Andrew L.
Yelp
Without the shadow of a doubt, this was a solidly five-star experience.
Years (decades?) ago, I'd stayed at Napili Shores, which is next door (west) by one resort. In researching this trip, I'd considered Napili Shores but decided against it once I realized there was no air conditioning.
We booked Napili Surf Beach Resort knowing the area for having an excellent beach for swimming and snorkeling.
Check-in was an easy process. We arrived late and had our room code in advance. The next morning, we mentioned casually that the code lock was a little finicky despite entering the correct code. They came within an hour and replaced the batteries in the lock and the lock functioned better after that.
The room we got was an ocean-view room, right next to their reception area. The morning of our stay when I received the room assignment, I was a little wary of it being next to reception... but it ended up being no problem at all!
The room itself was fantastic. The place was SO CLEAN that it was almost inconceivable that anyone had stayed there prior to us. The place was recently remodeled, but I think the cleanliness was really more a testament to the quality of the service at Napili Surf Beach Resort.
The kitchen was well-stocked and had all the accouterments you could possibly need to cook well for yourself if you fancy cooking while on vacation. We stocked up on cheeses, crackers, POG juice, wine, etc, and made great use of the unit's included full-sized refrigerator. One night we made our own shish kabobs and grilled them on one of at least five fancy barbecues I saw on the property. Fun!
The bed was good but a little firm for my tastes. I liked how there were three ceiling fans in our studio unit and they were all quiet. The TV was good though we only used it once along with the Chromecast I brought with (thinking we'd be watching more Netflix than we did).
The shower was great and the storage in the room was all really good. The AC unit was a godsend some evenings, however, the unit was only adequate enough to keep the humidity from being intolerable and the temperature from being unbearable. It was not the kind of unit that would chill your room to 68 degrees (not that we wanted that, anyway).
Anyhow, more about the property...
A barely-100-foot walk gets you to one of two swimming pools and the entrance to Napili beach. The pools were warm and featured showers nearby so you could rinse off before getting in.
A side benefit of having one of the end units was the ease of getting in and out of our room from the lawn/pool/beach area. It meant we could drop our wet belongings off on our porch and go right around to the main door to get back in. We didn't need to worry about walking long distances or needing to leave our sliding door unlocked while we were out.
Friday morning they hosted a breakfast social which included all sorts of Hawaiian treats, including spam musubi, baked breadfruit, pastries, coffee, fresh fruits, and more. No cost, and, too boot, we got a great demonstration of coconut husking and processing.
The staff were SUPER friendly to us and were very helpful with everything.
We signed the guest book in the room. It brought a tear to my eye reading similar stories of the wonderful memories many other guests have made with the help of this great resort. There were even photos in our room of a family that has been coming and staying at the same resort for 34 years!
All in all, six nights cost us about $2,200 and we got a little bit of a kickback from Southwest by booking through their portal, to the tune of about 1,800 Rapid Rewards Points. Well worth it in my opinion.
A paradise resort on a paradise island!!