Marjorie's Kauai Inn — Hotel in Kauai

We had visited Kauai about 25 years ago and loved it. This year, it wasn’t until after I made our plane reservations and started looking for a place to stay that I realized how much price inflation there had been on a small island with limited choices.||The places to stay in the $150-to-$300 a night range all had middling-to-poor Trip Advisor reviews. We also refused to stay in a condo, AirBnB, or VRBO because those kinds of units reduce affordable housing for locals. (While we were in Hawaii, we read that Maui is on the path to phasing out by 2026 some 7,000 short-term rental units and converting them into long-term units to provide desperately needed housing for locals.)||The major hotels were way beyond our budget once you included the rip-off “resort fees” and the need to buy breakfasts.||That led us to Marjorie’s, a true, owner-occupied B&B. We paid more than I had ever paid for a room in my life—$395 a night plus tax, but with a 5% discount because we didn’t pay with a credit card. But full breakfasts were included, free parking, and free use of all sorts of equipment including beach chairs, ice coolers, reef walks, and the laundry (but check with the innkeeper first for timing). ||They don’t serve the full breakfast on Sundays, but there are snacks, and basic fixings in a common room. (You can take the food back to your own room or with you on your travels.)||Although I talked with one of the owners on the phone in making my reservations, they were away during our 10-day stay. In their place as acting innkeeper was Veronika, a German-born California who runs the inn if the owners are absent. She was wonderful and bent over backwards to meet our needs. If she didn’t know an answer to our questions, she asked a local. In fact, it says something about the owners’ high ethics and collegiality that they invite one of their cleaners and a couple of neighbors to share breakfast with guests once a week. ||If you’re looking for a hermetically sealed place to stay, you’d be better off paying thousands of dollars for the Grand Hyatt. Marjorie’s is inland, surrounded by lush vegetation on a hillside—and yes, there are geckos outside (although we wouldn’t have minded if they were inside, since they eat nasty critters). If you leave a crumb on the window sill, ants will find it. (Aside: When we toured one of the nonprofit gardens, we saw some leaves in a tree that had been eaten. Someone asked what happened to the leaves. The guide said, “We have bugs.”)||Our room windows had excellent screens, and we kept the windows open all the time. The ceiling fans kept us cool. Not once did we turn on the air conditioner.||Although county regulations prohibit cooking in B&B rooms, we made good use of the small refrigerator and the assortment of dishes, plates, and silverware.||The inn has a relationship with an activities coordinator, Robbie. It was easy to work with her to arrange a boat excursion. Innkeeper Veronika helped by coordinating with the coordinator, including payment.||I wondered what shape the bathroom would be in. Would it have mildew everywhere? No, the bathroom was just as clean as ours at home, although the ventilation wasn’t as good at times.||Our room, the Sunset View, had a hot tub, whose deck served as our lanai. We only used it twice (and yes, we followed the urgent instructions to wash off our sunscreen before using it). Evgery day, we sat on the deck chairs looking at the view.||We also swam in the pool outside once, but we concluded that that we can swim in pools at home. This was Hawaii, and Hawaii has beaches. ||(For gentle swimming, I recommend Salt Pond Beach just past Hanapepe, about 8 miles from the inn. Veronika likes Sheraton Beach which has slightly rougher waves and is much busier, but just 6 miles from the inn. Interestingly, Sheraton Beach is actually Poipu Beach, which is different from Poipu Beach Park at Brenneckes Beach. Use your GPS to get to the right place.)||Marjorie’s is a wonderful inn, and we’d stay there again in a flash. However, some improvements would make a terrific place even better:||Our room needs a minor update. Veronika had to show us how to turn on the hot water tap in the kitchen sink, because the faucet was sticking. Really sticking.||The table in the room really belongs in a college dorm: It’s round glass atop a center cylinder that not only is too high for the chairs, but has no room for legs. The table chairs were way too big for the space available (and not very comfortable), so Veronika let us swap out different chairs. Either way, we needed to sit on pillows so wouldn’t be neck-level as we ate. (And we’re both tall people.)||Our trash was removed every day, and we could get new towels any time we left the old ones on the floor. ||The bed is high off the floor. We had no problem with it, but less-mobile people might need a foot stool to get into bed.||Finally, the instructions to the inn need updating. (We left some suggestions with the innkeeper.) ||Your GPS can get you to Halaima Road, if you make sure you add the town, Lawai. Its street sign is difficult to see, especially at night during the rain (when we arrived), and the instructions are oriented toward daylight landmarks. When you get the instructions, I recommend copying and pasting them into Word and then changing the case from ALL CAPITAL LETTERS into sentence style for easier reading. (There’s a reason books and newspapers and magazines aren’t written in all caps.) ||You’ll need the instructions once you’re on Halaima Road. You might also go to Google Maps street view to see the adjacent driveways of which you need to take the one furthest away (the most southern). Street views has a great image, and you’ll instantly understand what you’re supposed to do.||These are nits. We were happy with our stay, the personalized service, the food, the room—well,...

We were in route to take our daughter back to school at U of H but wanted to see another island prior to school starting. Our 1st choice was Maui but our flight was cxl'd due to the catastrophic fires and we needed to change course and ended up on Kauai. When we arrived on the island we found EVERY hotel/motel/Air BnB and tent sites booked as everyone else visiting Maui had to re-route and it seems most headed to Kauai. My wife called Marjorie's and spoke with Alexis and explained our situation. Luckily they had a cancelation but it didn't start until the next day. With that we anticipated sleeping in the car and starting from scratch the next day. Within a few minutes Alexis called back and told us she called the couple(local) who were scheduled to stay that one night (anniversary) and got them to reschedule so we could get into the Inn! I have traveled all over the world and have had many amazing experiences but to be 100% honest this was one of, if not, the BEST accommodations anywhere. Alexis and Michael are genuinely some of the nicest people you will ever meet. The breakfasts were to die for, the snacks they provided so you didn't have to spend money on lunch were perfect, the amenities available were 100% spot on with snorkeling gear, chairs, umbrellas, coolers, ice, sun screen literally everything you needed and then some of what you didn't know you needed! The pool, the rooms and that lanai...we never wanted to leave! The concierge service was equally as impressive as they got us booked on a doors off helicopter tour after I had struck out due to being sold out. We can not wait to go back to the island and will 150% be staying with Alexis and...

Marjorie’s was a dream! This bed & breakfast sits in a peaceful area of Kauai, overlooking a stunning valley. My husband and I stayed in the Sunset View room - the room was spacious, very tidy, and had a private balcony to enjoy the views. Alexis and Mike were such gracious hosts and wonderful people. Alexis cooked culinary masterpieces each morning for breakfast — fresh baked bread, fluffy blueberry pancakes, quiche, fruit tarts, omelette, and fresh fruit were just a FEW of the amazingly tasty things Alexis prepared for us. My husband and I agreed it was the best food we had on the island! As if the food wasn’t fantastic enough of a treat, you get to enjoy it each morning on the balcony overlooking the valley and enjoying the habitat in the area. Marjorie’s also provides absolutely everything you need to enjoy your stay on Kauai — snorkeling gear, beach chairs, beach towels, coolers, and guide books are just a few of the items you have access to. Marjorie’s also supplies a snack area and encourages guests to pack lunches and goodies for days of long adventuring. Alexis and Mike were quick to provide recommendations of local favorites, must-see sites, and things to do. Amazing hikes and beaches are just a short trek away, as are smaller inland towns with great sight-seeing. Alexis and Mike are fantastic individuals and generous hosts. It truly felt like home being at Marjorie’s — we cannot recommend it enough to anyone looking for a personable, one-of-a-kind, and...