1 Hotel Hanalei Bay

I had been avoiding writing this review, but I've been stewing about my terrible experience at 1 Hotel for months (!). Unfortunately, it turns out the only way to deal with being this unhinged is to write a bad review. In a way, I'm the a-hole for spending this much money on a hotel room, but I knew I'd be extra appreciative the attention to detail that makes paying $1k+ a night "worth it" after a backpacking trip. 1 Hotel probably has the most scenic location on the island (along with gorgeous design IMO), but at $1300 a night (~$1600 after taxes and fees), the level of service we got was unacceptable. (But I want to note at the top that I had a wonderful experience at the spa!!) I wouldn't have written this review if not for "the ant situation", an ant infestation that management is clearly aware of (see the other reviews) but has failed to resolve. We were gifted banana bread upon arrival, but when I tried to eat more the next morning, the loaf, the plate it was on, and the area around it were swarming with ants. I let the concierge know, and they dealt with it by removing the bread and sending someone to spray. I was like "cool" and took special care to shove some fruit that I bought into the mini fridge. Later in the day, I came back with a leftover pizza that wouldn't fit, but I figured it was fine to leave out. Boy oh boy was I wrong. When I opened the pizza box for a lil midnight snack, the ants were swarming again. I texted the concierge about it, and once again, instead of offering to move us or anything substantial, they tried to send housekeeping to clean it up. It was late and my husband was asleep by the time they got back to me, so I told them it could wait until morning. I spent the night unpacking all of our backpacking gear to make sure that they hadn't also gotten into that food and feeling paranoid about ants crawling on me when I tried to fall asleep (I want to make it clear that there weren't any ants on the bed after I cleaned up the pizza box, but when you see that many ants crawling on top of everything multiple times in the same day, the disgust can leave a body sensation). When I couldn't sleep, I messaged a cousin who works with the Rosewood Group to ask what to do, and after being horrified by the pictures I sent him, he recommended that I talk to the General Manager to inform him how it was handled and to make sure this didn't happen to any guests in the future. Now that I've read the other reviews, I can see that they had already been informed about this problem multiple times before my stay, but they still hadn't fixed how they deal with it. They offered me $200 per night as compensation, which barely covers the daily resort + parking fee, and is kind of laughable for a hotel that costs $1300 a night BEFORE taxes. Actually, while I'm complaining, I'll note that they charged us an additional parking fee for the day that we checked out. I hope it goes toward hiring more valet because getting our car was always a 10+ minute ordeal. The valet drivers were lovely, just understaffed. Overall, service at the hotel was pretty mid. It's better service than you'd get at most hotels, but very much below average for hotels in this tier. I want to emphasize that if a standard room at 1 Hotel Kauai cost less than $1000 a night, I would not complain about everything I'm about to complain about. Our stay started off on a good note: we had been upgraded! Then we learned our room wasn't ready yet, which was a bummer because we'd just gotten back from a 3-day backpacking trip and I was really looking forward to showering, but not a huge deal. Bobby at check-in was a delight! And he did his best to entertain us for the half hour that it took to get our room ready, but for the most part staff vibes were very "the guests are here, and I'll smile, but I'm hanging out with other staff rn so I'll take my time to get to them". Once again, totally reasonable in most cases, but not when a higher level of service is priced into the hotel cost. Our fantasy of a "relaxing beach getaway" was slightly eroded by a lack of pool service. Unlike at the valet, the rest of the hotel seemed to have plenty of staff, but there was a distinct lack of care toward the guest experience. The towel staff was very quick, but getting someone to take your order at the pool or the beach would take half an hour or more. I could see staff approach guests on one side of the beach, but then they would disappear before I could flag them down. I got used to just making the trek to the main pool bar and trying not to spill my drink in the sand on the way back. The hotel was only at 70% capcity when we visited (and most guests were participating in wedding festivities instead of hanging out by the beach), so it was especially frustrating to have to work so hard to try to place an order. Side note: most of the food is not great and a lot of the main pool bar drinks were kind of gross. Highly recommend getting drinks from the adult pool bar or Welina Terrace instead! Naturally, I've been complaining about my time at 1 Hotel Kauai to anyone who would listen, and it turns out the 3 other people I know who've stayed there had similar experiences! (To clarify, I was the only one to deal with with the ant problem, but I think it's pretty egregious that out of 4 groups visiting at different times of the year, nobody's room was ready when they checked in!!!). I'm annoyed that I didn't get their thoughts before my stay, but I'm writing this review so others don't make the same mistake that I did! To me, our shared experiences signal a lack of proper training, which is a management issue. That, or they need to pay their staff more. Despite my qualms with the general "service" provided by the hotel, many of the individual staff members were really great. The spa was the true standout of the trip. Prices were typical for a luxury resort, and Asher gave me one of the best massages I've ever had. My husband said the same about Max. To cap it off, we received amazing facials from Lauren. The facial program that she developed there is truly special. It's a reflection of her effort to learn about local wellness rituals and integrate them into Kauai's Bamford spa. The rest of the team there was equally great! Gabriella provided excellent, informative check-in service, and Solana and Adam were super helpful with scheduling and answering questions about the Bamford products. They even gave me great tips about spots to visit in Kauai! The instructor for the morning movement session (I believe her name was Julie!) was fantastic as well. Some disorganized thoughts and context: My husband and I stayed here for two nights in October after backpacking to Kalalau Beach. When we got our permit, I made him promise that we could stay at the St. Regis afterward. I had to walk that back when I discovered the St. Regis was gone. Still, I love experiencing the little touches that differentiate luxury hotel chains, so I was excited for the opportunity to try a 1 Hotel instead. I came back from vacation having basically pulled an all nighter, and that bled into my workweek and made me more stressed after taking time off than I was before I left. Having recently stayed at the Four Seasons in Oahu, I was expecting a similar level of hospitality but maybe modernized? Instead, I would describe my 1 Hotel experience as luxury prices with "upscale" service (closer a Kimpton and, honestly, worse than most Hyatts). There are many reasons to visit Kauai (gorgeous nature, cool towns, the aloha guy at the Walmart in Lihue), but if you’re going for a resort experience, I would choose another island or wait until Kauai has another luxury hotel chain. They have currently cornered the market on luxury in Hanalei Bay, but I probably won’t be back. I also think it's weird that the majority of the staff that we encountered at the hotel were not native Hawaiians. Welina Terrace was great. Dinner at 1 Kitchen was fine. My husband is vegan, and we're always bummed when restaurants use a cauliflower steak to phone in their vegan entree, but the sides were tasty. It's definitely skippable if there's somewhere else in town you want to try. Regarding mid-October weather: the forecast was rainy, but it turned out to be a few small showers and a good amount of sun! It's unfortunate that a brand that positions itself as hospitality-first would have these problems, but it also goes to show that "service" means more than having a guest fill out a profile an app. It's also weird to ask about the guests' dietary restrictions but then not accommodate them in the welcome gift... Maybe we wouldn't have had an "ant situation" if my husband could have helped me finish the banana bread. The app itself is confusing and makes booking classes difficult; it basically just takes you back to a general landing page.

