My Winter Trip to Asia and Hawaii: The Grand Hyatt Kauai
In December, I took a two week trip away from the cold! I started in New York and stopped in Hawaii for a week en route to Asia, breaking my time between two islands: Maui and Kauai. After Hawaii, it was off for a quick stop in Singapore, 5 days in Phuket and two days in Tokyo. This was my first ever trip to Asia and we had a great time! I flew Business Class most of the way, stayed at the top notch hotels Andaz Maui Wailea, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort and the Conrad Tokyo.
Trip Report Index
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Planning with Miles and Points
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The Andaz Maui at Wailea
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Restaurants at the Andaz Maui at Wailea
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Maui’s Haleakala, Ho’okipa and the Road to Hana
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The Grand Hyatt Kauai
After spending three nights at the amazing Andaz Maui at Wailea, it was a short inter-island flight and we were at the Grand Hyatt Kauai. This was my first trip to Kauai and, so far, it may just be my favorite island. To be honest, I cannot compare the Grand Hyatt Kauai to the Andaz Maui at Wailea. However, as far as islands are concerned, Kauai is far more lush, tropical, unique and laid-back. We spent most of our time driving to different parts of the island in our Jeep and not around the hotel, but I can offer my perspective.
How We Paid for Our Stay
At the time I was booking, my dates at the Grand Hyatt Kauai cost either 22,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points or $275 a night on the prepaid rate; this happened to be a mid-December deal as the hotel was not very full. I find my Hyatt Gold Passport points more valuable than redeeming at 1.25 cents per point (or lower than that considering the paid rate earns points) so we opted to just pay for the stay coming to $1100 total for the four nights.
I also ordered some Hyatt gift checks from the Citi ThankYou Rewards network to pay for dinners at the hotel and other hotel incidentals. We were able to redeem Citi ThankYou points for these at 1 cent each (10,000 points = $100). We used the Hyatt gift checks to pay for dinner at Tidepools, the hotel signature restaurant, and also booked our Kayak tours of the Wailua River through the hotel concierge. Because both these expenses ended up on our hotel bill, we used the Hyatt gift checks to pay for these when checking out.
The Hyatt gift checks can also be used to settle the bill for the stay when checking out, but I could not use them for the $275 a night rate as that was prepaid. If I booked the non-prepaid room rate, it would be far more expensive so we just opted to pay. That said, we had about 55,000 Barclaycard Arrival miles from the Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard. These miles can be used to cover any travel expense by simply putting it on the credit card and then redeeming the miles for a statement at 1 cent each. I also received 10% rebate when I redeem so the 55,000 miles paid $600 of the hotel bill (the miles become worth 1.1 cents each).
The Location
The Grand Hyatt Kauai is located in Poipu on the southern side of Kauai. It’s about a 30 minute drive from the airport. Poipu and the south side is definitely the more touristy side and closer to the south island attractions such as Wailua River, Waimea Canyon and most Na Pali coast cruise departure ports. Kauai is not very large so you can get pretty much anywhere on the island from anywhere else within about 90 minutes.
You can easily spend days at the Grand Hyatt Kauai without ever leaving the resort. The beach is right there, there are plenty of restaurants and the size of the grounds is nearly unparalleled anywhere else.
The Room
Because I still had my Diamond status, we were upgraded to an ocean view room on the top floor. The rooms were elegant with lovely views, but as we spent most of our time off-property, we didn’t require much.
The Pools and Grounds
The grounds of the Grand Hyatt Kauai were certainly massive. There was a saltwater pool, several freshwater pools, three hot tubs, a water slide. When walking through the pool area, we felt we stepped into one giant water park. The acres of the hotel were filled with gardens, bridges. It’s clear much effort went into the construction and I was highly impressed by how green, neat and well-maintained the complex is.
Although we spent most of our time exploring activities on the rest of the island, we did enjoy walking around the gardens at night and taking a dip in the hot tub. However, not having any kids yet, I do see the Grand Hyatt Kauai as being a nice value for families. With all the things to do around the beach, the salt water lagoon and the pools, it’s probably enough to entertain children for days.
The Beach
Sitting around the saltwater lagoon at the Grand Hyatt Kauai already gives you a “beach” feeling, but the hotel does have an actual ocean beach. It takes a little bit of time to walk there from the room given the resort is so large and we need to walk through the hotel grounds to get there (definitely not a back and forth to your room to get more sunblock sort of place!), but it does have those famous Kauai waves.
We didn’t spend much time at Shipwreck beach and, instead visited Polihale Beach and Hanalei Bay (which you’ll see in my next post), but did get a few pictures:
Food and Dining
Because I had my Diamond Hyatt status for the stay, we had access to the club lounge. The lounge was open for breakfast, afternoon and early evening snacks. We visited every morning for breakfast. It was nice to have that food option, but the food at the club was fairly basic and somewhat more limited than what I’ve seen at other Hyatt properties. As an example, there was no option to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which is sometimes offered at the discretion of the property.
We also had dinner one night at Tidepools, considered one of the most romantic restaurants on the island. We were very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the cooking. Our fish dishes were excellent. The setting, as well, is truly romantic. The restaurant is set around a beautiful koi pond and, if you’re luck enough to get a table by the water, you have goldfish swimming around you as you eat.
