Banyan Harbor Resort — Attraction in Kauai

Allow me to offer these points so one can judge whether this resort would work for their needs:

1. This is an older resort. The design of the buildings and the accommodations will quickly confirm this. However, the staff appears to be doing their best to keep this resort looking as good as possible.
2. This resort has a view of Nawiliwili Park and Kalapaki Beach. This resort also has a view of an industrial area (that borders on Nawililwilil). The beach can be reached with a five minute walk but one will have to cross a road that can (at times) be busy.
3. Several shops and restaurants are located near Kalapaki Beach. If one wanted to do so, they could check in at this resort and eat meals at the various establishments nearby without needing to drive. Kalapaki Beach is (comparatively) an average beach on Kauai. Better beaches are within a reasonable driving distance and one should really visit other beaches in the area (especially Poipu Beach).
4. Our room was in good working order with appliances appearing to be quite modern. Our room was well furnished with utensils, pots, plates, etc needed for our stay. Furniture was not the most comfortable we have ever experienced but it was fine for a week. Baths were amply furnished with towels for both personal and pool (beach) use. There was a safe in the master bedroom closet.
5. This resort uses window unit air conditioners. Our unit had three such A/C's (one on the lower level and two in the upper level - one in each bedroom) and they do generate noise. Fortunately, with the temperature not being all that hot during our stay, we were able to bring the unit temp low enough before bed so that we could turn off the unit located by the head of the master bed.
6. This resort charges amenity fees (we were told for the pool, tennis courts and parking) of about $28 per day - this is in addition to the Transient Occupancy Taxes the state of Hawaii charges (which were about $11 per day for a 2 bed room unit). These costs were known to us prior to reserving this unit but charging for items like this for things which should be an essential part of any resort stay left us with a bad taste. These costs come on top of paying the RCI Exchange fee.
7. The only problem we experienced during our stay did occur after hours and the security guard did their utmost best to help resolve the issue. The staff at Banyan Harbor were all helpful and courteous during our few interactions and they do appear to be making a top notch effort toward making stays the best they can be.
8. When visiting Kauai, even though the island is small, driving on the island can be a time consuming effort. One should carefully consider WHERE their desired activities will be on the island and then choose an accommodation nearby.
9. Banyan Harbor is located within a five minute drive of Costco, the airport, a Safeway, and several (more traditional) shopping areas and restaurants in Lihue. If you want to get away from this type of area, you need to look elsewhere on Kauai.

So would I recommend this location? Depending on your views of the nine previous points, Banyan Harbor might - or might not - work for you. We choose to cook a good number of meals in the room so for us, Banyan Harbor worked out fine. The pool deserves a special mention here as it is an older pool BUT it has an actual deep end (8 foot deep) which Is not all that common anymore.

Banyan Harbor would work well for someone who was trying to stay WITHOUT...

We visited Banyan with friends who have kids our kids age (both our families came). My friend and I both booked a 2 bedroom unit with ocean view at the exact same time on the same night, yet got totally different rooms. My friend got a carport, ocean view, in building I and a top story overlooking the harbor, and the entire place had hardwood floors and updated finishings in the bathroom. My room on the other hand (in building D) was right up against the street, no carport, old shag green carpet, absolutely no view except of plants covering the busy street view, and we had a dishwasher. The staggering difference between our quality of rooms was mind blowing since we booked the exact same thing at the same time on the same day at the same price. However, i could live past that.

The part that really bothered me and I could not deal with was 1) the road noise was unbelievable loud and the windows were slated so noise flows right in, and 2) the old AC units were so so loud that they shook the walls and windows. Hardly worth calling this a "resort". AC units rattle like crazy and leak water on the units below creating a slipping hazard (honestly this needs to be fixed asap)! Noise from Waapa Road was insanely loud and the slat windows plus cutouts for AC let all that noise in.

I asked the front desk if they could switch me but its a non-starter. Unclear what the reason was but sounded two-fold - 1) the units are individually owned and 2) the place was full.

My room felt like an old rickety run down apartment. I understand the Waapa Road on Nawiliwili Harbor is a commuter road for locals, but since it seems lots of locals have cars with no mufflers and the Trash Dump is right around the corner with large trucks in/out all day, and they peel out from the Nawiliwili Harbor Parking area all day and night, wouldn't it make sense to insulate the windows better or at least replace the windows with double pane? Couldn't the old AC units be upgraded to something from this decade? I understand installing a new AC system is expensive but what i mean is literally a like for like swap so to improve the noise. I am an light sleeper so I couldn't even sleep here.

I will not stay here again unless I get a unit far from the road and a room with updated AC. You get what you pay for certainly.

It wasnt all bad though, the pool and grilling area was sufficient and what i expected. The grounds were clean and trash free. The unit had all the advertised amenities, except it seems dishwashers vary. Some units are way better than others and have great views for the price. The location is convenient for shopping and eating. Everything you need is within 5 mins of the Banyan. So I guess if you sleep like a rock and so does your whole family, and dont mind some green shag carpet, then you wont mind this place. I will also say the permanent residents at Banyan are very respectful...

Banyon Harbor Resort, Lihue, HI, Jan 2023. Great staff. Clean. Depends on your expectations. I tend to stay in Hampton Inn or similar, not high-end lodging, or low-end, as a reference... The lodging, other than the staff and location is awful. We did an RCI exchange. I expected a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit. Arrived after 24 hr trip and was given a terrible 2 bedroom 1.5 bath unit. And told that all RCI only get 1.5 baths. We (4 adults) are retired and thankfully in good health, BUT we carried luggage up 4 flights of steps to get to the 2nd-floor bedrooms. 2 sets to get to the 1st floor. Where after we did this, I realized there was 1 bathroom for both bedrooms. The bedrooms were tiny, qn beds. I went to the 1st floor to find a 1/2 bath that smelled of urine. None visible. But smelled. The rest of the unit is worn out. There was a tiny balcony where maybe 2 chairs could sit that overlooked the shipping industrial area. That was the best part of the unit. We stopped unpacking and went to the office. They were wonderful; however, told us that RCI exchanges don't get 2 bathrooms. I asked that we call RCI then. Instead, they checked their inventory and we accepted an even smaller ground-floor unit that had 2 br and 2 ba. It was better; however, this resort is the lowest level lodging. The room ACs are window and loud, guest room blows directly on the bed. The guest room couldn't open windows for ventilation because it smelled terrible outside the window. We could have kept the unit cooled some, at night IF we could have used the LR AC BUT it had a 60 min timer. The ceiling fans all made noise but we had to use them. The front door had a pull-across the screen that had a 3" gap at the bottom. The bathtub had a plug sitting in it but was from a different tub and one bathroom sink stopper fell off. There was 1 chair and sofa to sit on, so one person of our 4 had to sit on a kitchen chair. There is NO soundproofing in the upper unit, we heard every step of the family with several children, then later from the group of partyers and their music. When I opened the dishwasher a bug that looked like a roach ran out. The unit appeared clean and the kitchen was decently stocked. I would NEVER stay here again. It dampened our Kauai visit. Fortunately you are out most of the time. I've been visiting Kauai for 30 yrs. Had a timeshare in Poipu Point that we got rid of and we were finishing our RCI banked time. Great area for the weather and is walkable to great restaurants...