st. regis princeville in kauai

[cocolaw]

i just wanted to tell you a little bit about our experience. we booked 6 nights at the grand hyatt in kauai and were not really impressed. the pool was amazing, but it seemed impersonal and almost like a honeymoon factory. i will go into details if anybody is trying to decide about places to stay in kauai, but the point of this post is not to bash the grand hyatt!

we moved to the princeville half-way through our honeymoon and WOW. it was amazing. the hotel has been renovated by the st. regis and has only been open for a few months. the service was incredible-i loved being called by name by all of the employees. they would not let me do a thing for myself...not even get towels or pour my own water while we were at the pool. the view at the princeville is totally unreal-i found the north part of the island to be much prettier in general. the beds were much more comfy, the rooms were luxurious. this was truly a 5 star hotel.

so i just wanted to write this small post so that if anybody is searching for advice on the princeville (st. regis) in kauai, they will find this and i can answer questions and post pictures!

 

[MagsyMay]

Good information to know! I''d love to see pictures of both if you have them. Starting to think about HMs and have always wanted to go to Hawaii but don''t know much about it just yet.

 

[bebe]

thanks for that info. I''ve stayed at the Hyatt and liked it, but wondered about the Princeville.
Did you make it down to Kee Beach down the road?

 

[Kellybell]

Thank you so much for posting this! My DH and I just booked our flight to Kauai for February, and are now searching for hotels (we are deciding between the Hyatt, the St. Regis, and the Koa Kea. Any additional feedback you can give about the Hyatt or pics from your stay would be super helpful. Thanks so much!

 

[Rachie]

Great info! We wanted to stop in one of the restaurants there (based on a recommendation from a friend) but it was closed when we went. We stayed on Kauai for the first half of our honeymoon in a condo that we rented on the South shore and we loved it! If anyone wants more info, I would be glad to share! It was steps away from the best snorkeling we found on the island! We also rented a condo on Maui for the second half of our honeymoon and it was also great! The condos were a great, cheaper, and beautiful alternative to a hotel.

 

[chibride10]

I agree---we stayed at Hanalei Colony Resort, which was basically like having a little condo on the north shore of the island, right before the road ends! (Hanalei''s about 10 minutes north of Princeville) We were steps away from the water and walked up the beach for like 2 hours before we saw another person (although, we did see some seals!). It was so secluded and amazing. The condos as HCR have 2 br/2ba and a kitchen. It was nice to cook together some nights. Also, we went to St. Regis for drinks and to see the sunset twice...a must-do if in Kauai! St. Regis IS absolutely beautiful and we wished we''d have been able to stay there, but we were just as happy at HCR, especially since we could still pop in to St. Regis! If anyone wants more info, I''d be happy to share as well!

 

[noelwr]

I often stay at the St. Regis in Singapore. it is a really good chain with great service, and definitely the way 5 star hotels should be.

 

[Kellybell]

For those that have been before, would you recommend the north side of the island or the south? We have been reading up, and it sounds like the north is much more picturesque (like Jurassic Park), but that the weather is better in the south. What do you guys think?

 

[Rachie]

Date: 12/7/2009 8:00:33 AM
Author: Kellybell
For those that have been before, would you recommend the north side of the island or the south? We have been reading up, and it sounds like the north is much more picturesque (like Jurassic Park), but that the weather is better in the south. What do you guys think?

I really enjoyed both sides of the island. We stayed on the south shore simply b/c that is where I found a condo we both liked and it was also recommended to us to stay on the south shore since it is sunnier and less rainy. We went in August so there wasn''t much rain anywhere except when we got to the top of Waimea Canyon. The whole island is so beautiful! Honestly, since you will have to rent a car to get around, it doesn''t matter which side of the island you stay on since it doesn''t take long to get to any one place. We just decided where we would like to go every day, packed up the car and would spend the day in that area.

No matter where you stay, I would recommend having dinner at The Beach House to watch the sunset. It is on the south shore in Koloa which is just west of Poipu. The food is excellent and definitely make reservations. Also, if you enjoy snorkeling, the beach that is next to it is where we snorkeled almost every day (the condo we stayed in is right next door). Sea turtles like to hang out there quite a bit.

