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Grand Hyatt Kauai REVIEW- MASTER THREAD - mid-2011 Forward

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Old Aug 20, 2018, 3:29 am
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Last edit by: FlyinHawaiian
SHOPPING
1. Safeway
a. Multiple locations (2)
b. Significantly more polynesian/asian offerings in regards to food, Made in Hawaii, Grown in Hawaii goods

2. Longs Drugs
a. CVS-owned; all CVS coupons and rewards are accepted.
b. Many locations, including Lihue and Poipu https://longs.staradvertiser.com/loc...p?island=kauai
c. Stores have a more significant focus on local items and goods than Mainland CVS stores.
d. Reliable source of distilled water for CPAP users.

2. ABC Stores
a. Significant number (3) of locations, accessible.
b. They carry almost nothing but local items, and also beer

3. Costco (2.6mi from LIH):
a. Gas up before dropping rental car off. It was at least $0.80/gal cheaper than anywhere else (8/20/18)
b. Kauai/Kona coffee, other gifts (e.g., macadamia nuts in multiple preparations)
c. Gift cards for local vendors are often available
d. Food court (many of the same items as continental US with same prices)
4. Walmart (1.3mi from LIH). Exceptionally busy. Busy store inside/outside/around it.
a. Beach/pool toys
b. Snacks (if you don’t have a huge family staying a long time to eat Costco bulk item)
c. Souvenirs (they have a section in the front for this)

KAUAI TOURS/SELF-GUIDED ADVENTURES
Swimming/Snorkeling
1. Poipu Beach - Massive reef offshore, with a reef onshore separating two beaches. With the closure of Tunnels/Ke'e/Lumahai beach due to landslides on Kuhio highway, Poipu beach has one of the top snorkeling spots on the island currently, and is just 5 minute drive from the hotel. Turtles and monk seal are spotted here regularly
2. Lydgate Beach - protected snorkeling spot perfect for beginners. Located on East side of the island. This looks close, but traffic in Kapaa can make this a 45 minute drive.
3. Anini Beach - Northeast on island, 1 hour to reach. Reef with significant amounts of sea life.
4. Tunnels Beach/Ke'e Beach - currently closed. 1 hour 30 minutes away. Snorkel right next to the beginning of the Na Pali coast, with significant amounts of turtles. Before Kauai restores access to the beach via Kuhio Highway, residents are strongly considering limiting access to the beach (no vehicles, only shuttles, or limited number of vehicle permits sold per day). Parking fills up fast here, and these beaches are the end of the road on island.


GUIDED TOURS
1. Wailua River + Secret Falls Hike. 30-45 minute drive from hotel. Cost $40/pp. 4 hour+ trip. 1 mile of kayaking followed by a short hike to a large waterfall. Some tours offer pineapple as a snack at the waterfall. Some offer just chips or granola bars like what you might buy from Costco.
2. Kauai Sugarloaf Pineapple. See the Huber families sugarloaf pineapple farm. Hole in the mountain farms is situated on 38 acres of land, where you will be given the rare opportunity to taste sugarloaf pineapple. An extremely low acidic pineapple that has a core that is edible, and not stringy. $65/pp w/ free pineapple and smoothie. The ARV of the pineapple you receive will be around $8-15. Sugarloaf pineapple sells for $3-4 a pound, with an average pineapple being 5-6 pounds in size. This is a once in a lifetime experience. 1 hour from GH Kauai http://kauaisugarloaf.com BOOK TOURS IN ADVANCE. We booked two weeks in advance, and at the farmers market on a Wednesday we overheard them say they were booked out for 2 weeks (so almost September). They only do tours on Thursdays.
3. Chocolate Tour. Lydgate Farms has a chocolate tour. $95/pp
4. Captain Andy's Tours. Captain Andy is currently leaving out of the south shore in Port Allen. He offers all 3 kinds of boat tours. 55ft catamaran w/ restroom, warm water rinse, cooked lunch, snorkeling, napali coast, alcoholic drinks included (up to $179 pp). They have smaller boats that do not have restrooms/rinse/cooked lunch, but will go in the sea caves. And then they have raft boats that require you to wear gloves, and are very much a thrill ride. They do beach landings in those, and basically anything. The choices are listed from most comfortable to least comfortable. 55ft catamaran is the preferred way for most

