Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa

It's hard to believe that this luxury hotel (one of Hawaii's best) could get grander, but multimillion-dollar renovations have taken the level of casual elegance to a new level. This is one of Hawaii's best luxury hotels and one of the top-ranked tropical resorts in Condé Nast Traveler's annual readers' poll. The four-story resort, built into the oceanside bluffs, spreads over 50 acres that overlook Shipwreck Beach (which is too rough for most swimmers) at the end of the road in Poipu. The $250-million Hyatt uses the Island architecture of the mid-1920s to recapture the Old Hawaii of the Matson Line steamship era.

The airy atmosphere takes you back to the days of a grand plantation overlooking the sea. This is a comfortable, unostentatious place where you can bring the kids and Grandma. The rooms are large (nearly 600 sq. ft.) and elegantly outfitted. All have marble bathrooms and spacious private lanais; most have ocean views. Club floors have their own concierge and a lounge serving continental breakfast, drinks, and snacks. The hotel is next door to the Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed Poipu Golf Course. If you stay here, don't leave without a treatment from the ANARA Spa, the best spa on Kauai. (Also check out the large selection of classes -- some of them free -- at the fitness center.) There may be 23 Grand Hyatt hotels on the planet, but frankly, I can't image any of them better than this.

The collection of swimming pools here -- freshwater and salt, with slides, waterfalls, and secret lagoons -- makes this oceanfront Hyatt a real kids' paradise. The Camp Hyatt children's program offers arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, and other special activities. Plus, the Hyatt is one of the few hotels to offer "camp" in the evening, from 4 to 10pm.

Facilities: 6 restaurants (including Dondero's and Tidepool), 6 bars (the partially open-air Stevenson's Library has mellow jazz Thurs-Sat nights); babysitting; bike rental; extensive Camp Hyatt kids' program; concierge; concierge-level rooms; one of the best fitness centers on the island; 3 hot tubs; an elaborate freshwater fantasy pool complex, plus 2 more pools and 5 acres of saltwater swimming lagoons w/islands and a man-made beach; room service; a 25,000-sq.-ft. ANARA Spa w/lava-rock shower gardens, a 10-headed Swedish shower, and indoor and outdoor treatment rooms; 4 tennis courts; and watersports equipment rentals

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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