You like hotels. Hotel rooms have served you well. But you have just discovered the concept of the villa, and you are all in! Who knew they were SO much more fun than a hotel room? Who knew they’d have so many big bonuses? Who knew they’d be a cost saver?
Your spouse did, that’s who.
Your spouse booked the two of you and another couple (your favorite travel buddies) in a 2-bedroom, two-bath villa complete with gourmet kitchen and massive living area at Koloa Landing Resort on Kauai’s sunny South Shore. Right now, stretched out on loungers together on your private lanai with the ocean view, Bob Marley wafting from the Bluetooth, the four of you raise your mai tais in agreement that villa life is kind of revelatory. In fact, you think you may have married the smartest person ever.
So just what is it that makes your Koloa Landing Resort villa so much better than just about any hotel room? Let’s count them down:
Your Top Five Reasons Life is Better in a Villa:
#5. ENSUITE WASHER & DRYER:
You love to travel but aren’t particularly fond of the traveling part — especially the baggage. Schlepping a lot of suitcases, checking them at the airport, and paying fees for anything more than a carry-on is just not your idea of fun. Your home-away-from-home villa at Koloa Landing Resort comes complete with an ensuite washer and dryer, so you left all your extra changes of clothing back on the mainland. You and your spouse packed a lighter wardrobe and now you just throw it in the washer now and then. Swimsuits and beach clothes are ideally washed free of sand and salt often anyhow, and at the end of your stay, you won’t have to re-schlepp a ton of dirty clothes for that requisite marathon post-travels wash day. Nothing says, “Vacation is OVER” like piles of laundry taunting you on the Monday after your return.
#4. FULLY STOCKED GOURMET KITCHEN:
Have you ever tried dicing up a freshly picked pineapple in a hotel room? Inadvisable. But here you are in your gourmet kitchen with cutting board, chef’s knife and fruit bowl doing just that. You came here to enjoy as much of the local produce and delicacies as possible to deepen your Kauain experience. The last time you stayed in a hotel, you had to dine out for pretty much every meal and shelled out a lot of cash. And though the restaurant in your hotel had been convenient, the prices felt more inflated than your blow-up pool swan. Now at your Koloa Landing Resort villa, you’ve been purchasing fresh ingredients at the quaint farmers market nearby, the grocery store or even the little on-site marketplace at a fraction of the cost of restaurant food. And this kitchen has all you need and more to whip up everything from a fresh-brewed Kona coffee to the most elaborate dinner including a massive Sub-Zero refrigerator and Wolf stove, plus gourmet cookware and utensils — from teaspoons to tongs, colanders to cocktail glasses. You have still been enjoying local restaurants when you feel like it, but you have also been sharing meals at your villa’s dining table, casually in the living area, and have even created fun happy hour snacks to nosh on out on the lanai. This morning you and your friends caught fresh ono while out fishing, and now it’s marinating in your fridge for grilling up at the poolside barbecue tonight. These will become some of your favorite memories of your stay on the island.
#3. UNSURPASSED SPACIOUSNESS:
In this particular two-bedroom villa, you and your friends have upwards of 1500 square feet in which to stretch out, dance, play games, and watch the huge flat screen. You even did a cartwheel in the great room — just because you could. (Luckily the kitchen’s freezer had your ice pack at the ready.) The villa includes spacious bedrooms with ample closets and full bathrooms, a chef’s kitchen with more counter space than you have at home, and an enormous living area. The floor-to-ceiling disappearing glass doors that open up onto the large lanai with its breathtaking view brings the outdoors in and makes the space all the more grand. At 800 to 3,600 square feet, Koloa Landing Resort villas are, quite simply, the largest on the island of Kauai.
#2. TOGETHERNESS:
You all had a laugh today remembering the last hotel trip you took together when you kept meeting up in each other’s hotel rooms. Their socks were awkwardly draped over chairs and your swimsuits were dripping on the bathroom rod. You felt you were invading each others privacy. Today you came home after a full day of adventuring and were able to rest and get ready in your own bedrooms before meeting out on the lanai for your Bob Marley-serenaded happy hour. Your villa is beautifully appointed with ample designer furnishings that are user-friendly and not at all stuffy. You are as comfortable on the great room couch sipping martinis by candlelight as you are flopping horizontally across it to watch a late-night movie. Your adorable spouse can take forever to get ready to go out, but last night before heading out for sushi, you were able to commune with your villa-mates over an aperitif in the great room while you waited, rather than pacing in a tiny hotel room alone. In addition, you and your night-owl buddy will probably play an extra round of backgammon tonight while your spouses drift off to bed earlier, and then they will likely meet for sunrise yoga and coffee on the lanai while you snore on tomorrow morning. Endless possibilities. . .
#1. COST SAVINGS:
Plain and simple. (Wait, what?) Yup. It’s almost counter-intuitive. Shouldn’t all these bonuses associated with villa living cost each couple more — not less? Surprisingly, no. In addition to the food-cost savings mentioned above, each couple would have spent about 30% more per night on their own individual standard hotel room — and even more for a higher-end room. When multiple couples or families choose to split their stay in three- and four-bedroom villas, the cost savings are even greater! And talk about kicking up the fun factor. . .
These five reasons alone are sufficiently compelling, and you have given your spouse major kudos for discovering this wonderful life hack. Casually authentic Hawaiian elegance, total privacy, luxurious appointments and stunning views. You are a villa convert for life.
To book your unforgettable villa vacation, click here or call (808) 725.2596
— Erica Karlin, Koloa Landing Resort