For our wedding anniversary, Kaleb and I headed to Kauai, our favorite island in the state of Hawaii due to its smaller size and quiet surroundings. I was able to secure a timeshare exchange into
. Cash price for the week would have been around $4,000. The property is part of the
so we could also use the hotel's facilities. The rest of the nights would be spent at the
for lounge access. Cash price for this room would have been close to $2,500. For airfare, I used the buy-one-get-one-for-$99 travel certificate from having the
. We redeemed Ultimate Rewards points (from
Our nonstop flight to Lihue was uneventful. Kaleb and I were able to score the exit row to ourselves. Alaska Airlines blocks these seats for elites or full-fare passengers, but the seat map opens up to everyone 24 hours prior to departure. I always check in at the first opportunity to improve our seat location.
We land in Lihue, get the rental car and head straight for Costco. Prices are the same as the mainland, so it's a cost-effective way to stock up on food for the week.
Parking was ample at the Kauai Marriott and check-in was a breeze. Our 1 bedroom unit in the Kahili Wing had a limited kitchen, since the Beach Club timeshares were created by converting hotel rooms. There was only a microwave for cooking. Having known this ahead of time from reading reviews on
Timeshare Users Group, I packed an electric hot plate and frying pan. The refrigerator was dorm-sized, but thankfully there was another one in the bedroom for all the food we got. Since two hotel rooms were combined to make the unit, we had the luxury of having two full bathrooms, which was great if we had four people, so each party would have their own privacy. A Murphy bed pulled down into the living room couch.
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| local brand (Malie) toiletries |
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| I forgot to take a picture of the living room; Murphy bed instructions |
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There were many activities planned at the resort.
The resort is beautiful, with lush grounds, artwork, and a wonderful beach.
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| timeshare owner's lounge |
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| koi fighting for bird seed droppings |
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| great for Pokemon Go |
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We spent the next couple of days just relaxing on the beach, reading books and going for a swim in the huge resort pool and also the ocean. If there were fish to see in the water, it would have been perfect.
On Tuesday, our anniversary day, Kaleb and I ventured out of the resort in search of papaya and poke in Poipu. I found
Koloa Fruit Stand on Yelp and it did not disappoint. We loaded up on a ton of fruit, as well as fresh poke and taro haupia pie from
Koloa Fish Market.
I made OpenTable reservations at nearby
Duke's for our anniversary dinner. The restaurant had a great view of the ocean. We added Duke's Famous Salad Bar to our entree so there was a ton of food. It was a decent meal. We also got a complimentary piece of hula pie to celebrate.
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| items from the salad bar |
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| today's fish baked Duke's Style |
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| coconut ginger braised seafood |
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| hula pie |
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Walking back to the resort, we saw there were movies on the lawn and people enjoying the resort pool and its five hot tubs.
More beach on Wednesday - it was perfect swimming water.
For dinner, we walked across the street to the recently opened
South East Asia restaurant in Harbor Mall for some Thai food. Dessert was a huge shave ice from
Skinny Mike's.
We did pretty much the same thing the next day, except we went to get take-out from nearby
Kalapaki Beach Hut for dinner. Along the way, we saw Norwegian's
Pride of America setting sail from Nawiliwili Harbor. This cruise ship does 7-night sailings around Hawaii, so it'd be a convenient way to visit the islands.
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| delicious |
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Check out on Friday was at 10am, with another four days to go at the
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort. Check in there wasn't until 4pm. We had recently found out from my sister-in-law Angela that her parents were also vacationing in Kauai, so we met up with them at their timeshare,
Pono Kai, in Kapaa. We enjoyed touring their newly renovated 3 bedroom oceanfront unit and the property grounds. Afterwards, they treated us to a nice meal at nearby
Olympic Cafe.
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| ahi wrap |
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| kalua pig sandwich |
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| insanely huge Kauai pie |
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After lunch, Kaleb and I drove to Poipu and checked into the Grand Hyatt. We were upgraded to a partial oceanview room on the quiet side of the resort and also got "lei'ed"!
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| love the eucalyptus lane |
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| Grand Hyatt grounds |
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| calm swimming lagoon |
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| birds in the lobby |
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| our lanai |
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| reusable water bottles, just like the ones we got at the Hyatt in Maui |
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| toilet with bidet |
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Our stay included entrance to the Grand Club (having redeemed a Club access award), which was open most of the day and night, offering breakfast, snacks, evening appetizers and desserts, with ample seating inside or outside. We visited the lounge at appetizer time. I wasn't expecting much, but you could technically have a three-course dinner with the wide array of selections: cheese, crackers, bread, veggies, followed by the hot selection (ravioli tonight), then an assortment of delectable sweets and fruit.
When we got back to the room, it was elegantly turned down with chocolate dipped shortbread cookies from
Honolulu Cookie Company, a favorite of mine!
The next day consisted of breakfast in the lounge, reading by the beach, swimming in the lagoon, returning to the lounge for snacks, hanging out again, back to the lounge for appetizers, a sushi dinner at
Stevenson's , then once more to the lounge for dessert.
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| kalua pork fried rice for breakfast, yum! |
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| dim sum for appetizers today |
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| of course there's Pokemon Go |
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| cold sake |
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| black rock roll |
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| kanpachi carpaccio |
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| moriawase sashimi |
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| lounge desserts were so good |
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Turndown with different flavor of cookie:
It poured rain on Monday, so we stayed indoors in between lounge visits. We noticed the hot selections rotated every day, which was great. There were also new choices for dessert hour each night.
The weather cleared up on our last full day in Kauai, so we walked west on the
Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail towards Koloa Fruit Stand for a last taste of longans, then afterwards, hiked east along the trail, with spectacular views all around!
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| awesome |
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| longans are awesome too |
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We came back to an early turndown with an extra cookie and a thank you note from the housekeeper. (same as yesterday) I guess not too many people give tips for turndown.
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| extra cookie! |
Appetizer hour al-fresco:
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| stir fry beef sliders tonight |
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| the lounge has a great view |
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One last sunset walk:
And one last breakfast Wednesday morning:
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| yay, kalua pork fried rice again! |
We had an uneventful journey home. And that's the end of our anniversary trip! It was a relaxing vacation staying on resort. Having seen almost everything in Kauai, we didn't feel the need to drive out, plus our favorite part of the North Shore was closed due to the damage from the deluge earlier in the year.
I really enjoyed staying at the Marriott Kauai Beach Club with their nice large pool and swim-friendly beach. They offer a free airport shuttle service, so it is tempting to return there without a rental car. We hardly drove on this trip, only to get to the airport and back, a Costco and fruit/poke run, and going to the next hotel. Next time, I will consider renting just for the days we need it. We also enjoyed staying at the Grand Hyatt with its generous lounge offering and beautiful surroundings. If after reading this blog entry, you've got a hankering to visit Hawaii (the 50th U.S. state, no passport needed!) for your anniversary/birthday/"just because" and don't know where to start, send me a note and I can help plan your tropical vacation.
What's next? A trip back east for Thanksgiving...stay tuned!
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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