Pili Mai at Poipu — Local services in Kauai

Do not rent UNIT 8G! As beautiful of a place this is, unfortunately I wish I could rate this place UNIT 8G, a zero star rating. And rate Vacasa a zero rating. First off, we rented with Vacasa ahead of time for a room to hold capacity 6-8 people, SIX TO EIGHT people. Then I get an email saying it was canceled no explanation, then I have to go in again and make another reservation and all was good until the day before we check in, it got canceled due to “emergency roofing” and multiple representatives saying sorry and have to cancel and move us to another property, which was a smaller property that only has a 6 people capacity when originally I put down 6-8. I mean I guess yes a good thing that we at least got somewhat of an explanation this time. We check in on a Friday, all is good, we are enjoying the place taking in the beauty and comfort of it, come Saturday morning we go out to enjoy a family day with family that is on Kauai, and I get a phone call that the owner is complaining that he was just watching us leave in the morning on the ring doorbell camera and grumbling that oh there is more than the capacity (we had 7 people total and two friends VISITED and left with us in the morning), which Vacasa should have notified the owner that us renters had an original reservation for 6-8 people and because of Vacasa’s fault and cancellations they had to switch our room unfortunately to a smaller one. Not our fault that the owners management company didn’t notify them. The owner then complains about that, and wants us to pay even more, or basically kick us out. Which, of course, we were not going to be paying more because we had paid $1,397 (around there). And a manager from Vacasa called and said that we had to get our stuff “immediately”. And kept getting multiple messages and phone calls to quickly vacate, basically insinuating that they would change the door code. Please note, we were on the complete opposite side of the island in the middle of a special family gathering, we told Vacasa that we can’t come right that second and had to call a few times to ensure that they would not lock us out to get our personal belongings. So sad, we had to come back at tonight around 7PM to grab our stuff and leave and now have to go and get a hotel. Which we all know can be more expensive than Vacasa/Air BnB, etc. Then literally the second we walk out with our luggage, we get another call from Vacasa stating that of course, the owner was watching and saying “the guests are still there”, and again, pestering us to ensure that we aren’t staying. What a very sad and disappointing experience we had with this Vacasa company and at this beautiful property, my wife has stayed here before, and the other owner of a different unit on this property was also a little bit Detail oriented, which was no problem, but not to this extent as this owner for unit 8G. If you want to rent a place on this property, I highly recommend to avoid this owner...

So, let us start with the nice things about this condo. It is large, with 2 ample bedrooms and a small third one, plus 2 baths. It has a large , well-stocked kitchen, albeit electric ( as most everything is on Kauai). The closets are large ( but no wooden hangers nor one to hang pants on). And there are 4 tvs, if that’s your thing while on vacation. And, it IS in Koloa, our favorite part of our favorite island, with a nice view across the golf course to the ocean and sunsets. Now, the not-so-good things : to begin with, you have to climb 17 steps to get to the front door, which means be very careful if you have (as most tourists do) large and/ or heavy suitcases, and, as we did, a golf bag. Not for the elderly or not strong. The windows in the dining area portion of the kitchen have been broken out due to errant tee shots from the adjoining Kiahuna Golf Course, and hastily taped up with ugly black masking tape, so there go your northerly views ! The lovely back lanai is directly adjacent to the neighbors’, so forget about privacy at least some of the time. The lanai railings are covered with bird poop, so forget about leaning over to really enjoy the golf course views. The master bedroom looks out directly to the development swimming pool complex and parking lot, not conducive to quiet. The upstairs windows and sills have not been cleaned of dirt and mold. Ugh ! The master bathroom design is less than optimal- you cannot enter the shower with the bathroom door open, nor open the vanity drawers. When we arrived the WiFi was not operational, and my hubby had to eventually crawl under the entertainment console and go thru a jumble of wires and cords to finally reconnect it all. In addition, while well cleaned before arrival,the entire unit smelled strongly of bleach, so much so that we had to leave doors and windows open the first night to try to eliminate the smell.Oh, by the way, the coffee maker was not only filthy but also broken ! AND, we found Vacasa and/or local property managers extremely unresponsive. For example, we called 3 days in advance to advise that we had perishables with us ( we had already been “on island” for a week) and request brief entry before 4 p.m. so as to store those in the fridge. We were promised a response promptly. None came. We called again the day before arrival. Same story. We called day of arrival, still no response. Hello spoiled food. When we arrived and noticed several of the issues just mentioned we waited 25 minutes on hold before getting someone to speak with us, and all they would do was promise that someone would check in “when possible, it being a weekend no one is on site”. For the exorbitant “management” fees which Vacasa charges we expected better. We are world travelers, and ,frankly, will not ever secure another rental...

Owner of Unit 8G, terrible!! I am from Hawaii, and we came to Kauai to visit family for the weekend and went through a company which we will never ever go through again called Vacasa, The treatment from the company and from the owner was just terrible. The company messed up our reservation three times, we originally had a reservation for a bigger place at a Totally different property location to accommodate 6 to 8 people, they cancel first one was no Explanation, then we have to go in and make another reservation ourselves, day before our reservation starts get another email, saying that it was canceled due to “emergency roofing” And they accommodate us, if you even want to say that they accommodate us because not really, to a much smaller place with a lesser guest capacity. Not our fault that they relocated us to a smaller property, when originally our reservations had 6 to 8 people Listed. basically, the day after we checked into the smaller property, the company was calling my husband saying that the owner is complaining of the capacity and literally watching us through the ring camera and wants us to pay even more money after paying around $1300 already, or kick us out. Seriously? Of course we were not going to be paying more money than we already spent, especially since the company messed up our reservation and moved us to a smaller property, so of course the owner was bugging the company, and the company was bugging us all day to get our stuff out immediately, basically insinuating that they would lock the door code so that we could not be able to get our personal belongings. I must note that we were on the complete total opposite side of the island, and we were in the middle of a very special family gathering that we came down here for the weekend. and after we told them that, they still were bothering my husband and sending him messages and phone calls, oh and then also when we did finally be able to get our stuff out around 7 o’clock at night, literally the moment we step out of the door, the owner was again, just watching the ring doorbell, camera, and complaining that we were still there, which no we just went there to grab our stuff to leave . This was very upsetting and disappointing, do not rent from the...