Thanks to the good folks here at Flyertalk, I just returned from my Princeville jaunt ($799 plus the car and hotel certs). Decided to make an 8-day trip of it and booked a few nights at the Sheraton Kauai prior to the 5 nights at the Princeville.

Sheraton Kauai

My wife and I have stayed at the Hyatt-Kauai 5-6 times and absolutely love the place. But with rates now in the ~$400+ range, we just can’t justify it. The grounds are fabulous but the rooms there are decidedly average. Booked a room here at $205/night. We were anxiously anticipating a comparison with the Hyatt down the road as well as whether SPG Gold would net us anything like a room upgrade.

The day we arrived, we were told it had rained for 13 straight days on the island. We arrived in the evening around 5pm on UA65 from SFO and the rain was just moving out.

Drove up to the valet desk and was immediately greeted by the bellman who checked us into our room at the curb. We were upgraded (2 levels we were told) to a Deluxe Garden View on the Ocean Wing. I believe we had their “best” room layout without any view. Room 1409 was just across the hall from the Deluxe Ocean View rooms in what we thought was the best location on the property.

Rooms were comfortable, functional, and non-spectacular. The Sweet Sleeper bed was significantly more comfortable than the beds at the more upscale Princeville property we visited later in the week. Almost no “Hawaiian” room décor. Snuck a peek across the hall and our room was identical to the Deluxe Ocean View in terms of amenities.

Our wing was close to the restaurants, fitness club, and a short walk from their pool and the beach – but also on the quieter side of the property as those above the pool and beach can be noisy. We took a stroll across the street to the Garden Wings. Very dead over there. The pool had no one in it and even the corridors were empty. Try to avoid this side of the hotel at all costs. No view (which is what we had) on the ocean side is far better than the best room over here.

The pool and beach access were fine – not as spectacular grounds as the Hyatt but certainly relaxing and enjoyable on a sunny day (which had been rare lately). Friendly towel hut and poolside servers but they make everyone wear those ridiculous wrist bracelets to identify them as hotel guests. We ripped ours off as soon as we were away from the towel hut.

The Sheraton Kauai has a mandatory $25/day resort fee. Included was parking, internet access, buffet breakfast for 2, fitness center, and other incidentals. We appreciated that something of value to us (the breakfast buffet) was included. The Sheraton’s buffet is almost comparable to the Hyatt’s buffet, although I’ve read here that theirs has gone downhill lately.

Our overall impression was very positive and certainly good value for the dollar given the alternatives. While the Hyatt’s grounds, pool, and spa are more spectacular, it is not worth twice the price of the Sheraton Kauai. We would definitely return.

Princeville Hotel

After 3 nice sunny days on the south shore, we headed up north. After reading so much about the Princeville SPG offer, we were very curious to see how our experience would unfold.

Upon pulling in, we were informed of the $15/day parking fee, regardless of whether we used valet or elected to self park. Our bags were unloaded and we headed through the spectacular lobby to the check-in desk.

Room
I had corresponded via email with the hotel concierge seeking a room upgrade as my wife and I would be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary. She has said she would try but couldn’t promise anything. We were told at the desk we were upgraded to a “Deluxe Ocean View”, which turned out to be Room 220, at the far end of the hotel wing closest to the pool and beach. Upon viewing the Princeville Hotel’s website, we really ended up with a partial-ocean view. If you looked out the corner of the window (this floor had no lanais), you could see the ocean but the majority view was of the pool area.

The room itself was quite nice – much better appointed than the Sheraton. The bathroom was spacious and stocked with Princeville’s standard Aveda products, double sinks, and a spacious shower and tub

When we left for dinner that first evening, two splits of champagne were delivered to our room with a nice anniversary card from the concierge and staff.

We (I should say “I” as my wife was ecstatic with the room) debated whether to try and plead for a better room or stay with what we’d been given. As it was still sunny, we elected to unload and stay. Given the hotel’s layout and semi-moderate walks and elevator journeys to the pool and beach, we thought this would be practical as it was literally a 15-second walk to the pool, beach, and mini-fitness center. This turned out to be great for the first few days as it remained sunny but quite unfortunate when the rain came (and it did come and never left!). Later in the week, we found ourselves with frequent 10-15minute walks to escape cabin fever

Hotel Services
We had a welcome call from the SPG vacation services desk giving us our welcome package and invitation to timeshare presentation. Overall, the team at this desk was nothing short of outstanding - offering advice, recommendations, and “aloha” spirit in a friendly and hospitable manner.

As others have mentioned, there was no pressure to take the timeshare presentation but I indicated I was interested as I wanted to see what they were offering (both the actual purchase program and the incentives to attend). We elected to take our timeshare presentation on day 4 as we knew the weather would be changing – I elected the 10,000 SPG points.

One other noteworthy item was an invitation to the manager’s reception in the Presidential Suite. Upon talking to some of the guests, we determine this invite was extended to all SPG Gold and Platinums staying at the resort. While I would characterize our upgrade as relatively minor (though we were thankful to have it), the Plats I met were upgraded to Junior Suites or better, even those staying on points. The reception was quite nice as we mingled with the senior staff of the hotel and munched on high-end appetizers (e.g., seared ahi, leg of lamb, lobster ravioli, etc…).

Timeshare Presentation
We attended the timeshare presentation and found the folks there to be very friendly but also very aggressive in pushing the property. As of last week, they had been selling units at the actual Westin Princeville property for only 3 weeks. Evidently, there has been significant delays and bureaucratic snafus in actually breaking ground. The units are inside Princeville proper, about 1 ½ miles from the hotel and closer to the main road.

The SVS reps said that the property would not open until 2009 but after hearing their “schpeel”, we were told that as a “special incentive”, we could book and occupy our week in Summer 2008. Other incentives included Lifetime Gold, 100K SPG points, and an option to pay for more SPG points (via maintenance fees) in 2007. Ultimately we passed as I found the combination of poor value (IMHO) and no immediate gratification (occupany Summer ’08 at the earliest) a deal breaker. Much more to say but likely off topic.

Restaurants
Multiple reviews on FT, Trip Advisor, and Expedia had advised us to forego the restaurants at the resort. We followed this advice except for one rainy night where we dined in their lounge “The Living Room” on $75 appetizers and beer. Up in Hanalei, we found we enjoyed the Hanalei Dolphin – dined twice in 5 nights. A new tapas bar called Bar Acuda is overpriced and underwhelming (think fried rice balls which pass as some exotically named Risotto Fritters for $17 and you get the picture).

On the way out of town (1 day before the floods!), we stopped at Kilauea Fish Market for lunch. Delightful and reasonably priced – well worth a side trip.

Our overall impression was positive – especially given the package. We’d likely return using SPG points, I can’t see paying anything close to the rack rates here. As I’d expect with most of Hawaii, rain can make the enjoyment of a stay that much tougher but the staff tries hard to make life easier for disappointed guests.