I never leave reviews, but once in a blue moon I do business with a company that's so exceptional,…read moreand whose staff is so above and beyond that I find myself looking for outlets to let others know of my experience. This is the case with the people at Garden Island Properties. A week prior to our departure, we sadly had to cancel our travel to Kauai Island because our daughter was hospitalized. I had already paid in full for our three week rental (60 days prior to our departure date) and I did not purchase insurance. This could have been the end of the story because everyone had already been paid. But, the people at Garden Island Properties worked tirelessly to find another renter so we could recover some of our money. The humanity they showed, and the effort they made on our behalf has made me a loyal customer, and I plan to use them to help me with future rental properties going forth. I will also purchase travel insurance!

1 Star -- WARNING: This property management company will take your money and put your family at…read morerisk. We booked a week at Mele Kai (March 11-18) for two families, including kids, one of whom was celebrating a birthday on the island. Nearly $8,000. On March 10, with a massive Kona storm bearing down on Kauai, we reached out to Garden Island Properties to discuss our options. Our VRBO messages went unanswered. Our phone call went unanswered. When we finally got a text response, they told us the rain is what gives Kauai its nickname "The Garden Island" and suggested we bring "a flexible plan and rain gear." We weren't being difficult. We wrote back and told them we weren't opposed to being rained on -- our concern was flooding, loss of power, or being stuck on the island. I asked them directly: "Will my family be safe during this massive storm in your place?" Their response? They told us, "I don't mean to downplay the news coverage, but this is fairly typical winter weather for Kauai." They assured us the rental was "not located in a flood zone." Fairly typical winter weather. Not in a flood zone. Here's what actually happened: The Governor declared a STATE OF EMERGENCY. Roads in Poipu -- the exact neighborhood of this house -- were closed due to flooding. Ho'one Road and Ku'ai Road, right by this property, were shut down. The islands were hit with up to 44 inches of rain and 135-mph winds. Schools and government offices closed. Over 120,000 customers lost power across the state. Beaches were closed under brown water advisories warning of sewage overflow and hazardous bacteria. The Red Cross and Salvation Army mobilized relief efforts. Residents were evacuated into emergency shelters. So much for "fairly typical winter weather." So much for "not in a flood zone." And here's what makes it worse: the forecast they themselves included in their own message showed 90-100% chance of rain with thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 50 mph for EVERY SINGLE DAY of our trip. Their own evidence showed this was not typical. They sent it to us and still told us to come. We never made it to Kauai. We couldn't. It would have been dangerous and irresponsible to bring our families -- our kids -- into that situation. Garden Island Properties refused any refund. VRBO has been contacted twice by phone, was promised a resolution email both times, and as of this writing we've received nothing. $8,000. Gone. For a house we never stepped foot in, on an island we never reached, during a declared state of emergency that the property manager called "fairly typical." This is not a review about the weather. Nobody controls the weather. This is a review about a property management company that had every piece of information -- including their own forecast -- telling them this was a dangerous, historic storm, and they still chose to encourage a family with children to fly into it rather than do the right thing. I asked them point blank if my family would be safe. They couldn't even answer the question. They chose profit over safety. Period. If you are considering booking with Garden Island Properties, understand this: when things go wrong -- and in Hawaii, weather can go very wrong -- this company will not have your back. They will take your money, send you a canned aloha, and wish you luck.

Exelent highly knowledgeable Realtor......highly recommended. I've dealt with him for nearly 30…read moreyears.

Excellent folks that helped us find our slice of paradise. Helpful in every way after the sale as…read morewell. Highly recommended! Extremely knowledgeable and connected to the Island. You wont go wrong here! John and Janis Zihla

Big thanks to Sarah for being on top of my travel needs. From getting us a place to even a car…read morerental .. it's hard to trust these days. will be back real soon and I will must definitely recommend her services.

