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As is the case with many of you, my family’s summer travel plans are currently in limbo due to Coronavirus. Will we be going to Japan, Hawaii, California or neither of those places? I honestly have no idea. But I have several trips in the works, with a very good possibility of extending our stay in Hawaii, specifically the island of Kauai.
What was once a Plan Be all of a sudden became Plan A after my husband’s diabetes diagnosis. As a result, I started doing some in-depth research on our lodging options in Kauai. My flights are already booked via Southwest.
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort looks amazing, but…
I admit, I’m really tempted to book this place via Hyatt points. I’ve read a ton of reviews, and I know my kids would love Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa. My cousin-in-law said it’s her favorite Hyatt in the world.
I also happen to have club access certificate which would give us free breakfast and evening snacks. Also, as an Explorist (via elaborate system of MLife matches), my husband would be entitled to a better room, subject to availability.
And just look at the bird’s eye view of the pool complex:
Considering the fact that room rates for my dates hover around $600 per night all-in, paying 25K Hyatt points instead seems like a bargain. I really would have to be crazy to pass on this opportunity, right? I guess I am crazy because that’s exactly what I plan on doing.
Here are my reasons:
1) First and foremost, I HATE sharing one room with my kids. We do it locally for weekend getaways, but it’s my strong preference not to, especially when factoring in all the stress of flying. In addition, my husband and I like king-size beds, and here we would have to share a queen.
I did talk to someone at the resort about a possibility of getting a king room with a twin sofa bed, and adding a rollaway for $25 per night. She thought it might be possible, but website states triple occupancy, so I’m not sure how it works in reality. Even if we added a rollaway, we would still have to share one cramped room.
2) Many Tripadvisor reviews indicate that the resort is huge, and it can take up to 10 minutes to walk from your room to Club lounge. Obviously, walking is good for your health, but Hawaii is stinkin’ hot and humid. I prefer a relatively compact resort where you can get what you need in a mater of minutes. Navigating sprawling grounds daily for dining and doing laundry sounds exhausting.
3) My kids will never want to leave the pool area! Here is the thing. Yes, lazy river looks awesome sauce etc. But we will only have three nights in Kauai and I want to explore the island instead of the resort pool. We have nice resort pools in Florida after all.
If I don’t use Hyatt points here, I can simply burn them at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa, located 1.5 hours from my home. It’s my son’s favorite place in the world. It costs 20k points per night and we can get club access there as well. Plus, some rooms have a king bed+ sofa sleeper, and we can bring an air mattress in the van (free!)
In short, I definitely think Hyatt points are valuable. My husband and I both applied for Chase World of Hyatt credit card awhile back, and I plan to hang on to both of them for the foreseeable future. I’ve been able to put the annual renewal certificates (valid at Cat. 1-4 properties) to good use on a number of occasions.
If you want to apply for it, I hope you consider using my referral link You will get 50,000 points after spending $6,000 in 6 months, $95 annual fee is not waived. This card is subject to 5/24 Chase restriction.
Where we might stay instead
Most AirBnB places I’ve looked at have a strict cancellation policy, something I very much prefer to avoid. With so much uncertainty at the moment, flexibility is key. Fortunately, I found a decent compromise: Kauai Coast Resort at the Beachboy
I feel like it’s an excellent option for families, and you don’t even have to have any Wyndham points on hand in order to score a deal. I’ve mentioned this place before and said that I wasn’t able to book it via Wyndham website. I’m glad that I decided to call because this is a gem of a deal IMO. But the process is a bit convoluted.
If you have Wyndham points, I recommend calling Extra Holidays (a separate company) directly at 1-866-430-9932. You can verify award availability via Wyndham.com first. Here is the price for one-bedroom condo when paying cash:
And here is the Go Fast rate for the same dates:
That’s over $100 in savings (when factoring in tax) in exchange for using 3,000 points per night. If you don’t have Wyndham points on hand, this is one time it would make sense to purchase them. You are allowed to buy 10,000 points per calendar year, so if you decide to buy 9,000 points, this is what you will pay:
That would be a great price for a vacation rental in Kauai. My cash portion for 3 nights is $403 (I already had some Wyndham points in my account). I haven’t stayed at the resort, but it looks very nice. It’s located right on the beach, though it’s not swimmable. BTW, neither is the beach next to Grand Hyatt.
There is a beautiful pool, a hot tub and a bar that serves alcohol and food. Every unit has a washer/dryer combo, a full kitchen and a separate bedroom with a door. In other words, it’s an ideal setup for families, all at a fairly affordable price. You can cancel 72 hours ahead with no penalty.
Some dates have availability for two-bedroom units, you just have to use 6,000 points per night.
