Don’t you love that feeling when you find an awesome travel deal? I do! As I am in the very beginning stages of planning our Hawaii trip coming up in June, I started nonchalantly researching hotel possibilities in Honolulu, Maui, and Kauai.
I originally planned to redeem some of my Hyatt and SPG points, but I always like to keep my options open incase I find an amazing price on a room that is worth paying for (and earning points for). I just so happened to stumble across a 60% “Grand Opening Special” on BookIt.com for the brand new Hyatt Place Waikiki in Honolulu, and I was amazed that rooms were priced at just $149 a night for a Thursday-Sunday stay in June.
In peak season, most of the nicer hotels in Waikiki are priced between $300-$400 a night on the weekends. I instantly saw that this price was a steal for a new Hyatt property and was determined to make a reservation right then and there. However, I was not impressed with BookIt.com‘s service fees/cancellation policy, so I went directly to Hyatt.com to reserve the room to avoid incurring any additional booking fees.
As you can see from the screenshot below, I saw that the room on Hyatt.com was listed at a significantly higher rate of $294 instead of $149. What’s a girl to do?
I did remember that Hyatt has a “best rate guarantee” policy which will not only match any lower rate, but also take an additional 20% off the lowest rate.
After a brief phone call with Hyatt, they gladly honored their best rate guarantee policy and allowed me to reserve the room at $119.20 per night. Awesome!
If anyone is traveling to Waikiki from now through June 30, I strongly suggest you consider booking the Hyatt Place Waikiki using the method I did.
As far as the rest of our stays in Hawaii, I do plan on using points and/or points and cash for the rest of my reservations.
For those who have visited Hawaii, please do share your points-redemption stories. I’d love to get ideas for Maui and Kauai!
I'm in Hawaii and can provide any info or suggestions if you want..the hyatt is pretty good for 120$..but I would rather have the grand hyatt kauai..oh fyi..the hyatt waikiki was going thru some striking/protesting issues…https://twitter.com/bitachu
If you want hyatt absolutely stay at the grand hyatt Kauai It is in The south part of the island – less rain. If you want SPG stay at the St. Regis in kauai. This is in the north part Of the island (princeville). This part is slightly nicer but does receive more rain. Maybe SPG will offer their free night promotion just in time?! I stayed at the hyatt and LOVED it.
Good deal! You can usually find rates for ~$150 on Hotwire even in the Kaanapali area of Maui. But then you have to be able to figure out which hotel it is first…I just got back from Maui, and if you head there I would definitely recommend staying in the Kaanapali area. The Hyatt, Westin, and Sheraton are all good properties, and I've stayed at each of them. We stopped by the Ritz-Carlton at Kapalua and were not impressed at all. We also drove by the hotels in Wailea, and I was shocked by how un-Hawaiian it looked. It felt like I was back in Newport Beach, CA.Personally, I didn't care for the Waikiki area on my last trip to Oahu. The north shore near Waialua is much more relaxed. If you can, go snorkeling at Sharks Cove. It's one of the best places I've been in Hawaii.
We will also be on Kauai in June….last time we stayed 5 nights on the north shore at the Westin (which is their timeshare). We stayed all 5 nights. This year we decided to break up the 5 nights based on what we wanted to visit. Our first 3 nights are at the Westin. I think we will use cash and points at 4.8K plus $90 a night…then we are spending the last 2 nights at the Grand Hyatt using our 2 free nights from Hyatt! Last year I got the card and we stayed at the Hyatt Maui. That was awesome but then we moved down to the Honua Kai to be in a condo for the rest of our stay..
I notice a lot of people mention St Regis. Since we are traveling “with child” we stayed at the westin because they are studios and one bedroom units. The Westin provides a free very nice shuttle to the St Regis. You can’t use the pool, but you can use the chairs on the beach. We loved being able to cook breakfast if we wanted at the Westin…the pools and staff are very nice also.
How is the planning of your hawaii trip coming? Keep us posted. I am planning a trip for September.
I’m planning a trip for October – will be excited to hear everyone else’s success stories and recommendations. Will share mine if I find them first! :-)