Aulii Luau

Great hospitality and rich in history. The food was excellent, the view was beautiful and the performance was one of a kind! There were cool vendors and they placed a Lei around your neck as you entered. Great way to get you in the hawaii mood!

This was by far the worst part of my trip to Kauai. So cheesy.

My husband and I were here on our honeymoon and I booked this luau a month before our trip. I paid the extra for the premier seating. When we arrived, there were long lines. Due to our premier status we were put into a shorter line. Everyone in both lines were offered mai tais and blue hawaiians while we waited. Our line received flower leis. Our entire wait from the time we got in line until we were seated was about 10 minutes. We were seated at a round table near the stage and there were appetizers at our table. Non-​premier seating had to get up and get their own appetizers. My husband got up and got more himself because there were some that we didn’t have at our table. It was an open bar all night but we had to get up and go get our own drinks. It rained off and on. We were offered plastic ponchos that helped but the rain definitely took away from the experience. Although it was out of everyone’s control. The show was great and the dancers were amazing and beautiful. The food was ok. I would give the show 5 stars and the food and buffet experience 3 stars. Glad we went because we had never been to a luau but don’t need to do it again.

This was a terrible experience. We were rained out so they moved the luau inside. The room looked like a conference hall, no decorations or mood lighting. We were placed in the very back end and could barely see or hear anything. The food was awful, and even if it wasn’t they rushed us through the meal so quickly you really did not have much chance for more after waiting in line for your first bit. Only a few dances were interesting, I found myself having trouble staying awake through the show. Would not recommend this to anyone, waste of money.

This was a fun luau. My husband and I had never been to one before, but since this was at the hotel we were staying at, we could not pass it up! It was very fun. Get in line early! This will help you get better seats. The food was pretty good, though not fabulous. All the couples got called up onstage for a dance, that was fun. It did rain off and on while we were there, so be sure to bring a light cover up or something! Kauai is definitely a wet island. The host was funny, the dancing was beautiful. If you are looking for some good food and entertainment, I recommend this luau! While it may not be authentic Hawaiian culture, it is a part of what Hawaii has to offer those who visit these beautiful islands. A bonus is that this luau looks out right over the beach, so you can hear the waves and see the water during the performance.
Do not buy anything at the vendors however. The items for sale looked beautiful, but were really cheap (and yet expensive to purchase!). I got a beautiful iPhone case covered in shells and seaglass. The glue disintegrated and they had all fallen off before I even got home from our honeymoon. That was disappointing.

A lovely fun evening spent with yummy food, great entertainment and a beautiful setting! Our hosts were very entertaining and accomplished at hula. The musicians were fantastic and the whole experience was memorable! Highly recommended for anyone visiting the Garden Island!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Long lines are broken up by lovely wahines offering leis and Mai Tais. Pupus (appetizers) and more Mai Tais are available as soon as you enter.
THE SHOW
Definitely not «authentic» Hawaiian culture, but if you’re looking for a good show featuring many dances from various Polynesian cultures, this is definitely a great choice!
THE EATS
From the start, appetizers (pupus), Mai Tais, and Blue Hawaiian cocktails are plentiful. Pupus consist of
THE VERDICT
A great choice to keep yourself entertained with a full tummy while visiting Poipu on Kauai.

We had a wonderful first luau here. The grounds at the Sheraton were beautiful and the entertainment was amazing. The food was a tad salty for my tastes but the bottomless Mai Tai and Blue Hawaii drinks more than made up for that.

After researching all of the luaus on the island, I decided to book reservations with Aulil Luau (hosted by the Sherton). The outdoor/​ocean view setting was the deciding factor, as I figured that would give the most authentic type of experience.
My first words of advice is to book as early as possible! Two months in advance, I tried to purchase two tickets for première seating (a $ 20 upgrade which will give you early entry, seating in the first two rows by the stage, and flower lei’s) and they were already sold out. I purchased tickets for regular/​open seating and requested to be added to the wait list.
We attended the luau this past Thanksgiving and were very happy with how it all turned out! We arrived early (a little after 5:00pm with doors opening at 5:30pm) and there was already a long line formed. So, next set of advice is to arrive even earlier if you would like good seats. When we were let in, we were given shell lei’s and plastic/​disposable ponchos due to the chance of rain.
Everything was set up beautifully; tables draped with cloth, fire torches, a decorative stage, the staff was dressed in Hawaiian attire, the buffet set up ready to go, etc. The buffet was really good and plentiful… Appetizers, salad, steamed rice, noodles, potato/​pasta salads, taro rolls, fish and I believe three types of meat were served (I’m vegetarian so just observed). They will invite you up for seconds and thirds if you’d like — and there’s dessert so bring a big appetite!
The show was awesome! Colorful, energetic and they will put on a show no matter what! It ended up raining and the dancers smiled through all of it. Overall, it was a very memorable experience.

