Originally Posted by Cometstar

I recently came back from a 10 night stay over the holidays on points and using free night awards. This was my first time to Hawaii and I had an amazing trip. I had the option of using points for the HR but I wanted to use my free night awards and didn't see a need for the club lounge while in Honolulu. I am very happy with my decision with the Hyatt Centric as it was perfect for many of my needs from this trip. I am a globalist so free parking is amazing.

Some thoughts of the resort:
- I booked the standard 2 double bed room but was upgraded to 1 king/1 queen (good since I had 4 people)
- No plans for the restaurant to re-open so you get 500 points back (no mention at check-in but I saw it credited to my account after I checked out); pretty stingy I think. They have a microwave for you to use.
- Lobby is on the 7th floor where the pool and hot tub are. It often got too windy up there and the hot tub was more lukewarm so I didn't really use it
- It was great to have beach umbrellas, towels, chairs, and boogie boards for free to borrow. Really made a huge difference in terms of quality of life on the beach!
- This was my base for day trips in Oahu so I didn't need resort amenities or a nice pool but I loved the close location to Waikiki Beach as well as the main shopping strip. It was great to come back after a long day and be able to walk outside to have food close by and to people watch without feeling like I had to be stuck in my hotel room.
- They are right next to multiple malls with food courts (good options since restaurants still need reservations or insanely long waits), shave ice (rec Ice Monster), coffee (we went to Island Vintage Coffee for their Island Latte and Acai Bowls though Starbucks is right downstairs if you prefer that)
- The beach is about 2 blocks away (to get to the beach access pathway) and in the most popular spot on Waikiki Beach (I'm from a city so that might be why I didn't actually mind the crowds and love to people watch)

Overall, I had a wonderful stay and would be happy to go back another day. After walking by the HR and seeing how big it was, I was very glad to have picked the Centric for my needs. I'm sure the hotel was busy due to the holiday season but it never felt full; we never had to wait long for elevators.

In terms of Hawaii over the holidays, I was expecting the worst given reports of the long lines, lack of parking, reservations, traffic - and maybe it was because I had such low expectations that I felt that things weren't actually that bad! Sure there's some traffic but what major city doesn't and I still got to places in a reasonable amount of time! I woke up early for beaches and hikes but nothing unreasonable and never had issues with parking at popular trails. I made a few reservations but otherwise I was happy with the amazing to go poke and other casual meals (ie. Rainbow Drive-Inn, Zippy's, 7-11 breakfast, etc). I also stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai so will be writing a review there as well!