(5 out of 5)
The Menehune Hale far exceeded my expectations. Believe me the pictures do not really express the granduer and beauty of this place. This house is very grand! I truly love the privacy with each rooms. It is so nice to have my family with me this time. There were a total of 16 of us. We also rented the O Wanini house which is behind this one. The Menehune Hale has separate quarters for each bedroom so each family was able to have privacy with plenty of room. I love the veranda or the balcony that oversees the beach and each morning my family sat to watch the sunrise and beautiful sunset. If you want a quiet and relaxing atmosphere this is the place to be. We have a 5 star time share at Princeville and honestly I would rather stay here. The beach access is convenient and just steps away. Yes, there is a camp ground next door but you would never know it. We are usually the only ones on the beach most of the time. The house has many convenience and up-to-date appliances. I consider it now my home-away-from home. This was my first stay here and I just really love it. You are surrounded by lush green vegetation and beautiful plants and flowers, banana trees and coconut trees. The house has all the convenience of water toys and well stocked towels, shampoo, 2 refrigerators---great for stocking 16 people for food and drinks! Having both houses so close allowed me to spend quality time with my family. This trip was special and this place was absolutely perfect! My children enjoyed watching the birds, geickos(excuse the spelling), frogs, crabs. If you're lucky in the early morning the low tide would expose the reef and you can enjoy watching the fish. One morning I saw an octopus hidden in one of the coves and the next day I saw 3 small more eels. The water is always shallow and great for snorkeling and swimming specially if you have very young children like mine at age 4 and 9. No rough waves to fight against. Just smooth and relaxing. My parents are in their 60's-80's. They just sat in the water edge and enjoyed the view each day.They usually don't go swimming, but they did here because the water was so calming. Menehune Hale is beautiful and so convenient and relaxing. Like I said the pictures on the internet do not do it justice. My family enjoyed their stay so much that we are coming back again next year!!! The house is made of beautiful wood, with gorgeouse tile floors. The suites are roomy and romantic. There are 2 staircases on oposite sides of the house leading to the suites upstairs with their own bathrooms. The grand suite is just outside but still connected to the house. The bathroom is unbelievable......Huge! The view of the beach is wonderful!
I cannot express how greatful and beautiful this house is. My family and I just loved it! We made an excellent choice to stay here rather than a hotel. We were able to be together to spend quality time. THANK YOU GARY, and Hawaiian Beach Rentals for everything! MAHALO AND ALOHA!!!!..................Gemma.
Menehune Hale is a dream rental!! I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to stay at a gorgeous house that is private and relaxing with the most spectacular view awaiting you every morning you wake up. The house is comfortable and spacious and practical. The customer service was excellent!
The best thing about this house is it's location. Anini beach is fabulous as it's calm and uncrowded, despite there being a park and campground adjacent. Now if you're a sun loving, awesome tan, surfing person, this north shore location isn't for you. On the north shore it rains. Briefly, but there will be rain, at least in January. And since it faces north you won't get a lot of sun for tanning, which suited us just fine. My family thinks Anini is the best place on the island.
The house is beautiful, literally on the beach. The master suite is great, decide who in your group gets it before going or there'll be arguments, even tho all the other rooms are fine, even the rear room which is fitted for children. With so many full baths there's no waiting. The hot tub and outside shower were great after a swim. The WiFi worked great for the party member who had to keep working.
What we liked best, besides just sitting on the lanai, were hikes to neat places, waterfalls, bathing ponds, etc. Get the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook by Doughty, it has absolutely invaluable directions. Snorkeling on Anini is very safe and easy. You'll need to search around for live coral, but it's out there and there are lots of small pretty fish. A wonderful place for kids and beginners. Chilly in January, so bring or rent a wet suit if you're not from Minnesota.
The Princeville Zip line was great fun, excellent staff. It's just not long enough, you want to do it over and over.
What we missed most was not being able to power hang glide. There's only one company offering this (Birds of Paradise) and of the 5 days we had available, they were booked up one day, canceled for windy conditions one day and were closed the other 3 days. So book early to leave room for rebook dates. Since they're charging about the same as helicopter rides for a vehicle that costs a fraction of a helicopter, I'm sure there will be some competition soon.
We were a large group, 6 adults, so we went to Costco in Lihue and stocked up on essentials and food. Very much cheaper than the Princeville store. There's a nice BBQ pit at the house so be sure to buy charcoal. So we had few meals out, all were OK. The Blue Dolphin in Princeville is good, but the service is so non chalant you'll think you've been forgotten.
We rented 2 cars at Budget in Lihue airport and were amazed at the rudeness and bad attitudes of the staff (very untypical of Hawaii). We needed a third car so got it from Avis at the Princeville airport and couldn't have been happier with the service. So try to rent from the off (Lihue) airport locations when you can.
Shopping: The North shore shops are trendier, higher priced. We liked Outboard for clothing made in the Islands. Kapa'a has a great outdoor local crafts fair, right on the highway, with lots of locally made things, reasonably priced. If you need basics (fishing tackle, cheap shoes, etc.) and low end souvinirs, like for kids, the ABC store in Lihue is great.
Avoid the far north shore beaches, (Ke'e, Tunnels) as they're very crowded, limited parking, and in the winter, unsafe for all but the best swimmers. We were amazed at the crowds on these beaches while our beach was virtually empty. Amazed and very happy.
We'll definitely rent either the main house or the smaller house, depending on the group size, on our next trip.
Great house. Open layout with great view and superb deck. Would definitely stay here again.
Great great great house! No complaints at all.
My only recommendation would be to get some type of portable A.C. for the upstairs master.
Troy Dueker
The best part about the unit I rented was it's location and space.rnrnThe best part of my trip was my wedding, which was held at this location.rnrnI would stay at this place again on my next visit. One day I will buy this house!
Lovely clean property that worked exceedingly well for our party of seven (3 families). Pictures on the website do not do this house justice.
We had a wonderful stay--it was perfect for families with small children--great beach, not too much "stuff" to worry about damaging, and we had a lovely holiday.
Incedible view, large amounts of space so much to do with it. We had a wedding there, usually frowned on by the locals, but 30 people couldn't disturb the neighbors or the people in the park next door. Probably one of a kind on Kauai. You have to get used to the open air style which comes with some ants. With all its space it is hard for the cleaners to know what has and hasn't been washed so some sheets were missed and kind of musty. No worries there was a washer to take care of it.
The house worked perfectly for our large family gathering, and the location on Anini Beach meant we could swim and snorkel as often as weather permitted.
From Mark Drewelow.... I think david gave you more detailed feedback
