1Hotel Hanalei Bay

Staying at the 1Hotel Hanalei Bay hotel in Princeville, Kauai was a beautiful luscious oasis on the North Shore of Kauai, Hawai

In looking for a place to stay in Kauai, I knew that I wanted to focus on two things: location and aesthetics. After staying at 1Hotel Central Park a few years ago, I was familiar with the brand. So, when looking for places to stay in Kauai, I knew I want to book a place that offer a “wow” factor.

1Hotel Hanalei Bay was that.

Location

First, the location of the hotel is in Princeville, on the north of the island of Kauai. If you’re staying at the hotel, you’re going to need to rent a car.  The hotel is about an hour away from the airport and ride sharing in the rural areas is very spotty and unreliable.

The drive to the hotel is scenic and beautiful and minimally developed. I actually enjoyed this rural experience. With the top down on the convertible, it allowed me to enjoy the landscape as we drove to the hotel.

Once you arrive, there is a check in gate. After the gate, you arrive at the property and drop your car off at valet.

Check In

Check in is done in a relaxed format, in which you are instructed to sit on couches and a front desk agent comes to you with an iPad and check in. It’s my personal favorite style of checking in to a new hotel. I feel that it truly sets the mood.

The check in drinks were absolutely delicious.

Because I booked through American Express Travel, we were upgrade into a higher room category, along with house credit to spend on property.

The Room

The view, the view, the view.

The reason I would stay at this hotel again is the view.

The sweeping view of the bay and the beach from the room was absolutely stunning. Whereas I loved the secluded garden setting of Hotel Wailea in Maui, the sweeping view from the room at 1Hotel Hanalei Bay was the impactful WOW factor I desired.

1Hotels are all about aesthetics.

The room was gag me gorgeous in the refined luxury style I love.

Similar to the shower and bathroom layout of the 1Hotel Central Park – I LOVED the open, airy luxurious design of the shower and bathroom.

What can I say – I’m a sucker for waking up to the sounds of Hawaiian chickens.

They greatly amuse me.

The Property

Service

Overall, the outstanding services of the restaurant were exemplified with the Concierge; our waiter at 1Kitchen for dinner and our waiter at Welina Terrance for dinner.

In fact, I would highly recommend that you make a reservation for Welina Terrance BEFORE you arrive at 1Hotel Hanalei Bay. The sushi based menu of the restaurant is – honestly – one of the top 3 sushi cuisines I’ve had so far.

It is that incredible.

However, I will say that that buffet breakfast – and this is because I’d savored the breakfast buffet at DUO at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea mere days before – was lackluster. Plus, because 1Kitchen is an open air restaurant, birds were EVERYWHERE during our breakfast. They would swarm different tables and go to town on the remaining scraps. Yes, it was the inevitable nature of the situation. However, I don’t want to eat breakfast and worry about a bird shitting. Just not my thing.

Frankly, I would suggest going off property for breakfast, in Hanalei Bay. Especially, Wake Up Delicious Cafe.

For dinner, my friend Sonni recommended AMA Restaurant. However, they were closed on the days during our stay.

Overall

There is true beauty in choosing to stay at 1Hotel Hanalei Bay. It is located in an area of Kauai that still allows you to see the rural lush landscape of the area. I’m happy that I chose 1Hotel Hanalei Bay because it was so far away from the main city centers on the island.

So, it truly depends on the experience you are looking to have on the island. After the connectedness of Maui, it felt wonderful to be enveloped in the luscious landscape.

Plus, when celebrating a birthday – deliciousness is in the details.

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