
This post may contain affiliate links wherein I earn a small commission if you purchase or subscribe to a product from one of my links (at no extra cost to you!). Read my full Privacy Policy here.
The Grand Hyatt Kauai is a 5-Star luxury resort located on the southern shores of Kauai in the town of Poipu. It’s a sprawling beachfront property with numerous restaurants, a fabulous pool layout, and more onsite amenities than one could count! But is it worth the high cash price tag or loads of precious Hyatt rewards points? Dive into my review to find out!
We spent four nights at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and barely scratched the surface on what this hotel can offer. We also didn’t have to pay cash for our experience – our stay was 100% booked with points (lots of them)!
In this comprehensive Grand Hyatt Kauai review, I’ll provide an overview of what the hotel has to offer, along with my personal experience and overall thoughts on the hotel. I also break down how I booked a stay here completely on points so you can do it too!
Hotel Location
The Grand Hyatt Kauai is located in Poipu, which is on Kauai’s south shore and is about a 25-minute drive from the Lihue airport.
Kauai is a small island so in terms of location, anywhere you stay is going to be just fine. However, the south shore will give you faster access to certain activities and points of interest, such as Waimea Canyon, Kauai Coffee Farm, and Port Allen, which is where several Nā Pali Coast boat tours launch from.
If you plan on visiting Kauai’s north shore at any point in your stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai, it’s just over an hour to drive up to the Hanalei/Princeville areas.

Kauai’s south shore tends to be more dry, which means a better chance of sun and less rain! If it’s fun in the sun you’re searching for, this is definitely the side of the island you’ll want to stay on.
In terms of walkability around the resort, there’s not a lot close by when it comes to activities and restaurants, which leads me to the next topic…
Do You Need a Car?
I 100% recommend renting your own car when visiting Kauai! There are so many beautiful things to see on this island and having a car gives you the most flexibility to access to them.
However, if you plan on only staying at the Grand Hyatt Kauai property or in the Poipu area for the entirety of your stay, it is possible to get away without renting a car. There are several restaurants at the hotel property and the hotel offers a free shuttle to anywhere in the neighboring Poipu and Koloa areas during the evening hours.
Travel to and from the hotel to the airport would require a little more planning. Uber is available on the island, but drivers aren’t plentiful. If you’re foregoing a rental car, I would suggest booking an airport transport with a shuttle company like Kauai Transport (very well-rated/reviewed) or pre-scheduling an Uber for your airport arrival and departures.

You can also rent a car just for a day or two from the Avis desk in the hotel lobby. Depending on your Hyatt status, you could get an extra discount for a limited car rental directly from them.
Parking at the Hotel
The Grand Hyatt Kauai gives guests two options for parking: 1) valet parking at a daily rate of $40 or 2) “free” self-parking, which is included in the daily resort fee (of $55 – yikes!). Since I’m fond of getting my steps in every day, we didn’t mind the walk to and from the parking lot. Save $40 by walking a few extra minutes? Yes please!
Upon arrival at the hotel, there is plenty of space to pull up near the lobby and park briefly while you check in if you’re going the self-park route. You will need to get a parking pass at hotel reception to place on your dash or rearview mirror.
You can, of course, park in the lot first (like we did), but just keep in mind you’ll need to walk back to the car to get that pass in there. Just think of it as an opportunity for some extra exercise!
Note that if you book this hotel with Hyatt points, the daily resort fee is waived, which really does make self-parking free.

Book the Grand Hyatt Kauai with Hotels.com, Booking.com or Direct (especially if you’re using points!)
Hotel Check-In Process
Walking into the beautiful grand lobby is an experience all in itself! The open-air design makes the hotel entrance feel so spacious and bright. It’s filled with tropical plants and macaws (my favorite birds in the whole world) and offers your first glimpse of ocean views.
World of Hyatt Members can check in at a special designated desk – red carpet rolled out and all. We were greeted with much aloha and a welcome lei, and given a rundown on all the resort had to offer!

World of Hyatt Member Inclusions
If you have any type of member status with Hyatt, you’ll get a card at check-in explaining what benefits apply to your visit at the Grand Hyatt Kauai. I have Discoverist status, which I get by having the World of Hyatt credit card. This is just one tier above basic member status so I don’t really get that many perks (perks do vary by property).

Resort Fee Breakdown
Resort fees in Hawaii are common and boy are they steep! In the case of the Grand Hyatt Kauai, the resort fee is currently $55 per night. I think families would probably do the best job of squeezing value out of this with the amount of daily activities there are to choose from.
I personally would cringe at having to pay that much extra per night on top of an already expensive stay. Since I booked our stay with Hyatt points, the daily resort fee was waived!

Daily Experiences
The daily activities schedule at this resort includes many free experiences like fitness classes, lei making, ukulele lessons, and bird feeding. They also offer a few premium items that require you to pay an extra fee, such as Hawaiian stamping and their luau.
Luaus in Hawaii are overall quite expensive these days no matter which island you go to. The fact that the Grand Hyatt Kauai offers their own luau (even though it’s over $200 pp for adults) makes it more appealing since you don’t have to leave the property!
I can’t attest to the quality of the hotel’s luau, but I’m a big fan of luaus in general. I always recommend people go to at least one in their lives. So, if it’s your first time to Hawaii, splurge a bit and book one! Just keep in mind that the luau here is only offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

We didn’t schedule time to take advantage of the activities during our visit since we spent most of our time exploring the island or hanging out at the pool. If you’re traveling with family or in a larger group, however, these offer a great variety to keep everyone entertained!
Room Keys
Room keys are little cards attached to waterproof wristbands coded with room information. Since we had Grand Club Access, it was marked accordingly and also coded to our key (you’ll need your room key to get into the Grand Club).
I’ve seen this style of room key in several Hawaii resorts now and I think this replaces the need for wristbands to identify hotel guests in the pool areas. We pretty much kept ours on our wrists all day long, even when we weren’t at the pool. Some people like it; some people hate it. I didn’t mind it.

Welcome Gift
When we arrived to our room, we had a bottle of wine and fresh-cut pineapple delivered to us with a personalized note welcoming us to the resort!
I received an email ahead of our trip from the hotel concierge letting me know they were looking forward to our stay and inquired if we were celebrating any special occasion. I let them know it would be my husband’s first time to the island and my first time since childhood. Did that have any direct influence on the welcome gift? Or, was it my piddly Discoverist status? I’ll never know, but I’m grateful nonetheless!
The wine wasn’t the best, but I appreciate the gesture and thought of it. I’m always looking at little things like that to elevate my hotel experiences and the welcome gift was a nice touch.

Room Overview – #4022
We stayed in Room 4022, which was a king room with a “partial” ocean view (although it seemed like a full ocean view to me). As my husband and I are generally mid-range travelers, ocean-view hotel rooms are usually out of our price range. This stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai blessed us with that luxury!
I spent a good amount of time on the balcony listening to the waves and watching the sun come up (granted, I had to lean over the balcony to see the sunrise but it was great regardless).

Rooms on the fourth floor are on the same level of the hotel lobby, so no stairs or elevator were needed to get to our room. However, as I mentioned at the outset of this post, the hotel is sprawling. Make sure you’ve got comfy shoes on because it can take a while to walk to and from your room, depending on where it’s located.


Also to note, rooms at the Grand Hyatt Kauai start at 500 square feet, which is big for a basic room!

Comfortable Beds
Our room had a king-sized bed, which is pretty much a must for us because my husband is a tall guy and we need all extra space we can get! I found the bed to be very comfortable and had no complaints after a four-night sleep.
I also appreciated the motion-sensor lights at the bottom of the nightstands to help give me some light to get to the bathroom at night.

Bathroom Overview
The bathroom in Room 4022 was quite large and had double sinks (a favorite feature when traveling with another person), a big walk-in shower, and separate toilet room. The toilet also had a bidet with adjustable settings and heated seats!

The bathroom is private to the rest of the room by closing two sliding doors together, and the toilet room was also separated by its own door. I’m a very private person when it comes to my bathroom time, even if it’s just getting ready. I appreciated the extra doors!
And while I didn’t use the hotel-provided toiletries other than the hand soap, they were available if needed.



