The Royal Sonesta Kaua'i Resort Lihue

Beautiful property with great dining options. We loved Portofinos! Staff was very attentive with waitresses walking around poolside to take drink and lunch orders. The cove on which property is situated is picturesque. Pricey but well worth it.

We are 50+ year Marriott Ambassadors. The Royal Sonesta acquired the hotel from Marriott and Marriott still has the adjoining time shares. We are staying in the time shares portion and were concerned that the “Marriott ethic” we are used to might be compromised in the hotel area which controls the food, beverage and pool. We are no longer worried! The Sonesta staff and facilities are still great and the “partnership” is seamless. Aloha!

Not a 4 star hotel but any measure but a decent stay. I would recommend paying a little more for a better stay if you want a luxury experience. Pros: nice pool, several hydrotherapy pools, tons of chairs, decent rooms, beach front access, staff seemed friendly Cons: older rooms (including updated rooms like Ocean View rooms), lack of communication about daily hotel activities, room service is expensive and selection is limited, beach towels are incredibly thin (like a paper towel is better quality

Great staff!!!! I visited on a day pass prior to a night flight to Denver and onto Chicago. I inadvertently left my phone in the lobby restroom and realized it within 15 minutes. Went back and nothing. Belinda (guest services), a gentleman at check-in and Devin and his colleagues with Security went above and beyond checking with the cleaners, housekeeping, the Marriott next door and checked all the wastebaskets/bins in the vicinity. Thank goodness someone turned it into the beach bar a few minutes after we checked there. No one knew who it was other than perhaps a local but really want to thank everyone at this hotel for their kindness and willingness to help a non-guest. This was a phone wallet with not only my phone but my ids, credit cards, cash, boarding passes for my return flights and my parking ticket for my car parked at O’Hare.

This hotel is gorgeous; the grounds are meticulously maintained. The food and drinks are top notch.There is plenty of shops, restaurants and spas within walking distance (1/4 mile)

The Royal Sonesta is a beautiful hotel. The grounds are beautifully landscaped The pool is huge. There are plenty of loungers and umbrellas. You can choose beach, poolside or both. The atmosphere is relaxing. We were in Kauai for the day on a cruise ship. We purchased a day pass and it was a wonderful experience. Would go there again!

What a strange place. Giant dated white building set on a beach next to a port. It should be torn down and replaced with a nice resort and the port area cleaned up to be more attractive.

Our stay started badly and has not improved. The resort property is pretentious, oversized, overblown and difficult to navigate. The registration desk is invisible from the drive up entry, and staff are mostly indifferent. We arrived before our room was ready and instead of directing us to a place to rest and/ or providing a schedule of resort activities, they just cut us loose, saying they would call or text us when the room was ready. They didn't. Four hours later, after getting trapped in Lihue traffic and getting overpriced takeout from a Lihue deli, we still had not heard from them and had to return to inquire. The room (nearly $1,000/night) is in a remote tower requiring us to wind around the facility on foot with no guidance from staff. Yes, the pool is nice but the overall facility feels fake and pretentious, with design features having little to do with Kauai or Hawaii, and amenities including lounge musicians playing retreads of Neil Diamond. We will not be back. We feel greatly misled by your rating of this resort as a "real gem" (which we relied on when booking) and suggest you revisit and re-evaluate. Thanks. David Olson Email: cableczar1@gmail.com

Pictures online don’t do this place justice. Beautiful setting. Rooms looked recently renovated. Prperty extremely well kept. Helpful staff. On site restauarants good and short walk away (less than 1/8th of mile) many other restaurants. Great golf course. Free shuttle to/from airport which is 5 min. away. Kauai much more laid back than other Hi. islands and residents very friendly. Went to Beach House for our big dinner. Spectacular view/setting.

Worst service. Front desk staff not helpful and probably the least friendly in Hawaii. Ugliest hotel- looks worse than Hilton garden inn. No amenities in rooms and suites. When I asked for a kettle and cup to make tea in my suite, they said they don’t have ceramic cups, only plastic, and they brought a plastic kettle. The coffee machine doesn’t work. The towels have holes in them. Room wasn’t very clean, especially the bathroom. Kitchen in suite but nothing in the cabinets so it’s useless. Please go elsewhere. The Hyatt looks amazing and our lunch there was good. Places in princevilke also look good. Finally, it doesn’t look like a luxury hotel. It’s weirdly designed, takes ages to walk through the hotel, and doesn’t look like it was remodeled.