Stay away. This unit looks good in pictures but is not set up for a vacation rental. The whole unit needs an overhaul. Not with duct tape like they used to fix the handles of the screens, nor old screws to pretend to keep the oven handle attached to the over (which fell off 2x while baking, and 2nd time we stopped using the oven. The beds need to be taken to the dump, the bathroom needs plumbing so as to not flood the floors, the walls need drywall so that the exposed pipes are covered in the downstairs closet, the old cardboard box needs to be removed, and the kitchen needs proper utensils for a rental unit. A can opener, sharp knifes, etc would be helpful. Overall. the family members that had to stay there were disgusted by the conditions. They actually were talking of leaving early due to the stress of it all. So, in the end, stay away. DO NOT RENT.
We had a wonderful time in Princeville despite being very disappointed in these accommodations. This unit needs some work to be up to even basic standards in many areas.
I'll start with pros. This is a great location, the perfect, quiet, family-friendly area, convenient to most of the activities we wanted to experience on Kauai. We liked the condo complex. The pool is huge and very well-maintained. I met the complex's manager, Ken, who was friendly and offered some great tips. The furniture and decoration of the unit was nice.
OK, now the cons. Going to have to shift into list mode:
• Mold growing in the washing machine. I noticed this was mentioned in an older review. It has not been addressed.
• The loud, in-room A/C units struggled mightily against even the fairly mild low-80s temps. A couple of days before we left, the main unit in the LR stopped blowing cold air and it got very hot in the main areas of the condo. Maintenance came out to check it while we were away. They reported back that it was working fine. It wasn't. It remained hot in that room the rest of our stay.
• Flooring is cheap and squishy underfoot.
• The main bathroom is a disaster. The shower leaks onto the floor, the water closet is absurdly cramped, and the lack of blinds or curtains on the sliding glass doors in the bathroom is totally inexcusable. Early in our stay, I was left exposed to an embarrassing situation. I'll leave it at that. After that, I had to make sure I was decent except when in the shower with the shower curtain closed. In my own bathroom. Ridiculous.
• Perhaps worst of all is the upstairs bedroom, which reeks of an overpowering mildew smell and featured hundreds of living and dead insect "roommates" upon our arrival. It was uninhabitable, and my daughter had to sleep on the LR sofa instead. I demanded and received a partial refund for that.
When complaining about the bugs/mildew smell/broken A/C, the Vacasa representative was friendly and helpful. I did appreciate their professionalism.
The home was well stocked and clean.
We loved your beautiful property and wish we could stay longer! Thank you so much
We had a fantastic stay! The property was peaceful, quiet, and had stunning views. The lanai was a highlight—we spent so much time out there just enjoying the scenery. The home was incredibly spacious, even more than we expected, and the location was perfect—just a minute from Foodland, making it easy to grab groceries and cook whenever we needed.A nice surprise was the beach towels and beach toys, which weren’t mentioned in the listing but were super helpful. The hosts were communicative and accommodating, making our stay even better. We would absolutely stay here again!
The location was great. We always found a parking spot. The pool area was very nice, but we spent most of our time at the beach. The grounds were well kept. Close to sidewalks and access to running or walks. Just over a 5k to run to the cliffs and back. Close to the Princeville Market for food and supplies. The house was mostly clean. We had some dirty dishes, some burnt out lights, some minor maintenance things. My kids hated the plastic on the bed upstairs. Here's the thing, it worked great for sleeping. We only spent the nights there. It was a nice area, safe, and worked perfectly for us. It was closer to a 4.5 than a 4 star. It was just very minor things that did not ruin our vacation in any way. Communication was great and timely. I do not think you will have a bad experience. A little TLC and this place is easily 5 stars.
Everything was wonderful except for the parking. We had a full condo for 8 but we had to rent 2 cars to accommodate 8, and had no option to add another parking space.