Tea & Coffee Station
In our room, there was a tea and coffee station located on the counter above the mini fridge with a Nespresso machine. We actually put the Nespresso machine to use when I couldn’t find a coffee shop open in the later afternoon in the Poipu area. It was a life saver when I needed a caffeine boost.

The mini fridge also came in clutch for keeping our drinks cold. It’s also a necessity if you plan on stocking up on cold snacks or poke at the grocery stores to eat at the hotel.
Reusable Water Bottles
One additional room amenity I loved was having branded reusable water bottles provided to us in our rooms instead of plastic water bottles. These are also complimentary for guests to take home if you want to!
I would like to note that these water bottles aren’t well insulated, so while we appreciated having them, whatever we put in there would warm up quickly. I highly recommend adding ice to your water or bringing your own insulated (and larger) reusable water bottles to keep your water colder longer.


Water refill stations are placed in various locations on each floor and the cold water was extra refreshing in the warm weather! The only downside for us was the closest one was actually quite a walk from our room. But, it was another great opportunity to get some extra steps in.
One Room Negative
There is one negative I want to note about our room, and it’s also something I found to be an issue reading through other reviews of the property – an unpleasant musty smell in the room. Understandably, this is Hawaii, which means ever-present moisture from the humid weather that I think contributes to this. I didn’t want to give up my room and lose the view, so I didn’t request a room change.
I do think the smell is actually coming from the air conditioner and not the room itself. When we opened the patio door for fresh air, the AC would automatically shut off and the smell would dissipate. It was too warm at night to sleep with the door open, sadly, so we needed the AC to sleep comfortably. We did eventually get used to it, but it is something to be aware of if you’re a person who is highly sensitive to smells.
Book the Grand Hyatt Kauai with Hotels.com, Booking.com or Direct (especially if you’re using points!)
Grand Hyatt Kauai Pools
Moving on to what I think is crown jewel of the Grand Hyatt Kauai – the pools!
The pools span over a large area of the property and include the main pool area on the lower level, an adults-only pool, a lazy river, a waterslide, and a huge saltwater lagoon. There are also two hot tubs that I found – one at the lower-level main pool, and one secluded from the rest of the pools.



The saltwater lagoon turned out to be our favorite of the pools! The temperature was much warmer than the adult pool and it was so large that I didn’t find it to be overcrowded with people or kids splashing around.

I did really appreciate having an adults-only pool as well, even though I saw parents skirting the rules to dip in with their kids to get to the lazy river.
This resort is very family-friendly so if you’re a couple looking to escape some of the chaos, take respite in the adult pool area. I only wish that there was an adults-only hot tub in this area too.

Cabana Rentals
Private cabanas are available to reserve at a fee and are located all throughout the different pool areas. We never had trouble getting a pool chair to warrant a private cabana, but we were there in low season. There were plenty of chairs covered by basic umbrellas for shade, but I can imagine during the busier seasons of summer and around the winter holidays, it could be pretty crowded.
Cabanas start at $125.00 for a two-seater by the lagoon and go up from there based on location and number persons you’re booking for (up to $1,200!).
Cabana reservations also come with complimentary juice, water, and floaties! If you plan to spend a lot of time at the pool, these reservations could be worth it.


Where to Get Pool Towels
This is something worth mentioning so you’re not wandering around the pools looking for towels aimlessly (like we were). The only spot we found to check out towels was at the Recreation Desk on the main pool level, next to where the Hale Nalu snack shop is located.
It would have been great to have a towel stand up by the adult pool too, although I’m sure they limit this to regulate how many towels get checked out by each guest.
You’ll definitely want to make sure you have your room key/wristband on when heading to the pool area, not only to check out pool towels, but to also identify to the staff that you’re a guest.