HIKING/SIGHTS
1. Kalepa Ridge Trail. 1 hour from GHK. Free. 2 hour round trip. 1.7 mile hike. Classified as hard by alltrails.com. For the time and distance you walk, this trail beats the Awaawapuhi Trail
2. Awaawapuhi Trail. 55 minute from GHK. Free. Half day. 6.7 mile hike. Classified as moderate by alltrails.com. It is a longer hike, but once you get to the end, the views are IMO better than the Kalepa Ridge Trail
3. Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls. 50 minute from GHK. Free. 3 hours. Hike to a the top of a waterfall on the Waimae Canyon.
4. Heritage Trail. Literally on the beach at the GHK. Free. Not necessarily a crazy cool hike
5. Wailua Falls: do some research if you plan on doing a hike down to the waterfall
6. Spouting Horn. 7 minute drive from GHK. Underwhelming, but worth it to say you've seen it. 2-3 minute drive from Spouting Horn is the Kukui'ula Village Shopping Center, which has a Bubbas Burger/Tortilla Republic/The Lanai/Merriman Fish House/Eating House 1849, Dolphin, Ruth's Chris and other restaurants. To see the spouting horn, you will walk past a 150-200ft of street vendors selling crafts, everyday of the week.
7. Queen's Bath-dangerous, slippery and muddy on way day, rocky and if you are inside you may get washed out by the waves. But go at sunset and you'll see why.

FARMERS MARKETS
1. Kukui'ula Village Shopping Center - Wednesday Evening, 3:30PM - 6PM. Kauai Sugarloaf Farms attends this, and will let you try their pineapple and buy tours here. There is supposedly a beer garden, but I didn't find it. There is also food from restaurants there, as well as a booth by the "Pie Lady" (The Right Slice).

RESORT FEE INCLUDES
1. Free self-parking (for all, not just Globalist)

2. Free laundry in each guestroom with free laundry pods

3. Towel at Valet for excursions (and after 7pm for pool)

4. Free bike use

5. Sunscreen at pool

6. Hospitality lounge for early arrival & late departing flights

7. Refrigerator in all rooms
  1. Self-parking
  2. Two complimentary refillable water bottles
  3. Purified water stations
  4. Poipu Bay Golf Course and Clubhouse shuttle service
  5. Coffee maker in room with Hawaiian coffee and tea
  6. Complimentary self-service washer, dryer and detergent
  7. Reusable logo tote bag located in closet
  8. Access to 24 hour Anara Spa fitness center
  9. Fitness and yoga classes at Anara Spa
    1. See daily activities schedule, 14 years and older
  10. Hospitality lounge for early arrival & late departing flights
  11. Welcome lei greeting
  12. Guided sunrise walk Monday - Saturday
  13. Hawaiian crafters daily in lobby
  14. Wildlife Walk twice weekly
  15. Hydroponic Garden tours twice weekly
  16. Entertainment and hula at Seaview Terrace
  17. Torch lighting ceremony three times per week
  18. Ukulele, lei-making and hula lessons
  19. Koi fish feeding and parrot talk
  20. Sunscreen samples at pool recreation desk
  21. Mountain Bike use - based on availability
  22. One hour tennis court time daily
    1. Reservations required, equipment rental available
  23. Complimentary boarding pass and incoming fax printing
  24. Unlimited local and toll-free calls
  25. In-room safe
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Grand Hyatt Kauai REVIEW- MASTER THREAD - mid-2011 Forward

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Old Jan 12, 2016, 6:19 pm
  #1201  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 142
those of you who were able to upgrade using free night certs...did you request in advance or at check in?
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Old Jan 12, 2016, 7:51 pm
  #1202  
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In advance with the Gold Passport Desk, then followed up with in house reservations.
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Old Jan 15, 2016, 5:04 pm
  #1203  
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: AS MVPG, Hyatt Discoverist, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,399
Cash+Points in 2016

Has anyone been able to book a cash+points stay in 2016. I checked a bunch of random dates and could only find full points awards. I wanted to use a DSU but it won't work with a standard award.
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Old Jan 15, 2016, 10:09 pm
  #1204  
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Yep, I booked 7 nights online using C&P in December 2016 a couple weeks back.

