Best Things Nearby:
The best thing nearby is Poipu Beach Park. It's a short drive down a hill and has all different types of beach areas, from open water to a protected kiddie beach. It appeared to be an ideal place for snorkeling, as many were doing that. But go early in the day if you want a parking place. We went at 10am and had no problem finding a place.

Best Things About the Resort:
This is a fairly large resort with much to offer. It was very well-maintained and very clean. The pool was a nice sand-beach pool with a large spa, which was nice since the resort itself does not front an ocean beach, only rugged rocks, which does make for a nice view of the ocean. The staff was friendly and helpful.

Resort Experience:
The Embassy Vacation Resort is a fairly large complex of buildings ranging from two to four stories in height. Much of the resort is oceanview, but these units are reserved for owners. We had a partial ocean view from our room, which was better than having no ocean view at all like some of the other units.

Our Arrival: Parking was quite a distance from the rooms, but the bell staff made our arrival easy by picking us up in an electric cart and bringing us to our room. He also took the time to explain some things to us, including the shortest way to walk to our car so that we felt right at home.

The Rooms: The units were spacious, with the living area in the middle and the two bedrooms apart from each other, split by the living area. The kitchen was nicely equipped. The rooms appeared to have been recently refurbished, but they should have taken it a step further and replaced the mirrors. The walls were a little thin, and we could hear the people next to and above us from time to time, even snoring one night.

Still, the decor was nice, and we enjoyed our room very much, especially having the sliding doors open for some nice breezes.

Internet Anyone?: One tip I can give you if you need to keep in touch via the Internet is that you can get a guest dial-up account at HawaiiLink in Lihue for only $10 (and no setup charge) for up to 2 weeks of unlimited connect time. This was a great convenience for me because my "bring your own access" AOL account would have charged me by the minute to take care of my business while on vacation.

The Downside: One other thing that I feel I need to say is that there were certainly a lot of fees. With an energy fee of $70, plus about $5 a night in taxes, plus $1.50 a night for use of the in-room safe, we paid over $112 in fees for a week, and we didn't even use the air-conditioners! Someone at RCI needs to link excessive fees with taking away the Gold Crown status of the resort.

Summary: However, despite the fees, this was a very nice place to spend a week, and we may go back again someday. But first, we would like to try a resort on Maui!

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

Best Things Nearby:
Poipu Beach - Only a 15 minute walk. Featured on the Travel Channel as the #1 and #2 beach in the world in past years.

The Spouting Horn. Only 3 miles. A natural salt water geyser, it can be seen from Poipu Beach.

The Tunnel of Trees. On the road to and from Poipu. Planted by the sugar cane farmers.

Ship Wreck Beach. Can be seen from the Embassy. Location for the movie 6 days, 7 Nights. The cliff Harrison Ford and Annne Heche jumped off into the water while being chased by smugglers.

Hyatt Hotel.

The beauty is breath taking.

Best Things About the Resort:
Its location on sunny Poipu Point.

The free drinks and pupu's from 4:30 to 6:30.

The tranquility at night with the property water falls or waves hitting the shore.

Resort Experience:
I could go on and on about a lot of stuff. Why don't we let the pictures speak for themselves. Look for other journal entries about our vacation.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Best Things Nearby:
Beach and Ocean – behind the resort you can walk along the path to one beach and the ocean (where the Hyatt is located) or walk along a fork of the path to get to Poipu Beaches (various names for each strip).
Koala Town
Restaurants

Best Things About the Resort:
Amenities such as concierge service and managers’ cocktail parties (just about every evening).
Pool
Exercise facilities
Beautiful spacious rooms with balconies
Beautiful grounds
Washer and dryer in the unit.

Resort Experience:
The Embassy Vacation Resort (see web site here) is a beautiful condo that is perfect for vacations! This exchange was one of the best of the timeshare exchanges I have made in the last 20 years.

First thing I liked about this condo is the layout and the large spacious rooms. Our unit had a large balcony that overlooked the beautiful garden area, and beyond that was the pool area and in the distance the ocean. Having the two bedrooms on opposite sides of the condo leads to maximum privacy if you have two separate couples using the condo. The master bedroom had a king size bed, large closet, one of the biggest bathroom areas I have ever seen in an exchange, plenty of dresser space, and a large TV (with lots of cable stations). I used the other bedroom for my dressing room. It had twin beds, another closet, another TV, and plenty of dresser space. You also had access to the second bathroom, that is a private bathroom unless you have others sleeping in the living room. In between the bedrooms was the hallway with the washer and dryer (and two packets of soap), a fully equipped kitchen with lots of counter space and cabinets, a nice dining room, and a large living room with very comfortable furniture, including a large TV. From the living room, you accessed the balcony.

There were many other things I liked about this condo that I will list (not necessarily in order)
The location - the condo was situated along the ocean, so it took only a few minutes to walk from my condo (on the second floor) through the garden area and the pool area and onto the walkway to various beaches and ocean front. The condo was also in Poipu Beach, which is the sunny part of Kauai.
The amenities - first is the fact that the resort staff went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. I was very relaxed at the resort and the resort didn’t have a hotel feel at all, more like a family reunion feeling. There were many activities available (most free but some had a reasonable fee associated with the activity). We participated in one island orientation breakfast. The first one is free but you can opt to attend EACH morning for a breakfast and/or orientation (breakfast had a charge). In addition we attended one managers’ party (free beer, wine, soda, and munchies) and one party where you paid for the drinks and the munchies (called pupus) were free. I believe something is planned each evening, but we only attended two. And I can’t forget the outdoor pool. The pool was VERY big and free form with a sandy "beach", rock formations, a spa area, lots of entry points, etc. Finally there were other amenities such as an adult hot tub, an exercise room, barbecues for use, book exchange, etc.
Beautiful grounds - No expense was spared when this resort was designed! Not only was the pool area nice, but also the abundant waterfalls and garden areas made this resort a lovely place to stay. Hopefully my pictures will do some justice to the resort!
Misc – I liked the fact that I was able to park my car near the unit so I didn’t have to lug all of my stuff a long distance (I never realized until recently how this is a nice perk).

Pictures to follow.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent