Marriott Kauai Resort And Beach Club — Hotel Review Rating: 4.0 Pearls

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reporter: Corina Z.
Updated: October 5, 2009

 Scene

Tucked into a swiftly developing resort complex just around the corner from the Lihue Airport, this gargantuan 356-room, family-focused Marriott offers a huge, Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, the biggest single-level pool in all of Hawaii (26,000 square feet), five affordably priced restaurants with a local following, a free fitness center with exercise classes, and a beachfront on Kalapaki Beach, which is great for both surfing and swimming.

Only the Hilton Kauai compares in terms of price and features, but the choice between these two resorts is clear: The Kauai Marriott offers the better beach (Kalapaki's soft sand and excellent surfing versus the Hilton's rocky coastline), a better fitness center with a separate aerobics studio, and a greater variety of restaurants (five to the Hilton's middling two). After the Kauai Marriott's $50 million renovation, the gap has grown even more pronounced. Beautiful new bathrooms with Kohler basins resting atop black granite counters and sleek black wooden cabinetry; huge 42-inch LG flat-screens; contemporary furniture in shades of orange and red (inspired by the colors of the Japanese garden in the center of the hotel) to replace the staid, chain-hotel furnishings of yore: It has the look of a chic boutique hotel, but the amenities of a grand resort.

As part of the Marriott Vacation Club time-share program, the Marriottt converted some of its units into one- and two-bedroom time-share condos. Unfortunately, these units are also in the section of the hotel that is closest to the water. There are still beautiful units with ocean views (many of which include a view of the pool as well), but to get as close to the ocean as possible, you'll have to stay in a time-share or hotel suite.

 Service

An extensive staff -- multiple front-desk receptionists; dedicated concierges; porters; poolside drink servers -- makes sure guests' needs are attended to. While the bellmen failed to help me with my bags, they do stand at the ready to hail cabs and check in luggage. Room service is not 24 hours, but if your express breakfast is not there within 15 minutes -- it's free.

• Room service from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m.
• Fruit-infused water and complimentary Garden Isle newspaper in lobby
• Fantastic, full-time concierges (available 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.) who provide local-restaurant suggestions (unlike at the Hilton, where they seem more concerned with just selling you on certain excursions).
• Poolside food and drink service from Kalapaki Grill
• Valet parking
• Free 24-hour airport shuttle

 Location

Just off one of Lihue's main roads, (Rice Street), the Kauai Marriott shares a well-manicured resort development with both the Kauai Lagoons golf course (managed by the Marriott), the privately owned Grand Residences by Marriott, and the tony Ritz-Carlton residences. With a car (and one ought to have a car in Kauai) many sites and necessities come within easy reach via Kuhio Highway. (Or walking, you can still reach the next-door Anchor Cove shopping center and its sports bar, Kalapaki Joe's.)

• Just a mile away from Lihue airport -- a free 24-hour shuttle takes guests back and forth
• Wailua waterfall (five-minute drive) and Opaekaa waterfall (20-minute drive)
• An hour from the Hanalei Beach Bay in the North Shore (surfing) and an hour and a half from the scenic Na Pali Coast (hiking, sightseeing)
• Waimea Canyon, the largest canyon in the Pacific, is about an an hour and a half away.
• Kukui Grove, Kauai's largest shopping center, with a Macy's, Kmart, and movie cinema, is just 2.5 miles away.

 Beach

Kauai Marriott is the only hotel in Kauai that fronts versatile, kid-friendly Kalapaki Beach. Free of debris and driftwood, Kalapaki is guarded from strong currents and undertows as it lies in its own separate cove, making it excellent for swimming, bodyboarding, and beginner's surfing -- unlike the nearby Hilton's ruggedly beautiful but rocky coastline.

• Like all beaches in Hawaii, Kalapaki is a public beach -- you'll have to rent lounge chairs and umbrellas from the water-sports desk (it's almost cheaper to buy your own, as two chairs and umbrella runs $14 an hour).
• Poolside drink service only offered at the pool area, not the beach
• Impressively wide stretch of clean, soft sand
• Shallow side on the left for young children
• Excellent waves for swimming, bodyboarding, and beginner's surfing
• Water sports are available at Kalapaki Beach Boys (the Kauai Marriott's water-sports desk), right next to Duke's. Rental prices are better if you rent by the week ($25 a week for a snorkel set versus $5 an hour); surfing prices are standard ($75 an hour) but you can find cheaper rates by asking around on the beach.

 Rooms

After the Kauai Marriott's $50-million renovation, the gap between it and the less-impressive Hilton has grown even more pronounced. Almost all of the 356 guest rooms' previously staid, chain-hotel furnishings, old tube TVs, and standard bathroom fixtures have been jettisoned for beautiful new bathrooms with Kohler sinks, 42-inch LG flat-screens, and contemporary furniture in colorful, contrasting shades of orange and red.

• Large standard rooms (425 square feet), each of which comes with either two double beds or one king-size bed and a sleeper sofa
• Guest rooms differ by view: a spectacular ocean view overlooking both the pool and beach; pool view overlooking the phenomenal 26,000-square-foot pool; or a garden view overlooking the grounds (not as stunning a view, but the $100 more or so a night for an upgrade is pretty pricey)
• One-bedroom suites available (1,000 square feet) with separate living room and dining areas
• New "Revive" beds: king-size bed with thicker mattress; 300-thread-count sheets; down duvet
• Bathrooms with shower/tub combo, generic hotel-brand toiletries
• Huge, 42-inch flat-screen TV with 40 cable TV channels, including HBO Family, and pay-per-view movies ($13.99 to $14.99)
• In-room coffeemaker with Kauai Coffee
• $12.95 a day for hard-wired, in-room Internet; no Wi-Fi

 Features

The Grand Hyatt might best the Kauai Marriott in features, but it can also cost twice as much. You won't find this many features for this low a price -- and definitely not at the nearby Hilton.

