PRICE:
Frommer's Recommended

Formerly the Radisson Kauai, this property went through a $7-million renovation in 2006 to convert it to a condo-hotel (which means that while the hotel will continue to operate as a full-service resort for visitors, a portion of the rooms in the hotel will be available for private ownership). Then, the Hilton took over the management of the property and spent another $14 million to renovate and add such amenities as a business center, an executive-club floor, Hilton's bedding and bath items, and an expanded fitness center. The 25-acre beachfront property, located 4 miles north of Lihue, commands a 3-mile stretch of the beach, next door to a top-ranked municipal golf course. There is a complimentary airport shuttle. The rooms have all been renovated and updated with plush new carpeting, a Balinese-style wood entry door, marble bathroom and floors, top-of-the-line bedding, and high-speed wireless Internet service. The Hilton also added a new quartzite stone decking at the resort's four-pool complex, a 12-foot waterfall cascading into the main pool, a flume and lava-tube waterslide at the sand-bottom pool, and a whirlpool spa in a stone grotto surrounded by ferns and a waterfall. The entire property is nonsmoking; the only places you can light up are on the oceanside luau lawn and in the parking lot. The location is good, about equidistant from both north- and south-shore activities, and also close to the Wailua River and its kayaking, water-skiing, river tours, historical sites, and waterfalls. The only problems here are the windy conditions and the lack of safe swimming on the beautiful white-sand beach. There is one item that they have recently instituted that I find beneath the dignity of a Hilton -- guests must sign for a beach towel and if you don't return by 10pm, you will be charged $15 (per day) for your towel. Since a majority of the guests are families, this policy has really created havoc -- on my last trip, numerous guests told me they have a hard time just keeping track of their kids' slippers, yet alone where the kids may have left the beach towel. I hope the Hilton will amend this not-so-family-friendly policy.

Facilities: Restaurant for breakfast and dinner and a pool side restaurant for lunch; bar (w/nightly entertainment); 4 outdoor pools; tennis courts; fitness room; 2 Jacuzzis; watersports equipment rentals; spa; fitness center; concierge; activities desk; car-rental desk; business center; shopping arcade; salon; massage; babysitting; coin-op washer/dryers; laundry; dry cleaning

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Hawaii 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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