Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa: 50 Glorious Beachside Acres

The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa is a luxurious hotel located on Kauai’s south shore in the heart of Poipu. Just 30 minutes from the airport, it’s an upscale, very island-driven resort, and has just about everything a family needs.

The staff greets visitors with a lei upon arrival, providing a real Hawaiian experience. From a selection of onsite restaurants, three pools and saltwater swimming lagoons to the recently renovated Anara Spa and, more important, Camp Hyatt for kids, parents will find this large resort both family-oriented and authentic in its Hawaiian pride.

The surrounding landscape is stunning, balanced between beautiful mountains and the blue sea, and the photo opportunities are endless. In addition, parents will love that the resort is eco-friendly, having reduced its carbon footprint, rented hybrid vehicles, established a waste-diversion program, and planted an organic herb garden used by the in-house restaurants. Kids will also love the depth of offerings and sheer freedom to run around the resort safely.

Family-Friendly Review of Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa

Accommodations and Amenities

The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa is a 602-room beachfront hotel, poised on 50 glorious oceanfront acres next to an 18-hole golf course. Its size means that patrons may need a day or two to get their bearings.

Families have many options for spacious, kid-friendly accommodations. Standard rooms feature one king or two queen beds fitted with luxurious sheets and a marble bathroom with a double sink vanity. Suites are larger, offering 1,055 to 1,376 square feet with sitting areas and kitchens; an additional bedroom can be connected, if necessary. All rooms have views of the Pacific Ocean, tropical gardens or pools, and it’s hard to go wrong with any of these.

Amenities include an iHome stereo with iPod® dock, beverage chillers, coffeemaker, Hawaiian Kona coffee, a large work area, wireless Internet access, video on demand, and our favorite: pungent and lovely Coco Mango toiletries.

Dining

The Grand Hyatt offers many dining options for families, from casual to fancier (none require dressing up). Tidepools serves contemporary, upscale Hawaiian cuisine in a thatched-roof bungalow that floats in a lagoon at the base of a waterfall — very exciting for kids. They offer a keiki (kids’) menu with smaller versions of their main courses, from mahi mahi to homemade mac & cheese.

Dondero’s offers family-style dinners; Stevenson’s Library serves sushi; the open-air Ilema Terrace is perfect for breakfast; Hale Nalu sits poolside; and the Poipu Bay Clubhouse is good any time of day for a quick drink or bite. The hotel offers a luau onsite, but you also can attend one at a plantation like Kalamaku at Kilohana, which presents an authentic Hawaiian meal and show with fire dancers and hula under the beautiful Kauai night skies.

Activities

On any given day at the resort, there are plenty of options from which to choose: lounging by the pool, mountain biking, tennis, spa treatments, savoring delicious food in the restaurants, hanging out on the beautiful beach, and more.

If your kids need time to get over jet lag or just chill out, they can sample the complimentary activities in the lobby atrium each day, including lei making, hula lessons, or ukulele lessons. There are quiet adult pools, a meandering river pool, a fun 150-foot waterslide, and an active pool for basketball or volleyball. The resort also has an expansive saltwater lagoon where families with kids of all ages can swim, float, or kayak together.

When it’s time to hit the road, there are so many activities on Kauau for families to enjoy. A good way to get to know the island is to take a Na Pali Coast snorkel sail with Kauai Sea Tours, where you’ll encounter dolphins, turtles, gorgeous cliffs, valleys, sea caves and waterfalls and be given a chance to snorkel at the best reef in Na Pali.

Older kids will love riding down Waimea Canyon on a downhill bicycle through Outfitters Kauai, and a waterfall picnic horseback ride with Princeville Ranch Adventures. Both companies also offer ziplining and kayaking. Backcountry Adventures offers a mountain tubing experience in an old sugarcane plantation.

If you can break away from the kids, head to the Anara Spa at the resort for a massage, body treatment or facial. Treatments are offered in private rooms or hales (thatched-roof bungalows), each opening to its own tropical garden. The open-air setting, kind service, outdoor showers, sauna and jacuzzi, and outstanding treatments make this spa a one of a kind.

Want Help Planning a Stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa or a Family Vacation to Kauai? 

We can help! Ciao Bambino family vacation consultants do everything from booking standalone accommodations to planning comprehensive family-friendly itineraries. Our focus is Family Travel and we plan trips with kids and their parents in mind. Request assistance on the CB! Vacation Consultants page.

Relevant Links:

Browse family-friendly hotels and resorts on Kauai

Kidding around Kauai: Why the Garden Isle is a dream for families

The perfect laid-back day on Kauai with kids

Three must-do family adventures on Kauai

Editor’s Note: Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa provided a media package for Ciao Bambino to facilitate our review. As always, our opinions are our own. Photos by Holly Rosen Fink except where noted.