Okay as far as I know the high floor rooms are usually Ocean View, and all the Partial Ocean view rooms are on the 1st and 2nd floor. I don't think this is much different than many Hawaii hotels.
How were you going to a high floor Partial Oceanview room? Sounds like you got an upgrade and still were not satisfied.
EDIT: I should add that in Kauai the buildings cannot be higher than a full grown coconut tree – so basically 4 stories. Which is why the Hyatt has that ‘interesting’ architecture with 2 floors, then a step and 4 more floors.
IK, does Royal Garden have a lagoon view? We are going in September and believe it or not we got a AAA rate of $215 for a garden view, but are hoping to be upgraded to see the pools/lagoon area. Thanks
I’m not to sure what the difference is between a GardenView and Royal Garden View. I believe all the Garden View rooms are on the first floor, and once you get to the second floor they are considered at least partial ocean view. The Royal Garden View we had faced the ocean and opened out to one of the large lawns on the Poipu side with a hammock right next to the patio, it did have a peek of the ocean and was very convenient to access the pools/lagoon area, but it did not have views of the lagoon. My guess is that if you can see the ocean at all it is a Royal Garden, otherwise it just gets classified as Garden view.
I think you’ll do well with a Garden view. About the only rooms that might have a less that desirable view would be the some of the Mountain View rooms since they overlook the parking lot towards the golf course.
Can anyone confirm whether or not all rooms have been completely renovated at the Hayat Poipu Bay? I'm heading out there in July and don't want to get stick with an outdated room. I have heard that some have been re-done while some have not.
If I'm not mistaken, all of the regular rooms have been recently renovated. However some (or all) of the suites have not yet been renovated. I just went in March and my Deluxe Oceanview Room was renovated. Great room, great property, you will love it!!
My wife and I recently stayed @ Kauai for four nights (7/7 - 7/11). Overall, I really have no negative feedback other than the rate of $425 + tax + resort charge per night for a 'Garden' view room which I found excessive especially since my room basically overlooked one of the parking lots. In addition, the atmosphere at the resort (i.e. massive, sprawling resort) was not exactly what we were looking for on this particular trip to Hawaii. We actually ended checking out a day early to get a head start on our stay at the Four Seasons Hualalai on the Big Island.
Positive observations:
- Extremely friendly staff across the board from the restaurant staff to housekeeping.
- Hyatt did a nice job on the recent room reservations. In particular, the room had one of the most comfortable hotel beds we have ever slept in.
- The golf course (Poipu Bay) is one of the best I have played in Hawaii.
Negatives:
- Expedia and other travel sites describe the Hyatt as a Luxury 5 star destination and the rates certainly seem to reflect that designation. However, many aspects of the service suggest 4 star quality. For example, you have to sign out and return towels at the pool and there is no pool staff to set up your chairs (I was actually told I would be charged if towels were left on the chairs at the end of the day). This never would never happen at a Four Seasons, St. Regis, etc.
- Called to complain about the parking lot view. Front desk said they would call back the next day with a better room as many would be checking out. Never heard back. We decided not to press the issue as we had already made plans to leave early for the Big Island.
RE: charging for parking, I have been at suburban hotels in podunk ville where they still extort $11 a day for parking, even when they have a giant, underutilized lot. A lot of times there is no parking enforcement what-so-ever. At one recent hotel I stayed at, you had to take a parking ticket going in, but there was never a parking attendant on duty and the gate was always wide open when you drove out. Of course, they ask you right away at check-in if you have a car.
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We thought it was a beautiful hotel - truly spectacular setting; rooms were ok; RC great; pools & especially the 'secret' jacuzzi fun; staff charming: loved the Library Bar, but I really see it as more of a family hotel than a honeymoon hotel.
We just got back from a 6 night stay at the Hyatt Regency Kauai and uploaded some photos of the hotel (some being about 170 of the around 1,300 I took this trip) to my site. I tried to limit this page to only hotel property photos, but just had to add a few other snapshots near the bottom.
I took my BF, his parents, and little sister to Kauai for his birthday. 1 night on Waikiki then 6 nights in Kauai for us and 5 nights in Kauai for his family. We had two rooms on Kauai using 6 FFNs, 4 Passport Plus Awards, and 1 paid night ($340 garden view aloha rate). Total of 11 room nights in Kauai. I think the stars must have been in alignment since we were assigned an Ocean Suite and the Deluxe Ocean view room right next door. We were a few doors down from the Regency Club, and both rooms were granted access.
I wish they could have had a longer stay, but I couldn't get the award flights, and the hotel was sold out before and after our stay. His mom said that she wanted to go to Hawaii her whole life and kept saying that this is a once in a lifetime trip for them. They don't travel much and this is only the second time they've ever flown. The first was last year when we took them to DisneyWorld in Orlando.
I have to say that we were all blown away by this property and the island. It far exceeded my expectations and the pictures I found on the web before our trip do not do it justice. I think the proportions of the grounds, water features, and landscaping makes it feel just right. A step above Maui. I can't wait to go back, unfortunately, this trip wiped out most of our GP points, FFNs, CO, AA, and UA miles. I'm sure everyone enjoyed the trip more than I will miss my points and miles.
