Kauai County, HI Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Kaua'i County Code Sec. 8-18.1(a)(3) ties the homestay's legality directly to the owner's physical presence: the person who benefits from the Sec. 5A-11 homeowner's real property tax exemption on the homestay site must be physically within the County of Kaua'i, actually residing at the site, and available for the needs and concerns of homestay guests while the operation runs. Sec. 8-18.1(a)(4) closes the obvious workaround by declaring that no other individual, whether a property manager, family member or paid representative, may act on the owner's behalf to satisfy that presence requirement.

This distinguishes a homestay from Kaua'i's single-family transient vacation rental (TVR) category under Article 17, where a designated 24-hour contact person can substitute for the owner. A homestay depends on genuine owner-occupancy, reinforced elsewhere in Article 18: renewal of the homestay zoning permit under Sec. 8-18.3(b) requires proof that the residential structure used for the homestay is the owner's primary residence and that the same owner currently holds the Sec. 5A-11 homeowner's exemption for that site in the year before renewal. Together these provisions mean an absentee owner, or an owner who has moved the homeowner's exemption to a different property, cannot lawfully keep operating or renewing a homestay.