Grand Hyatt Kauai – Trip report and review

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Last year we went to the Grand Hyatt Kauai for vacation.  We had a wonderful time.  We had never been to the island of Kauai before.  I had this post saved up but never really found a chance to share it until now!

Grand Hyatt Kauai Trip Report and Review

We visited in April 2014.  We booked our trip through Costco Travel.  It was really nice… it included flight, car rental, and hotel.  And the bonus was… breakfast everyday in their Ilima terrace dining room!

GROUNDS:
When you first walk into the hotel, you are greeted with the view below… A-looooooo-HA!  That’s what I felt like when I got off the plane. Welcome to Paradise!!  The Grand Hyatt grounds really do feel like you’ve entered paradise.  It is a newer beach front hotel that was designed all at once… it wasn’t one of the original hotels built in the 60s that then tried to upgrade the grounds to meet current desires.  This one was designed all at once!

If you’ve ever stayed in the Grand Hyatt Maui or the Grand Hyatt Kauai… one thing that’s unique to their hotels is they have parrots scattered in the main lobby.  They are so much fun because you can talk to them!

There are beautiful hibiscus and plumeria everywhere on the property. There are all sorts of birds too… swans, parrots, egrets, little songbirds… it is really nice and relaxing!!

DINING: 

We ate breakfast every morning at the Ilama Terrace breakfast buffet.  We were treated to the view below… with the swans and beach in the background.  The morning I took the picture it rained… but no big deal.  The terrace breakfast brunch was nice.  It was included in our package so I don’t know how much it costs.  As with all dining outdoors in Hawaii, there is always a problem with the little songbirds that try to steal your food.  You cannot leave your food uncovered and unattended!

We ate at their Italian restaurant, Dondero’s one night.  It was alright. Nothing too special.

We also ate at their luxury restaurant, Tidepools, one night as well.  The ambiance of this restaurant is really nice as it is in thatch roof bungalows with fish swimming around them next to a waterfall.  The food here was pretty good.   If you look at the first picture, the thatch roof building at the base of the waterfall is the restaurant.

Ilama terrace at breakfast

POOLS: 

I LOVED their pools.  They have a giant pool with a water volleyball/basketball area, little seating areas in the pools, a waterslide, an adults-only pool, and… a lazy river!  I would plop myself on a float and go on the lazy river all day.  Below is a waterfall headed into the pool!

I enjoyed a pineapple mango smoothie at the adults only pool. So refreshing!

Below is a picture of the salt water lagoon.  The beach in front of the hotel kind of sucks, so they built their own salt water area to play around in.  You can rent kayaks and floats and sit in this area.  I didn’t like it very much because the sand is really rough.  However, it was really popular, especially for kids.  We preferred the pools.

BEACH: 

The beach… not so great.  It is not for swimming and there are rocks all over. You can’t walk very far barefoot.  It’s nice that this hotel is beach front so you can hear the ocean, but stick to the pools!

 

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

This hotel was super nice and was on the drier side of Kauai.  It really felt like paradise here.  The pools were fantastic.  The rooms had spacious bathrooms.  I didn’t take a picture of the rooms.  Our room was quiet and faced a garden.  I did not have a chance to go to their spa.

The hotel is family friendly but if you were to go on your honeymoon here there is a quiet adults only pool section too.  Of course, the grounds are magnificent and we had fun walking around the winding paths.

Given that the hotel is located on the Garden Isle, that means one thing… it rains. Every day.  It won’t likely rain all day but as you can see by many of my pictures… it did rain.  Granted, the times it was sunny I was at the pool without my camera.  How else can it stay so green if it doesn’t rain??

 

Grand Hyatt Kauai Trip Report and Review… Tide pools restaurant is on the right next to the waterfall

If I were to stay on Kauai again I would spend some time at this hotel again and sometime on the Northern side of the island (where it rains even more!).  We did a kayaking and hiking tour one day through this company which was so much fun.

All and all… I recommend this hotel if you are going to Kauai. Check it out: Grand Hyatt Kauai.
However, if you’ve never been to Hawaii, I recommend going to Maui instead.  The Grand Hyatt Maui and the Grand Wailea in Maui both have fabulous pools AND a fabulous beach in front.

Note: I was not compensated for this review.  I just wanted to write about my experience at this hotel.