OK since no one has stayed here recently, I will offer an update. After swearing to never return to this hotel after a very less than stellar experience in the past, I decided to giver them another shot, but this time we've had a pretty good experience at least from a service perspective.
While my last visit was on points and I needed to deal with the overpriced resort fee and fighting for an alternative amenity that was never given, this time we were here because the hotel offered the best kama'aina package of the Marriott-Sheraton-Westin collection on Waikiki including a waived resort fee, half price parking and a $15/day credit at the new restaurant. It was too good a deal to pass up, so I decided to give the hotel another chance.
1. upgrade - booked an oceanview room, was upgraded to a deluxe ocean view/diamond head view. I didn't both pushing for a suite, while in Waikiki this is the view I want anyway. While my last room here was nicely updated with a Japanese toilet as a bonus, this room while updated, didn't have the fancy toilet. Not sure if only some of the rooms have that amenity
2. service - here is where the hotel seemed to take a 180 degree change vs my prior stay. While last time I found the service very lacking, even bordering on disinterested, on this visit, I can't say enough about how great everyone is, from the front desk to the restaurants. While I prefer to be on the beach at the Sheraton Waikiki, saving $150 a night here vs the SW rate plus resort fee is a pretty good incentive to grab a complimentary beach chair and just walk down to the beach across from the Hyatt. Complimentary beach chairs can be picked up from the bell desk, and were never in short supply. They came in handy when we drove up to Keawa 'Ula Bay for sunset.
3. pool - no problem getting a lounge chair at either of the pools, but while the renovated main pool looks quite large in the photos, in actuality, it's not very big and didn't seem that comfortable to get in given the number of children in the pool. There is no adult-only pool area at this resort
4. breakfast - here is where things went sideways - but having some amazing waitstaff brought out the humor in the situation and saved the hotel from what is really an embarrassing breakfast offering. In a nutshell, Platinum and higher are offered a Continental plate worth $14 (anyone who actually pays $14 for this option is really nuts, see the photo below). The plate has a half papaya or quarter pineapple, a couple slices of the sweet bread du jour, and a cup - or more specifically, a thimble of yogurt. By thimble, I mean one of those little metal containers they usually serve catsup for your fries. This is about two tablespoons of yogurt, I kid you not. You can upgrade to any hot dish and receive a credit of $14 against that cost.
Anyway, we were sort of gasping at these little cups of yogurt and our waitress was giggling along with us, but she volunteered to bring out as many extra cups as we wanted, and was super nice about it. The next day, she told our new waitress to do the same, so we were awash in yogurt cups. These ladies really made the hotel shine against its best effort to look cheap. There is no more buffet offered, only dishes by menu.
Here is the breakfast:
