If you're coming to Hawaii, then by all means come to Kauai and stay with us at The Strawberry Guava

...but only if you appreciate beauty, enjoy solitude, and value privacy and comfort. On the other hand, if it's shopping and night life you want, Oahu and Maui can't be beat. If you've always wanted to see raging volcanoes, the Big Island is where it's at for you. Great beaches? Anywhere in Hawaii! But if getting both feet interactive with a variety of scenic wonders without long drives and long lines is what you want your Hawaii to be about, then come to Kauai and stay with us! Because you can't stay any closer to your Hawaii than at The Strawberry Guava!

The Strawberry Guava is located high up on the side of Kauai's beautiful Lawai Valley, at the edge of the Lihue-Koloa Forest Reserve and the foot of Mt. Kahili. We look up at Kahili, down across the valley at rolling pastures and out over the awesome blue Pacific.

The Strawberry Guava was designed by famous Vermont architect John Wesley Hollenbach to take full advantage of the incredible views surrounding us, the warm Hawaiian sun, and the cooling trade winds. The B & B suites in our home comprise a separate wing, each with a private entrance, bathroom, sitting room, refrigerator, queen-size bed, ceiling fan and double eye-fulls of mountain, valley and ocean.

You won't see or hear any traffic, no bright lights or city streets, not even another home is to be seen from your suite at The Strawberry Guava. Just miles of green grass, trees and a solitude that you'll share only with a few head of horses and cattle, and the wild chickens that abound in the valley.

If you should come back from a day at the beach all hot, tired and sweaty (and you might-you just might) then you can walk down the road ten minutes (or drive it in two) to the fresh cold pools and falls that bring the waters of the Lawai Stream down to the ocean.

When the Lonely Planet wrote us up a few years ago in their guide to the Island of Hawaii, they used the word 'bucolic' to help describe our setting. It still gives me a chuckle every time one of our European guests (who generally speak excellent contemporary English, and who trust the Lonely Planet guides as if they were handed down to Moses at Mt. Sinai) asks me, "we understand everything in the write-up, but what's 'bucolic'?" If in no other way, their command of English is enhanced by a clear understanding of that word after a few days at The Strawberry Guava.

The little town of Lawai (post-office, convenience store, restaurant and mortuary) is located 25 minutes--of almost uninterrupted sugar cane fields--from the airport in Lihue (rhymes with fooey) the county seat of Kauai County.  We're on the warm, dry, sleepy southwest side of the Island, 20 minutes from the busy, modern resort community of Poipu and 25 minutes from the snoozing old plantation town of Waimea, gateway to the magnificent canyon and the misty, mystical forests of Kokee.

At or near the top of many people's lists of reasons for coming to Kauai, and on everyone's must-see list, is the spectacular Waimea Canyon, grand canyon of the Pacific. Short of the rustic cabins at Kokee State Park, The Strawberry Guava is one of the closest access/accommodation points to the canyon. Whether you're a hard-muscled hiker, avid photographer, wide-eyed bird watcher or auto-seat gawker, Waimea has a great day--or10--in store for you.

One 'great day' recommendation that I always make to our guests is to drive to the canyon, stop at all the lookouts, take a short (3-4 hour) hike out onto one of the ridges that comprise the Na Pali Coast, watch the sunset into the canyon (which lights up at sunset like a neon kaleidoscope) then drive back down the mountain and turn right to head for Polihale Beach to watch the sunset again to the percussion of a crashing surf on one of Hawaii's most gorgeous, and perhaps most lightly visited beaches. Then head back home but stop in Kalaheo for the always-mouth-watering cuisine of either of our two never-fail restaurants, Pomodoro (they make their own bread and pasta) or the Kalaheo Steak House (the prime rib is to die for), then back home for one of the copyrighted always original moon and star shows we sponsor nightly at The Strawberry Guava. Now that's a great day!

If golfing is an essential ingredient in your vacation recipe, then you'll be pleased to learn that Kauai is home to several championship courses, including Jack Nicklaus and Robert Trent Jones, Jr. designs. Or, if your golfing ideal is closer to a relaxing stroll through the country in pursuit of an often erratic little white ball, the Kukuiolono Golf Course right 'next-door' to us in Kalaheo, might be perfect for you. It's a nine-hole, six-dollar stroll just challenging enough to be interesting, with mountain and ocean views  far too beautiful to let you think that your golf game is really why you're on Kauai.

In addition to being home to an outstanding B & B, two superb restaurants, and a jewel of a golf course, the Lawai-Kalaheo area is also the home of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens, Allerton Gardens and the Ola Puu Gardens, a privately held garden estate open to the public. Rare, endangered, unique and exquisite all describe the botanical wonders to be seen herein Lawai.

Ben & Traci Sullivan 4896 Z Kua Rd.                           Kalaheo, HI  96741	Phone: (808)-332-0385 or            (808)-634-5539 Mail To: lauria@hawaiian.net

Rates: $60 - $ 85; please feel free to call us for details.