Our hotel provided coupons for two free Mai Tais (or a soft drink) at Mamahune’s Tiki Bar each day during our stay, so of course we made sure to put them to good use. The Welcome Mai Tai is an island version, different than the excellent Trader Vic’s Mai Tai that’s on their cocktail menu. Which is totally okay by me and it wasn’t bad at all.
I saw them batching these: two large cans of Pineapple Juice, one bottle of Trader Vic’s Orgeat, one bottle of Sweet & Sour, one bottle of Triple Sec. Pour over ice in a small cup and float with Whaler’s Dark Rum. They say to tip your bartender generously, and one of our free Mai Tais was served in a very large cup by a bartender who recognized us from previous visits.
Mamahune’s is an interesting location. It is definitely attached to the Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay, but does have some signage off the front parking lot and from the county beach parking slightly down the hill from the property. So it can be it’s own destination as well. It is also just steps down from the hotel’s main pool, so serves as a defacto pool bar. The hotel’s lobby restaurant is only open for breakfast and that venue’s bar is not operational the rest of the day, perhaps due to COVID. There is a Ahi Uila Fireshow that includes a buffet on Tuesday nights.
The other cocktails we had at Mamahune’s were pretty good, as was the food. Not really enclosed, and with a large lawn for tables and chairs, Mamahune’s is much more than a typical outdoor “tiki bar.” The covered section of the venue does have some well-done decor by Bamboo Ben, which looks really great a night. There are also bar seats on both sides, and we did see some groups using this as a hangout place. Music is played on some nights, which is a nice component as well. Sadly, the little volcano does not seem to erupt anymore.