• 24-hour fitness center (free to access) with separate aerobics room and $5 exercise classes (yoga, pilates, boot camp) plus four LG flat-screens, TVs attached to half the StarTrac cardio equipment (eight treadmills, three ellipticals, six exercise bikes), and seven Hoist strength-training machines
• Six tennis courts ($20 an hour or $50 a week); free generic-brand racket rentals
• 24-hour business center with new-looking Dell computers for 20 cents a minute ($12 an hour); 35 cents a page for printouts; Wi-Fi for $8.95 a day
• Free Wi-Fi at Aupaka Terrace, a cocktail lounge overlooking the pool that's open during the day; in-room is hard-wired for $12.95 a day
• Alexander Day Spa and Salon -- one of the better hotel spas in Kauai, although it pales in comparison to the Anara at the Grand Hyatt -- has a full menu of massages (indoors or in an outdoor cabana), waxing, body treatments, manicures and hair cuts/styling. But in-room massages are a little on the pricey side: $145 for just 50 minutes.
• Free 24-hour shuttle to Lihue Airport and two days a week to Kukui Grove Shopping Center

 Pool

Although the nearby Hilton may have five pools and a 90-foot waterslide, it can't compare to the grandeur of the Kauai Marriott's phenomenal pool facilities. Only the Grand Hyatt on the south shore on Kauai, with its lazy-river pool and infinity lagoon large enough to kayak in, can best Kauai Marriott's 26,000-square-foot super-pool -- the largest single-level pool in the entire state.

• Five Jacuzzis with four waterfalls -- located one foot below Aupaka Bar's five separate terraces
• 5,000-square-foot flagstone pool deck with 500 lounge chairs, so it's never too hard to find a chair
• Separate children's pool
• Poolside restaurant Kalapaki Grill offers poolside drink service.

 Golf

Due to renovations, only 18 holes in total of the two Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses at Kauai Lagoons (the 18-hole Kiele and Mokihana courses) are open -- including about half of the full Kiele Course, rated #56 among Golf Digest's "America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses." The full two courses, right next to the hotel, will not be reopened until at least 2010. Rates start at $95 for an afternoon round. For cheaper golfing, take a 10-minute drive (about five miles) to the incredibly affordable ($32 to $44) Wailua Municipal Golf Course -- voted as one of Hawaii's 15 best golf courses by Golf Digest.

• Kiele (7,070 yards, par 72); Mokihana (6,900 yards, par 72) -- only 18 holes combined are open at the two courses; the courses will not open in their entirety until at least 2010
• Taylormade Burner Club and ball rentals in excellent condition ($55 a day; shoe rentals $10 a day)
• Golf rates for Kauai Marriott guests (includes golf cart): $115 morning; $95 after noon ($10 to $60 less than other visitors and other hotel guests)

 Family

With its 26,000-square-foot pool, shallow-water section of the beach (to the left), and free rollaways, the Kauai Marriott beats most other mega-resorts on the island (Sheraton Kauai, Hilton Kauai) in kid-friendly amenities and activities. Its only competition is the Grand Hyatt, which has a kayak-able pool and interactive parrot demonstrations.

• Licensed child care facility, Kalapaki Kids Club under renovation (reopens December 2009)
• Standard rooms come with two double beds, or one king and a pullout sleeper sofa, to sleep up to four people
• Free rollaways, cribs, high chairs
• Kids' menus at Duke's, room service, Kalapaki Grill
• 26,000-square-foot pool and a separate children's pool
• Until the kids' club reopens in December 2009, MAZE (Marriott's Activity Zone Experience) offers activities split up into different age-appropriate groups, like koi-fish feeding, hula lessons, craft making (small fee can apply, like $6 for crafts)

 Cleanliness

Well-maintained grounds; scrubbed bathrooms; dust-free rooms -- but the hallways and elevators looked a little scuffed up.

 Food

With greater number of restaurants and variety than the nearby Hilton, and cheaper menu prices (for the most part) than at the Sheraton and Grand Hyatt, Kauai Marriott's dining options really beats out what's offered at the major chain-hotel resorts on the island.

• Daily drink specials and $10-and-under bar menu, affordable tropical drinks, and fresh-catch seafood upstairs ($15 to $25 entrees) at the hugely popular (and often packed) Duke's
• Cafe Portofino ($20 to $30 entrees) is considered one of the best Italian restaurants in the area.
• Room service ($15 to $20 entrees) until 11 p.m.; one of the best omelets in Hawaii: Portuguese sausage, Maui onions, and tomato topped with garlic fried rice
• Japanese restaurant, Kukui, with a beachside sushi bar and a popular breakfast buffet

 Bottom Line

Renovated in 2009, this 356-room, family-oriented resort on Kalapaki Beach boasts big flat-screens in every room, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, and the biggest single-level pool in Hawaii. It might not have the fancy frills of the pricier Grand Hyatt, but it's still the best resort for the buck in Kauai.