The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook - Hanalei Bay Resort & Suites

280 rooms, 8 tennis courts, a tennis pro shop, coffee makers, washer/dryers in some units, a/c, hi-speed Internet access, 2 pools, spa and 2 "maintained" roaming kitty-cats. Suites have kitchens. This resort is located in Princeville on 22 acres of beautiful, lush and winding grounds. It looks and feels very tropical. You can't drive to most rooms, but they will shuttle you around the grounds or to either Princeville golf course, so you don't have to tie up the car for the day.

The main swimming pool is dashing with a small waterfall next to the spa. The layout of the resort makes it quiet, even when they’re nearly full. The Happy Talk Lounge has always been a great place to have a drink, but sadly at press time it was closed and its fate uncertain.

Some people get frustrated that they can't use the beach chairs at Pu'u Poa Beach in front of the St. Regis Princeville. (The chairs belong to that hotel.) Hanalei Bay Resort will rent you a chair to take down to the beach and pick you up if you ask them to for $3. The resort charges a $5 per night energy surcharge—for electricity. We in Hawaii are used to getting hosed on our energy bills, but this is the only resort in all of Hawaii passing the hosing on to their guests.

They converted 150 or more of the rooms to timeshares. If you don’t want to buy a timeshare, tell them so and they (hopefully) won’t bug you about it again. The agent we list is an off-site rental agent who handles many of the rental units.

We used to give them a gem rating. Though the grounds are still exotic, the common areas feel tired and are not as clean as you would expect. If you stay in Regency Pacific Realty's rooms, the quality seems much better than the time share rooms.

Depending on the view, hotel rooms (around 550 sq. ft.) are $130-$220 ($155-$193 for studio kitchenette). Condo-type suites (1,091 sq. ft.) are $225-$330 for 1/1s. Larger units available by combining lock-offs with 1/1s, 2/2 (1,325 sq. ft.) are $248-$450. 3/3 (1,600 sq. ft.) are $450-$525.