Summary
- We spent four nights at the Grand Hyatt Kauai while visiting the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kauai.
- With a prepaid rate of $275 a night, we chose to pay for the stay and not use Hyatt Gold Passport points. The Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard allowed us to use 55,000 miles for $600 of the $1100 bill by just paying with the card and then redeeming the miles for a statement credit. With the help of these miles, our stay only cost us $500 for the four nights.
- For dinner at Tidepools and hotel incidentals such as kayak tours, we ordered Hyatt gift checks with our Citi ThankYou points and used these to settle the bill.
What did you mean when you wrote, “To be honest, I cannot compare the Grand Hyatt Kauai to the Andaz Maui at Wailea.”
Did you mean that one hotel is better than the other? Or that they are very different types of hotels? And why can’t you compare them?
The reason I ask, is that the Grand Hyatt Kauai is one of my favorite places on earth, so I am interested in how the Andaz Maui compares directly, and possibly trying that next time.
Oh, and I looove the food in the club lounge at the Grand Hyatt! And I find it very easy to make a dinner out of their afternoon hors d’oeuvre offering, and save a bundle over eating at Tidepools. My girlfriend agrees with you, though, and was not impressed by the club lounge food. I think you are both just spoiled. ;-)
I hope you liked kayaking the Wailua River. That is one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.
You’re right, I should have clarified. I did like the Andaz Maui at Wailea a lot and can’t stop telling everyone who asks how Hawaii was about it, but that was a brand new and very impressive hotel. It’s hard to the Grand Hyatt Kauai to compete, even with multiple renovations, as it was built 20 years ago. I guess the best way to communicate my feelings: If I go back to Maui, I’d for sure try to stay at the Andaz. If I go back to Kauai, I’d be happy at the Grand Hyatt, but wouldn’t mind trying something else either – I don’t feel anything at the Grand Hyatt is pulling me back.
I was likely spoiled this trip, unfortunately :) We had just come from the Andaz Maui and the other 3 people I was with agreed the breakfast there was the best they ever had at a hotel!
We actually only went to Tidepools once and usually grabbed dinner wherever we were on the island and I often went for a Wahoo dish. The Wailua River was great!
Ooooooh! I may just have to try the Andaz Maui next time. Thanks for the explanation.
But I do loooove Kaui, more than any of the other islands, even though they are all great in their own way.
I look forward to hearing about Singapore and Phuket. How do they compare to Hawaii? Where would you most like to return? Not necessarily just the places you went on this trip, but overall? What would you like to do again?
One other thing. If you, or any of your readers, do return to the Grand Hyatt Kaui, try the rooms in the far wing. It is the longest walk from reception, but sooo private. By the pictures, I can tell you were by the pool. I like those rooms less, and prefer a club room in the far away wing, to a suite overlooking the pool, when given this choice. We left the sliding glass door open almost the whole time this last stay, and I loved listening to the waves lull me to sleep. I never heard voices or music… just waves.
Thanks for the tip on the rooms!
I am ready to go back to Hawaii anytime! This was my second trip to Maui and first to Kauai. We actually had this discussion about Hawaii vs. Thailand and, for me personally, Hawaii stands out much higher. I find it to be a truly “magical” place and I also like the whole Pacific island Polynesian culture, always have.
As far as places I’ve been and would like to return to: Hawaii is near the top of the list. I’d like to explore more of other parts of Japan someday as I just spent two days in Tokyo. Cayman Islands, I’ve been to twice and have no doubt I’ll go back soon. I was planning to return to Brazil this year for Carnival, but because of a schedule change and a canceled flight, we postponed to next year. I am always ready to go almost anywhere in Europe (though that’s where I’m from originally) with my favorite places being Paris, Nice, Copenhagen, anywhere in Switzerland.
Thank u . I’ll be there soon.
By the way, how was the kayak trip? Any recommendations for tours, shows or sightseeing?
Kayaking was fun, but we had a very muddy walk to the waterfall. I think that was post-lots of rain though. We visited Waimea Canyon, took a cruise of the Na Pali coast, kayaked the Wailua River and visited the North Shore. I will go into detail about all the Kauai activities in the next post :) Coming along slowly, but will get through the trip someday!
Hi ! I just completed the 10K spend on the Citi Executive AA card.
I arrived in Honolulu yesterday from JFK, with a 1 day stopover in San Francisco. It may be too late, but can I still get a ‘free one way’ on United (redeemed 44,000 miles, RT) when I return on March 9th (HNL to SFO) & March 10th (SFO to JFK) ? Maybe a one way to Bermuda or the Caribbean?
You definitely cannot switch to end in the Caribbean once you’ve started traveling, unfortunately, as that would change the type of award and the regions of your ticket. You may be able to add a stopover in New York and travel elsewhere on a free one-way later on, but that would have to be in mainland US. They would also charge a change-fee of $100 for changing the destination and a close-in change fee of additional $75 for making changes less than 21 days in advance. So that’s $175 plus having to work hard to convince the agent that this is ok as no doubt they’ll object even in the best case scenario… if it were me, I’d probably just leave it alone given the cost and trouble.
The good news is that you can usually travel from NYC to Bermuda for just 7,500 British Airways Avios each way: http://milesprof.wpengine.com/2013/09/23/caribbean-british-airways-award-miles/ :)