Also available at the Activities Desk are pool floaties for floating down the lazy river. You do have to pay a premium price to purchase these, so either bring some cheap blow-up floaties in your luggage or be prepared to pony up the dough.
Hale Nalu & Captain’s Bar
On the main pool level, you’ll find Hale Nalu, which serves drinks and casual lunch options like burgers, wraps, salads and fish tacos, along with shave ice treats.
If you’re feeling lazy, you can simply scan the QR code located on the back of your lounge chair to order food and drinks to be brought straight to you.

For adult bevs, head over to the Captain’s Bar up on the upper level with the adult pool. Hungry for lunch? You can also order food here from the Hale Nalu menu!
As expected from hotel restaurants, drinks and food are quite pricey even for lunch. That’s resort life for you!

Grand Club Access
Grand Club access – how sweet it is! The room we booked at the Grand Hyatt Kauai just happened to come with Grand Club access, which was a great perk for us to use throughout our stay here.
The Grand Club is essentially a spot for guests to come through and eat breakfast, pick up afternoon snacks and drinks, enjoy evening hors d’eouvres, and cap the night off with dessert. Food is put out continental/buffet style and is pretty much the same each day except for rotating hot dishes at breakfast and during evening hors d’eouvres.

Menus are posted at the entrance to the Grand Club and you’ll need your room key to get in. You also have to sign in on a paper sheet each time you visit the club.

As of 2024, the Grand Club is located in the former Dondero’s restaurant spot, which is very spacious with both indoor seating and outdoor patio seating. The newer location of the club is just past the Stevenson’s Library restaurant but before you leave the lobby to head to the pool area, which is a more central spot than where it used to be in the Poipu wing.
Ways to Get Grand Club Access
Getting Grand Club access is going to vary wildly based upon room availability and what your dates of travel are. You really just kind have to see what’s offered at the time you book.
The room I booked had Grand Club Access included, but I did pay a premium in points at 39,000 per night. It was the only room option available for points redemption at the time I booked, so that’s the way my cookie crumbled. Woe is me, I got stuck with Grand Club access!
Here are a few ways to get Grand Club access at the Grand Hyatt Kauai:
- Get lucky and have it included in your points booking (like me)
- Pay a higher nightly rate to have it included (this can be upwards of $300 extra per night!!!)
- Pay 3,000 points per night on top of a cash booking (if offered)
- Have Hyatt Globalist status
- Ask your favorite Hyatt loyalist to gift you a Grand Club Access Award (or you can go on Reddit and find a new virtual friend giving them away)
Breakfast Options
We ate breakfast in the club three times and it was nice to have a bite to eat to fuel up for the day before leaving the hotel to explore. I do like to go out to eat (this is Appetites Abroad after all), but breakfast is usually the least appealing meal of the day for me. I was happy to knock that meal out at the Grand Club.

For breakfast, we could choose from non-alcoholic beverages like coffee, tea, and multiple juice options (I highly recommend the POG). There was also ample fresh fruit, smoked salmon with capers and onions, sliced tomatoes, cold cuts, and cheese, along with a bagel and toast station, oatmeal fixings, assorted cereals, muffins, croissants, and pastries.
I appreciated that they changed things up a little each day with rotating hot items (as indicated on their daily menu) with items like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, loco moco, and kimchi fried rice. Proteins were always plentiful!


Hors d’oeuvres Options
For evening hors d’oeuvres, the table was stocked with salad items, including mixed greens, fresh veggies, salad dressings, roasted vegetables, assorted cheeses, and a vegetarian-friendly pasta salad (the pasta salad was my jam – I ate heaps of it). They also put out miso soup daily with toppings like tofu and green onions.



Like breakfast, each day had a different rotating hot item. Our favorite was the kalua pork nacho bar with some of the best kalua pork we’ve ever had! I had to stop myself from eating too much (that’s a lie – I did eat a little too much and still went to our dinner reservation at Stevenson’s Library).

Another night we indulged in was wing night where they had a mountain of wings available with several different sauces (the traditional buffalo was the best). I piled my second plate high with salad bar fixings (for balance) and poured myself a cup of bubbly (highly recommend for washing down wings).
For someone who wasn’t really that hungry after a food-filled day, I sure ate a lot.

