Royal Sonesta Kauai

This hotel is cheaper than most and I recognized the name and assumed it would be a good experience. It was not. The beach is tiny in a very small cove, half of which is industrial with homeless people camped out in their cars. They told me I’d be on the “18th floor” but the hotel goes from floor 1 directly to 16 for no apparent reason whatsoever. I went to have breakfast and bought a cup of coffee, and was then charged $8 for black drip coffee— quality was worse than Folgers, and 9 dollars for half a papaya I grabbed from a communal fridge. We never ate at the resort again. Parking is horrible with people fighting each other for spots, often with nothing left at night despite paying $30/day. To say there were surprise charges and fees everywhere is an understatement. The hotel it self was aging, the room smelled like mildew, and there is of course the rooster alarm clock that’s probably more of a Kaua’i issue than a Sonesta one but having one of those walk outside your window at 6:30 am didn’t help.

While the property itself is beautiful and very clean, my overall experience at this resort was underwhelming, especially for the price point.     •    Restaurants: The quality of the food did not justify the cost, and the service was consistently below expectations.     •    Front Desk: Check-in and check-out were frustrating. With only one person assisting guests, the process was extremely slow — I waited close to 40 minutes just to check out.     •    Pool Area: There was only one location to return used towels, which led to many chairs being left “occupied” with towels throughout the day. Additionally, I did not notice any poolside service, which was disappointing for a resort of this caliber.     •    Cleanliness: The one area where the hotel excelled was cleanliness — the property was well-maintained and clean Overall, the lack of service overshadowed the resort’s positives. For the cost, I expected a much higher level of hospitality. Read all of the negative reviews because they all paint the picture. Good luck

We had a wonderful stay here with the family. Very kid friendly. Excellent location, right on the beach. Newly renovated too. The rooms were very clean. The pool area is huge and good for kiddos. There is a nice koi pond and garden to walk through. Great service from staff. Parking can be a longer walk to the hotel, but it's not too bad. It's close to a small shopping strip. Can take a nice walk along the beach to get to the shops.

What an incredible stay! The complimentary shuttle came quickly, the drive to the resort was 5 min. (which is welcomed after getting of an airplane)! check in was a breeze. The room was clean and beautiful and I can't say enough about the staff. The pool and beach were amazing, and the Thursday Luau is a must do!

AVOID THIS PLACE. - This hotel is disgusting from the rooms to the service and should be avoided.. the second day of our honeymoon my wife and I left promptly after concerns for our health. We first arrived to an unwelcoming front desk attendant who didn’t even know our occasion even though it was noted on our booking. We were quickly told the room did not have a direct ocean view except for being on the balcony and looking sharply to the left; essentially a partial ocean view. This clearly nodded us off the instance of false advertising; the booking picture showed a full ocean view. We then called to ask from the room and were offered a complimentary upgrade to a “preferred ocean view” (for those reading, that’s what any other hotel would consider a true ocean view). Our new room was nice only initially, the view was incredible. Upon laying on the bed it was damp from the humidity in the room. We later noticed the AC was not working to cool the room to the desired temperature. We decided to give it some time (half a day and over night) only to notice the room was 2-3 degrees colder (when it should have been 8-10degrees) and no less humid. Upon further looking around the room we found the worst part, the mold and dust - EVERYWHERE (see pics). You can’t make this sh*t up, the trim of the glass doors, and hidden areas of the kick plates coated in black mold; It was disgusting and honestly disturbing for the price we paid. We asked to move rooms agin from the concern and were ignored by the front desk and management. In conclusion we ended up leaving the Royal Sonesta, in disgust and with a feeling to warn others of this dilapidated mess of a hotel - its lipstick on a pig. We ended up being saved by another popular hotel on the south shore willing to beat the rate of the Sonesta and our honeymoon moved on. Avoid this place and probably the Royal Sonesta brand at all cost.