I have stayed at the Pono Kai on two separate occasions 1st was my 10 year anniversary the second with the entire family last year. Each time I always book for two consecutive weeks love sitting by the pool on Sunday the first week when everyone else is leaving.
Both units were clean and very well maintained, D and F buildings. Sunrise is always spectacular from the Lanai with morning hawaii coffee. The resort is a little old but very well maintained. The grounds crew is out every day doing something, trimming clipping, or just sweeping loose leaves from the lawn. You can the sidewalk into Kapaa for meals and return on the oceanside concrete walking path. The beach in front of the resort is not the best for swimming but there are so many beaches within minutes north or south of the resort, Lydgate for kids and novice snorkeling. Tunnels also great for beginners , Ke'e for snorkiling has a little current still quite nice. I will always stay at the Pono Kai, I don't even look for other locations on Kauai. The concierge will book you into great tours and events. they also have onsite concierge driven activitities for tour arrangements with buy one get one drawings it is very festive , practice saying Aloha it is used alot with the various tour presentations, Our favorite activities were snorkeling rent or (buy at walmart after arrival great selection and much cheaper), whale watching from a catamaran (capt Andy , hike to secret beach , or along the Napali coast rim. You must river kayak and hike to secret falls. These are our favorite thinks, we have done these each time.

Pono Kai is a lovely location. Yes, it is a little dated but that is all part of the charm of the facility. If you expect the Ritz Carlton, go somewhere else. This is not for you. Our 1 bedroom unit is spotless with new carpet, drapes, vinyl flooring and paint and NO bugs. The furniture is slightly used. The grounds are immaculate, the front desk personnel are friendly and courteous. We find the roosters quite entertaining and can see the whales jumping from our lanai. It is very quiet at night. The bedroom can be quite warm during the day but cools off quickly when the sun sets and you can let in the trade wind breezes. I suppose it could be a problem during summer but this time of year – no problem. Kapaa does not have the feel of Poipu or Princeville, but is a very local crowd – part of the reason we chose to stay here. WE exchanged our HGVC points for RCI in order to book this facility. We called two weeks ahead and requested ocean view, third floor.

We stayed at Pono Kai in the beginning of January this year, and we loved it. It is not fancy and some of the furnishing/amenities in the condo itself were a little older and worn at times but we did not have any problems with cleanliness, ants, or our a/c.

The pool and hot tub were great, and all of the grounds were really well maintained. They even have nice Weber gas grills around the property for guests to use, as well as an herb garden where you can go to get fresh herbs to use for cooking. We didn't really have to deal much with the front desk so I can't speak to that, the activities desk was fine to deal with. We had told them we found a cheaper rate for one of the activities online and they were happy to match that price.

The resort is located pretty centrally on the island which made getting around pretty easy. We loved walking along the walking path along Kappa, we would do it in the early am and sometimes we would do it again in the evening to hit up a happy hour someplace in town. The beach is right at the hotel, the water there is clean and calm enough for swimming. The beach itself is the town beach and can be a little dirty, but all things are relative. It is right near the public boat launch so there is a lot of rope, and parts of buoys there but nothing compared to dirty beaches in the Northeast (which is where we are from), no broken bottles or anything like that. The sand right by the water is clean and we never had a problem finding a clean area of sand to set up camp in.

So, overall we had no problems. The place is nothing fancy, but it is comfortable, in a good location, and has great grounds.

My husband visited Kauai for the very first time for our 10th wedding anniversary. We knew some folks that have a time share near the water at Pona Kai, and got a "deal" through our timeshare company for the same resort.

Make sure you know what you are getting when you go!! Our friends like their condo near the water, but we ended up in a top floor room that looked like a kickback from the 70's! The bed was horrible, and probably from the 70's too! The room was VERY HOT, and the fan they gave us barely helped us sleep at night. Our room was probably one saved for those paying the lowest fairs, and looked out over the street and the power plant across the road. I cried my eyes out on this trip! The hotel staff was horrible! No one would work with us on trying to get us a better room and they were VERY RUDE!! The company we rented from kept passing the buck, and seeing how we arrived on the weekend no one was "available" to make things right.

We have had some pretty amazing trips together, and stayed in some pretty amazing places, but this was truly the WORST place we have ever stayed at!!

Know what you are in for before staying at the Pona Kai! I never want to go back to Kauai after such a horrible trip!!! it ruined the island for us!