Dessert Hour
Dessert in the Grand Club was a little lackluster for me. We went in once just to see what was offered and they had about four different desserts out, including a few too many coconut-flavored items (not my husband’s favorite). I was hoping for a little more variety but I guess it was nice to have a little bite of something at the end of the day.
Dessert-friendly alcoholic drinks were also put out on the honor bar. We got a big pour of a delicious port to go with our dessert plate.

Beverages in the Grand Club
Unlimited non-alcoholic beverages are always available in the club, including sodas, coffee, and juices (we swiped many a ginger ale from the refrigerator). There are also drink fountains with several different juices located next to the coffee area.

A self-serve, cashless honor bar is set up on a counter in the club for alcoholic beverages and includes wine, beer, and a variety of spirits and drink mixers.
Alcoholic bevies in the Grand Club are NOT free (grumble grumble…) – you need to write down your room number on a sheet to pay for the drinks. Drinks are offered at a discounted price at $5 for wine and beer and $7 for liquor/mixed drinks. The staff in the club are not exactly watching you like a hawk, so you can pour as much as whatever you like into your cup. Make that drink as strong as you want!

Beer Pro-Tip: We found better value in the hotel convenience shops for beer. We could get a tall can of Hazy Little Thing by Sierra Nevada for less than $5.
General Grand Club Notes
There is also an afternoon snack hour in the Grand Club, but we didn’t get a chance to check that out during our stay. From other reviewers, it sounds like it’s just an assortment of cookies, nuts, and drinks so it would not be ideal for lunch.
The club staff were plentiful and were hustling to clear plates and replenish food pretty frequently. Everyone was also very pleasant!
would I pay extra money to get club access?
Probably not (at least not with cash). While I thought it was a great feature to have included with our points booking, the food is not exactly gourmet and not worth the high cost in cash, in my opinion. I would, however, spend some extra points to have that included if it was offered.
If you are traveling with a big family that likes to eat a lot, you’ll want to weigh whether or not a price tag of up to $300 per day is worth it (especially if you are staying on the resort property most of the time where restaurant prices are also at a premium).

Book the Grand Hyatt Kauai with Hotels.com, Booking.com or Direct (especially if you’re using points!)
Grand Hyatt Restaurants
In addition to the casual Hale Nalu at the the pool, the Grand Hyatt Kauai has several sit-down restaurants on property, including:
- Seaview Terrace (breakfast & dinner only, with nightly live entertainment)
- Ilima Terrace (breakfast & lunch)
- Tidepools (dinner only)
- Stevenson’s Library (dinner only)
Reservations for Tidepools and Stevenson’s Library are highly recommended, especially in high season. And do note that these restaurants have a resort casual dress code!
Since we were only on Kauai for four days, I was more interested in experiencing the local food scene outside of the resorts. For the sake of this review though, I made it a point to choose one onsite hotel restaurant to give us the full hotel experience.
Dinner at Stevenson’s Library
After browsing restaurant menus and reading through reviews, we decided the sushi-focused menu at Stevenson’s Library sounded the most appealing. Tidepools also looked great, but it is your typical Pacific fusion hotel restaurant fare.
Seating-wise, they have a big bar, indoor high tops, and traditional tables for dining outside on the terrace. We chose indoor dining to escape a bit of the heat and humidity outside. And yes, I did make a reservation ahead of time, which is a must.


I really shouldn’t have eaten as much kalua pork as I did in the Grand Club before dinner, but that’s me. Can’t resist good eats. I will eat even when I’m full! Our dinner at Stevenson’s Library was actually pretty light, and I knew that would be the case going into it (hence why I felt obliged to have that second helping of nachos).

Here’s a rundown on everything we ate at Stevenson’s Library:
- Hamachi Ponzu: This was nicely flavored, but I wish the slices of fish were thicker. Hamachi is my favorite fish to eat raw, so we always order it if it’s on a menu.
- Da Kona Moku Poke: A runner up in the local Kauai poke contest with Hawaiian ahi and abalone. This was good but I was thrown off by the firmer texture of the abalone.
- Misoyaki Black Cod: The absolute star of the meal! Black cod is a favorite – soft, delicate, and light.
- Niji Rainbow Roll: A very refreshing sushi roll stuffed with crab, avocado, and cucumber, topped with tuna, salmon, hamachi, ebi, and microgreens
- A Cocktail of Two Cities: Since this is a literary-themed restaurant and bar (named after Robert Louis Stevenson), I had to pick one of the themed cocktails. This little drink combined Choya yuzu sake, Hendrick’s gin, Giffard orgeat, and Regan’s orange bitters. It was refreshing but also quite acidic – needed some Tums after this one!


