Choosing to stay on Kauai was easy.

Choosing somewhere to stay on Kauai was hard.

There are the Marriotts, Hyatts, Sheratons of the world which I wasn’t that interested by, and then I was very tempted by The Palmwood, but given it was our honeymoon, we actually wanted to sip cocktails by the pool if we so chose to, so the B&B vibe was less what we were going for. The pick of the bunch seemed the St Regis Princeville which is on the North Shore (which we discovered was our fave part of the island), but holy shit dude it be expensive! So, we opted for the Koa Kea Hotel and Resort which is a resort, but a slightly smaller resort and pretty perfect for what we were after.

Situated on the south of Kauai, the Hawaiian island known as the Garden Isle – which is the luscious green paradise that this implies (check out this post on our helicopter ride over the island to see just how green) – Koa Kea sits next to Poipu Beach. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and the beach and the swimming pool at the hotel were teeming with little kids. We love kids, but perhaps not so much as companions on our honeymoon. Thankfully the following day there were not many around at all. As a general rule, Koa Kea was really quiet, with gorgeous sunsets, nice cocktails, great service and delicious food in the restaurant and for room service.  Oh, and they upgraded us and gave us a bottle of wine for congratulations 😉

Speaking of room service, on day two, it poured rain all day. The garden isle has to get its green vibe from somewhere. Worried? Us? Not in the slightest. As anyone who gets married will tell you, it’s amazing, but pretty frickin’ exhausting, so taking a day to rest and sleep and do nothing in the days following the big day is essential. So the rain Gods of Hawaii gave us just that perfect day. And thanks to great room service at Koa Kea, we pretty much had no reason to leave the room at all!

In addition to boss brekkies at the hotel restaurant Red Salt (my fave was the Eggs Benedict with pancetta hash and chive hollandaise – Phil was all about the continental), we also loved dining at the nearby Brennecke’s Beach Broiler, with an American coastal sports bar vibe, and Little Fish cafe across the road (loooved their acai bowls). But more on that in the full Kauai post coming soon!

With a car to explore the island (the friendly hotel staff helped us set that up at reception) and plenty to see on the outrageously beautiful Kauai (can’t wait to tell you all about it, but see our fly over tour here), we loved coming back to Koa Kea after a day of adventuring to kick back by the pool edge, watch the palm-fringed sunsets, a cheeky cocktail in hand.

Hawaii Honeymoon Bliss.

 

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