Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa
If you are planning on taking a vacation to the island of Maui in Hawaii, the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa is an excellent choice. The Hyatt is a perfect choice for both couples and families. Our family stayed at the Hyatt in Maui in February of 2006. We traveled with our two kids, ages 4 1/2 and 2. At the time, I was also 24 weeks pregnant with our 3rd baby. Let me say briefly, that Hawaii is a fabulous place to take kids on vacation. It is safe, you are still in America, you don't have to worry about ingesting bad food or water, and you can easily drive around freely without relying on buses or taxis. There are lots of families there vacationing with young kids. At the time, this was our 4th trip to Hawaii. Since we had done the major tourists activities suited for adults in our "life before kids," we pretty much relaxed in the sun the whole time. As far as traveling the 8 hour direct flight from Chicago, it is never that bad for us. Fly direct, it is faster and less stressful. Kids 3-4 yrs. and up can handle sitting in their own seat. For younger kids and babies, buy them a seat and strap them in their car seats. It keeps them contained and keeps them safer. Traveling mid pregnancy is not that bad. You may find some perks in it. Plan to relax on your trip and not do anything crazy like cliff jumping or scuba diving. Back to the resort, the Hyatt is great. The floors of the rooms are built around the center of the open air lobby. The lobby has nice landscaping, tropical birds, koi fish, and penguins.
The decor of the Hyatt is Asian. If you are looking for the tropical and bright Hawaiian look, there isn't. The Hyatt is very beautiful, though. We had a standard room with two queen beds. The room was very nice and clean and spacious. We did have a handicapped accessible room, so
I am not sure if that made a difference in the size of our room. I know the bathroom was a little bigger. The beds were super comfortable with fabulous linens, pillows, and blankets.
There are several restaurants in the Hyatt. We ate at the Swan Court three times for the wonderful buffet breakfast. Get a table up against the open doors right next to the lagoon. You can watch the swans swim while you eat. The breakfast buffet is one of the best we have had in Hawaii. If you have read my other blogs, our family loves the breakfast buffets in Hawaii. The selection is huge.
We also bought some food at the Pavilion which is a casual walk up eatery by the pool.
We also attended the Drums Of The Pacific Luau, which is on the grounds of the Hyatt. It was a decent luau, but I preferred the luau a few doors down at the Marriott better.
The pool areas are nice at the Maui Hyatt. The main pool is large and you can swim under a waterfall and go through a cave that leads to the second swim area. The "cave" area has a bar, that is not a swim up bar, but it is next to the pool. The second swim area is for kids and families. It is a man made sand bottom pool area with zero depth entry. There are squirting fountains and a small water slide. It is perfect for little kids. That is where we spent most of our time. The sand in this area is very granular with small rocks, so wear some swim shoes so your feet don't ache. There is a larger tube slide for adults and older kids that empties on this side of the swimming area, but it is separate from where the little kids will be playing. There is also a swinging bridge above the kids swimming area and a hot tub in the corner for adults. We liked the Hyatt, because there was the kids area and the adults who didn't want to be around kids could hang out at the larger pool on the other side. I have read other people's reviews complaining about the beach in front of the Hyatt resort. I don't remember it being that bad at all. If you get sick of hanging out at the pool or if you want to play in the sand, walk right on over to the beach. A beautiful view too.
The Hyatt is the last resort on the end of the strip of hotels. Black Rock, the well known snorkeling area, is on the opposite end. There is a sidewalk that runs the entire length of the strip between the hotels and the beach. It is so handy to walk to the other hotels and the other beach areas. In the center of the strip is the upscale mall, Whaler's Village. There are lots of stores and restaurant choices. Read my other blog to the right about Whaler's Village.
The entire grounds of the Hyatt are beautiful and well maintained. There a lush gardens with bridges, lagoons, swans, and various birds.
There is a spa at the Hyatt, although I didn't visit it when we were there. You can valet or self park your car at the Hyatt. I recommend paying the $15 per day to valet your vehicle. The self park seemed at little too far away. I read some reviews that said the valet service was too slow. We did not have that problem. Remember to call the valet desk 10 -15 minutes before you leave your room to tell them you need your car. Our car was always waiting. The men always opened the doors for us, had the air conditioning running, and greeted us by our names. It was nice. When we stayed at the Hyatt in February the weather was a cool 68 degrees. The end of the week we did have some days in upper 70's to low 80's but the nights were very chilly. It was a little unusual for it to be that cool at that time of the year. If you do travel to Hawaii during the winter, remember to take pant outfits, and sweaters or sweatshirts for the evening. On this trip we also enjoyed whale season. If you visit Hawaii between October and March, tons of whales are there to give birth. The whales migrate down from Alaska to give birth in the warmer waters. Around March, they then travel back towards Alaska. This was our first time seeing the whales in Hawaii. It is cool. You will be consumed with watching the horizon for spouts of water from whales. When we were sitting on our favorite beach, Kapalua Beach, a huge mother whale, breached out of the water. Everyone on the beach cheered & gasped. I caught the whole thing on video tape as the mother continuously jumped out of the water, followed by the baby imitating her jump. The two whales jumped out of the water quite a few times as they swam across the horizon. Take binoculars with you on your trip. You will use them often. If you are in Hawaii during whale season, do take a whale watching cruise. This is the only reason to take any sort of cruise in Maui. I think any of the snorkeling cruises or other cruises are not worth it. As far as snorkeling cruises, you can see the same sea life when snorkeling off the beaches. Anyways, the whale watching cruises are worth it. The cruises offer various length cruises and some do include food or snorkeling stops. We did a 2 hour whale watch cruise and it was plenty. We saw enough whales and it wasn't too long of a time to be stuck on a boat, especially with kids. The boat actually didn't sail that far. We could still see views of the shore. On your way to the marina in downtown Lahaina, check our the banyan tree. In conclusion, I highly recommend the Hyatt. It is one of the best resorts we have ever stayed at. Some other good choices in the same area of Maui are the Westin, Sheraton, and the Marriott. I would check out the Hyatt first, though. You will be pleased. As a side note, if you have time to kill after checking out of your hotel and before you go to the airport to go home, go to the the aquarium. It is very nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment