Where To Stay On Kauai
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Kauai has a diverse amount of lodging and rental accommodation including: studio suites luxury condos, hotel and resorts, bed & breakfast and private fully equipped Kauai vacation rentals. Planning an adventure to Kauai is almost as much fun as the visit itself.
Search for your lodging choices using our Kauai Vacation Rental Directory or Kauai Hotel and Resort Directory. Our resources on thees pages will help you find the best lodging and accommodations for your Kauai Vacation.
Kauai is truly an island of diversity. It is diverse in its climate, its ecosystems, its popular and available activities, and accommodations. Kauai Accommodations range from five star resorts and luxury Vacation Rentals to local bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals there are accommodations for people with all tastes, needs, and pocketbooks. For an island of just over 60,000 permanent residents, Kauai often has over 1 million visitors per year, and there are always vacancies. Kauai loves tourists, and tourists love Kauai.
There are four basic types of accommodations available on Kauai –hotels/resorts, private vacation rental homes, private villas, condominiums and bed and breakfast inns. However, when deciding on what type of place is best for you, it is also important to consider what side of the island to book your stay on, for this will also have an impact on the type of experience you have.
Kauai is broken into four general areas, by geographical direction: north, east, south, and west. And though Kauai isn’t a very large land mass by any mainland continent standards( it is the fourth largest island in the Hawaiian Island archipelago), the fact that there is not a road that passes through the islands remote, steep and largely uninhabited interior makes traveling on Kauai a unique experience as well.
There is one main road that connects the different towns along the shorelines, but the famous Na Pali Coast makes it impossible to drive completely around the island, so the roads appear in a horseshoe-like fashion around Kauai’s shores with most of the hotels and resorts found very near to or directly on the coast.
The North Shore is home to more of the luxury resort, private villas, and vacation home rental type accommodations. It is much more remote, quiet, and laid back; however many would quickly attest that its also one of the prettiest of all areas on Kauai. While there are less shopping plazas and late night activities to attend publicly, there are more private resort facilities, on site restaurants, tennis and golf courses, luxury spa services, and beaches - all making the North Shore experience a more exclusive means through which to enjoy Kauai.
The South Shore, aside from several premier luxury resorts, has more condominiums and vacation rental homes to choose from. It is also somewhat centrally located (more so than the north shore), and the weather on this side tends to be a bit drier with more sunshine. There are many local towns located in the south shore area, making shopping close and easy. And the many more local restaurants and site attractions make the south shore a very popular place to stay on Kauai.
The East Side, home to Lihue and surrounding areas, is the most centrally located, making the drive to explore both the West Side and the North Shore somewhat equal, although opposite directions. This is important to keep in mind if you are planning to fully explore the entire island, as it will spare a rather lengthy (73 mile, one way) drive should you stay on either the West Side or the North Shore, and therefore need to drive from one side back to the other in one day. Lihue is also the central hub for city government, development, and shopping, which makes it an extremely popular tourist destination, as does its population of smaller privately owned hotels which give more options for affordable accommodations.
The West Side is the driest side of the island. It is home to Waimea Canyon – the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, has a few cottages, a few condos and vacation rentals, and one lodge. Because of its distance from the more popular shopping centers and beaches of the North, East, and South Shores. If you are looking for laid back living and a taste of old Hawaii, or really like the road less traveled then booking your accommodations on the West Side will not disappoint.
Depending on what type of visit you are planning, whether it is for business, leisure, a romantic getaway, honeymoon, vacation or retreat – you can be sure there are many available accommodations on Kauai to suit your occasion. And regardless of what type of accommodation you choose, or its location on Kauai, with over a million visitors each year, the locals have had a lot of practice playing host, and you can be sure your stay on Kauai will meet – and most likely exceed – your tropical vacation expectations!