Kiahuna Plantation Resort Kauai by Outrigger

It was 90 degrees, 80 at night with no A/C. We assumed all condos on Kauai would have A/C. When you had the windows open the chickens crowing were terrible. Someone should kill the stupid birds. Both bathrooms were on the lower level while kitchen and living room were on upper level. Too many steps. Kauai was a beautiful island, not this crap condo. We stayed one night then went to the Sheraton at the beach. Naturally no refund. Horrible place to stay! Read less

they lost our reservation, but would not admit it to travel company. They put us in a condo that had probably never been updated - rusty refrig and microwave, tub was chipped with white out over it and shower walls were 3 pieces of something that looked moldy. Sink handle came off in my hand. there are sliding glass doors to balcony with louvers on each side. Louvers in bedroom - none of which have glass, just screens. No AC or any AC units to rent. The property looks nice, but beware of which condo they put you in and remember no AC Read less

I have been to Kauai 17 times in the past 10 years. I have stayed at about 6 different resorts/condos...and sadly, this is the ONLY one I would never stay at again. This is a review about the Castle Kiahuna Plantation. Recently we needed a few nights added to our stay from another resort. We selected Castle due to the location and the bonus miles we would be receiving for booking. Strike #1: When we arrived, we immediately smelled black tar as they were resurfacing the parking lot. Had we known before booking that this would be going on, we would have selected another resort. Strike #2: We had pre-paid for our 3 night stay and then hit with another $185 cleaning fee when we checked in. This fee was not made very clear when booking although looking back on the receipt, I do see in very fine print the disclosure. There were 2 other couples checking in as well and both of them were also surprised and annoyed by the extra cleaning fee. So clearly it's a problem for many others. Strike #3: We decided to go ahead and check in and see if we can handle the smell. We weren't allowed to park anywhere near our condo as they were paying the parking lot. We went to our VERY outdated room with no A/C and absolutely NO cross winds. The smell was horrendous. We both immediately got headaches. Strike #4; We decided to go ask to see if we could find another room that wasn't so close to the paving. One of the ladies working was pretty rude (the other was new and actually quite nice). Once again there was another person also trying to switch rooms (presumably for the same reason). Instead of upgrading us to a nicer room away from the smell, they gave us yet another outdated room right next to the main road with more parking lot views. The smell was a BIT better, but clearly still not tolerable. Strike #5; When we called our 3rd party booking site, to let them know we just can't stay here due to the smell, they informed us they would try and get us a refund but that the hotel ultimately has the final say. We went back to the front desk and informed them we would NOT be staying. They said we would still be charged for 1 night's stay. So we ended up leaving (the did give us a credit for our cleaning fee...hesitantly of course) and we spent the next few hours finding a new place to stay on our vacation. This place is NOT worth the money you are paying. There are MUCH better places very near by that offer A/C, the same ocean views, etc. This place does not even have a pool on property...it's across the street at an athletic club. Do yourself a favor and do not stay here....they do not have the Aloha Spirit we heard so much about. Read less

Stayed for 3 nights with family of 6 for vacation and to run Kauai marathon. Resort is nicely located near start of race and in center of south side of the island. Food, beaches, and some shopping are all also reasonably close. Unfortunately, the positives generally end there. The staff at check-in was polite but seemed almost put out that we were there. We were a little early (11am) since our flight to the island was in the morning. We didn't expect the room to be ready, but did hope to get a reasonable idea of when it would be ready and if there were recommendations of things at the resort or nearby that we could do in the meantime. She only reluctantly agreed to call when the room was ready. Even when arriving back after the stated check-in time (having received no call) the room wasn't immediately ready. Additionally, they were patching their driveway right outside our building, which meant loud noise from mid morning to after 5pm for the first 2 days of our stay. While we were matter-of-factly told of the work, there was no warning it'd be right outside our room and certainly not even an apology for the inconvenience of the noise or blocked access to the beach. The building itself was reasonably nice though a bit outdated. The toilet needed its handle jiggled to avoid running constantly and only one TV would work and that was only inconsistently and with someone holding the broken battery cover on the remote. In their defense, given our frustration with early interactions with the staff, we never reported the TV or toilet problems, so there was no opportunity for them to address them while we were there. I did complete a survey they emailed after the visit and noted our disappointment. The general manager did respond via email to apologize about the staff interaction, but no comment was offered about anything else. We've experienced poor lodging before, and this is not the worst. However, compared to our experiences on Oahu and the Big Island, this was notably worse. Somewhat disappointed they didn't have a nice pool or workout facilities on site, but did really like the athletic club across the street that guests do get to use. That, and the general property location, may have been the best thing about the resort. Unlikely to ever stay there again. Read less