For our first trip to Kauai and being budget-minded, we wanted a place near Lihue airport with proximal accessibility to both the North and South shores. We had heard good things about the Garden Island Inn, not only on Trip Advisor but in major travel guides as well, and they turned out to be spot-on.
The rooms were clean and appointed cheerfully with vibrant local artwork and wicker/rattan furniture. We chose to stay on the third floor, having heard about the road noise which is due to proximity to the major thoroughfare through Lihue. We still heard the noise, but the view was wonderful. From our bed we watched the sun come up through the palm trees lining Kalapaki Beach.
There was no elevator to the third floor so if you don’t travel light as we did that might be an issue. We only stayed two nights but would have been very comfortable for a longer stay. Our room, #19, was huge. The king bed was very comfortable. The kitchenette had bowls, plates, utensils, dish liquid and towels for clean-up. There was a microwave, coffee maker and fridge with freezer compartment.
The only drawback to the room was that the shower spigot was very short in length and my 5’7” sister had to crouch to wash her hair under it. The lone air conditioner was of the window type and very rinky-dink. In a hotter climate it certainly would not have been adequate for the room, but we found the trade winds were enough to keep us cool at night. Granted we were not there much during the day so cannot attest to the level of comfort during midday. In the end we did not run the unit at all.
The nearby “mall”, mere footsteps away, had about three restaurants but they reminded me of taverns or pubs where college students and partiers would gather. Indeed on our first night our sleep was disturbed in the wee hours by partying pedestrians setting off firecrackers across the street. We ate twice at the Feral Pig there, only because we were exhausted and didn’t feel like driving anywhere else. Again, it was very pub-like. Their breakfast fare was fine but neither of us finished a large but unpleasant burger we ordered for supper one night.
The staff at the Inn was very pleasant, and I will relate one story to illustrate their commitment to the comfort of their guests. This being our first visit to a tropical island, we were rather alarmed to be greeted by a small ”lizard” when we arrived in our room. I immediately called the desk and asked if there was someone who could remove the lizard for us. The woman calmly reassured me that we were in no danger, that the “lizard” was a gecko and were quite common in tropical destinations. She said she had difficulty walking but would find a member of housekeeping to come to our aid. Minutes later, not only did this friendly limping woman show up but so did two other women, mature members of the housekeeping staff, locals undoubtedly. They assured us, not only with words but with their friendly, motherly arms around our shoulders that we would likely never see that gecko again and that there was no way it would enter our bed or be crawling on us. They said it was more scared of us than we were of it. They said besides, the geckos are what keeps bugs away so we can feel happy about that! My sister and I were touched by their response and our fears were allayed, and what’s more they were right, we never saw the gecko again!
The only reason I would look for Kauai accommodations elsewhere, now that I know the lay of the land, would be due to the road noise. You can see and hear vehicles from dawn to dusk and many of them are trucks. It is a shame because otherwise this property is most pleasant; very pretty, if tiny, grounds that look like a botanical garden, a lovely waterfall that fills your room with sound all the time, pleasant staff, supplies like towels, beach chairs, boogie boards, ice chest, books and DVDs that you can “borrow”, and a great value for the money to boot.