Bottom line
The main goal is not to convince you to forego staying at the Grand Hyatt. If you want to, go for it. As I’ve said before, it looks beautiful, and I can’t imagine any kid not liking the pool area. But for our situation, it’s just not the right fit. I won’t show my kids the photos of the place, and they won’t know what they’ve missed.
I feel like in this hobby folks tend to follow the same pattern. Going to Paris? Only Hyatt Vendome will do. In Maui, everyone wants to stay at Andaz. Nothing wrong with it, and I go for the usual suspects myself on occasion.
But my point is, at any given destination there are many options, and what works for one person, won’t work for the other. If you are looking to transfer UR points to Hyatt, you may want to read Nancy’s review of Waipouli Beach resort in Kauai first. During off-season you can get a 2-bedroom unit for less than 20,000 UR points via Chase Sapphire Reserve. A much better deal than Grand Hyatt IMO, especially for large families.
While saving cash is always my goal, paying $403 for three nights in Kauai is dirt cheap. Especially when we are getting a large unit with all the conveniences of a home instead of a tiny room.
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Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
You are really missing out. You shouldn’t judge a place without visiting it, much less write a “review” of it. It’s a fabulous property.
When the club lounge re-opens , you might call in-house reservations and see if they can assign you to one of the slightly larger rooms with a king bed, a queen bed and a single sofa bed (you won’t see these rooms on their website). These are still considered standard rooms and at least some (maybe all?) of them have nice ocean views. The club lounge is in the Poipu wing of the hotel. Requesting a room in the Poipu room would generally involve no longer than a 3-minute walk to the lounge. This really is a nice place. The family pool is also spacious, only 3 1/2 – 4 feet deep and has the slide. It’s no more than a 5 -7 minute walk from the Poipu wing to the lagoon and family pools, but this involves walking past beautiful landscaping, waterfalls and ponds. The food offerings are quite good at the lounge (pulled pork quesadillas on Fridays, rigatoni Saturdays, burgers on Sundays, Korean chicken wings on Mondays) along with a nice small but fresh salad bar, vegan soups, and 3 – 4 homemade desserts plus the cookies. This may be the best US hotel lounge out there.
You will visit GHK someday. When you have club lounge access, they try to assign you to the Poipu Wing — it’s closer to the lounge, the spa (you tend to get spa access when you get lounge access and you can use the much nicer showers in the spa rather than the hospitality room showers on your day of departure, if necessary), and it ends up being closer to the 1.5 acre saltwater pool, known as the lagoon. The lagoon is up to 9 feet deep but the “beach” end is shallow enough for small children. It is not connected to the ocean. The Shipwreck Wing is closer to the 3 freshwater pools and the lazy river. Most rooms with a king bed have a love-seat sofa bed in the room. The island is worth exploring. It might be an optimal use of resources to stay somewhere cheaper on the days spent exploring and just hang out at the Hyatt on the days you’ll be staying there. Pools/hot tubs are open 24/7 (not many resorts in Hawaii offer that) and there are multiple security staff members patrolling the grounds at night. So, yes, a 2 a.m. swim is possible. You can even sit in a beach swing together and watch the sunrise. While it is an older property, it is well kept up and the grounds are quite impressive. The lounge staff is second to none. The lounge also has the best cookies you’ll find ANYWHERE. You won’t be doing much walking in the sun to get food– the casual lunch place is right next to the largest freshwater pool. It has counter service and then they bring you your food so you can wear your swimsuit to the counter to order. This is easily my favorite resort– stayed here 16 times and always look forward to returning. If you have any other questions about GHK, just ask.
@Michael Thanks so much for your input! I do hope to stay in the resort one of these days. It looks beautiful. Maybe I will splurge on a suite or something, even if it’s just for two nights. Splitting a stay between condo and Grand Hyatt might be the way to go.
Frankly, we may not be flying anywhere this year. As I’ve mentioned in my previous comment, it looks likely that schools in Florida will stay open in June. I’m not sure how all this will play out, but we will get to Kauai someday.
Wow, tough crowd on BA. As a long time reader and planner for an average family of 5, I get what you are saying, and I think it is helpful to those of us that don’t have any Hyatt status and/or want more room. I’m hoping you get to Hawaii this summer! I have seen conferences start to cancel in June already. 🙁 I’m a last minute planner so I’m hoping a summer trip will still be possible for my family, but I’m not booking anything now.
Yeah, everything is up in the air right now. Just saw an update that schools in Florida will be closed till April 15th. As a result, they may keep them open in June. That will kill our vacation. We won’t be staying in Grand Hyatt or anywhere else in Kauai, for that matter. What a crazy time we live in.
