Welcome to Checking In , a review series in which our editors and contributors rate the best new (and revamped) luxury hotels based on a rigorous—and occasionally tongue in cheek—10-point system: Each question answered “yes” gets one point. Will room service bring you caviar? Does your suite have its own butler? Does the bathroom have a bidet? Find out below. In three words: Move-in ready The basics: Timbers Company isn’t in the hotel business.
But since opening its 450-acre property on Kauai in July 2018, it has grown into one of the—if not the —most luxurious check-ins on the Garden Isle. Need proof? The resort is currently commanding the highest nightly rates in Kauai. A developer and operator of luxury resorts, private residence clubs and boutique properties—16 or so from Kiawah Island, South Carolina to Tuscany—Timbers is in the business of full-service real estate.
Like a growing number of companies, it offers 5-star hotel amenities to the owners of its luxury residences. But when the owners of Kauai’s 47 two-, three-, and four-bedroom residences aren’t at home (which is much of the time), they enter the rental pool—and that’s where you, the traveler, come in. But this ain’t Airbnb, and you won’t find any of grandma’s tchotchkes on the mantel.
The furniture and decor are all from Timber’s design team (in this case interior designer Laola Nani), creating the aura of a full-blown, multi-bedroom hotel suite designed to host families who ar.