts on best time to visit Kauai for ioptimal weather is June or September (July and August have good weather but crowded). June hs a little more rain, but mangos are in season!

sgan317

^ 2 posts up, October

escapefromphl

The Westin timeshare property is worn, but the location beats the others by a significant margin.

quinella66

I visited Kauai in 2019:

• Stayed 3 days at Sheraton Poipu.
• Stayed 5 days on points at Princeville Resort - booked it while St Regis for 60k per night (5th night free) right after Marriott merger. While hotel de-flagged, they still honored the points redemption and it was a nice place to experience, though I got no elite member benefits and it certainly did not match St. Regis level service.
• The road past Hanalei towards the Na Pali coast was out when I stayed, which meant I could only see the Na Pali coast from the south.
• I visited the Westin Princeville for breakfast and saw the resort.

While I am glad to have stayed in and experienced both the north and south, I preferred the south (Poipu) for these reasons:

• The beach at Poipu was nice and a good beach for swimming or activities. The beach at the Princeville Resort was nicer to look at than swim in, while the Westin has no beach at all.
• The south provided better access to things I wanted to drive to and see. Remember that you can't drive all the way around the island - to reach the Waimea canyon area, which is beautiful and the hike at the end gives a nice view of Na Pail, you approach from the south and it reaches a dead end so the road does not connect. To reach this point from the north, it looks close as the crow flies, but you would have to drive clockwise all the way around the island. Even the Na Pali snorkeling trip I took left from a point closer to the south.
• The Princeville area has the feel of a gated resort area of multiple hotels - kind of like Punta Cana in the DR or Hilton Head. I preferred the feel of the Poipu area, you can more easily even walk to restaurants and places.
• Perhaps if we were able to drive past Hanalei, the north's appeal might have been better, but still, if I had to choose between north and south, I would still choose the south since practically every other destination (other than the road to Na Pali) I would have wanted to drive to was closer from the south.

Overall Kauai is a nice island to visit and very different from the other main islands - hope you have a good time whichever place you choose to stay!