 

[cocolaw]

no problem at all!! ok lets see...the hyatt:

we arrived and it was just very impersonal. first of all the resort is huge-expect to walk about 10 minutes from your room to anywhere-lobby, pool, restaurant, etc. the food is VERY expensive and they nickel and dime you for everything. concierge was not helpful-we asked for advice about activities and they just handed us a brochure and would not explain or give personal input-they said "its all in the brochure"....very annoying! the rooms are just OK-we arrived late and every light in our room was off (i would have expected at least one light on to welcome us...they knew it was our honeymoon), the tub was dirty (i wanted to soak in the tub after a long trip), the carpet was either old or very poorly laid-it had huge loose bubble spots in it and made the room look cheap, the bed was uncomfortable, the balcony was old and tiny (literally i have stayed in nicer rooms at springhill suites or other generic hotels). it was just NOT what we expected for a honeymoon. oh yeah and we arrived, there was a really impersonal computer print off that was like "congrats on getting married, here is what you get" and it detailed the ways that they accommodate honeymooners....you get 15% off (i think that was it) one of a choice of 2 spa treatments and both listed were the ones that start at $600 each (oh yeah-the spa is ridiculously expensive and not that nice. the princeville spa is cheaper and is amazing...the quiet room is gorgeous and the couples massage room is amazing-it is huge and new, has a couples bathtub with mood lighting. really really great experience at the spa-i highly recommend!!), a bottle of champagne in the fridge (the fridge wasn''t even working so the champagne was warm), and a free dessert. it was all just so disappointing!!

the pool: ratty old cushions (not at all what you expect at a 4 star, or whatever the hyatt is supposed to be), big beautiful pool (very cool-better for kids though i think). the weather was bad the entire time we were there, and one of the reasons we decided to stay there was that the weather is supposed to be better on the south part of the island. we moved north and suddenly, sunshine! so weird!

oh and the club room, oooh the club room. we paid extra for access and one morning we could not even eat fruit there because there were so many fruit flies-like 50 easily. it was completely disgusting. the decor in the club room is straight out of 1985....totally hideous and dated.

and i think the south part of the island looks more like florida than hawaii, which is fine except that we didn''t fly that far to go to florida--we were not happy about our honeymoon until we moved to the north part of the island.

st regis: luxury all the way. we were greeted all the time, every person on staff was eager to help with anything and give suggestions about things to do in the area, the pool is stunning-gorgeous mountain scenery behind the pool, brand new chairs, cushions, tables. all new and really really great decor! the food was the same price as the hyatt, possibly cheaper, but MUCH better. the spa was amazing, the lobby was incredible. the rooms.....omg the rooms!!!!! amazingly comfortable beds---insane-you do not want to get out of the beds. very clean-great turndown service every night-they even mop up your tub with towels if you have showered recently, the bar in the hotel is lots of fun and has a great view for sunset, the Kauai Grill.....Jean-George restaurant is hands down the best food EVER. im in NY so i have lots of choices when it comes to restaurants.....this was literally THE BEST EVER. you MUST go here. we tried to go 3 nights in a row, but Jean-George was visiting and having a private event so we could only go once.

I wish I could tell you more-they are completely different experiences. At the hyatt, we were convinced that we would never return to hawaii. after going to the st regis, we are anxious to book a trip back just to stay at that hotel. the st regis felt like hawaii and the hyatt felt like "disney does hawaii" if that makes sense! i will post pics too!

 

[bebe]

cocolaw, thanks for giving us the rundown. I had a friend who stayed at the Princeville St. Regis and loved it, but he and his wife had a very small room. Past that, I know they enjoyed it. We didn''t have to pay for anything when we stayed at the Hyatt, it was a business trip. And we ate at other restaurants most nights, so I can''t really say one way or the other regarding the food at the Hyatt. I did get a bad burn in the spa. Can''t forget that lovely (!!) experience, ha ha. The burn was a result of a very hot metallic blanket that was wrapped around me. I still have a scar. But it was a nice spa and others in my party enjoyed their time there. I agree with you about the size of the place - it''s huge and takes forever to get around. I''d go back for a free trip, but if I''m paying, I''d stay at the St. Regis

 

[tyty333]

We stayed at the Princeville (10 years ago) and it was sooo lovely. I was amazed with the big (huge) vases of flowers in the lobby.
The views were incredible! I had always planned to go back for our 10 year anniversary but with 3 kids...its a little out of the question.
Maybe when they get a bit older. So glad you had a great time!