The Sheraton has very nice gardens and a great location. There are actually 2 hotels on the property, the beach wing and the garden wing. We were in the garden wing and it is clear that not much has been done for this section of the hotel. The rooms are old and grey, the A/C does not work well, the bathroom fixtures are old and worn out. And the room doors do not close well.

if you are going to stay at this hotel do not let them put you in the Garden wing, insist on the updated beach wings.

We booked our room through a travel agent. Selected the Sheraton because of it's location, price, and the fact we are Starwood members. We were not disappointed at all. This hotel was a very pleasant surprise. I thought the Hotel entrance and grounds were beautiful on first glance. When we located our building, I was a little leary because the building itself just looked dated, but still well maintained. Our room was a very pleasant surprise. Loved the very private balcony/lanai. We really spent a lot of time on our balcony.
We had a Deluxe Ocean Front room, situated in the building that overlooked the pool, the beach was a stones throw from our Lanai. That view is still one of my favorites, we all could not stop looking at it. The room was very comfortable. The bed, chairs, lounges, and bathroom amenities all were just very nice and very comfortable. The hotel is popular with families with young children. I wished my grandkids were there with us. I was also a little concerned at first that being so close to the pool, our room might be noisy, but that was not the case. Even though the pool was busy, our room stayed quiet. The pool is not huge or too way out, just nice. And the beach is steps away. We discovered room service breakfast and enjoyed the quality and the service so much it became our morning routine. The fruit plate was enormous, and the full breakfasts can be shared, they are large! All Staff members were very pleasant and friendly. One note, we tried the Sushi bar/buffet the first night, a $35 per person meal, and it was very disappointing. The hotel really pushes it, but I DO NOT recommend it at all.
We drove down to the Grand Hyatt, walked the beautiful grounds, and had a wonderful meal at Tidepools. Wow, it was great, a splurge dinner for a celebration, but the atmosphere and the meal was wonderful. I would definitely return to this hotel, the Sheraton did not disappoint me at all. I recommend that you make sure you stroll the grounds, across the street on the garden side of the property, the pathways meander through pools and ponds and gardens. There is a second pool there, and it's very quiet and much less popular, but a nice large pool to play in. The garden room settings looked very nice, but it's hard to pass up an opportunity to gaze out at the ocean and beach every morning.

Having read many of the reviews on this site I was a little nervous about this hotel. I'm so glad we stayed there anyway. This hotel is beautiful. Everything was well maintained, the staff was friendly and wonderful with my two children (5 and 7). I seriously have no idea why the people that have been negative have done so. I would highly recommend this hotel don't believe the negative reviews.

I also spent weeks researching all the hotels in Poipu and it came down to the Sheraton and the Grand Hyatt. For the same price we could have either went with an oceanfront room at the Sheraton or a back room at the Grand. We decided to go with the Sheraton and were very glad that we did.

There is no debating that the pool and grounds at the Hyatt are way better but it really all comes down to what's important to you. If you are the type of person that likes to spend most of your time at the resort, and in the pool vs. the ocean, definitely stay at the Grand. If you are like me, on the other hand and prefer the ocean and beaches to the pool, travel the island and only sleep in your room, the oceanview rooms at the Sheraton can't be beat.

Now, I didn't see the gardenview rooms so cannot comment on their condition but even they are a short stroll to the beach (like 1 minute). Also, even the oceanview rooms at the Grand aren't that great....they are ocean view but they aren't ocean FRONT like the Sheraton. And there's a lot of lawn/pool/people in front of all of them. We stayed in the Ocean Wing and our room was fantastic - totally unobstructed ocean views. It was totally renovated and loved it. The only complaint re: the rooms was the total lack of hooks/rods to hang towels or anything. It's quite ridiculous, actually...I'm not sure where they expect people to hang the towels. I'm one for conserving energy so have no problem using my towel a couple of times but with no where to hang them, it's impossible.

The food, as is the consensus on this board, is quite bad. I didn't even eat at the restaurants but we did order room service a couple of times and it was horrible. The French Onion soup was pure salt and even though we specifically asked if the cheese on the hamburger was cheddar, it came as processed. What they didn't mess up on was just bad anyway. The beach food wasn't too bad but insanely expensive for what it is. Plus what's with serving Starbucks coffee when you've got lovely Hawaiian coffee available?!

The cleaning was average. Although they did clean every day (even if we left late) they didn't always leave new toiletries, etc.

Another minor complaint is the daily phone calls from the Food and Beverage staff 'inviting' you to dinner. Very annoying. Also, to reiterate the other warnings people have left, do not go get your 'free gift' from concierge...it's just a hard core timeshare sell via Starwood Vacations.

The location is the best...it's the only hotel right on the beach and it's central in Poipu. I would never suggest coming to Kauai without a car anyway, that would be crazy as there's so much to see but if you stay put it's good too.

I followed reviews on here and Frommer's recommendations on dining and was pleased with those. My favourites were: Roy's and The Beachhouse in Poipu and Postcards Cafe in Princeville and the Blossoming Lotus in Kapaa and The Hanneppe Cafe in Hannepepe. We drove the entire island several times and tried to see all we could.

Make sure to hike the Waimea Canyon Trail and at least the beginning of the Kalalau Trail. They're both relatively easy (for someone who is fit). Also make sure to go to Polihale and Secret Beach.

Feel free to contact me with any other questions.

Mahalo!