What a fantastic luau experience! While many of the reviews comment on the show being touristy and the food being mediocre, we went in open minded and had a great time. The food was delicious and there was a great mix of silly luau traditions and high quality entertainment. It wasn’t perfect — rain forced us to move inside, you don’t get to see the pig unburied, and the fire blade dancer dropped his stick once or twice — but none of those things mattered. The band was fantastic, the dancers were talented, energitic, and excited to be there, the food was flavorful and plentiful, and the fire dancing was crazy cool.
Some things to note:
— Prices were ~$ 105 for general admission and ~$ 130 for preferred seating (preferred gets a seat right by the stage and goes to the food lines first)
— Definitely spend the extra $ 25 to get preferred seating! We were right next to the stage and had the best view in the house.
— Unlike some shows, you are able to take as many pictures and videos as you’d like.
— The pork and steak are delicious!
— Open bar was great, you have a limited selection of drinks, but they’ll bring you as many as you’d like. Be sure to drink up during dinner, the service stops during the show.

Terrible customer service. I heard the lady shushing her kid in the background. Didn’t expect that from a «Sheraton». Ignant lady on phone wasn’t organized with payments in my party of 7. Then just when I thought all her attitude was behind me. 2 hours after the show ends my stomach starts to cramp. Thanks Sheraton. But you’ll never get a referral outta me
Btw because the show is on the beach I tell everyone to watch it for free from the beach.

Ignore the haters. If you are a visitor and want a Lu’au on Kauai, this is a great choice. It’s relatively small (about 150 people) and on the beach. Parking is close and easy, and if you arrive a half hour early you can get great seats (rather than paying $ 25 extra for the front tables). While you wait in line to get in, a server offers very respectably Mai Tais (and Blue Hawaiis — too sweet for me). Once you are seated, rather than having to wait ages to eat there are pupus out already. They served Edamame, Hawaiian purple potatoes, and a beef dish that I can only describe as a Hawaiian take on Pastrami. All very good.
The main buffet was great — the Kalua pig was particularly good — and I’ve had a lot of Kalua pig. They also had fish (a little over cooked for my taste), chicken, salad, saimin noodles, mac salad, and more that I can’t remember after all those Mai Tais. The bar also had wine and beer.
Dessert included pineapple upside-​down cake, chocolate cake (is that Hawaiian?), Haupia, and more.
The show covered a range of polynesian dance styles, with a Samoan fire dancer as the finale — always a crowd pleaser. The band was outstanding both for musicianship and the range of styles they covered.
Ignore that little mainlander voice in your head saying that it’s cheesy. It’s not. Just go, have a few drinks and enjoy the Aloha.

The food gets 4.5 stars and so the show but the seat is really bad! There are two kinds of seating and the front ones sell out really fast, they told me I would be on a waiting list and if the show was full they would add more tables to the premier seat and that did not happen, got seated way on the back and could not see much, would not recommend this to anyone.

I don’t know why there are negative reviews because we had an amazing time. In fact, we liked this luau better than the other one we’ve been to in Maui. The food was good for buffet food, the music and show were great, and the location was amazingly beautiful. We celebrated my parents 50^th Anniversary and we all had a great time.
The only negative was the people in front of us. They kept standing at their table blocking the view of the show for everyone behind them. We had to ask them multiple times to sit down and each time they acted like we were being rude for asking.

auli’i lu’au has bragging rights on kaua’i for the only ocean front lu’au! it’s set on the lawn at the sheraton poipu — overlooking beautiful, world famous poipu beach.
when we arrived, we were greeted by a very friendly hostess. she let us know that seating was open (you have the option for preferred seating up near the stage for an additional fee (comes with lei greeting)). we found some seats near the back with a great view of the stage. the hostess also let us know that it was open bar! they had mixed drink options: mai tais and blue hawaiis. they also had a selection of wine and budlight or kona brewing company beer. you are able to get other juices and softdrinks here, too.
they had a pupu (appetizers) buffet up that had some delicious okinawan sweet potato and pipikaula (smoked, dried beef) that was delicious.
the banquet captain excused us by tables to go to the main buffet. i was pretty impressed with the food at this lu’au! they had poke, tofu salad, mac salad and green salads avaialbe. the main fare had great options, too! the pineapple and salsa on the fresh caught fish complimented its light, buttery taste. teriyaki beef was flavorful and cooked tenderly. the huli huli chicken was more of a baked chicken than the grilled preparation that i’m used to. the kalua pork was fantastic, and you can’t forget the poi to go with it! oh! and also, they had lomi salmon, which is a must to compliment the rest of the hawaiian food.
during dinner, the band played hawaiian music which was very lovely. soon, the show began. the emcee had a wonderful voice and i enjoyed listening to him introduce each act. there was also a woman in the band who would explain the type of dance. their voices were so nice, it reminded me of watching the merrie monarch! the dancers were all phenomenal! they danced traditional auana hawaiian, as well as tahitian and samoan dances. the show is concluded with the traditional fire knife dance! the gentleman preforming did an outstanding job.
overall, i would highly recommend this lu’au! i can’t wait to go again.

