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):
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)
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
- Self-parking
- Two complimentary refillable water bottles
- Purified water stations
- Poipu Bay Golf Course and Clubhouse shuttle service
- Coffee maker in room with Hawaiian coffee and tea
- Complimentary self-service washer, dryer and detergent
- Reusable logo tote bag located in closet
- Access to 24 hour Anara Spa fitness center
- Fitness and yoga classes at Anara Spa
- See daily activities schedule, 14 years and older
- Hospitality lounge for early arrival & late departing flights
- Welcome lei greeting
- Guided sunrise walk Monday - Saturday
- Hawaiian crafters daily in lobby
- Wildlife Walk twice weekly
- Hydroponic Garden tours twice weekly
- Entertainment and hula at Seaview Terrace
- Torch lighting ceremony three times per week
- Ukulele, lei-making and hula lessons
- Koi fish feeding and parrot talk
- Sunscreen samples at pool recreation desk
- Mountain Bike use - based on availability
- One hour tennis court time daily
- Reservations required, equipment rental available
- Complimentary boarding pass and incoming fax printing
- Unlimited local and toll-free calls
- In-room safe
Grand Hyatt Kauai REVIEW- MASTER THREAD - mid-2011 Forward
Did you only check the dates you wanted, or did you look at all of June? I see availability for a 7 night stay in the middle of the month. Check-in June 12th.
It's our first time in Hawaii, so trying to ensure it will be the most awesome trip ever.
Thanks, all!
It's our first time in Hawaii, so trying to ensure it will be the most awesome trip ever.
Thanks, all!
It will be the most awesome trip ever.
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa
1571 Poipu Road Koloa, HI US 96756
Great common areas, slightly dated rooms, not so great location (6 Photos)
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa
Check In
very efficient. The person I checked in with was named coreen. We tipped $20.
Room
Garden suite 1007.
Suite has classic decor (not our style). Jet tub. Mostly well maintained but you can see some old switches and the sliding doors for bedroom are a bit squeaky.
The main problem is the distance. You have to walk thru a concrete maze. I'd much rather walk thru the landscaped areas but that's not really an option here.
Service
We didn't encounter any problems. Nothing that really surprised us (good or bad).
Dining
We had drinks at Hale Nalu and some nachos. Prices were high but the quality was good.
We had club access and we really enjoyed the club. The breakfast and dinner spread was very good. Even though the hotel was sold out, the club never felt crowded. Eating in the club was much more relaxing than any restaurants. It added to the calm and relaxing vacation that we were looking for!
Location
This I think is the main problem with this hotel. It's located on a beach that can is considered dangerous by the Kauai Lifeguard. The beach has a lot of rocks and isn't very good.
Also, the water color here is not that great compared to north shore which has beautiful turquoise color.
I have posted some pictures of the resort benefits/amenities here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/members/mintcilantro-albums-grand-hyatt-kauai.html
Overall
For folks who plan to spend most of their time in the resort, this is a good option. The common areas & pools are spectacular.
Cash and points is 12.k + $150 +$50 for tax and fees. The only reason we could justify this is the direct flight to Lihue from our home airport SJC. This is the best points option in kauai. The St Regis property has great view but the building is ugly and the common areas not as impressive. The sheraton is a tired old property (with a perfect location though). The new hilton garden inn is not exactly on a beach.
I stayed on cash and points + DSU. The rate listed when I checked in was $280/night. Probably this is what hyatt reimburses the hotel. I really liked having the space in the garden suite but the walk to common areas was very long and tedious. I recommend spending a little bit more for an ocean view suite closer to lobby/pool area.
Two minor issues: Our room was located somewhere between Lihue Airport and the mainland. It's a solid 10 minute walk to the parking lot.
If you leave food out, ants will find it. We learned this when we dumped some mango and papaya peels in the trash and found the trash can crawling with ants a few hours later.
In any event, I can't say enough good things about the club and hotel staff. I remember that about the last stay--they're absolutely wonderful to interact with. Great rooms too. It was hard to get a 2p checkout as a Diamond, but they were extremely accommodating for us. Ended up being a moot point since we didn't need it. Our room had one of those Toto Washlets with the heated seat. GF decided she can't live without a heated seat now. Thanks Hyatt.
Everything on the west end of the hotel has been renovated according to staff. The east side of the property is being done now (as has been mentioned up thread). Didn't notice any huge changes, but they probably just refreshed some stuff.
Do be careful in the ocean there. Lots of rip currents and big rocks floating around. Same up on the cliffs. Don't go cliff jumping with the locals unless you're a strong swimmer.
Thanks in advance!
It will be the most awesome trip ever.