There were only a few negative things that I noted:
They were finishing up renovations on a room near the RC and a suite a little further down. We were out sightseeing most of the days, but never heard any sounds from the room, but saw the workers going in and out. I think the humidity causes problems with the wallpaper since we saw them reattaching pieces everyday somewhere in the hotel.
They make you sign out towels, but there is no way to account for them when you return. We just put them in the bin or leave them in our room.
We were charged the resort fee two times out of the 11 nights. Check in said the fee was mandatory even for Diamonds. I didn't mention anything since $30 is better than being charged $165.
The luau was poor. I never liked them, but everyone else wanted to go. There were a lot of people so they had it in the ballroom instead of in the garden. I think it would have been better if it were outside. The luau at the PCC on Oahu had better looking performers since it is staffed by Brigham Young University students.
The business center charges about $8 for 15 minutes of internet access! It's about $20 for 24 hours in-room.
We asked and were told that we had the suite for all 6 nights at check in. On the 5th night there was a message from the front desk that they had booked another guest in our room for our last night and that we needed to check out of the suite in the morning. After calling and having the agent check with the manager, everything was taken care of in a few minutes, but it wasn't nice to be told one thing then have it change later in the stay.
There are a lot of honeymooners and the people above us kept me awake one night with their thumpy-thumpy music and later their headboard-banging sex. I didn't have the heart to complain and ruin their evening.
We went down to check out around 11:30 am. Right after we said our room number, the agent called housekeeping, told them that we were checked out and that they needed to turnover our room right away. She then started to do the usual check out on the computer. We felt that they should have finished with us first, then more discretely called housekeeping rather than blatantly trying to make us feel bad for not checking out earlier and holding them up. I knew that they were sold out so I didn't dare ask for a later check out time even though our inter-island departed late that evening.
With all the activities and sightseeing during the day, I never had the chance to use the waterslide.
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How could you have missed the waterslide???
Great report... I still cannot believe that happened with the suite...
As far as underwater, we took 30 rolls of film on our honeymoon and just used the cheapy throwaway Kodak jobs. Worse yet, the ones my dad got at Value City for a steal! And they take incredible pictures...
We had some great snorkel trips off Kauai (Captain Andy's) and had a lousy one off Kauai (don't remember name, but goes out around the same time and same place). We had an unbelieveable one off Maui!!! Buy some fish food and you will get lots of visitors!
I believe that the suite was renovated. Everything looked new. I haven't seen an unrenovated room to compare.
Congratulations on scoring a Suite upgrade in Kauai that does not happen often. Looking at your pictures the suite had defiantly been upgraded. The easy way to tell is the new tile in the bathroom.
There were only a few negative things that I noted:
We were charged the resort fee two times out of the 11 nights. Check in said the fee was mandatory even for Diamonds. I didn't mention anything since $30 is better than being charged $165.
Planning a trip in a few weeks. Other than the standard debates on Valet vs self-parking and the commentary on the walking distance from the reception area to the guest rooms that have been posted here, what else do you all have to share about this property? What are the better and lesser room options? How is the Regency Club and likelyhood of scoring it for a Platnum? What is included in their resort fee? Which of the restaurants are a good pick? Any non-tourist things to not miss? (hike up a mountain, find a waterfall or two)
We've stayed at this property three times; each time was wonderful. The Regency Club can provide a great opportunity instead of a full meal -- there is a large selection of food and drinks throughout the day and evening. We went fishing one day and brought our mahi mahi back to the hotel, where the chef prepared it in three or four different ways. Also, be sure to call ahead and request the table in the restaurant that sits all the way out in the lagoon for at least one meal -- it is very private and will certainly make you feel special.
If you can get it, 110k points for a suite is a great deal in Kauai, IMO.
Not to take this too far off topic, but I went down for my SO's birthday in August and had to use 96k points for 4 nights to reserve a standard room, plus cash, plus FFNs for 11 total room nights. That wiped out a whole year's worth of points savings.
Luckily the hotel was very busy with some kind of convention, so we got a Diamond upgrade to a very nice 1 bedroom suite which we will never forget. Our suite was on the ground floor close to the Regency Club. At first I wasn't sure I wanted a ground floor room, but being able to open the lanai doors and walk out onto the lawn was really great.
We also looked at the Princeville, but felt that the resort style wasn't very Hawaiian. I do want to try it someday though.
Try to get Regency Club access if you can.
Here are some of my photos if you haven't already seen them:
If you can manage to get your hands on enough points, the suites in Kauai are a very good value. In the Poipu (RC) wing, there are 4 suites per floor. I believe the numbers are something like X008, X016, X024 and X032. Two are on the corners, so they have extra windows. One of the corner suites appears to be around 1800 square feet, as opposed to the standard 1200 sq ft. If someone is staying there maybe they can provide the number of the unit that is 1800 sq ft. If you tried to get one of them blocked the 1800 sq ft unit on the 6th floor would be fantastic.
I spent 150,000 points on a suite for a week there last year, and the 500,000 points presently in my account are probably all going to be used on suites in Kauai in the future.
Hyatt Regency Kauai Photos
I'm sure everyone enjoyed the trip more than I will miss my points and miles.