The views at this hotel are breathtaking. Unfortunately, my experience with their billing and post-stay follow-up was not. Upon check-in, our complimentary banana bread was already being enjoyed by hundreds of ants. We pointed this out to the staff member who brought in our luggage, and to his credit, he promptly replaced it. I chose to let it go so it wouldn’t affect my attitude during the stay, and honestly, I otherwise had a really great time. In hindsight, this should have been a warning. Despite having a breakfast-included package and a $100 property credit, I was incorrectly charged for breakfast multiple times, billed for minibar items I never touched, and then sent on a five-day scavenger hunt to recover a $28.25 credit I was clearly owed. Yes, twenty-eight dollars. The irony of spending thousands at a “five-star” resort only to fight this hard over pocket change was not lost on me. Had I not carefully reviewed my invoice after checkout, the hotel would have charged me for items I was never supposed to be billed for in the first place, which is alarming at this price point. When the hotel first attempted to correct the breakfast charges, they refunded one full breakfast and only a partial breakfast, then claimed I still owed a random remaining amount of $56 for breakfast on the first day. The only item I ordered outside of breakfast was a green juice, which costs $16.75. When I asked how a juice somehow became $56, no one could explain how that number was calculated. To make matters more confusing, the hotel applied $55 of the $100 property credit to valet, leaving a remaining $45 credit unaccounted for. I emailed multiple times and called the hotel twice trying to understand how that remaining credit was applied. After my emails stopped receiving responses, I escalated the issue to Chase. I then spent over an hour on the phone with Chase while they attempted to get a clear explanation from the hotel. The hotel insisted the remaining $45 credit had been applied to “a lunch,” yet could not specify which lunch on the invoice. In the end, Chase had to manually credit me points because the hotel could not, or would not, issue a proper refund themselves. After speaking with Chase, I called the hotel again because at that point, I genuinely felt I was being gaslit. I finally reached a manager directly and asked her to pull up my invoice so we could review it together. She stated that the $45 credit had actually been applied to a breakfast charge. I pointed out that I was never supposed to be billed for breakfast in the first place, meaning they had applied my property credit to a free breakfast. She simply asked how much I was owed and said she would process it. There was no apology for the repeated billing errors, the time wasted, or the frustration of having to untangle this over several days and multiple calls. This experience was particularly disappointing because there were genuine bright spots. Matthew at breakfast was exceptional, the kind of thoughtful, detail-oriented service you expect at a true luxury resort. On the first morning, I mentioned that I like limes squeezed over my papaya. On subsequent mornings, he brought limes without me even asking. He remembered that I take cream with my coffee, and when we got up to leave, he proactively brought us fresh coffees in to-go cups. Mahina at the adult pool was also fantastic and incredibly attentive. She suggested an off-menu ube piña colada that was so good I ordered it both days. Service for the most part was great throughout our stay. But a hotel positioning itself alongside Fairmont or Four Seasons at this price point should be able to deliver a clean welcome, a correct invoice, and apply a property credit accurately, without guests having to audit their stay or argue with an invoice that seems to make up numbers.

