Here’s one way to find out: Take a look at our 5 ways to assess whether Fern Grotto Inn is the place for you.

Most importantly, note that we are not ideal for those who prioritize quiet and solitude. Though we are surrounded by privacy hedges (and hidden so well that sometimes even locals don’t know we’re here!), human noise is all around us —we are situated between a state park and a well-traveled main road. We are an Inn and there are multiple buildings on the property. Here is a link to a Birds Eye View of Fern Grotto Inn

We are a vacation rental. Our business model is self-service, which means we have no office or on-site staff. We provide you with amenities to make you feel at home at our cottages, including cookware and dishes, as well as all linens and towels and on-site laundry facilities for keeping them fresh yourself. Then we leave you to your vacation!

We do not provide concierge services or daily room service, and there are no bars or restaurants on the property. However, our proprietor, Paul, is just a phone call away in case of an emergency.

Click here. At this link, you’ll be able to view our different cottages and their availability. Simply pick your dates, fill in your personal/billing information and proceed with the reservation.

You can also call us at 808-821-9836 or email at [email protected] and we will take care of it for you.

Lastly, you can make a reservation to stay at Fern Grotto Inn using a third party booking site like Airbnb, VRBO, Hotels.com, Booking.com etc., however, these options will charge you, the guest, additional service fees of up to 15% of your total. We recommend booking via the Fern Grotto Inn website for no additional fees and the best possible deal.

Because we are a small operation, we have what might appear to be a strict cancellation policy.

If notice is received within 90 days of arrival, we will not issue a refund—unless we are able to re-book, in which case we will refund the days we are able to re-book minus a $50 cancellation fee. (NOTE: Often, we are only able to re-book by offering a last-minute discount. If this is the case with your canceled reservation, we will only be able to refund the discounted amount).

If notice is received 90 days or more in advance of arrival, a full refund will be issued, minus a $50 cancellation fee. The cleaning fee will be refunded in any case; however, the transaction fee cannot be refunded.

We are travelers, too, and know that emergencies can and do occur (and there’s no such thing as a happy emergency). For this reason, we highly recommend Insure My Trip, which offers travel insurance to guard against emergencies that may require a cancellation. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

We have a 5-night minimum on most reservations. However, if there are nights available between reservations, we are able to lower the minimum to 3 or 4 nights. Use our booking calendar to check for availability.

We are 5 miles from Kauai’s Lihue Airport. It’s a 15-minute ride and a cab costs <$30.

We are a block from Wailua Beach—just a 5-minute walk. Lydgate Park, which is better for swimming, is just a 15-minute walk.

Yes. We provide snorkeling masks (Lydgate Park has excellent snorkeling) and fins, plastic beach toys for kids, coolers, chairs, mats, umbrellas, and boogie boards.

Yes. We have 4 bicycles on-hand, 3 kayaks (one one-person, one two-person and one three-person) and a pair of stand-up paddle boards. All are available free of charge for guests to use; we just ask that you take good care of these items so that our future guests can enjoy them, as well.

No, we do not serve breakfast. However, each of our units have kitchenettes or full kitchens with the facility to make simple meals and more.

Seriously! Yes all our cottages are equipped with free, wireless internet.

All of our cottages have A/C and you may find that with open windows and vents, ocean breezes, and ceiling fans, A/C is not needed.

We love pets but sorry, we do not host pets.

We have free washer/dryer available on premises in a common area. Detergent is included.

Checkout for Fern Grotto Inn guests is at 11:00 AM. If circumstances allow and guests are not scheduled to arrive on your departure date, you can stay at the cottage until 3:00 PM at no extra charge.

If you wish to stay after 3PM — and let us know before your arrival on Kauai — we will charge 50% of your room rate and guarantee the room for you until your departure flight. This option is highly recommended if your flight departs after 8PM.

If you ask for a late checkout (post-3PM) after you have already arrived in Kauai, we may still be able to help with a $100 fee for our smaller houses and $200 for the Ohana House. However, even if you pay this fee, late checkout cannot be guaranteed.

Check-in is at 3:00 PM, though earlier arrivals by 1:00 PM may be possible. Please speak to us ahead of time—before arrival—to confirm whether early check-in is an option for you.

Our address is 4561 Kuamoo Road, Kapaa HI 96746. Our phone number is 808-821-9836.

It is possible to make do without a car using a combination of bicycles (which we provide) and public transportation. However, your mobility will be limited, as many gorgeous sites and activities are inaccessible except by car. For this reason, we highly recommend renting a car to get the best possible Kauai experience. You’ll also save on cab fare to and from the airport, which costs about $25 each way.

Unfortunately, we are not a good option for large get-togethers as there is no covered common area for the group to gather. Ohana House, although larger than any of the other cottages, can only comfortably hold 8 guests in the dining room. Because of this shortcoming and other issues hosting groups, we do not encourage group bookings.

Yes. Bugs are a fact of life on Kauai and in the tropics in general. Pest control services our property for bugs of all kinds every 60 days, which helps to keep them in check, but if you strongly dislike bugs, this might not be the place for you as you will see them. Geckos are our friends; they eat other bugs. Arachnophobes: spiders do make the occasional visit, but if they’re around, they prefer to stay outdoors.

Unfortunately, we aren’t (yet) able to predict the weather ourselves. It might not rain at all (unlikely)… or it can rain a little every day (likely)… or, in the worst case scenario, it can rain continuously every day for days (unlikely).

The good news is, tropical rain isn’t cold and won’t chill you, plus you can avoid it by driving 5 to 10 miles in the other direction. The northern part of the island gets the most rain, followed by the east (where Fern Grotto Inn is located), then the south, and then the west is the driest part of Kauai. We recommend keeping an extra shirt on-hand in case you get caught and Fern Grotto Inn provides umbrellas, too.

We have hosted thousands of guests over the last decade, and one of the comments we hear most often is: “I wish we wouldn’t have planned to ‘island hop’ so we could spend more time on one island!”

For that reason, we advise travelers to not split their time between different Hawaiian islands. Instead, we recommend spending at least 7 nights—ideally—on whichever island you most want to visit. Kauai has more than enough to keep you busy from dawn to dusk for a full week: hiking, kayaking, surfing, swimming, botanical gardens, zip lining, ATVs, boat tours, helicopter tours and more.

Keep in mind, though, that Kauai gets quiet after dark, with very little nightlife to be found.

If you are fit, kayaking the Napali Coast (available May – September only). It’s a grueling 10-hour day and not for the faint of heart, but you will talk about it for years to come.

We have been issued a permit by Kauai County to operate a vacation rental. Our permit number is TVNC-1070.