Kauai Shores Hotel

Not a 5-​star hotel in terms of luxury, but five stars for everything else I value when staying at a hotel, & for the overall experience I enjoyed during my three night stay here in January.
First of all, this newly renovated boutique hotel is centrally located in the charming town of Kapa’a. Close to excellent restaurants, grocery stores, local boutiques, and of course, the ocean.
Yes. Kaua’i Shores is located ocean front. Maybe not directly on the most swim-​friendly beach, especially in the winter months, but if you walk along the shore towards the other hotel next door, you’ll find a little swimming spot protected by rocks perfect for a little wading & sunning.
Isn’t that what you came to Kaua’i for in the first place?
And with this central Kapa’a location, you’re only a short 40min. drive away from all of the north shore beaches & local favorite Kealia Beach. About an hour & a half drive to Waimea Canyon. 10min. drive to Lihue airport.
Cleanliness is ultimately what struck a chord with me here. Our room was spotless, & didn’t leave me with that icky feeling of being hesitant to even touch the walls of the shower or shower curtain, as I am with some other budget hotels I’ve stayed at. Nope. Not here. Thank you, Kaua’i Shores for a well-​kept bathroom!
& yoga! On the main lawn fronting the ocean! Yoga! What other budget hotel provides you with free morning yoga classes three times a week? (If anyone knows, though, let me know.)
Also. Wifi. That worked ²⁴⁄₇. YES.
As kama’aina visiting from Big Island we were treated really well by hotel staff & received the awesome affordable kama’aina rate for the three nights we stayed.
Overall, Kaua’i Shores was an excellent choice for us in terms of budget, cleanliness, location, & basic amenities.
I would most certainly return & have already recommended this hotel to coworkers, one of whom immediately caught the Kaua’i travel bug & booked a four night stay here in March.
Oh & do try the newly opened Lava Lava Beach Club located onsite! Enjoy a drink or two & the gorgeous ocean views with your toes in the sand. Then stumble back to your hotel room merely steps away. Because you can.

This is basically a motel 6 with cheap lipstick on it. The rooms have been «updated» but really they haven’t, they just slapped some paint on the old walls and gave it a trendy color scheme. The only nice thing about the rooms is the big flat screen tv. Every time I take a shower it goes from scalding hot to ice cold the entire time. The bathroom smells like someone took a dirty dish towel or used peed in wet suite and wiped everything down with it. I had to buy Clorox wipes to clean everything myself. The rooms «lanai» is a balcony that is separated from your neighbors balcony by a piece of fabric and there are glass shutters in the room that allow you to hear absolutely everything that’s going on outside. The pools are the type you’d find at a motel 6 just a basic pool, nothing fancy. The restaurant attached to the hotel is decorated cute and trendy, it’s right on the beach for nice atmosphere, but the food is waaaay overpriced for what it is. We come to Kauai all the time to visit my step son so I’m disappointed in this motel, I mean «hotel», but if I were visiting Kauai for the first time or this was my big vacation and this was the hotel I had to stay in I’d be more than bummed. Don’t believe the good reviews on this hotel, the people saying it’s nice also probably think apple bees and chilis are 5 star restaurants. This place is a total dive!

We stayed at Kauai Shores for just under 2 weeks, I would definitely stay here again!!! The Hotel is super comfortable, clean, and peaceful. The location was great and we loved that they had the beach right there. In addition to the Beach they also have several pools, also clean and well maintained. The staff was very friendly and accommodating, everything from suggestions of must see sites to the best snorkeling beaches on the island. They have an attached restaurant, Lava Lava Beach Club, which has wonderful food! And they offer free WiFi, yoga (on several mornings), not to mention they were one of the only hotels i noticed that had beach chairs stationed on the beach for use. The hotel is within walking distance of other restaurants as well as shopping, but i would still recommend renting a car to explore the whole island. Its just too pretty not to. We also went over to Oahu, and I have to say that Kauai is hands down the place to be!

Price is good. We stayed for 8 nights. Close to beach, generally friendly staff. Good value. Unfortunately the noise (heavy bass) from the night club lasted till 2am for most of the nights. Make sure to stay away from rooms near the night club (trees lounge).

Feb, 2016, was there for a week, the location is good, the maid services is fine, but the
building and interior is too run down, the linens are stained and so worn you can see small
holds in them. The front desk need more training in manners, especially one older lady.
Anyhow, the building need a redo and the old AC need to be replaces, make too much noise.
At present condition, I will not be back. RJ ps there are dead ants under the glass table on the TV table.

I could stay at the Marriott for the same price and get free parking. Newly renovated for nothing. The sheets were dirty. The vents were dirty. Duct tape on the bed frame… I expected more from the price.

