Iconic
Princeville
1 Hotel Hanalei Bay
Sustainable-luxury wellness flagship on the former St. Regis site, with six restaurants, two pools, and private Honoiki Beach below the Bali Hai peaks.
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For the whole group
A villa, a chef's kitchen, and a gentle beach.
Reef-protected swimming, multi-bedroom villas with real kitchens, and resort programming when you want it.
Design This TripKoloa Landing Resort is the standout for families: multi-bedroom villas with full Wolf and Sub-Zero kitchens, washer and dryer, and one of Hawaii's best pool complexes, all a short stroll from gentle, reef-protected Poipu Beach where monk seals and sea turtles haul out.
Days that work for every age
Timbers Kauai offers larger oceanfront residences near the airport with seventeen miles of trail and the Ocean Course on property. Fill days with snorkeling at Poipu, the Kauai Backcountry tubing adventure, and shave ice in Koloa town, then bring a private chef to the villa so dinner with tired kids never becomes a logistics problem.
A villa means private dinners in without giving up the resort's spa and kids' programming. We arrange the cribs, the car seats, the grocery pre-stock, and the activities that flex around nap time.
What’s inside
- Multi-bedroom villas with full chef's kitchens
- Calm, reef-protected Poipu Beach steps away
- Plantation tubing and beginner snorkeling
- A private chef for easy nights in
- Grocery pre-stock, cribs, and car seats handled
A sample rhythm
- 01
Settle in
Villa check-in, a grocery pre-stock waiting, an easy first beach afternoon.
- 02
Active mornings
Tubing, snorkeling, or the pool complex, paced around the youngest.
- 03
Slow afternoons
Naps and shade, then shave ice in town.
- 04
Dinners in
A private chef in the villa, one big night out at a luau.
The Kauaiwe’d build in
The pieces that fit this trip.
Where to stay
Resorts and residences that hold the coastline.
From a North Shore wellness flagship to villa estates on the sunny south, these are the stays a Kauai trip is built around.
Iconic
Poipu
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
The island's defining resort on Shipwreck Beach: a saltwater lagoon, lazy river, the vast Anara Spa, and Poipu Bay golf at the door.
Visit official siteMICHELIN Key
Lihue
Timbers Kauai Ocean Club & Residences
Oceanfront two-to-four-bedroom residences on the 450-acre Hokuala resort, MICHELIN Key two years running, with 17 miles of trail and the Ocean Course.
Visit official siteAdults-leaning
Poipu
Ko'a Kea Resort on Poipu Beach
An intimate 121-room oceanfront boutique built for romance and seclusion, home to the acclaimed Red Salt.
Visit official siteBest for families
Poipu
Koloa Landing Resort, Autograph Collection
Villa-style resort with full Wolf and Sub-Zero kitchens and a 350,000-gallon pool complex, a short walk from reef-protected Poipu Beach.
Visit official siteTop rated
Princeville
The Cliffs at Princeville
Spacious clifftop suites a hundred feet above the Pacific on a 22-acre North Shore plateau, ideal for longer, independent stays.
Visit official siteReef & sea
Turtles, lava tubes, and clear water.
Swim south in winter, north in summer: the swell follows the sun. These are the spots and boats we point guests to.
Year-round
Poipu
Poipu Beach Park
The most consistent, beginner-friendly snorkel on the island, with resident monk seals and green turtles.
Iconic, summer
Ha'ena
Tunnels Beach (Makua)
Kauai's premier reef snorkel, lava tubes and turtles, calm and safe only in the summer months.
Iconic, summer
Ha'ena
Ke'e Beach
A protected reef lagoon at the Kalalau trailhead; entry to Ha'ena State Park requires a reservation.
Visit official siteBoutique
Koloa
Fathom Five Divers
Kauai's longest-running dive shop, capped at six divers per boat, and the elite Ni'ihau offshore trips.
Visit official siteTop rated
Poipu
Seasport Divers
Readers' Choice-winning boat and shore dives, courses, and Discover Scuba for first-timers.
Visit official siteSignature adventures
Tube the plantation, zip the ridge, paddle the river.
The one-of-a-kind days: floating 1870s irrigation tunnels, ziplining a half-mile line, kayaking Hawaii's only navigable river.
Only-on-Kauai
Lihue
Kauai Backcountry Adventures
The only mountain-tubing experience on Kauai, floating the old sugar-plantation tunnels below Mt. Wai'ale'ale.
Visit official siteMulti-sport
Poipu
Outfitters Kauai
Premier guided outfitter for kayak, zipline, and the classic Wailua River paddle to a jungle waterfall.
Visit official siteTop rated
Koloa
Koloa Zipline
Kauai's longest zipline course, eight lines including the half-mile Waita line over a reservoir.
Visit official siteIsland feast
Imu, fire, and the oldest stories.
From an oceanfront lawn at sunset to a riverfront botanical garden, Kauai's luaus range from the most produced to the best fed.
Bucket-list
Poipu Beach
Auli'i Luau at Sheraton Kauai
Kauai's only oceanfront luau, staged on the beachfront lawn with the sunset behind the performance.
Visit official siteTop rated
Poipu
Grand Hyatt Havaiki Nui Luau
Consistently the strongest food of any Kauai luau, imu kalua pork and fresh catch at the flagship resort.
Visit official siteIconic
Wailua
Smith's Tropical Paradise
A fourth-generation family luau in a thirty-acre riverfront garden, with a traditional imu ceremony.
Visit official siteTheatrical
Lihue
Luau Kalamaku at Kilohana
A story-driven show on a 1930s plantation, with upgrades to a railway ride or a sit-down manor dinner.
Visit official siteThe table
Sunset tables and farm-to-fork chefs.
Kauai's dining runs from oceanfront icons to North Shore wine rooms and true farm dinners. We hold the hard reservations.
Iconic
Poipu
The Beach House
Kauai's most iconic oceanfront sunset table, Pacific Rim cuisine served right at the water's edge.
Visit official siteAward-winning
Poipu
Merriman's Fish House
Chef Peter Merriman's farm-to-table flagship at Kukui'ula, sourcing more than ninety percent local.
Visit official siteAward-winning
Poipu
Tidepools at Grand Hyatt
Thatched bungalows over a koi lagoon at a waterfall's base, named a top hotel restaurant in America for 2025.
Visit official siteTop rated
Hanalei
Bar Acuda
The North Shore tapas-and-wine institution from Jim Moffat, a former Food & Wine Top New American Chef.
Visit official siteAward-winning
Poipu
Red Salt
Frequently cited as Kauai's finest restaurant, a Kauai-native chef cooking local seafood at Ko'a Kea.
Visit official siteTop rated
Koloa
Eating House 1849
James Beard winner Roy Yamaguchi's plantation-era eatery at The Shops at Kukui'ula.
Visit official siteFarm dinner
Kilauea
Common Ground
A four-course, in-season dinner served on a working North Shore farm, with lei-making before you sit.
Visit official sitePrivate chef
In your villa
Kauai Ono (private chef)
Chef Justin Smith brings true farm, fish, and forage private-chef dinners into your villa or residence.
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Private family villa
Let’s design it around you.
Share what you can already picture. A concierge fills in everything still open and sends back a plan, not a quote.