At our first breakfast, we watched a sparrow and a dove nestled and grooming (picking nits) on the supposedly clean napkins at the adjacent table. YUCK! Another day, an unsuspecting couple left their table and instantly a dozen or more birds swarmed all over their breakfast. DOUBLE YUCK! We were constantly on guard; not to mention repulsed. These were not isolated instances, the birds rule 1 Restaurant at breakfast. The staff does NOTHING to repel the birds. The only place I've seen more birds ON breakfast was in a developing country that was not known for its hygiene. We have been at several hotels that take measures to repel the birds from the breakfast room (a falcon in Dubai), but not at 1 Hotel. Our room had a fabulous view across Hanalei Bay - one of the most beautiful places on earth. But the room is as dark as a cave with only dim lighting. The bellman did not show us anything so it was a couple of days before we figured out that there were two separate lighting circuits. Still with all the lights on, you may want a headlamp to see any hard to find items in your luggage. Even worse, the room is full of furniture and built ins. We had to coordinate our movements to go from the area of the bathroom to the window. Do not swing your arms, or you'll hit something. I didn't realize how claustrophobic it was until we arrived in our spacious and luxurious room on Maui, where we could actually exhale and walk around our room. Our relaxation was palpable. 1 Hotel has no problem with having you wait a long time on hold to reach guest services. And, you will often wait a while for your car at the valet stand - even on those occasions when guest services REMEMBERED to contact the valet when you call from your room. But 1 Hotel is extremely concerned about their time. At 4 MINUTES past check out time, a staff member was at our door wondering why we were still there, they asked, "did we arrange for late check out?" 4 MINUTES!!!! I will not believe any response that suggests this was a mistake as it is consistent with 1 Hotel's lack of respect for their client's time. The formerly expansive lobby provided a dramatic reveal of the fabulous view. After 1 Hotel's remodel, that is gone. The view is hidden. Guests enter via a too narrow passage - easily blocked by the many oblivious guests who walk slowly three abreast ignoring an "excuse me" from anyone who wishes to pass. Entitled aren't they! It's hard to see the view anymore unless you get onto the narrow balcony beyond the bar which is shoulder to shoulder with people enamored in having themselves photographed. No fun. I'm guessing that few of these people are hotel guests, but they enjoy the view that registered guests paid a fortune for. Most of the staff are generally pleasant.