You sound like a complete mess. The GH is way too upscale for you arriving on SW
@Aint nothing I hope you are having a nice day!
Hey Leana, You can’t be serious with these dilemmas.
I’m with you. Is she really serous about going or just a complainer.
Guys, you really need to lighten up! 🙂 Of course it’s not a big deal either way. The whole miles and points hobby focuses on first-world problems. I never claimed otherwise. I was hoping my reasoning would help someone who is debating on where to stay in Hawaii. Either way, thanks for stopping by and have a nice day!
GH is beautiful with pools YOU will want to hang out in and, also, Poipu is MUCH nicer than Kapaa area where Waiupouli Beach Resort is located. If you like hot and crowded go to WBR. If you like laid back w a much nicer beach and grounds go to GH. Poipu is, overall, in a better location to Waimea Canyon, Port Allen (Napali Coast boat tours) and you can get to Hanalei Bay and Haena State Park pretty easily too. Staying in Kappaa is way hotter! Stayed in both resorts multiple times. IMOP GH is the better option even for a short time.
I appreciate your perspective since you’ve stayed in both places. We stayed in Wailua area years ago, and drove through Kapaa. I guess it just depends on what one is looking for. We would mainly need a place to sleep, so I feel like having an amazing pool complex would almost be a distraction. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy resort amenities as much as anyone else. But with three nights, there is a lot I would like to see on the island.
You could stay somewhere alot less expensive than WBR if you’re just looking for a bed. Try a condo from VRBO possibly? You’ll have a great time no matter where you stay.
Hawaii is hot and humid so you rather go to southern Florida. I stopped reading after that.
Just got back from Kauai, temps were 65-75, required a light jacket at night and pretty cool during the day as well. Winter is not “hot and humid”
@B I’ve heard the winter is cooler, so that’s good to know. We are supposed to be there in the summer.
Dont bother we don’t need tourists like you. You wont appreciate it if you’re complaining about it being hot and humid. Go to Florida and get on with the alligators.
@Dee You misunderstood what I said. I wasn’t complaining about Kauai being hot and humid in the summer. I love Kauai and much prefer it to Florida (where I happen to live). My concern is Grand Hyatt is so spread out, my kids might complain about long walks in the heat to get food etc.
Grand HYATT Kauai is substantially better than what you think. It even exceeds the Ritz Carlton in Maui
I believe you. Like I said, it looks gorgeous. They obviously don’t spare any expenses when it comes to landscaping. The pool area is impressive. I just don’t feel compelled to go out of my way to stay there. To me, the biggest attraction in Kauai is….Kauai.
Then don’t go. You’re too high maintenance.
It’s a grand mega resort, and a bargain on points. Stayed there a few months ago.Forr me, also not a good fit. I prefer exploring the island, doing activities, and going to beaches. It’s great though if you like the mega resort thing.
@Steven I’m glad I’m not alone! I started to feel like I’m a bad mom for depriving my kids of this experience. But then I thought, wait a minute, they will be going to Hawaii.
Mega resorts are just not my thing. We go to the local Hyatt Regency in Bonita Springs because the kids absolutely love it. Plus, it’s relatively compact. I don’t like the idea of walking ten minutes to the pool with my restless kids each and every day.
GH Kauai is spectacular. Very kid friendly and the pool is incredible. Do island activities in morning – early afternoon. Pool mid to late afternoon.
Club is worth it. Substantial breakfast and evening spreads. Can really save some $$ as a family there since Kauai is pricey.
I’d highly recommend. But yes, Kauai is amazing and you do need time to do island activities. Just don’t make pool an option: Go to breakfast in the lounge and then to the car.
@Sean Thanks for stopping by! I have only read a handful of negative reviews on TripAdvisor, so I have no doubt it’s a fabulous resort. If we could get a suite there, I would absolutely go for it. But I really dislike having all four of us in one room. That’s probably the biggest factor in why I’m leaning towards skipping it. If Hyatt offers Diamond status before the trip, I probably wouldn’t be able to resist! 🙂
The Princeville is beautiful, we’ve been to Kauai numerous times. Rent a house for what you spend at the bike hotels. 2500 got us an ocean front albeit on the cliffs in Princeville Kate Oct/early November. The bedrooms a Lanai that had it’s own kitchen.
Hanalei vacations, George Blake if he’s still working on the island.
Aloha
@Laura Thanks for your input! Princeville was actually my first choice. Unfortunately, Wyndham properties there don’t have A/C. As a Floridian, I’m addicted to it. And AirBnB places cost quite a bit, plus I prefer to have more flexibility in case I need to cancel.