Island Rentals Property Management is under new ownership (since 2018). It's actually changed…read morehands a few times since we have been with them as landlords, and we love the new owners. Sarah is very hands on, proactive, attentive to detail and yet still keeps an eye on the bottom line. She has previous extensive property management experience and works hard to keep her units taken care of. Jamey handles maintenance and rehab work. He is also very attentive to detail and plans ahead for ways to make future needed maintenance easier as well. We found out a few months ago that a lot of maintenance had been deferred for years plus our unit had a lot of annoying issues (who wants to sit on a rocking toilet?!). They want to help keep our unit in great shape, so our renters are happy, and so that our investment is taken care of and lasts. And, we want that, too. They came up with a plan and estimates. Both Sarah and Jamey were great to work with. We ended up doing a partial rehab, but the place looks better than when we had bought it. They helped a lot with picking out new flooring, new paint, and other things like faucets and sinks that honestly we didn't have much prior experience with. Sarah was great about keeping me in the loop by texting, calling, or emailing me to let me know the status of projects/issues (as is typical with rehabs, things didn't always go according to plan). She also sent pictures and videos of the issues, so we could understand the need to tweak our original plan as well as pictures/videos of the finished work (the flooring looks amazing!!!). Because the rehab was not planned for, both of them found creative ways to help us stay at or below our budget which we really appreciated. Everyone who has seen our unit loves it! I highly recommend Island Rentals whether you are a owner or renter!

We have dealt with this vacation mgmt company for years, and have had nothing but successful…read morecommunication and excellent stays. When the pandemic hit, they worked with us on a unit we had booked in April 2020 to get our vacation rescheduled - twice. Phone calls were returned promptly and they exhibited a great amount of patience with our situation. I highly recommend them

I write this review as a warning to anyone who might be considering doing business with Kauai…read morePacific Real Estate. We rented unit 8233/8234 at Hanalei Bay Resort managed by Kauai Pacific Real Estate this summer and were extremely disappointed in our unit and how we were treated. Our unit had a broken air conditioner, broken floor tiles, broken shower, mold, cockroaches, etc. Additionally, there were some safety issues like hot electrical switches and lack of fire alarms and extinguishers. We paid for and spent 2 weeks in this unit because there was no option for us to move to another unit or find a different rental on short notice. Kauai Pacific Real Estate did nothing to help us during our stay and ultimately seemed dismissive of our concerns. This company took payment for a unit they knew was in disrepair, then acted like they would get it fixed for us, in the end they did absolutely nothing. I have to wonder how many other unsuspecting guests they have treated this way. Kauai is a busy place in July, it's not like we had the option to get another room, move to another resort, or come back another time. We wasted too much of our hard earned vacation time trying to figure things out with this company only to be ignored in the end. Kauai Pacific Real Estate is a predatory rental agency that couldn't care less about your experience once they have your money. They did not care we were uncomfortable, they did not care that we were not receiving the services we paid for. My family spent years of planning and a lot of money on this vacation and unfortunately our time was horribly impacted by the fact that we didn't have a comfortable place to call home and get rest. If you are considering a place to stay or a management company for your property, please take your business elsewhere!

Living on the East Coast of the mainland, I received a recommendation to use Yelena as my agent to…read moresell my mother's condo from a local. Best advice ever! She knows the market and was able to provide staging items to match And update my mother's condo appropriately. She advised and guided us every step along the way and kept us well informed of progress as she showed the condo, despite the time difference between Hawaii and the east coast. We had multiple offers which Yelena helped us work through the pros and cons of before selecting a buyer. She works with a wonderful escrow team who were able to get the documents necessary through the Hawaii land court in record time. Yelena is a bundle of energy and a joy to work with due to her positive outlook! I would not hesitate to recommend Yelena and would use her services again if the need arises!

