Kauai Lodging?

So I’m going to Kauai with my girlfriend first week of August.

In the past I’ve stayed at Grand Hyatt, which was great for kids.
But this trip it’ll be just us two.

I’m thinking of staying half time in Poipu and half in Princeville.
I’ve considered the last couple nights maybe at St Regis, but problem is it’s $$$$ and recent reviews say it needs renovations.

Anyhoot, any favorite places to stay?
Prefer staying on the beach or walking distance to beach.
Any cute on the beach B&Bs or under the radar family owned must stay places?
What about Hanalei?
Just trying to keep it fun and budget wise.

Heading there later this year and also interested in any suggestions.

If budget wise is your interest, look for condo rentals in Sealodge in Princeville. Get an upper floor (unless you can’t handle stairs) with the best view. The rental agents can tell you which have the best (and most have pictures on line). They are nothing special but reasonably furnished, with kitchen, living room and one or two bedrooms. And the best views for the price.

Note that it’s not on a beach. No such thing as budget minded on the beach.
The best beaches other than Tunnels and Kalihiwai ( Lumahai, Secret, Ke’e, Rock Quarry) don’t have houses on the beach anyway.

At that time of year, I’d stay on the north shore the whole time.

I always stay in a condo or my friend’s place in the spare bedroom. The spare bedroom won’t help you obviously but seriously check into condos. You can save a ton, buy fresh fish from the many fish markets on the island, hit a couple of farmer’s markets that rotate geographically around the island and have some nice grilled dinners with a bottle of wine and likely save hundreds in the process.

It has been six years since we stayed at this place but this is one of our favorite condo properties. We’re currently considering making an offer on a unit here.

We were on Kauai last September and split our time between the Westin Princeville (just up the road from the St. Regis) and the Sheraton Poipu. Both properties were great for our needs and both were convenient to the sites we wanted to visit.

No, I’m not hell bent on budget lodging.
Just want to look at all options.

We stayed at Koa Kea Resort, near Poipu Beach. It’s an older property that’s right on the water (much closer than you’re allowed to build today). Rooms are a tad on the small side, but service was excellent, as was the restaurant. Feels like an upscale boutique 50’s motor lodge, if that makes any sense at all. We really enjoyed it, and it was a convenient base of operations for the south side of the island. Cost seemed a bit high, but for Hawaii and the level of service I suppose it wasn’t that expensive. Would likely stay there again if/when we return.

For the north side, we stayed at Westin Princeville. No cozy feel there, but the condo style units all had laundry in-room, which made it easy to pack light. Roomy, but not particularly well decorated. it served our purpose. We had dinner at the St. Regis, and while it was clearly in another category from the Westin price-wise, I didn’t feel like it was special enough to merit the cost.

Oh, and in Princeville, be sure to stop at Tahiti Nui restaurant. We were frankly shocked at the quality and preparation of the home-style food. This was several years ago, so it may have changed. Only after we were there did we realize that the restaurant was used in the George Clooney film “The Descendants”, and we ended up sitting in the same table he did for the movie (that’s about as close to Hollywood as us Kansas folks will likely get!).

Looks like we will be in Kauai at the end of March 2019 so bumping the thread for any new comments.

Budget-friendly - a couple of years ago a few of us rented vrbo condos on the south side at Kuhio Shores next to Lawai Beach west of Poipu. Reasonably priced and a perfectly suitable staging location; turtles swimming out our window and right next door to the Beach House, a somewhat overpriced and mediocre restaurant famous for its sunset views on the lawn - we just took G & Ts out there from our apts and watched them from the lawn, avoiding the restaurant. The condo building had several good gas grills for grilling fish from the Koloa fish market and other locations. Lawai beach is small but a popular easy surfing spot.

In March, the weather on the south side is generally better than the north side - less rain, more sun.

We stay at the Westin Princeville.
Yes, Tahiti Nui! (the “Nui”)
JO2 restaurant in Kapaa