The views were spectacular and the room was very comfortable. The beach and pool area are beautiful and relaxing. The bar has expensive drinks, but the views make up for it and are amazing, especially at sunset. However, the food at the restaurant did not feel five stars, especially considering the prices. For what you pay for the quality should be better. Overall, it's a beautiful property with great scenery!

Views are unmatched. Food is great (breakfast is good, dinner at either restaurant is excellent). Pool and beach sunning areas are well appointed. Excellent fitness center

At the price everything will be highly scrutinized. Some common areas/facilities could have been cleaner/had more upkeep (some beach loungers were stained, towels in gym were often scare/unavailable)

More on premise Dining after 5pm

We come to Hawaii every year and this year decided to spend our time in Hanalei, where previously we’ve just done day trips and opted to stay at 1 Hotel I had high expectations given the price tag and we were not let down. The views from our room and the beach were STUNNING. We enjoyed breakfast and coffee everyday at Neighbor’s. We ate lunch beachside every day ordering off the pool menu (the ahi sandwich and shrimp tacos were our favorites!). Service from all employees was great! The hotel or pool never felt crowded. We enjoyed the cushions on the pool and beach chairs but I do wish the beach chair cushions somehow could be protected from the overnight moisture as they were always soaked in the morning. One other touch that would be nice that’s often done at other luxury resorts is morning and afternoon “snacks” by the beach/pool staff (things like fruit skewers etc). Those are very minor and again we otherwise had a great time and will certainly be back! Kelsey

I think this is probably a decent hotel, the location is superb, and it seems to be the best spot on the island. Our stay could have been wonderful but the check-in experience and response that evening was absurd and our room was not what we selected and paid for. Checking in late evening from NY, we were assisted to our room, and I noticed a strong sour odor in the hallway. After turning the corner I saw the hallway full of industrial de-humidifiers, hoses and cords dangling from walls and open ceiling panels, blocking the hallway. It appeared to be water damage mitigation in the ceiling, walls, and rugs. The stench outside all the rooms in that wing was gross. I asked the bellman what happened and he acted as if he had no idea (not possible) and said "It must be construction" which did not sound good either, but I told the bellman we needed to change rooms. At the front desk all involved acted as if they had no idea about this damage (not possible). We were given two options for the first night, neither were similar rooms, one was a similar price category but on the ground level in view of beach goers, not quiet and not private, from sunrise to sundown. Beach level is probably ideal for some, we wanted a high room (Mountain View), private balcony and the trip to first floor is a long walk requiring two elevator rides. We took it for the evening and decided the next day it was not worth moving our bags a third time. I went back to look the next day and not only was it still a smelly war zone and I felt bad for the guests ducking under cords and getting that smell each time they left their room; wow. To be clear, one of the managers did call us the next day while we were on a tour so I could not take the call, by that point, however, there was nothing to talk about and there was no mention of it again. I understand a GM that does not want to lose thousands in room revenues and also needs to honor reservations, but assuming there is no mold or health risk, I hope those guests were somehow compensated, given discounts or acknowledged for the plain unsightliness and smell. Kauai has a lot of rain, and things happen, but this hotel is also owned by Starwood Capital which has some skills in RE and hospitality. It is unforgivable that we were not warned at check-in about the mess, and given some options. I don't need a manager's apology or free dessert but nobody ever really acknowledged anything. East coast travelers need to consider that they may get assigned the worst possible rooms as a penalty for being the last to arrive to the party, and that this place is light on supervision.