Hyatt Regency Maui Hawaii Review - Part One
My family and I went on a 10 day trip to Hawaii. It was my first time visiting Hawaii and I loved every minute of it. I've separated the experience at this hotel into two separate posts.
IF YOU’RE THINKING OF STAYING AT THE HYATT REGENCY MAUI, THEN MAKE SURE YOU READ THE SECOND PART HERE AS WELL!
Hyatt Regency Maui Remodel:
The Hotel was undergoing a remodel during our stay, but we managed to avoid the noise by asking for a room in the Lahaina Tower AWAY from the construction zone.
We had read about this construction issue on this site and made all of the necessary requests to be placed as far away as possible from the construction. We didn't hear a peep. The only problem we ran into was when they were taking care of something at the pool to make it SAFER for people to swim in the pool area. There was a jack hammer at some points during the day at the pool, but it wasn't often and you could hardly notice with the waterfall running and awesome music playing. EDIT: The renovation has since been completed.
Hyatt Regency Maui Front Desk:
First of all, the people at the front desk were awesome and very straight-forward. We arrived and immediately were given fresh water and leis. They had a bellman take my parent’s bags and showed them around the resort briefly as they walked through the grounds to get to the Lahaina tower (it's a bit further away from the main building but totally worth it.)
My husband and I carried our own bags and got to our room very quickly. I was surprised at how spacious it was! Anyhow, back to the front desk: they’re always there to assist you, no matter what time of day it is or whatever your needs are.
Food in Maui:
The restaurants at this hotel are a bit pricey, so if you're trying to save some money, try not to eat here very often. A lunch consisting of a burger, fries and soft drink at the Umalu restaurant will run you about $50 USD.
I honestly suggest taking a taxi, bus, Uber or your rental car to the Safeway (which is about a 3 minute drive from the hotel). You will spend some money on groceries, but it's totally worth it in the end. We bought makings for sandwiches, some alcohol and some breakfast items. The alcohol at the hotel is expensive, so make up a drink in your room and enjoy it! :)
We usually ate out for dinner since we were only there for about 4 days (the rest of the trip was spent in Waikiki -You can read about that adventure HERE.) After eating out for dinner, we usually had plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. The only other place we ate at was the bar at the pool. (The other restaurants looked lovely, but we found other places with excellent food and even better prices!)
There’s a coffee shop in the main building of the hotel next to the family of penguins that serves Starbucks coffee. They are always happy to serve you with whatever needs you may have in a morning coffee drink. There is also a Starbucks a short walk away towards the Whalers Village.
Speaking of Whalers Village, the restaurants there are awesome! I suggest trying Maui Fish and Pasta. My family, husband and I went there on our last night in Lahaina and the dinner was excellent. So was the dessert! My husband and I shared a whole bunch of small plates and they were more than filling. We got the wings, sushi and a salad, and all were excellent. The desserts here are great! We were celebrating Father’s Day and my husbands birthday, so it was a nice little treat for us to share different plates with one another. Each person got a different dessert.
The other restaurant I would suggest is Leilanis. If you sit outside in the Beachside grill (the sunset view here is amazing!), you will pay significantly less than the indoor restaurant but the food is just as good. I had the Chicken Cashew Stir Fry and it was AWESOME! My husband had a burger and he truly enjoyed it! I believe we shared a caesar salad and it was more than enough for two people to share. There are also plenty of smaller restaurants to choose from in the food court at Whalers Village. Things like: Subway, Pizza Hut etc. if you want a casual quick meal.
We didn’t end up having any meals in Lahaina, but I've heard great things about the restaurants in town. Next time I visit I’ll be sure to spend more time in the Lahaina town centre!
Beach:
The beach here was great! The only problem is that it's a little small. No problem though!!
You can move further down either right or left fo the hotel and it widens out without quite a bit. I also read before we arrived that there was plenty of rock and coral pieces, and they were not kidding.
We bought water shoes and snorkel masks to take with us to Hawaii and I would definitely recommend it! People had suggested it and it was totally worth it - especially on this beach.
The water shoes really helped with the rock and coral, as coral regularly washes up on shore. One actually hit my ankle pretty hard and I started to bleed (it was a tiny cut... i'm just whining lol). I was so happy we brought our own snorkel gear because there were awesome little fishies to see swimming around extremely close to beach! And the coral and rock was awesome to see underwater as well. The waves were a bit rough on the beach but great swimming!
You absolutely must walk down to the Sheraton Maui to see Black Rock. The locals and a few brave hearts (like my husband) were adventurous enough to jump off of the rock into the ocean. The locals were saying something about a shark warning on the news. (My husband followed them up and he asked if they were just trying to scare him because he was a tourist but they said that it wasn't a joke and that it was on the news that a few were spotted nearby. So just be careful and keep an eye out. Most people aren’t afraid to go into the water - there is so much to see!)
At this point I'm watching my husband get ready to jump into the water and I saw a fin come up and out of the water extremely close to me. I started backing out of the water frantically as my mind went “SHARK!” hahaha! I was so wrong! As my husband came swimming back, I told him what I saw, and then we saw the fin again and realized it was a beautiful sea turtle. He was an awesome sight to see, and I wish I could have gone back and swam with him and saw exactly what he looked like underwater with my snorkel gear. (If you go to Black Rock, you absolutely must keep an eye out for this guy, he's huge and an amazing swimmer!)