The best vacation ever!!! The units were beautiful, clean, and well equipped. The view and the ocean breeze were also a wonderful plus point. Service was awesome. Housekeeping would stop by everyday to replace towels, make the beds, and sweep the floor.
The swimming pool was clean. Restaurants and stores were two minutes away. I definitely recommend this resort for all families. Although it may be expensive, it's definitely worth it.

Very nice choice of the limited selections in Kapaa. We have been there 5 visits and have stayed and Lanikai for two (Kauai Beach Villas, Hanalei Bay Resort x 2). Nice staff (we love Cindy), quiet spot, nice beach for Kapaa. The year-round residents weren't too friendly to tourists but don't know if I would be either. It's a long climb to the 3rd level rooms, no elevator, no baggage assistance but they have the best view.

Most rooms aren't air conditioned, 132 is (window unit in bedroom). Awesome view, great location. Hard to go wrong but I would not be happy if they had switched properties as this is the better of the two.

we just got back from a 4 nite stay at the LANIKAI ,and it went perfectly. i know somtimes things go wrong for some people but we were given a second floor room that was newly decorated and spotlessly clean. the ladies at the front desk were excellent they were friendly and helpful in all aspects of our stay. the property is 18 units and only 7 are available for rental. the ajoining property the lae nani is alittle larger but just as beautiful and if there was an over booking problem i would have been happy there also.the property location was outstanding and the views spectacular. i would recommend this property to anybody looking for a small resort centrally located with a nice small beach .

First, I need to be clear that we haven't stayed at the Lanikai Resort and won't be doing so.

Here's why:

We planned our trip to Kauai in October 2004 and, after checking guidebooks and the reviews on tripadvisor, booked 18 nights at Lanikai for July/August 2005. From the reviews we read there seemed little doubt that this is a lovely resort - small, friendly, well-maintained and in a good location on the beach. My wife has trouble with stairs so we requested a ground floor unit, which they noted but said they couldn't guarantee that far ahead. All seemed well.

Early this year (2005), I was browsing tripadvisor again and saw the two reports from dissatisfied customers who'd arrived at Lanikai only to be told their units were in a different resort nearby - the Lae Nani, which is right next door and run by the same company. This concerned us as we'd chosen the Lanikai specifically because of the recommendations and because of its small scale - the Lae Nani is much larger and reviews seem less consistently favourable.

I was quite ready to believe there was some rational explanation for this and be reassured that it wouldn't happen to us, so I e-mailed Castle Resorts' Reservations to ask them to confirm that we would definitely be allocated a unit at Lanikai and also that it would be on the ground floor as originally requested. After a week with no reply I e-mailed again - still no response. After a final e-mail a few days later, I phoned.

When I asked them to reassure me that we would definitely have a unit at Lanikai, the person I spoke to first told me that "she would note the request on the reservation" and that it was very unusual for customers to be put in the Lae Nani as that only happens when the the Lanikai is overbooked.

When I explained that having a unit at Lanikai wasn't a "request", it was actually what we'd booked, she went off to discuss it with a manager. When she came back she told me that in fact we definitely would NOT have a unit at Lanikai, as we'd requested a ground floor room and of the units they manage at Lanikai, only one is on the ground floor and its owner would be using it during the time of our visit. We could have a choice of a ground floor unit at Lae Nani, or a 3rd floor unit at Lankai (which has no lifts/elevators).

What I find most amazing about all this is that they clearly don't seem to think this is a problem. In particular:

- They think it's OK to overbook and then move people to another resort when that causes a problem.

- They actually knew that we wouldn't be given a unit at the resort we'd booked several months ahead of our stay, yet they didn't think it worth contacting us to explain the problem or discuss options.

- They ignored three e-mails from me on the subject.

In summary - I have no reason to doubt that the Lanikai Resort is a lovely place to stay. The problem is that there seems to be no way to ensure that you actually get to stay there.

So, unless you genuinely don't care which of the two resorts you end up in, you can't risk booking at the Lankai.

(We have now found somewhere else for our Kauai trip and cancelled our reservation at the Lanikai.)