Overall, we enjoyed our dinner at Stevenson’s Library. If you dine here, you must try the misoyaki black cod!

Hotel Shuttle
The Grand Hyatt Kauai provides guests with a complimentary hotel shuttle that will take you around the immediate areas of Poipu and Koloa Village. This is so convenient to be able to enjoy a night out at a local restaurant without having to worry about transportation!
We took advantage of the shuttle service one evening to go out to dinner at Break + Feast in Koloa Village.

There is only one vehicle (a large and luxurious GMC Denali) so you will have to share space with other guests most likely. Once you’re ready to be picked up from your evening destination, you just give the driver a call and they’ll be with you in approximately 20 minutes or less (depending on where they are at in the drop off/pickup process that evening).
While this shuttle is complimentary, you should absolutely tip the driver.
Shipwreck Beach Access
The Grand Hyatt Kauai sits right on Shipwreck beach, though I don’t recommend swimming here. There are no lifeguards on duty and the waves can be rough and unpredictable. Stick with the saltwater lagoon on the resort property instead! You’ll have views of the beach from the safety and comfort of the pools.
If you do want to swim in the ocean, it’s recommended that you visit the nearby Poipu beach for calmer waters.

Other Hotel Amenities
The Grand Hyatt Kauai has a slew of other amenities that we did not take advantage of, including the Anara Spa & Fitness Center that offers spa services, exercise classes, a lap pool and sauna.
Laundry services are also available, which I can see being beneficial for longer stays (kudos to you if you can afford a long stay here!).
We did make a couple of visits to one of the hotel convenience shops. You can get all sorts of little travel amenities here, as well as pick up some overpriced alcohol to take to your room! Surprisingly, they had one $13 bottle of wine in stock (which was drinkable) and their tall cans of Sierra were a good value.


How to Book the Grand Hyatt Kauai with Points
One of the best ways to book a stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai is with World of Hyatt points! The Hyatt rewards program is my absolute favorite and I’ve used my points to stay at some really great spots. I think the Grand Hyatt Kauai takes the cake as my best Hyatt points redemption to date though.
During low season, you can snag rooms here for as low as 25,000 points per night. Even if you don’t get a room with Grand Club Access, I still think it’s a great value for what you get considering this is a Category 7 Hyatt property.
I think we got lucky with our points redemption when booking our stay here. The only option available when I booked was a King Room with Partial Ocean View and Grand Club Access for 39,000 points per night. That might sound steep, but having the view with the Club Access was worth the extra points to me.
If you’re curious on how I booked our stay here completely on points (aka travel hacked), here’s a rundown on the process I followed.
Step 1: Sign up for a World of Hyatt account
Signing up to be a World of Hyatt member is completely free! You’re going to need a Hyatt account before transferring any points over, so it’s best to just get this easy step out of the way first.
Step 2: Accumulate credit card points
Please note that I am NOT a points and miles expert (there are plenty of people out there who are). I just like to write about what works best for ME.
If you’re new to the points and miles game, you’re going to need to sign up for a card that racks up Ultimate Rewards points with Chase since these transfer to Hyatt easily. My favorite Chase card is the Sapphire Preferred, which we’ve had for years ($95 annual fee). You can also apply for their premium Sapphire Reserve card (though that comes with a much steeper annual fee of $550). There’s also another personal favorite of ours – the no-annual-fee Chase Freedom card.
And lastly, you could also sign up for the World of Hyatt credit card ($95 annual fee) to earn even more points. This card does also have a welcome bonus available too! Keep in mind this is also a Chase bank card.
You DO NOT want to sign up for these all at once, so pick one and re-evaluate in a couple of months whether or not you want to add another card to your wallet. Alternatively, you could have your significant other apply for their own card separately to get two at once.
Some basic travel hacking tips:
- Earn sign up bonuses. This is important for racking up points in bulk. The best time to sign up for a new card is when you already have big purchased lined up.
- Use your cards wisely. Sapphire cards earn 3x points on dining, including eating out and ordering DoorDash. Use this card primarily for this function to earn extra points. In contrast, Freedom has quarterly rotating bonuses for 5x points on groceries and gas that we take advantage of. We use both the Preferred and Freedom cards as part of our points accumulation strategy. Points actually add up pretty quickly!
- Keep in mind the 5/24 rule when it comes to Chase, meaning you cannot open more than five personal cards within the past 24 months if you want to get approved by Chase.
- Pay off your card each month. Do not rack up any interest! If you rack up interest, the points and miles game isn’t going to give you the value you need. Speaking frankly – do not even sign up for rewards credit cards if you can’t pay them off every month.
Once you have enough points to spend at least 25,000 a night for a stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai, you’re ready to book your trip!
Step 3: Search for award availability
When you’ve hit the magic number of Ultimate Rewards points or Hyatt points, start checking for award availability on the Hyatt website.
Go to Hyatt.com and click the “Use Points” checkbox when doing your availability search. Keep in mind that not all hotels offer award nights every day of the year and points redemption “pricing” will vary by dates. Be flexible with your dates!