We had such a great experience staying here. The apartment is large and very comfortable. The porch that wraps around the apartment is incredible and it has a lot of seating. The bed in the master bedroom was very comfortable. There was air conditioning in each of the bedrooms. There were basic salt and pepper and other spices that were very useful. Plenty of dishes and cleaning supplies. Everything was very clean. Lots of games to play and books to read. A closet full of everything you could need at the beach, although the umbrellas were mostly broken. Still, there were masks and snorkels, lots of sand toys, 2 beach chairs and a camping chair, boogie boards and even flip flops. There were nice beach towels to use and plenty of regular towels as well. The area is stunning and the grounds are so so beautiful. We loved every minute of our stay here. Plus, the grounds manager was the nicest and most helpful guy. Overall, this was a fantastic place to stay with our family.
Mauna Kai 8B Was fantastic for our family. We had 6 of us there. Plenty of room for everyone. Clean. Ready for us when we got there. Kids loved the pool. Beautiful property. Would recommend to anyone.
Loved our stay here. Condo was in a great location and very clean. Loved all the landscaping and beautiful Mountain View off the balcony. Great snorkeling and swimming beach in walking distance. We can’t wait to come back!
Beautifully furnished and good air conditioner
Always wanted to stay in one of these units. It didn't disappoint, our best stay ever in Princeville/Hanalei!
Perfect everything was very nice. Was a great location, lots of room very clean we will come back !!
loved the extra space for grandchildren to visit very easy trip without any problems thanks
Our family of 6 was able to spread out and we were very comfortable! Great location to get the lush tropical feel of the island. Easy to drive anywhere to follow the sun.
We had a great stay in Princeville at Mauna Kai 8B. Everything was in working order. The Vacasa representative was very accomodating and answered all questions and made sure we were well taken care of. We would book here again. Kauai is beautiful. We were so sad to leave.
Vacasa manager Mahea was amazing! This property has very comfortable beds and the lay out of the condo allows for privacy in all rooms! Teenagers loved the pool.
Great stay!
The unstairs bed was unmade when we showed at the property. I contacted VRBO many times and asked for a manager to call and also to deliver linen to make the bed. After many contacts and 48 hours they finally left linen on the porch. Only problem we needed a queen and they delivered a twin. I also asked that they infom the owner since we were not able to use the bed for 2 days, they said its not possible. Nice place for my family to stay but after 10 + years of using VRBO I was very disappointed with the customer service. I would also think the owner would want to know this happened for their protection from poor service to their renters thus I am writing this note for them. We used to be able to email the owner but does not appear to be an option any more.
This is a beautiful condo in a beautiful complex. Unfortunately, some issues in the unit, and the failure to deal with them by the property management company, resulted in a less-than-stellar experience.
1) The washing machine was full of mildew. All of the bath towels in the unit smelled of it, and when we went to wash them, we found the reason why. We called for three days to have someone come and fix the washer, and each day were told that the local team would be in touch. After the second day of no resolution, we used some paper towels and bleach spray to try to clean the rubber liner around the drum and both times the paper towels ended up being caked in a dark brown gunk. We came home at the end of the third day to a bottle of mold/mildew cleaning spray and a rag outside of our front door…
2) The A/C unit in the bedroom with the twin beds on the first floor leaks. We woke up after the first night to standing water that filled the closet and extended underneath one of the beds. It took four beach towels to clean up all of the water. We turned off the unit and called to have it looked at. The first time calling we were told that the local team would be in touch. The next day we were told to just leave it on — this could explain why the floor in this room is peeling. We left it off the rest of our stay.
There is more to share, but I’m out of characters.
This could be great unit — but I wouldn’t recommend based on our recent stay though.
Large, clean condo sleeps 8 comfortably. Wonderful beach items to borrow in outside closet including chairs, snorkel equipment, umbrella and kid sand toys. Has a pack n' play for a little one to sleep. Great customer service and easy self entry. Would stay again in a heartbeat.