Very disappointed in this luau. This was our second luau and our brother-​in-​laws first. We went on the recommendation of our concierge at Wyndham Bali Hai. Th setting was nice, by the beach, not on the beach as we were told. The food was mediocre. Big disappointment! We were expecting more and better food for a luau. The open bar was also a disappointment. 2 mixed drinks with very little, if any, alcohol, 2 poor wines and 2 beers, one is Budweiser. The show was ok, performers were great but cheesy outfits. The whole luau including dinner and show was about an hour and 10 minutes. Really?! A movie lasts longer. Huge disappointment!

The show was good, cute dancers and all, but the food was not good.
2 out of 4 of our group got sick to our stomach and spent the second part of the show in the bathroom. Which was painful because the two bathrooms closest to the luau were closed for cleaning. Walking the whole resort with abdominal cramps was not ideal.
The salad and cucumber bowls were empty when we got in line and weren’t refilled until we had waited about 5 – 7 minutes because someone in line asked. Meat was yuck, macaroni salad doesn’t seem real Polynesian but okay.
Desserts weren’t spectacular. All in all, it was like a cheap hotel buffet. Definitely not worth $ 90!

This was what we did on our last night in Kauai and it was great. This buffet style luau would work well for anybody with allergies. They have a food allergen chart available online and then on top of that they label all the signs with gluten free, dairy free, nut free etc… It was great and the dishes were kept far enough apart where there wasn’t any cross contamination. The only reason I am knocking off a star is because when we first went up to get appetizers there were 6 or 7 flies around the meat. This was disgusting and needs to be prevented.

How does this have an average of a 4 star review? Apparently a lot of people that have never been to a luau before. This was our 3^rd or 4^th. Had a friend that had never seen one before so after reviewing the options I chose this one at the Sheraton.
Positives:
The location — ocean front at the Sheraton.
The hostess — very personable and always smiling.
The dancers — overall good dancing and the fire dancer was fantastic.
Negatives:
Food — very average — but it’s a buffet. I don’t expect great but this was fairly blah.
Cheese factor — though the dancers were good — whoever is in charge of the outfits and the dances needs to find a new career. Most of the outfits looked like stuff you could buy at Party City for your backyard luau party at home. Fake — and multi colored — grass skirts, fake plastic lei’s, etc. just awful. So sad given that the participants were pretty good.
The band — again very cheesy. Would rather have just the traditional drums and the music/​song that the dancers make.
Price — $ 100 for 18 and over? $ 25 more if you want «preferred seating»? Awful.
If you are looking for a traditional luau telling the stories of Polynesia through dance and song — look elsewhere! But for a few dances — this was a waste of an evening.

Had to do it — yes, at least one super-​touristy activity while on the island.
I’m a «smoke my whole pig in my own backyard kinda gal» so wasn’t overly bummed that this particular luau was sans bringing the pig out of the pit ceremony. It’s a smaller luau, facing the beach, on a hotel property, so take it for what it is. Pupus were purple (sweet) potatoes, crudite, smoked beef, potato chips and dip. Main meal consisted of a buffet line of food including mixed green salad, macaroni salad, lomi lomi, kimchee tofu, poke, steamed rice, a couple of noodle dishes and a whole lotta animal/​fish proteins in chafing dishes. Its buffet food, so not stellar, but better than the Old Country Buffet. I recommend the pork and beef, but would skip the fish dishes as they were quite bland. Smaller luau means you can see the stage (with the palm tree, ocean backdrop) no matter where you’re seated.
$ 99/​pp price (I found a 15% off discount searching online) includes the buffet and open bar. The Blue Hawaii and Mai Tai drinks are weak, but they also have a couple of beers, white wine, red wine and a nice selection of coffee and juice.
While I had moments of discomfort (do you ever have those neo-​colonialism, white folks moments!!!), I was also in awe of the performers.