One of my favourite islands in Hawaii is Kauai - The Garden Island. OK its a little wetter than the other islands but it still feels like old style Hawaii. There are a number of resort hotels on the island and the flashiest of them all is Princeville Hotel on the Princeville Estate. Now this is a great hotel but here's a secret we just discovered that will cost you a third of the price and a 'room' thats about 5 times bigger !
We surfed the net and checked out some of the great deals on owners apartments in the Princeville Estate area. Now you really have to do a bit of home work here because there are lots of owners renting lots of condos. Princeville is huge so you have to make sure where your condo is. Is it overlooking one of the many golf course , or overlooking nothing or overlooking the sea - which is where you want to be.
We finally settled on Suzi's Condo which is actually apartment #220 in the Pali Ke Kua section of Princeville. This beautiful 2 bedroom Condo is right on the cliff face with stunning views over the sea.
When we arrived we were blown away. It was like arriving at someones home. Forget the condo that has a 4 plates , 2 saucepans and a couple of thin towels. Suzies Condo has everything that opens and shuts. You could easily cater for a dinner party for 12 with everything a cook could want, piles of big fluffy beach towels, snorkels and flippers , a DVD library of great movies , books and music CD's, essential food and cooking items in the pantry. In short the best condo I have ever stayed in anywhere !
Now here is the big secret. 2 Bedrooms , 2 bathrooms overlooking the sea with access to the resorts pool and tennis court for around $US1600 a week in the high season to $US1350 a week in the low season. The condo will accommodate 4 people so that means if two couples go its a snip at $US800 a week each. NOW compare this to the Princeville Hotel which is ten minutes walk down the road and if you want a room with the view that Suzies Condo has its going to set you back a cool $US600 A NIGHT !
Now remember that just for a big size room and a bathroom. So for a week holed up here its going to run you at $4,000 -$4500. Well heeled travellers who are shutting down for a week or more are discovering not only the real value of condos but they end up with more luxury in many cases then the so called luxury resorts. If you have any other condo secrets we would love to hear from you.
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