Step 4: Determine if the points booking is worth it
You can’t always pick your optimal room configuration, unfortunately. You’ll have to decide if the room availability is worth your precious points! In our case, the standard award night offering was a king room with an ocean view and club access. I don’t even see this as an option currently as I’m spot checking. Lucky us!
This room was available to book at 39,000 points per night. It might sound steep, but the Andaz on Maui was going for much more than that per night at the time I made this booking. It made the most sense to book nights on Kauai using points instead of splurging on Maui to maximize what we had to spend for this trip.
Step 5: Log into Chase and transfer points
Log into your Chase account to transfer your Ultimate Rewards Points to World of Hyatt (this is where you’ll need to have your World of Hyatt member number handy).
Chase makes this a very simple process in the portal with a 1:1 redemption. This means one Chase Ultimate Reward point = one World of Hyatt point. I needed 156,000 Hyatt points for four nights, so I transferred 156,000 Chase points.
Step 6: Verify your points transfer
Points transfers to World of Hyatt typically happen instantly for us. You may need to log out and back into your account for them to show up.
Step 7: Book your award nights!
If we had paid cash for this room, it was going to cost us $5,372.75 after taxes and fees for a four-night stay. This is why I advise everyone I know to never cash out their points. 156,000 = $1,560 to cash out, or you could turn that 156,000 points into a much higher value of three or four times that ($5,372.35 in my case) and have memories to last a lifetime. Your choice!
Do note that the cash value of the award nights will vary based on property, room type, and dates selected.
As an added bonus, the Grand Hyatt Kauai’s $55/night resort fee is waived when booking award nights and there is free-self parking on the property. That’s money you can pocket for a couple of nice dinners out!
Final Thoughts
So was it worth the price we paid in points? Definitely! Overall, we really did have a great stay at the hotel and I’d definitely stay here again on points.
Would I pay the cash rates to book this hotel? Honestly, I don’t think I could justify it. As a mid-range traveler, paying a minimum of $700+ per night (with taxes) for a basic room just isn’t reasonable.
If that’s a price you can afford, go for it! If I were staying here for a really special occasion like a honeymoon or milestone anniversary, I might consider saving up some cash for a few nights here. Or, if I were traveling with a larger family, I’d consider paying the premium price tag for a few nights just to have my family experience the resort amenities like their pools and activities.
Otherwise, it’s all about those points baby! Earn them and burn them by booking that trip.
Book the Grand Hyatt Kauai with Hotels.com, Booking.com or Direct (especially if you’re using points!)

What do you think after reading my review? Would you pay cash to stay here or are you going to give the points strategy a shot?
Pin it for later!


Leave a Reply