Fern Grotto Inn – Hawaii Resort – Kauai
(808) 821-9836
4561 Kuamoo Rd, Wailua
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Most locals don’t know this small inn exists—you can blink and drive right by the simple mailbox entrance—but we hope you won’t do that because you’d miss a true Hawaiian-style experience. This inn was originally built by a Japanese widow in the 1940s after the war. It was called Fujita Camp back then. She used wood from old cargo ships to build the units that still stand today. There are five buildings that were added throughout the 1950s. In the 1980s, after her passing, the property fell into disrepair until the current owner picked it up in 2005. He slowly started to polish what was worth saving, renovate areas that needed it and reopened in 2007. A second-story was added to one building in 2017.
This is a quiet place with lovely, peaceful gardens all planted by the owner. Many varieties of fruit trees are scattered about, and you are encouraged to partake of the bounty. (They even have a fruit picker for those juicy mangoes too high to reach.