Yel A recent job…read morechange brought us to Kauai from Southern California earlier in the year. This was a huge transition for us. We had no idea about whom to call on the island. While searching properties online, we noticed that Yelena was included in the list of available agents for most of the properties we had bookmarked, so we decided to give her a call. Yelena was immediately engaging and positive about helping us find a home. She was genuinely excited for us. She spent an hour on the phone the first call. Yelena asked many questions about our lifestyle and interests. I was a little bit confused about why all these questions. I now realize that she wanted to know us more as people, so she could find us the perfect home. She insisted that we must feel a very positive energy for the home chose. She said we would know once inside during a showing. I now understand her logic. We were trying to sell a home, and buy a home at the same time in the beginning. Her positive attitude alleviated the stress on this side. Yelena worked with us for 7 months before we found the perfect home. She was sending us listings before we moved over and checked properties for us in our absence to evaluate neighborhoods for visual attractiveness. When we were finally on island, she took us to view many homes. The market here is tight for good homes (homes that do not need 100K rehab before you can move in). Good homes sell fast and many we were interested in were already in escrow by the time we were on island. We were a little nervous. Yelena was not. She kept finding listings and took us to showings. We made offers on a few homes that did not work out due to VA restrictions. Never discouraged, Yelena moved us forward quickly from those let downs by finding other listings within our price range, which was not so easy due to the available inventory here. We also had certain areas we wanted to be in. Her energy and positive attitude helped us immensely. Yelena is truly sincere about helping her clients. There were times when we were almost ready to give up. She would repeatedly and calmly tell us not to worry, that the right home would come along. In the lull periods, she would call to check in with us at least every couple of days. Yelena cares on a personal level. As I sit here in the beautiful home we recently purchased, I cannot say enough good things about the professionalism, knowledge, persistence, intelligence, and positive energy that Yelena exhibits. The purchasing process was also very easy. Yelena is very proficient with all the necessary documentation and schedule. She ensures the timeline is met. Selling our CA home was quite easy compared to buying a home in Kauai. Here, the process is similar, however, inventory limitations and very strict VA lending adherence added difficulties and work for Yelena to endure. I do not believe that another agent would have worked so hard for so long on our behalf. Yelena must have expended hundreds of hours over months, trying to help us find the perfect home. If she were on an hourly rate, she certainly did not make bank helping us, but that is not what Yelena is about. People are what she is about. Her knowledge and expertise in this market are what got us to the finish line. She also recommended a local lender, which made the financing process very convenient and personal. I could walk into the local office to sign papers and meet the nice people there too. We recommend Yelena very highly. We trust her implicitly. I have never met a person in any field who works so hard for their clients. She is not out to make a fast buck and get another sell onto her success list. Her sincerity is obvious from the minute you meet her. That energy and never give up attitude is the reason we are comfortably in this nice home today. A home we feel so right being in. We feel extremely fortunate that we called her months ago instead of someone else. If you need a real estate transaction in Kauai, HI, then you need to call Yelena. She is calm, cool, and collected in demeanor, with a lot of laughter as well. She adjusts her strategies based upon the challenges and gets the job done. She will also become your friend during this process. Yelena is a wonderful and interesting person to know outside of being your agent. ********* I just sent this as a text to Yelena. We are in our home for 5 months and loving it. She made it happen and her efforts have brought us so much happiness. "Thank You for working so hard with us to find our home in paradise. I'm in San Diego temporarily and now realize just how much I miss paradise. I remember how dedicated you were and always pleasant when I was not. Thank You for sticking with us. We are in a great home in the best place on the planet because of your dedication and kindness. "

I have had ten transaction on the island of Kauai, all with Robb Wall and the level of service has…read morebeen the same for each one: steadfast and thorough. Robb thinks several steps ahead, anticipates potential issues, and never sugar coats the situation. Real estate transactions are fickle creatures that seem to get crazier in escrow. Robb has always been sure to present realistic scenarios as they might occur, provide problem solving solutions if need be, and provide a realistic sense of how the transaction will turn out. Buying and selling real estate can be an emotional experience and Robb has always done his best to be sure I was informed and prepared as the transactions progressed. Highly recommended.

Robb Wall is a long time resident of Kauai and is very knowledgeable regarding the island and the…read morereal estate here. He is extremely competent and personable. He impressed me over and over again during our buying experience with his vast knowledge and attention to detail. He was attentive and available, and made me laugh, as well. I would highly recommend Robb Wall.