Kauai questions...

Did anyone NOT stay at the Hyatt? If not where did you stay?

If you DID stay at the Hyatt, did you get a good deal, and if so, where? What type of room did you have?

at the moment, the best deal I can find at the Hyatt is $275-300/night which isn't an ocean view- is it worth it?

It seems like everyone stays there so I haven't gotten any feedback on anywhere else. (I really want to stay there but I'm not sure we should spend that much).

edited to ask more questions: what did you do on the island? did you spend more time at the beach or pool (concerned that if we don't stay at a huge resort that we'll have no where to hang out) - what are the beaches like?

I stayed at the Sheraton. I had planned to stay at the Hyatt but my travel agent didn't recommend it because of the construction at the time. Its not as fancy as the Hyatt but its very nice and definitely cheaper. Stay on the pool or ocean side, not the garden side. If you don't stay at the Hyatt you should still go for dinner and to the spa.
You'll love Kauai, its like paradise. There's isn't much to do but that's the nice part. Its so relaxing.

no clue on how much we paid, since it was a package deal, but in our opinion, the Hyatt was worth every penny. We had a room on the first floor, garden view. We didn't want to pay for an ocean view when we figured we'd be by the pool most of the time

The spa is also amazing - open air showers, awesome spa treatments too.

Outside of the hotel, we visited a small nearby town which was cute, went to the Beach House (I think?) for dinner, and went snorkeling one day which was awesome. I don't snorkel myself, but DH did and the views from the boat were gorgeous. Because most of the island is not accessible, you have to see the island by boat or helicopter.

Honestly, we didn't spent ANY time at the beach - the pool was amazing and spent each day there

I had a partial ocean view at the Hyatt and that was fine. The room was fine nothing to extravagant though. I also didn't spend much time at the beach at the Hyatt. I stayed mostly at the pool laying in the sun or in the pool or in the salt water pool which is so incredible. I have to say the salt water pool idea skeeved me at first but once I went in I never wanted to leave it was so great!

I know a bunch of people stay at the Princeville in Kauai which is suppose to also be incredible and pricey as well. My friend just came back from there in June and loved it. It is much different in style from the Hyatt but seems nice (DH and I walked the grounds on our exploring day). The only concern I had about that is the weather in that part of the island can fluctuate.

As far as what I did in Kauai, we spend probably 2 days sitting by the pools (we wish we had one more day to enjoy hte pools). We did the helicopter ride which is amazing!!! I highly recommend.

We drove the whole island in one day from one end to the other. That I also recommend. We went to one part that looked like you shouldn't be driving there (past the Hyatt) and say some beautiful mountain views and found this really gorgeous and hidden beach. I hear it is one the islands bests. Along our drive, we ate in a local town Thai restaurant which was great! Also stopped for shaved ice which I wish I could have right now! We stopped at the caves and other beaches and sites along the way. At the end of the island (as far as you can drive) I believe there is a hike you can do but we didn't do that - I think it is a tough one but we did see a lot of older people coming back from it - so not sure how bad it can be.

One night we drove around and explore and did the Spouting Horn thing which is a hole that spouts water and can be huge I hear..but wasn't too big for us and we watched the sunset from there.

The Beach House for dinner at sunset is highly recommended. The view is great! The food and service are good - not the best but definitely good! The restaurants in the Hyatt are very good. We also went to a more casual seafood/rib/steak place in town which wasn't bad. Is the Plantation House in Kauai - if so - it came highly recommended and I hated the food...nothing above average and not cheap.

Hope this helps!

Lisa ... after much rave reviews, Rob and I, well maybe I should say I, decided that we are going to stay at the Hyatt. We didn't get an ocean view, but our travel agent got us a free upgrade, which I need to call and redeem. Anyway, we figured we wouldn't be to Hawaii again anytime soon, so let's make the most of it.
Can't comment on the other hotels tho' - check fodors.com chat board!

we stayed at the princeville resort...it was a bit pricey but so beautiful.

