Royal Sonesta Kauai

We have been guests at this property for over 30 years — first under Westin then as a Marriott, and now as the Royal Sonesta. What we witnessed on our most recent visit was genuinely heartbreaking. We understand there have been management changes in recent years, and we sincerely hope the current leadership reverses the troubling direction this property has taken. Here is what we found: • The stunning plumeria trees that defined this property have been cut down to six-foot stumps throughout the grounds, with orchids strapped to what remains. It looks nothing like the tropical paradise it once was. • The main courtyard — once a lush, showpiece landscape — has been stripped of most of its plants and replaced with lava rock. Each visit, there is less greenery than before. • A massive 18th-century painting of Hawaii that was a landmark of the property is gone. In its place throughout the courtyard are amateur-looking canvases that feel completely out of character for a resort of this caliber. • The beautiful hand-carved statues have been removed. Furniture around the courtyard has disappeared, leaving empty space where there was once character and warmth. • Pool towels are visibly worn — full of holes and fraying — unacceptable at $600+ per night. • The courtyard torches are extinguished at 9 p.m. The pool fountains only run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. These small decisions add up. • On Thursdays and Fridays, cruise ship passengers from the nearby harbor flood the property for two days. They are not resort guests, yet they freely use the amenities with no apparent effort by management to address it. • The daily koi pond feeding — once a charming, educational event — is now a staff member tossing out a tray of small cups and walking away. The koi population itself appears to have dropped by roughly half. - Landscaping lighting in parking lot on tall trees sloppy installation and not fitting the harsh LED lights for this wonder landscape. This is still a beautiful location, and a first-time visitor may enjoy it. But for those of us who knew this resort at its best, it is a shadow of what it once was. At these prices, guests deserve better — and frankly, this storied property deserves better too.

Multi-generational family trip to Kaua’i in June 2026. Ages ranged from 66 to 4 so needed a resort that provided access to wide range of amenities and activities. The Royal Sonesta Resort in Lihue Kaua’i fit the bill. While feeling expensive at first when put in context of the area and what was available the cost was in line with the other resorts we considered. What sealed it for us was the awesome pool, easy access to a beach and location. We did see the reviews regarding issues with service and friendliness of the staff. However, in our experience, the staff were absolutely fantastic, friendly and helpful. We had three rooms, two kings and a double queen. While fairly basic, the rooms were large, clean and adequately appointed. Our beds and bedding were very comfortable. The onsite restaurants were typical hotel restaurants. The food quality was variable with some dishes being excellent and others just average. However, there was a variety of options. Drinks at the bars were tasty but seemed pretty light on the pours for the cost. As mentioned at the beginning the pools and beach were the main draws. Be advised that there aren’t lifeguards at either. We had no issues getting beach chairs or umbrellas during our stay but this could vary. Cabanas were a bit pricy $250 - $300 for us but there was lots of availability. Location provided easy access to a number of activities in the area. One complaint - parking as in there is not enough convenient parking and valet is $$$. Also, someone else had recommended walking around the resort the first day to get the lay of the land - this is a great idea. After the first day it is pretty easy navigation. Have a great stay.

My fiancée and I decided to do a trip to celebrate our engagement and my 35th birthday on Kauai at the royal sonesta. I let the hotel know this multiple times before arrival hoping we would at least get a congratulations on check in and maybe something special. Upon arrival the front desk agent was very cold and not friendly. I then let her know we were celebrating two big occasions and she immediately responded with “we are completely sold out and cannot upgrade your room” which we both though was weird considering we didn’t ask for an upgrade. We then had to bring our bags back up the bell man to have them hold onto them until our room was ready. Which was weirdly a pretty far walk and up an escalator with a sign that said “no luggage”. The front desk could have easily taken our bags and done this for us. We go to the pool and it was very hard to find shaded lounge chairs because people put their towel down to claim the chairs even though hardly anyone was actually sitting in them. The shaded chairs next to the ones we finally found had towels on them for 2 hrs with no one sitting there. We waited for a pool server to come by and no one was around so I went to the bar to get a lilikoi margarita. The bartender just made it in the cup and didn’t even shake it…… this was a $15 cocktail that tasted like one made at a frat party. Once able to check into our room the room was barely cleaned and had hairs on the sink and in the shower. (See pictures). Also the ocean view rooms are basically pool view. You have to basically lean over the railing to see the ocean which was not very secure. We were upgraded to a premium ocean view which was nice but clearly the front desk agent lied about being 100% occupied which we later found out is their default excuse for everything. The dinner at Kukui’s was mediocre at best. The server kept rushing us to order and again did not congregate us on anything we were celebrating. They serve drinks without trays and held the wine glasses by the bowl leaving their fingerprints all over the glass. This was a $100+ per person dinner. The host at the restaurant was the only staff that showed any genuine hospitality all trip. On checkout day we asked for a late checkout as our flight wouldn’t be taking off till later and we wanted to hang by the pool for our last day. They said again that they were operating at full capacity and couldn’t not give us an extra hour or two in the room. I then called on my cellphone to ask about availability that night and they said I could book no problem. Clearly they were not at 100% if I could book a room for that night. This was supposed to be a special trip to celebrate a huge event in our lives but absolutely nothing was done to make our trip special. I guess even for $500/night there is no hospitality anymore. Very disappointing.

Overall, my experience was OK. I am deducting one star due to a few issues with the front desk, as they were forgetful and did not follow up as promised regarding room concerns. The hostess at the sushi bar was also not very helpful. However, I would like to give a special shout-out to the housekeeping team 🎉they consistently went above and beyond and provided excellent service. Richard, the bartender at the pool bar, was very helpful, as was the other bald gentleman with the great smile (I believe his name may be William).

Beautiful location, amazing location and beach. Amenities were fantastic. My only complaint was the food and more specifically the drink prices, which were crazy.