And a DSU would have worked fine, but I'm not a fan of the Garden suites here. I asked if I could pay a bigger C&P co-pay to guarantee an Ocean suite (I offered to pay the difference in rate between the Garden suite and Ocean suite), but they said they only will do that at check-in based on availability.
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Old Jan 25, 2016, 6:56 pm
  #1205  
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Home Airports: CAE/CLT
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, National Executive
Posts: 5,452
We are thinking about visiting in December, probably 12-18. Any guess on if we will be there for the holiday rush, or will we just miss it all?
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Old Jan 25, 2016, 9:06 pm
  #1206  
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Originally Posted by Gamecock
We are thinking about visiting in December, probably 12-18. Any guess on if we will be there for the holiday rush, or will we just miss it all?
Unless there is a big event going on, these dates should definitely be quieter than the following week, though the 17th and 18th might start getting a little busier. This property never seems as busy to me though (even over Christmas) as the Maui Hyatt, which seems to be more of a madhouse over the holidays.
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Old Jan 28, 2016, 4:07 pm
  #1207  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Posts: 182
Originally Posted by cb11
those of you who were able to upgrade using free night certs...did you request in advance or at check in?
Booked ahead of time with Gold desk. Was confirmed at check in. Got the corner Garden View suite. That is a nice suite.
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Old Feb 13, 2016, 9:18 am
  #1208  
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA UA Delta. HH Diamond, PC Platinum, Club Carlson Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 808
Originally Posted by Jeeves
Has anyone been able to book a cash+points stay in 2016. I checked a bunch of random dates and could only find full points awards. I wanted to use a DSU but it won't work with a standard award.

I did the same thing and also could not find any availability on P+C in 2016. When is the lower season for this resort? Thanks!
milemission is offline  
Old Feb 13, 2016, 10:27 am
  #1209  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 470
Originally Posted by milemission
I did the same thing and also could not find any availability on P+C in 2016. When is the lower season for this resort? Thanks!
I found some a year out for next February and applied a DSU.
In general low season for Hawaii is mid January to late February, then Late April and May, then Late September through October - this is all based on school schedules. Busy times are Spring break, summer, and holidays.
pickles1107 is offline  
Old Feb 13, 2016, 11:06 am
  #1210  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Left Coast
Programs: UA 1K & 1MM, HH Diamond, Marriott/SPG Gold (UA comp)
Posts: 1,353
Originally Posted by pickles1107
I found some a year out for next February and applied a DSU.
In general low season for Hawaii is mid January to late February, then Late April and May, then Late September through October - this is all based on school schedules. Busy times are Spring break, summer, and holidays.
The day's surrounding Valentine's Day are high 'season' especially because many schools' "ski week" is that week. It's changing somewhat next year so may not be so heavy in 2017.

Why don't you just call HGP? They are so helpful for things like this. I am generally suspicious and usually disappointed w customer service agents all over (quintessential skeptic) but I must say HGP is a clear opposite here.

Last edited by weezl; Feb 14, 2016 at 12:22 am
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Old Feb 29, 2016, 10:13 am
  #1211  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
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does booking the garden suit grant you lounge access?
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Old Feb 29, 2016, 10:43 am
  #1212  
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Originally Posted by exmike
does booking the garden suit grant you lounge access?
No
azepine00 is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2016, 12:33 pm
  #1213  
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: saint augustine, FL USA
Posts: 463
anara spa

Is Access to Anara Spa facilities (lap pool, locker areas etc.,) still complimentary for Platinums? It was in the past, but is no longer listed under plat benefits. Thanks
frankhi is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2016, 2:19 pm
  #1214  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Left Coast
Programs: UA 1K & 1MM, HH Diamond, Marriott/SPG Gold (UA comp)
Posts: 1,353
Originally Posted by frankhi
Is Access to Anara Spa facilities (lap pool, locker areas etc.,) still complimentary for Platinums? It was in the past, but is no longer listed under plat benefits. Thanks
Yes but always good to ask the hotel directly rather than rely on FT entirely. Policies change...
weezl is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2016, 7:01 pm
  #1215  
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Charlotte NC USA
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Exec Plat, Alaska 75k, IHG Diamond, Wyndham Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 863
We're excited for our first stay Sunday-Thursday of this coming week. Wish C+P had been available. We're using our two about-to-expire CC nights and 50K HGP points.

Originally Posted by milemission
I did the same thing and also could not find any availability on P+C in 2016. When is the lower season for this resort? Thanks!
I'm not finding any either. Would be nice if there were a scraper/tool to suss out such things.
DaveH is offline  


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