Royal Sonesta Kauai

Beautiful resort…big rooms, beautiful pool and nice restaurants. Only complaint is when you pay $400 plus a night I should get my room made up every day…not every other day.

This was our second time staying at the Royal Sonesta. We returned for a second year because of the great time we had the year before. The rooms are clean and comfortable. All of the staff throughout the hotel are helpful and friendly. The amenities are what makes us want to come back, from the Koi feeding that the kids can participate in to the large pool that can accommodate so many guests without feeling crowded. The view of the beach adds to the overall experience. This year a luau was added to the festivities provided by the hotel and it was a good one. It focused on the history of the area through fire dancing so it was different than most shows and definitely more exciting. We enjoyed the newly remodeled restaurant for breakfast and enjoyed walking to Dukes restaurant for dinner. The hotel is conveniently located especially to the airport. We hope to make this our yearly family vacation.

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.