The Garden Island

Best Things Nearby:
Everthing! Coconut Marketplace within walking distance, beach/ocean at the resort, and the rest of the island is within no more than 45 minutes of driving away.

Best Things About the Resort:
TRUE GOLD CROWN RESORT! Most Kauai timeshares are much like condos vs. resorts. HOWEVER, this resort truly is a RESORT. Great views, great food, and great hospitality

Resort Experience:
TRUE GOLD CROWN THROUGH and THROUGH. The resort is centrally located in Kauai, which is the first plus. The resort is also located on the ocean, and not too many timeshares on Kauai can offer that. The beach isn't swimmable due to currents, but it provides great sound effects and walks at night. The rooms are wonderfully decorated. Wood-floored kitchens, four-poster wooden king-sized bed, huge bathroom with washer and dryer, and a good-sized private patio. The resort has a fabulous restaurant; I truly recommend a meal there (along with Mai Tais from the bar!).

The pool isn't all that large, but it wasn't overcrowded when we were there. There's a waterfall at one end of the pool, which is great to sit under after a long day of hiking. The pool area also has bar, Jacuzzi, and two great stainless-steel grills for cooking meals on. The resort illuminates with tiki torches at night. And oh, I almost forgot to mention the wonderful chaise lounges that are near the ocean - a great place to sit at night. Even better, the resort offers a few hammocks that are between the pool area and ocean. Great place to snuggle up with your honey in the evening to watch the stars and listen to the ocean. Tbe more I write about this resort, the more I yearn to go back! The resort also offered several activities throughout the week. Use the concierge desk to set up your activities; you'll save a few bucks just because (in other words, you don't need to attend a sale presentation for the discount!).

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

This place is a must for a casual lunch. The burgers are unique and the fries fresh. The humor at the place is classic in itself. There are tables outside to eat or simply do a take-out like we did and go drive up to a beach to chill out and enjoy the ocean views that abound in Hanalei.

This is a local place that offers plate lunches. Although this place was given rave reviews by a local tour book, we weren't impressed with the plate lunches here. A plate lunch is something worth trying while in Hawaii, but we certainly didn't find a great place on this island for plate lunches (The Big Island is the place for great plate lunches). Plate lunches consist of two heaping scoops of white sticky rice and a main dish such as Kalua pork, stir-fry vegetable, chow mein, or teriyaki chicken. Although this local place offered this and in very large portions, the taste was too greasy for our liking, and it sat like a brick afterward!

AWESOME FOOD, a must-go. Go there knowing that the food is served on paper plates and seating outside this small, open-air place is limited and the tables not so clean. You can have take-out if this bothers you. It's a totally casual place, and the food is outstanding! The meals are heartily portioned, but better than the meals are the desserts. I was full from dinner, so my husband ordered one dessert, and I planned on sampling only. After devouring his dessert with him, we ordered another to test! Go for anything chocolate - if they have their chocolate terrine, definitely try that - IT'S THE BEST DESSERT WE HAVE EVER HAD!

Superb food! Cheaper than the Princeville Resort, and we tend to think this place may have had better food - we keep teetering on which was best. The service was excellent and the food superb. I highly recommend the seared Ahi and the macadamia nut tart with cinnamon ice cream. Oh, and start before dinner with the Mai Tais. We only had two, and they knocked us for a loop!

Pricey but excellent. I can't say anything bad about the meal. Great food, superb view, wonderful service. We went here for our anniversary dinner. We were originally booked at the Bali Hai but left due to the noisy scene. We're glad we wound up here. The concierge set us up with reservations promptly at 6pm with a great view, since it was our anniversary. I'm sure all their food is great, but I can truly recommend everthing we ate: seafood chowder, blue pincher crab-taro dip (enough for two--unique and yummy), grilled filet and prawns, lemongrass-crusted Ahi, and for dessert, the chocolate baby cake. If you are planning on a three-course, as we did, go for their complete three-course meal for $53.95; it'll save you a few dollars overall.

The one thing I wish about this place - I wish we found it before the day we were leaving! Then again, if we ate here sooner, we would have eaten out a lot more. This place is well-known for its Saimin noodles but offers a wide variety of dishes, including sandwiches. Their menu is extensive, and there are several Saimin dishes to pick from. We ate here for lunch on our last day. It was a huge amount of food - most dishes ran less than $10. We had chicken chow-fun (flat noodle) and fish chow-fun. Both were excellent. Add a small bit of the hot sauce that is on your table, and it gives a whole new flavor to your meal (too much will surely clean out your sinuses!).

Located in the Cocunut Marketplace. Great place to go for happy hour. Mai Tais run $3.50 during happy hour and are super. Mai Tais are a must while visiting Hawaii--a great drink, and they sure know how to make them on this island. The Hula Girl had some of the best we had on this island. Although we can't comment on their dinners since we didn't eat dinner here, we can say that their ginger teriyaki skewers were excellent (enough for one person, but a bit small for a two-person portion - or we were very hungry - not sure which). This place also offers live music - a local singer who plays soothing piano music - nothing lively, but good.

Ke'e Beach is the last beach that you can reach by car on the North Shore. This beach is very popular with limited parking so get there early. Unlike most parts of Kauai, this beach offers white sand (not crushed rock), along with a good amount of swimming area without coral. Great place for kids, as well as snorkeling opportunities. There is a reef that forms around the swimming area, which allows for great snorkeling. We saw several different fish at this beach and even swam with schools of fish here. We also got a spotting of a sea turtle feeding on the top of a reef. We loved this beach so much we went back twice. Beware; this is the North Shore, and there is a likelihood that you will encounter showers while venturing to this beach, but they are usually short-lived, so stick it out for awhile. You will notice several wild chicken and roosters roaming this beach. Kauai is well-known for their wild fowl friends; they don't bother you, and you will become accustomed to them eventually!

A short hike through the red dirt trail to get to this wonderful spot. The ocean has created a natural bath that offers a great spot to snorkel. Be cautious if it's just rained; the red clay dirt is slippery. Use nature as your guide--there are several roots in the ground which give great footing as you venture down. You will hike across lava rocks and finally get to your destiny. Swim in the bath area, but NOT IN THE OCEAN - much too dangerous. This place is also well-traveled, so I would recommend early in the morning for your travel to get a parking spot. While there, you may get to see sea turtles in the ocean. We saw several.

Although you can drive up and view the falls from the top, make it more memorable as we did and venture the hike to the and those that don't are truly missing out. There are 2 different trails. One is located near the falls guard rail and is QUITE STEEP but only about 10 minutes to the bottom (We took this one out and would recommend this one). Locals have put up rope to help you steady yourself on your venture down but the wonderful state tends to cut the ropes to deter people from this dangerous hike (go figure!). There is another trail that is supposed to be easier (we didn't find it easier just less steep). This route took us longer and we had to venture through slippery rocks & water and took us longer. Although this route did give us some lovely scenery, I recall one point looking at my husband and saying well if I fall, just know I love you (just to give you a sense of the difficulty we faced.) Once there, it was totally worth the venture. Pure heaven. You can walk under the falls and swim in the pond that the falls flow into.

The island boasts with roadside stands and local town outdoor markets. I highly recommend visiting any of the. Hanalei offers one on Tuesday and have local potatoe (purple ones that are tasty like yams), apple bananas, pineapple (AWESOME and SWEET), papaya, herbs, etc. A great place to get local foods at cheap prices. There was a roadside vendor near the guava plantation on the North Shore selling FANTASTIC sweet corn--the best I have ever had. He is well-known for his corn; many locals were there when we stopped for ours.