Stayed at this hotel with my family for 3 nights mid January. Yes they are in the process of a re-​model, but the progress they’ve made so far is excellent and the construction did not interfere with our stay at all.
The front desk managers and housekeeping staff treated us very well. My boyfriend had an unexpected visit to the urgent care after a fall in the ocean and the hotel was very accommodating and constantly checking in with him throughout the remainder of our stay.
The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and was a great place for breakfast and happy hour. I love the open air aspects of this hotel. Reminds me of old Hawaii. Everything from the rooms to the lobby to the restaurant was very open, colorful and well-​kept.
Yes the pool is small with limited lounge chairs, but you’re 10 yards from a beautiful beach right outside your bedroom door! Personally, I came to Kauai to see the beautiful beaches, not the pools.
In regards to location, this is the perfect spot to be. Great home-​base for day trips to explore the island. It’s also just a few miles from downtown Kapaa (which is not to be missed). The free valet, laundry mat and complementary wifi were nice perks as well.

On vaca ready to check in at 3 front desk tells me I’m sorry but we are running a little behind schedule and your room is not ready. Will be ready approx 3:30 we wait in the lobby go check in again at 3:35 «I’m sorry your room is not ready yet». Then she gives me 3 complimentary Mai tai drinks”.? Really? And I don’t even drink. It’s now 4:38 and guess what room not ready !! My stay should be complimentary. Never had this experience before. This is my first time here and this will be my last time here. 4:46 and no room yet !!

Meh. Just over $ 160 for a very mediocre room. ‘Mountain view’ consists of a fence and hedge on the 1^st floor. Construction noises in background. Limited parking. Serious long wait upon check in (although the staff was nice). TONS of rooms on the property. Basically a Motel 6 generic vibe that’s been fancied up with some bright colors and a few Ikea-​esque items. I’d expect to pay about $ 50 less for the quality I’ve experienced thus far. With so many options in this area there has to be something better or cheaper. I try not to write scathing reviews but I was shocked to see the reality of this hotel after an 8 plus star average review on Trip Advisor.

This place is a construction site that thinks it is an expensive resort. .. .
I stayed here a couple years ago when the place was just an old worn out motel with a great location and much lower rates. Since then they began their renovations to the rooms and their reception area. The renovations to the rooms was really just a face lift, as the bathrooms are still tiny, and they used paint to cover what maintenance issues they could. The A/​C unit may be fairly new, but looks like it has never been cleaned and has mould growing inside. The relaxing pool area is 20 feet from an active construction site where they begin work at 8:00am with their heavy equipment.
Needless to say; they should have informed us about the construction when we booked. They should have also let us know that the charming reception and guest amenities area was closed and under construction and that the much touted Lava Lava Club would not be open anytime soon. The nice fire pit that I read about in the reviews was inside the construction fence, and obviously not available for use.
I’m not sure how to describe the front desk and management staff there, but let’s just say they have attitude, and trying to get any assistance or satisfaction from them is like pulling teeth. The rooms were fairly clean, and the cleaning and maintenance staff were courteous and friendly.
I would wait several months before staying here, their construction crew is on island time, and they may have the work completed by then. Check first, and don’t trust the web site, it is very misleading. The Lava Lava club looks like it will be fun once completed if they get some good management with the right attitude.

This place is a motel that charges resort prices. They claim to have two restaurants, in fact there are none. They claim to have a mai tai greeting, in fact that is only on Wednesday afternoons. The air conditioner noisly rattled. The parking spaces are super small and next to a construction area. They are next to a mostly-​abandoned mall. And for all this they sprung a $ 15 per night resort fee on us. The wi-​fi was spotty.
The room was clean.

For the price (inexpensive) it’s a comfortable motel that has beach access. Beachfront is small but charming. Rooms are basic with a kitchenette making for a more spacious room. Free beach towels, 2 small pools, nicely landscaped. WiFi is good early morning. Free coffee service near office is welcomed; free dvd rental is a plus. Quality of maid service is spotty. Beach/​coast in Popui is better but this location is pretty central to the entire island. For the price it gets 4 stars.

ONE DAY This place will be nice AND worth the price. Today is not that day, and they should have offered a discount! They are under construction, so certain areas are a «construction zone» (who’s workers take up most of the parking!) the front desk looks like that of a sleazy motel, there’s one microwave per maybe 100 rooms to share! And no coffee machines in the rooms! Is this 2015? Hawaiis behind and all, so lack of microwave is excusable, but no coffee machine!?!
On a more aloha note, the rooms are super clean! Sleek Modern yet old Hawaiian color décor. There’s 2 pools! But ones kind of dark and shabby so most guests cluster to the one «main» pool. The beach is beautiful! Beautiful! Rough, raw. Not ok to swim in but amazing to relax near.
I paid $ 20 extra for a pool room but the ac didn’t work so they moved me to another room with no refund :/

