Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort in Kapaa, HI

We stayed at the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort in April, and it was a wonderful experience. Kauai is probably one of my favorite Hawaiian islands — so laid back, peaceful, and completely our speed. Roosters by the beach and everything. If you’re looking for a slower pace and lots of natural beauty, this is it. The resort faces east, so we were treated to stunning sunrises every morning. It’s such a beautiful, scenic spot. One thing to note: the beach is rocky, so if you’re looking for a soft, sandy swimming beach, this might not be your place. But if you want gorgeous ocean views and a peaceful place to walk, it’s perfect. Now let’s talk about the surprise highlight of our stay — the tuna poke bowl from the poolside bar. We spent nine days in Hawaii and ate poke all over… and somehow, the best one we had the entire trip was right here at the resort. Who would’ve thought? It was incredibly fresh, perfectly seasoned, and absolutely delicious. We’re still talking about it. The food overall was great, the service was friendly and attentive, and the location is convenient enough to walk to a few nearby shops and restaurants (even though the area itself is more spread out and relaxed). Overall, we had a fantastic stay and would highly recommend it — especially if you appreciate a laid-back vibe.

Great experience. Recommend getting premier seating for best views. Generous buffet, fish excellent and pork, chicken ok.

We checked in on Monday, February 2nd for 2 nights. Cedric was at the front desk. No greeting at all. He just asked for the spelling of my last name. I asked if there was an upgrade available (we are premium platinum elite and even with a prior gold elite status and traveling all over the world, we’ve always been given an upgrade). He said “no”. I said fine. Then he informs me we’re on the ground floor with no view which was actually a downgrade from the partial ocean view I booked and prepaid for. He could see I was unhappy so then he told me he does have one room on the 2nd floor but it has 2 beds. I asked if I could see the room. He gave me the keys. The room was fine. Way better than a ground floor near the pool with no view. I told him we would take that one. He then says, someone needs to talk to you first. What? In comes Micah who informs me he will need to charge me $85 more each night for the room that was offered to me just a few minutes earlier by Cedric with no mention of having to pay for the 2nd floor room. I told them both never mind and to just give me the ground floor pool room. (Keep in mind this was Monday during off season and the hotel was not even close to full as confirmed by another non-front desk worker later on that day.) I truly feel both of these gentlemen were just trying to be difficult. So then suddenly Cedric hands me the keys to the 2nd floor room and says in fact I don’t need to pay $85 more per night. We then proceed to leave (We were planning an elaborate lunch with drinks prior to dropping my in-laws at the airport but decided that was the last place we wanted to give our business to so we headed down the street to Lava Lava.) Micah followed us out to hand us our wristbands and a pamphlet. My husband lets him know that they did have our room available so not sure why we had to be embarrassed and shamed at the front desk instead of just giving us a decent room to start with. Micah then goes on a tangent about needing to “run a business”. Let’s do the math on this. We went down the street and spent $400 on lunch and drinks which would have been spent at the hotel if we weren’t made to feel like outcasts. We also chose to eat lunch and dinner elsewhere for the next 2 days/nights. Micah did not let up. He then called us to see how many people were staying in our room. What?? We were storing the in-laws bags with the bellman so he was trying to catch us doing something so he could scold us again? Then when my husband asked for our REQUIRED 4:00PM checkout the day before departure, (as a platinum elite member), the woman at the front desk (he didn’t get her name), proceeded to argue that she could only give us a 2:00PM but then finally gave in. We’ve honestly NEVER been treated so poorly checking into a Bonvoy property. Oh and the room was not clean. (See pics-it looks like feces were smeared on the wall). The only reason for 2 stars is the pool was nice (and very vacant) and the bartenders were lovely. We do NOT recommend this place unless you like dealing with people who have Oppositional Defiant Disorder. No thank you. I worked with kids with this disorder and it is incredibly stressful.

We booked the deluxe ocean front room because we wanted to evaluate this Sheraton for our next trip to Kauai. The view is excellent and room is huge, but for all their trying to be a 5-star resort, the service and upkeep fall short. At check in there was no acknowledgment if gold status or our importance as their guest…it was all about how busy they were and how they could not accommodate our requests until another reception host came over, put leis around our neck and heartily welcomed us. Then suddenly everything was ready as requested. The weather was rainy and it flooded our lanai which caused water to run under the doors into the room. After a call to the front desk for housekeeping or maintenance we ended up cleaning up with bathroom towels to keep from tracking water around the room. Hours later and still no service from the front desk. Lesson learned-don’t pay for deluxe ocean front unless you’re willing to work to keep the room clean. Our mission to find a resort for the next Kauai trip continues-the Sheraton Coconut Beach is a NO.