JiangsuLu2002

I had a fantastic stay here as well for 3 nights last week. As a plat, we received an upgrade to a Prince Jr. suite, room 807. I was very impressed by this room and in particular the terrace that gave us an incredible view of Hanalei Bay. We had dinner at Kauai Grill one night, and I thought it was very well done. I was surprised by, but appreciated, the wide selection of reasonably priced wines. This was our first time on Kauai and while I would like to explore more of the south part of the Island in the future, we had such a great time at this property that it would be hard for me not to stay here again while in Kauai.

courcoison

Good Day:

I shall stay at the St Regis Princeville for the first time in mid-March for three nights on points (22500 points X 3. Ocean view with lanai).

This will be my first stay at this property so I have read with interest all the very interesting reviews ( thanks for all the great posts) and I am looking forward to it having already experienced the Royal Hawaiian on Oahu last year for 2 days.

Based on my experience with SPG in 2009 ( with the exception of The Nines in Portland) I am keeping my expectations in check.

When in Princeville I usually rent a place at the Hanalei Colony. I have for a number of years and have always enjoyed it.

As far as food goes, the Blue Dolphin restaurant in Hanalei has a fish market in the back and from Ahi tataki to fresh fish and sashimi you cannot go wrong.

Take it out, buy a drink of your choice and enjoy a romantic evening in your room/lanai.

I shall spend another 4 nights at the Hyatt Kauai also on points, in a suite. I am very familiar with this property having stayed there over the years.

blort

Be forewarned that my "ocean view with lanai" room, also reserved at 22,500 points/night, ended up being on the ground floor and about 10 feet from one of the kiddie pools. The lanai was a small patio with a cafe table and two chairs.

Good if you have kids and want to keep a close eye on them. Bad if you want privacy. I wasn't about to keep the shades drawn and give up the view.

I'm not usually one to send things back, but that room was a non-starter for me. They ended up moving us into a Prince Junior suite on the 11th floor instead. No lanai, but I'd take that trade any day.

courcoison

Good Day "blort" and thank you very much for the heads up.

What was the room number on the ground floor so I can make sure I do not end up in "kindergarden" land ?

This story reminds me of a ocean view room at the Hilton Waikoloa overlooking the "mini/baby golf"...

sk3

Thanks for the report erf, that's a great first post! Welcome to Flyertalk!

I'm curious about your room. I understand from your post that you didn't choose to pay for an upgrade. But might you have received a complimentary upgrade from the mountain/garden view std room you booked? Do you have any status with Starwood? Or was room 719 with a 30% ocean view classified as std?

Mahalo erf!

blort

I believe it was 108.

If they give you any 1xx room, I'd ask for something else.

AlxStevens

Got this email today after making an award reservation at the St.R Princeville -

"As a Platinum member, there is the possibility of an upgrade to a Prince Junior Suite, which is based upon availability at check-in. It is my pleasure to extend a special offer to guarantee your Prince Junior Suite now. As a Platinum member the preferred rate is $99 per night plus tax."

I know the last couple of trip reports have reported Plats getting the upgrade, so part of me is willing to chance it, but part of me wants to guarantee it since it's a special trip for my wife and I. At $99/night + 16k points (80k for 5 nights) for a room that's selling for $725/night for those dates, I think of it as a pretty reasonable C&P offer for a great suite, basically.

I'd certainly prefer to save the $500, but I'd love any thoughts or input.

/A

airb330

Did you look UP from the mini golf? It was ocean/bay all around you! An ocean view is not going to be a lanai on a cruiseship...

gregorygrady

I'd probably shell out the $99 per night if it were my honeymoon. Otherwise I would wing it and hope for an upgrade. There are plenty of Prince Jr Suites at this property, thus a good chance for an upgrade. Plus the bad economy is supposedly killing the occupancy rate at this overpriced hotel. So you probably have an even better chance at an upgrade. If you are going during low season, I would definitely save the $500 and spend it on a fantastic dinner or three instead. ^

Jailer

I disagree, and liked our lanai very much, but as I posted you want a low number so you get a lanai before the building turns a corner and butts you up to the pool:

PHLGovFlyer

Just back from a terrific 3 night stay at the St. Regis. Booked with points and spent extra points for an ocean front room with a terrace. They initially offered us a room in the 100s and having read FT I asked for a room in a different area (didn't want to be on the same level as the pool). We ended up in a room in the 800s and it was great. Rooms 801 to 812 have terraces and a perfect angle to the ocean and opposite coast of the bay. I'd strongly recommend these rooms over anything on the 100 level. Rooms 101-107 have terraces that face the walkway to the pool and 108-119 face directly to the pool. The 800s are all at the top of the cliff, and our terrace opened to a small grassy area that ended at a railing at the top of the cliff. From the map in our room it looks like there are 5 standard rooms and 7 small suites among 801 to 812 and they should all be great.

Service from all of the staff was above and beyond. Everyone was extremely helpful and always asking if there was anything they could do for us. We liked the offers of cool towels and fresh pineapple while lounging on the beach. The facilities overall were extremely nice.

I highly recommend dinner at the Kauai Grill. We did the Valentines day special dinner and it ranks among our top five of all time (and we're no slouches when it comes to fine dining). We also really enjoyed the lobby bar.

There were only a few negatives: There was no refrigerator in the room so if you've got medicines or leftovers that need one you're out of luck. The "transparent glass reveal" in the bathroom is interesting (we were able to watch the olympics while taking a shower ), but it allows a lot of light through when switched to opaque mode so the rest of the room is flooded with light when you turn the bathroom light on at night. The gym was just OK - I've seen much better gyms at regular Hiltons and Marriotts. Finally, there are only 2 computers available in the business center rooms, so access was difficult at times.

We lucked out with the weather and had mostly sunny weather. Apparently this was exceptional for February and was possibly a result of current El Nino conditions. Some of the staff mentioned that it was not unusual to have several straight weeks of rainy days at this time of the year. We'll probably book fall or spring dates the next time we go.

All in all a great visit and I highly recommend the property. We will certainly return!

blort

Good to know, thanks for the information. Even if some of the 1xx rooms aren't within arm's reach of a kiddie pool, I still don't like staying on the ground floor of a hotel anyway.

I'm not counting on a Prince Junior suite upgrade next time, so will keep the 801-812 rooms in mind.

PHLGovFlyer

I think the 7 larger rooms among 801-812 are Prince Jr Suites. They appeared to be about twice the width of our standard room.

As a side note, we saw Laird Hamilton (the surfer) and his wife Gabrielle Reece by the pool. Nice folks, but Laird talked very loudly on his cell phone for nearly an hour. Everyone within 50 feet could hear every word

gregorygrady

Has anybody ever slept on this badboy? If so, how comfortable is it? I assume it's not a pullout sofa. The old (pre-St Regis) sofa wasn't a pullout and this one certainly doesn't look like one.

I will be going here soon and there will be 4 people in the room. Not sure if I should book a room with 2 doubles (which will mean no upgrade to a Prince Jr Suite, but everybody will have a comfortable bed to sleep on) or if I should book a King and hope for an upgrade to a Prince Jr Suite, which would mean sleeping on the above couch and/or rollaway.

I previously slept on the couch here in the Prince Jr Suite (again pre-St Regis) and it wasn't real comfortable I must admit. But I wanted the Prince Jr Suite upgrade so I suffered through it, luckily it was only one night.

mktozd

Has anyone stayed here lately? We are considering doing something over the festive season. One concern we have is that it is a "new" property as it relates to management. As well, I understand that the surf is heavy this time of year. Any thoughts?