Avoid this place at all cost !!!
Front desk is a joke !! Hire more people !!
Need upgrades

We booked our stay at the Kauai shores over a month in advance. We actually chose to extend our stay in Kauai based on the great prices they offered. We took a walk to the hotel the day before check in (we were at another resort for part of our stay). Disappointment is an understatement for what we felt when we saw the true state of the hotel. The pictures are misleading at best. There were smelly dumpsters all around, loud construction underway, and the pool looked less than inviting. Still we decided for the price we could live with it.
The biggest reason for this negative review came upon check-​in time. The lady at the front desk told us that we were «misquoted» and that our stay would actually cost us over $ 100 more than we had been told! My husband pulled out the confirmation email with the price in black and white and instead of apologizing and honoring the price they initially gave us the receptionist became very rude and short with us. Not once did she apologize for their mistake, nor did the manager agree to honor the price we were given at booking time. We wound up walking out and booking the rest of our stay with a 4-​star resort for cheaper than this crappy motel wanted to charge us. Do not book here

We chose this place on the east coast of Kauai for the 2^nd half of our trip in Kapaa.
Although it is a ocean front it isn’t the best beach for swimming, lots of driftwood. I would recommend driving south to maybe Poipu to swim but it’s just more affordable here and a better location for yummy foods to find and adventures to go on!
Ok back to the stay
We requested 2 queen beds.
The a/​c cools well, the room is more spacious than I expected and the bed and firm/​plush pillows are nice. Mini-​fridge, patio. They have PS3s in room to play the DVDs you can rent unlimitedly from the kiosk near the front desk with the card they give you upon check in. Ironically we found some odd ummm «programs» downloaded on to said ps3. Definitely not something I would want a kid to see. So weird. Haha regardless it’s a nice but the bathroom sink vanity is a tad small but overall worth the price ! The staff is very friendly, the housekeeping staff definitely take their time on the rooms to make sure everything is clean.

A really great place to stay in Kauai. We booked on Expedia for $ 104 a night. We were just happy with the rate. We got there and it was terrific! Sure… it’s an older property, but it’s clean and they’ve done some nice updates: modern bathroom, ceiling fans, flat screen tv, REALLY comfortable beds! Plus… they have 2 pools, gas grills (if you want to cookout), great location, and a great beach… a very nice property! You can’t go wrong unless you are a snob. In which case… there are dozens of extremely expensive hotels for your Mr. Bigglesworth taste. Be advised… the surf off the Kauai Shores beach is extremely treacherous; it is not a good swimming beach. If you want to swim in the ocean– go to Salt Pond Park on the south shore.

After leaving our condo near Poipu we needed a place to stay for our last night in Kauai. My bf booked this place online for about $ 100/​night.
This place is okay. I think they’re currently under construction (as well as what seems like every other hotel or resort on the island) but the décor/​layout of the hotel is very 70s. Every room has a little balcony but it’s not very private. The rooms on the first floor all have a little front yard that faces the pool. Rooms are a tad outdated, AC sucks, bathrooms are kind of small and the carpet looks like it’s seen better days. Also, the hallways are a little creepy but that’s just my personal opinion.
Front desk personnel are friendly, didn’t really have to interact with them much. But there are a couple of computers and a printer to use. They also offer small breakfast from 6 – 10 but didn’t have time to check it out.
Location is not bad. Close to the beach and shops and restaurants. This is the more bustling part of Kauai, definitely has the feel of a beach town with a younger crowd. As another Unilocaler stated, if you don’t have GPS good luck finding this place. No signs from the main road.
I probably would not stay here again but again. for the price I guess it’s not too bad.

We needed last minute reservations after our AirBNB disaster for the last 2 days of our island stay. Nothing super fancy, very affordable, great amenities! Customer service was awesome (and they were so funny!).
The hotel itself has had a revamp so it feels fresh, is very clean, air conditioning, wifi and beach access. I spent the entire day at the pool on a somewhat rainy day and it was super peaceful.
There are super cheap places to stay in Kauai and super expensive. This was super affordable — even locals seem to stay here to «get away.» That says a lot.

This place has undergone a renovation and is continuing the process. We loved it. This FEELS like vintage Hawaii. Now, upon entering the drab lobby (they haven’t done that yet) we were nervous.
No worries. The rooms are adorable. Bright colors everywhere inside and outside the rooms, vintage fabrics and art, it feels like Elvis should show up.
Breakfast is simple, but hey its free. Coffee, bananas, pastries. Beautiful fire pits where everyone gathers, 2 pools, a barbecue area was MOST wonderful, and it’s situated on an uncrowded beach.
The staff is great, Bob is the BEST! ! The walls are a bit thin, but I sleep with earplugs do I don’t mind as much.
Overall great hotel !