My fiancee and I are about to book our hotels for our trip to Maui and Oahu in July. We have reserved a garden/mountain view room at the Hyatt Regency in Maui for 8 days and a ocean front room at the Mandrin in Oahu 4 days.

If you could share GOOD/BAD/UGLY stories about each of these hotels would be real helpful ie.

1. Is a Garden/Mountain View room OK?
2. How are the beaches?
3. Do they charge crazy $$$ for rentals?
4. ANYTHING ELSE?

Thanks in advance

Initially I was disappointed not to have an ocean view room in Maui, but quickly realized what an asset the garden/mountain view was. The rainbows in the mountains each day, some doubles, were absolutely incredible!

The biggest complaint I've heard about the hotel on these boards is the beach, which is narrow, but fine for our needs and as we didn't explore other nearby beaches, I honestly couldn't say how it compares. Loved the hotel though, and the open-aire lobby, and fantastic grounds!

the hyatt in maui is beautiful, and would agree with comment about the beach at its doorstep however; but the pool with its slide was a lot of fun for our kids, and the grounds were very plush, with lei making classes during the day, etc, don't worry about view except ask that you not be facing any hotels to the side; sunset walks on the beach will take you to nearby restaurants, etc, perfect way to go to dinner; research where to snorkel, as mentioned the nearby beach is not that great for swimming, also go for an inland hike! you'll love it - good luck -

I spent hours in the moonlight laying in the hammocks between palm trees at the Hyatt Maui beach listening to the waves crash. Amazing.
Also there is a great star show on the roof of the Hyatt with high tech equipment and an Astromer offering explanations.

This is my favorite hotel in the whole wide world, and I can only say that you are making a great choice. We stayed in a partial ocean/mountain view on our honeymoon 4 years ago, and it was great. It doesn't matter what type of room you stay in, as long as you are there. We have been back to Hawaii two additional times since our honeymoon, and unfortunately we did not stay at the Hyatt the second time. We were trying to save money. We visited the hotel though and it was sooooo nice. Next time, we'll stay there!

I also am a big fan of the Hyatt, having returned there four times. A mountain view room is fine and yes, it often presents excellent rainbow views of the West Maui Mountains...ask for a high floor room in the Atrium Tower (the middle of the 3 hotel towers). As noted in earlier posts, the pool is great and the immediate beachfront is fine for sunning and merely okay for swimming, BUT the beach is 3 MILES LONG, so merely walk along the beach until you find a spot that you prefer!
As for hotel dining, I strongly recommend you have dinner at the many fine restaurants nearby (Roy's, Hula Grill, Sansei Sushi Grill, etc) and restrict your meals at the Hyatt to its very nice (although pricey) breakfast buffet in the Swan Court dining room (you can skip lunch). In general, all of the hotel dining rooms on Kaanapali Beach just don't match up to the better restaurants in the area, and there are many to choose from. Enjoy!

Neither of these hotels measure up to the normal standards expected by travellers on this forum. Go if you must but be sure to get all your shots, medication etc.

The Hyatt is great, and I enjoyed it on my honeymoon as well. We only paid for a partial ocean view, and when I "mentioned" that we would be honeymooning there, they upgraded us to ocean front in the center tower, and the room was lovely. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that we're getting married there as well, so make sure that you drop that you're honeymooners and you might get upgraded. However, chances are that there's probably a lot of honeymooners there too! And usually their pricey breakfasts are included if you stay 6 or more nights with a lot of
the different vacation packages. The fact that the beach wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as other parts of that beach did not affect us in the least because we so enjoyed that big pool and the lounge chairs with the canopies overhead. A short walk, just like the other posters have said will get you to where you want to go. And I
definitely agree with the other poster who recommended the Hula Grill. Great atmosphere there. Leilani's is good too

The Kahala MANDARIN Oriental Hotel is an excellent 5-star choice, and the beach in front is superior to the one at the Hyatt! The water is very calm and more "Caribbean-like" in color. You have made a wise choice!

Dave: cute response, but wrong Island!