Thanks girls!

Cira - did you get a package deal? I'm wondering if there's any advantage to booking through a travel agent vs. doing it online...

The upgrade is a nice perk. I ALWAYS say we're on our honeymoon

I stayed at the Princeville, which is just about the most glamourous place in Kauai.
It was beautiful like another world BUT pricey. Less tropical, more fancy, like Marble everything and elaborate centerpieces, etc. . The good thing is we were so happy staying in the lap of luxury, we expected to see movie stars any minute

We did visit the Hyatt and found it beautiful, like a tropical paradise, so I think you'll love it. We will stay there next time we go. If you want a place with beautiful tropical grounds that make you feel like you're really in Hawaii, go to Hyatt.

THere are a few good things to do in Kauai (although we relaxed and hung out at our hotel a lot)

Movie Tours
Waterfall horseback riding tours
Water Tubing
Boat tours along the Napali coast (absolutely breathtaking and includes snorkeling - but not in winter months)
Sunset tours

Beach in summer months up North by the Princeville are nice and calm, down by the Hyatt a little rough
But I think that in the colder months, this is reversed.

The Hyatt's pool will leave you with no desire to go into beach water, it's huge and goes all around, it's very elaborate as well.
Then you could walk along the beach and dip your feet in, they don't really recommend swimming, but it's nice and high waves for surfing.


As a rule of thumb, Len and I always book through a TA all the time, just b/c it's less headache.

so, I think we're sold on the Hyatt (definitely want the tropical paradise feel in Hawaii).

more car questions - we'll definitely rent a car/jeep for a day or two, but if we're spending most of the day at the resort it would be a waste for all days. Are there cabs or other means of transportation into 'town' for dinner (in case we don't want to eat at the hotel all the time). Is there even a town?

Does anyone have any travel agents they recommend? I want to price out some packages.

Lisa - good point on the car rental. We had ours in the pkg so I don't know how much it was, but it really just sat in the parking lot, and mind you, the Hyatt charges per day for parking so you pay twice

You could call the hotel and ask them about shuttle buses or taxi service - I don't remember seeing that around but it must be available. We only used the car to head to the small town nearby once, another time to go on a snorkeling cruise and once out to dinner. But if you didn't pick up the car on the way out of the airport when you arrive, it might be a real PITA to go back and get it for one day.

My travel agent's awesome - she was very helpful with my trip - I'll FM you.

Lisa ... no travel package ... but I agree with Sassy, it was just easier this time, so we called a friend of a friend who was a travel agent. I'm glad we did ... we got a voucher for an upgrade from our TA.

We rented a car ... I think a convertible (Rob took care of that) ... we just felt that we wanted to tour and everyone recommended it too. I can ask him the price if you'd like!

I just wanted to chime in on what everyone else is saying about Kauai. We also stayed at the Hyatt, only for 2 days though. We didn't do much on Kauai but sit at our pool, and stay by the hotel. It is so gorgeous that you don't need or want to go anywhere else! As far as a car, its nice to have one, to get out of the hotel and explore a little. Otherwise, you may feel isolated and stranded. There isn't a whole lot to do on the island, theres a Roy's restaurant, which isn't like the big ones on the other islands, but is still pretty good, and the restaurant in the hotel is good too. Kauai is absolutely gorgeous, and if you just want to relax and stay close to your hotel, you will be very very happy with the Hyatt because you will truly feel like you never have to leave!!
Also, the Anara spa at the hotel is absolutely phenomenal! We would love to go back just for that!
Im so jealous of your trip! Have a great time

We stayed at the Hyatt. LOVED IT. Didn't want to leave.

BTW, we also ate at The Beach House. Found it to be overpriced and the food was not worth half of what we paid for it. And you know what else? Yes, it's a great sunset, but you can watch the same sunset from the grass between The Beach House and the water, and not pay a single dime. I would recommend forgoing dinner there.