First and foremost, the peoples writing reviews on this beautiful place have a round trip ticket back to their lame dehumanizing jobs. Kauai beach house is rock solid for a place to stay. It's 30 bucks for a bunk, full kitchen, hot showers, and a chill place to hang out. You may be able to swap stay for work/trade, etc. The owners are very very very reasonable and friendly. It's simply a great place to hang out, drink a couple brews and eat $3.00 t bones from kojima's from across the street. Kauai cattle is the best! Lights out at 10pm but if you want to hang out then you can go into the tv room and hang out, meet some cool locals. Just dont be a hauli tool, open up your mind, heart, speak, share, thats why you are here. You will eventually feel more at home there than at your own grandma's house.

First, I've actually stayed here twice and both times were horrible! The first time in September, Labor Day weekend we were set up in a private room when we arrived mid afternoon. We didn't feel comfortable leaving our belongings there so we took them with when we drove around the island. When we returned someone else was in our private room. The manager was very rude and basically said tough, you will have to stay in the open room with the bunk beds.
Second time we stayed there (no choice because it was cheap and other hotels were booked), the bed was not set up with anything...sheets, pillowcases, etc...so when I had to keep asking one of the workers for assistance, the manager rudely asked "What does she want NOW?!". Completely disrespectful and we would hear loud music and people talking all hours of the night. Next time I go to Kauai I will pay the extra $$ to stay in a hotel to get actual sleep and a clean bed and bathroom.
One nice thing is the view of the ocean, and the ocean air coming in at night was relaxing. But that's the only nice thing I can say about that place.

The beach house is horrible on all levels. It is dirty, unorganized and out of control. The owners son thinks it is ok to bring his dates to the hostel and have loud intercourse on the roof at 2am. The staff, although nice, are unorganized and they steal food. They also allow street people to sit in the tv room , as well as, take showers and walk through the premisis as though they were paying guests. The ' pavillion' out back is loaded with drunks and almost daily there is a fight. Apparently it is acceptable behavior to the staff. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place.

Of the 30 or so hostels I've stayed at across Europe and the United States, this is by far the dirtiest hostel! I have to believe that anyone who could rate this hostel as Good simply has a lower tolerance for cleanliness than I do.

Bathrooms - Dirty. Gross even. Toilet floors were always wet since the shower is basically a hose coming out of the wall by the toilets with a shower head on the end. Supposedly the owner doesn't want to provide people an actual shower to keep his water bill low.

Kitchen - would not pass health code and is under supplied. The refrigerator was gross. Overpacked with old decaying food. The bottom collected water and instead of dealing with it properly, they had stuck a towel on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator which by now had several inches of mold growing on it.

Lights Out - This hostel has the WORST lights out rule ever. They enforce lights out across the entire building at 9:30pm daily. It doesn't matter if people in that room all want to stay up and talk, or whether you are in the front room. The hostel manager checks and makes sure all lights are off and stay off. I couldn't even stay up and check emails without disturbing roommates. Seriously!? It was like I was a little kid again being told to go to sleep.

Rooms - A little below average from what I am used to but livable. They did seem to clean the sheets.

Energy - I was really bummed about the poor energy at this hostel. Most other hostels I've stayed at have great energy from other world travelers. People are often passionate and excited about exploring the city they're in and often sharing that with strangers. That was not my experience at Kauai Beach House. Most of the people I met seemed to have been there not days, but MONTHS! They seemed to hang around and not do much all day...and certainly weren't excited or passionate about going out w/ me to explore Kauai. I now see why many hostels have a 1-2 week stay limit per year. IMHO, this hostel needs more rotation to keep a good flow of people and positive energy.

Staff - Despite the many, many bad things here, I actually thought the staff, Anne and Amy, were nice people. Yet despite this, it was clear that the hostel was being managed very poorly.

Location - Amazing. The room was literally 100 feet from the waves. Yet despite this great location, it is still no salvation for this hostel...which just has too many faults for me to ever stay there again. The downside to the location is the wild roosters will crow (outside the always open windows) at random times of the day AND night.

Bottom line: There are too many other affordable options on Kauai to give this hostel serious consideration, ESPECIALLY if you are more than one. You can get condos to resort hotels starting at $70-100/night on VRBO.com & Priceline.com.

Oh, and the island itself rocks! Go there. Enjoy :) Just make sure you stay somewhere other than here.