My husband and I are from NY and have been to the islands 13 times in total. Eleven of those visits have included a stay at the Kahala...It was the Hilton at one time and then taken over by the Mandarin Oriental hotels. It is still wonderful. We have stayed at the Hyatt in Maui too but the rooms and service at the Kahala are unprecedented. I have never slept in such luxurious beds as at the Kahala. The balconies are huge! The only thing we really miss there was the old dining room called the Maile Room. Had anyone ever been there on this board? They did away with it when they had the hotel refurbished. Instead the made another uncomfortable,loud bistro with that silly California open kitchen ambiance.(No offense to anyone's preferences intended.) Indeed, if the hotel had kept the old Maile restaurant, I don't think there would be a need for my husband and I to vacation anywhere else in the world. Maui is beautiful too. You have made wonderful choices. Have a marvelous time!

Aloha Jay! We stayed at the Hyatt once. Very disappointed. Plan to share the pool area with outsiders. When we were there the place was overrun with people from other resorts. They had no wristband system like many of the other resorts. Our poolside cocktail server told us she refused to wait on these freeloaders! We now call the Sheraton Maui our favorite with a much nicer beach and not sa crowded as the Hyatt. Good Luck!Also parking is a big problem at the Hyatt.

< cue OliveOyl for rebuttal statement praising Hyatt >

To Ed,
I don't know when you stayed at the Maui Hyatt, but when we were there 3 yrs. ago they did have a wristband system in place and there were no freeloaders at all. And they had people that worked therre walking around and checking to make sure people had their
bands on. As for the Sheraton Maui, although I thought it was nice too, nowhere near as nice as our experience at the Hyatt (but their beach WAS better)but we didn't use the beach all that much anyway. Also, parking was a breeze at the Hyatt whereas it was a pain at the Sheraton. Not only was the parking lot a long way from our ocean room, but you had to have this silly little parking card to enter and exit the premises and they also charged us for parking at Maui, and not at the Hyatt! As a matter of fact, now that we're on this wristband subject, I remember when the Hyatt REgency Kauai wouldn't even let us sit on their lounge chairs in 1993 (only 10 months after the Iniki Hurricane.) The cocktail waitress noticed that we didn't have wristbands and kicked us out and the hotel was only about 30 per cent occupied, as the island was still pretty messed up as a result of the Hurricane, so I find it hard to believe that the Hyatt has relaxed their standards that much.

Lynn...I'm not following you. I was one of 6 positive responses--why single me out? I can't offer anything other than what I have with our one experience there. I'm not into rebuttals--each of us have their own preferences and I have no experience with any other hotel in Maui. Jay asked about garden/mountain view rooms at Hyatt Maui. I related our experience with one, and my opinion on whether or not that view was acceptable. That's it.

So...what was your point? Let me guess. Could it be that Olive Oyl's husband is a Hyatt GM? Are you insinuating that I want to fill Hyatt's rooms so give every Hyatt a great review? Please, give me a break! Maui doesn't need anyone's help and I could care less, frankly, what their or any other Hyatt's occupancy is. It doesn't impact our bottom line in the least. I've given my opinion as a *guest*, which I was, staying in that hotel. Take a look at any of my Savannah posts, please, and tell me what I'm pushing. If anything, it's B&Bs, and not the hotel my husband was GM of.

If I've misinterpreted your post, please forgive, but frankly, I could not find any other way to read that cryptic note! I'm into integrity. What's your plan?

Lynn, One more thing. I preface almost every note I write that has *any* mention of Hyatt in it, with my husband's position and why I'm familiar with that particular hotel. I'll often re-read those posts afterwards and cringe because the statement sounds boastful. Trust me, that is the last time I will *ever* leave it off. Next time you or anyone else reads my disclaimer, I hope you'll understand the mechanics behind it and see it for what it is--protection against just this sort of thing!!

Why do I know this hotel? Hyatt General Manager's Meeting...198xx. Garden view room. It was wonderful! gt;

Again, my apologies if I've misinterpreted your intent.

Hey Luke -- R E A D the original question before you make a complete fool out of yourself again!

Hi Jay ~
My fiancee and I booked our Hawaii honeymoon two weeks ago. If you can add one more day to Maui (for a total of 9 days) you can get a package where they upgrade your room to a partial ocean (guaranteed) and add the big buffet breakfast (which is supposed to be really good) at no extra charge. We're going in September and really looking forward to the Hyatt. Plus, if the beaches are crowded, you just drive to other, more quiet ones. No big deal. Have fun!!