Hale Makai Cottages

AMAZING, is all i have to say, we were in Orchid Beach Cottage! Cottage #3 and it was perfect. The place is truly in parade and the pics do not do it justice its closer to the beach than it looks. Also some of the very best snorkeling we did on Kauai is right in your front yard!
We did a few nights on South shore then 4 nights here and it was just what we had hoped for. The kitchen is good enough we did dinner in with the help of the Local Fish Co. Laying in bed and looking out seeing the water is the best.
We will be booking same time next year!

My Happy Place

Absolute paradise! This was one of the most relaxing and peaceful places I have every stayed. Steps from the beach. Amazing views. We stayed in the Hibiscus cottage which was very roomy and well appointed. We even had a private chef come in and cook us dinner on our last night. Despite incredible humidity (rainy day) on one of the days, it was still quite enjoyable. Susan was very helpful with all of the arrangements. If you don’t want to leave, shop for food before you arrive. Date of stay: 10÷16−19÷15

This place is the perfect combination of resort and private home! The grounds were so private and well maintained, you won’t have random people walking through to get to the beach! No detail was left undone in the interiors. We stayed in #2 for our honeymoon the first week of November and we couldn’t have been happier, 8 days just wasn’t enough and it was hard to leave! The location couldn’t have been better; you are walking distance to Tunnels, a short drive into town for the farmers market and dining, and you have excellent snorkeling right outside your doorstep. If you are looking for a private, resort like experience that doesn’t include hundreds of tourists, this is the place!

I stayed at Cottage #5 with my husband, daughter and mother last week (August). The cottage is located at the back of the property, but the beach is easily accessible. It’s outfitted with everything you need in the kitchen and has plenty of towels, nice linens, and some water stuff left from other people (and we left a mask!).
My only negative would be that we were there during an unusually hot week for the island and the second smaller bedroom did not have a little portable air conditioning unit like the living room and the larger bedroom did. My 78-​year-​old mother was staying in that room and was quite uncomfortable — there was no breeze to cool it down. You could see that the other units (Cottages 1 – 4) might have better breeze, but this Cottage got really hot. The porch was unusable for most of the day. I recognize that the weather was extreme, but for comfortable sleeping, that second bedroom needs more than a fan. It was like a sweatbox!
Otherwise we really enjoyed our time there.

We stayed in cottage #1 for a week and enjoyed every second! The sound of the ocean and palm trees is all you’ll hear. It’s so incredibly beautiful and relaxing. You’re steps from the beach (which we had to ourselves most of the time) and just a couple miles from both Tunnels and Ke’e beach. The cottage itself was well appointed with everything we needed (even an ice maker and a water filter pitcher!) and the finishes are all high end. We were here with our 2 year old daughter and there was plenty of grassy space for her to run around. We enjoyed dinner on the lanai most nights — watching the ocean. Each cottage has it’s own BBQ.
Other things that are worth mentioning:
–This cottage had a ton — A TON — of towels. Beach towels, bath towels, hand towels… There were an abundance and we never ran out like we usually do after a few days at a hotel
–There is no need to rent a snorkel or buy beach chairs because there’s a stash behind one of the cottages for all to use. I used the same snorkel and fins all week, there was a ball for my 2 year old to play with, and we left behind a bucket and sand toys for the next lucky kiddo.
–If staying over a weekend, I recommend heading to Hanalei on Saturday morning for the farmer’s market.
–Sushigirl, which is a tiny door next to the ‘last chance to stop market’ Wainiha General Store, is fab.
–Susan, the agent for Hale Makai, was incredibly helpful. I’m super type A and was nervous about traveling for the first time with my little one. I probably asked her 200 questions and was very (VERY!) patient with me.
Enjoy your stay!

If you pay this much per night for a place, it’s reasonable to have certain expectations. Such as shampoo. No little bottles of shampoo. No store close by either. So be sure to bring some or you will be washing your hair with bar soap.
We lost power the first night we stayed. Since there is no a/​c, you have to rely on fans. The room was very warm with no fans blowing so it was fairly miserable. It was also very windy and there is a palm frond that scraped the roof all night. This was not a broken frond, but had been there for a very long time. I have a hard time believing we are the only ones who noticed.
When I asked if someone could come and fix the problem I was told that everything in Hawaii is slow and no promises. It was never addressed during our stay.
The screen door was off when we got there and we asked to have someone put it on. We were told that it was easy, we could do it ourselves. We also had another screen that continued to come off several times each day.
We paid the $ 5 for laundry soap (per load) and then we got the instructions on how/​where/​when and as directed, we attempted to wash our clothes the evening before we left (you can only do lau dru between 4 and 9 pm). But apparently they had a 24 hour soak. We couldn’t do laundry. We went home without clean clothes.
There is a restaurant close by but it is mediocre and expensive.
We won’t be back and we can’t recommend this place. We were very happy elsewhere on the island.

The pictures and website really can’t show how magical Hale Makai really is. I absolutely fell in love with this property and wish I could have stayed forever. I was in Cottage #4 and although it isn’t the closest to the beach, it still has a beautiful view and was private enough.
The cottage had everything we needed to cook and the next town over is very close if we wanted to go out to eat. We ended up staying on the property for most of our stay because its so peaceful and pretty! The décor is very nice and everything was very clean.
The beach was right outside the doors and I think there were only a total of 4 people on the beach while we were there. In the morning we walked next door to the resort for a pastry and coffee, its about a 2 minute walk literally.
You get what you pay for! Compared to the hotels and resorts we looked at Hale Makai was the best for the price. Its not cheap, but again it was worth it to us!
Can’t wait to return, we will try to stay in Cottage 2 next time just because its practically on the water! All the cottages are great though.

We decided not to stay here based on our poor experience with management and a bad first and last stay. I honestly believe that any good review you’ll find is most likely fabricated by management. The place is expensive for what you get. You must pay a large sum at the end of your stay to pay the housecleaner instead of the cost being included in the package. You also must pay to do your laundry. The laundry requires only the soap management provides and leaves clothes needing another good wash once you get back home. Our bed was not comfortable. The sitting chairs are white and dirty. The bath towels provides were not so fresh. This place definitely cuts corners to save money and bleed the guest with outrageous prices. I suggest looking elsewhere no doubt. Also, really take a look at managements cancellation policy. If you cancel well in advance, you’ll be stuck having to pay 7.5% credit card charge on top of 10% of the total cost of stay. Totally unheard of! Don’t feel pressured to book your stay after reading that you have 24 hours to secure payment. Oh and you do have the option to come back and stay within a year timeframe if you don’t want these charges. Bottom line, this is a poorly run business with extremely poor customer service. There are much better places to stay that offer way more privacy and cleanliness. Don’t let the other 5 star reviews fool you! Don’t let the photos fool you! Run!

We had a great experience — very nice alternative to the condos and big hotels. Excellent snorkeling right out your front door. I do agree with Jamie that the nickel and dime charges for laundry and cleaning are a bit much given the nightly rate …

Though expensive, the cottages are well maintained and tastefully appointed. The grounds are nicely groomed and the beach front location is exceptional.
There is excellent snorkeling right from the beach.
There are only two small negatives. For $ 500 per night, it is very strange that they have a mandatory house keeping charge of $ 80 if you stay past 7 nights AND a $ 160 house keeping charge on check out. Then, they also charge $ 5 per load of self-​wash laundry. All of those fees need to be removed for a place of this expense.

I remember my first trip to Hawaii, in Maui, «on the road to Hana.». It felt like a NASCAR race in slow motion. For the first twenty miles the scenery was more about tour buses and lines of traffic crawling at 10 mph. I felt desperate, first for a glimpse of special beauty, then to commit suicide. Now, Maui as well as it’s road to Hana, is singularly unbelievable, at least once you get by the tourists. It’s sister island, Kauai, is smaller. The island is more remote, chosen by the Hollywood set for just such a reason no doubt. It’s the road to Hana if you will without the NASCAR part: a wild, engulfing, and remote land-​of-​the-​lost/​from here to eternity exhibition of pristine nature. (The famous kissing scene in «From Here to Eternity» was in fact filmed on a beach very close to this property). Kaui, at times, can make you feel like the horizon is yours. If you stay in the right places, even the most die-​hard oil man from Texas will come away as a member of the Sierra Club. Hale Makai «cottages» is one such place, secretly protecting an exotic underworld of fish and vibrant reef system a just few feet from its beach, manicured lawn, and five cottages. Bring your snorkel gear. Bring a book to read in one of the hammocks! Listen to the wind talking to the palms: find a sunrise. This is what I liked, not to mention a few private dinners prepared at home in our little private cottage.