We stayed at the Hyatt last fall and found the resort to be well situated along the walking path on Kanapali to all the other hotels and Whalers Village. It is an older resort but the grounds were very well kept and all the staff very accommodating and friendly. During that period, the hotel was just preparing for renovations in the lobby and main entrance, so there was construction draping present everywhere.
We found the food at the hotel on the expensive side, especially the buffet breakfast at the Swan restaurant for what they were serving as compared to many of the all-inclusive resorts we have visited in the Caribbean. Otherwise, the quality of food at the self-serve restaurant by the pool was good.
We had a ground floor room which turned out to be convenient when making trips back and forth to the pool. As proof of the superior service we received, my wife accidentally flushed one of her contact lens down the sink. Luckily, she immediately stopped the drain and called concierge, who dispatched a maintenance staff to our room. Within a matter of 15 minutes from the time of her call, my wife's contact lens was retrieved. Now that's service.
We also utilized the tennis courts and took a couple of lessons with the resident Pro, whom we found was very knowledgeable in providing pointers to improving our game.
Our only minor negative to the property would be parking. Unless you utilize valet parking - which can get expensive if you come and go a number of times throughout the day - there is limited number of free self-parking spots on the grounds.
All in all, if you can obtain a reasonable rate for the Hyatt, we highly recommend it.

This hotel was amazing. We went a long time ago but I still felt the need to write about it. The grounds are beautiful. My kids, my husband & myself absilutely loved the pool with the slides, swim-up drink area, the cave-like pool area. Expensive dining options, as far as I can remember. We would have no trouble choosing this hotel again if we were to go again!

I stayed here in July for a week for my honeymoon and would highly recommend this hotel. On arrival, the staff had noted on the system that it was our honeymoon we were presented with gifts including free bottle of wine at the hotel restaurant plus a room upgrade with a beautiful ocean view. Throughout our stay, the staff were extremly helpful. Included in the room prices was the buffet breakfast which had a wide selection of food. The rooms were spacious and cleaned regulary. We will defiantly be returning here in the near future!

Just concluded our trip to Maui, and stayed at the Hyatt for 9 nights in Jan-Feb 2012, and I will say, the renovations which everyone is complaining about, are done. Overall, our experience as a family was a positive and if we found a got a good deal, we'd stay here again.
Check in was without a hitch, no wait and was done before it started. We received water and shell necklaces and we were quickly taken to our room with baggage delivery via a very friendly bellboy.
Location, location, location! Talk about amazing, with a walkway along the beach, one way to a beach, the other to Whaler's Village area and beaches...walked this daily/nightly with our kids...GREAT GREAT GREAT, cannot say enough about it.
Rooms are on the nicer side, and I do not know what anyone would complain about. There is even a spacious walk in closet with ironing board, robes, etc. There are 2 fridges, one is a bar, the other is for your own stuff, which we always fill with Costco goodies before arrival. Word to the wise, have the tray of yummies removed immediately, or you will be charged because it is 'weighed' and any movement can cause charges to you. Beds are platform beds, so pretty low to the ground, which didn't bother us at all. The pillows were great and we all slept VERY well during our stay.
The grounds of the hotel are really neat with all the wildlife (my kids adored R2-D2, Luna, Roger, Shrek) and has a very Asian vibe, as most Hawaiian hotels do. And the upkeep was pretty spot on.
The pools (although could use a little tlc) are nice, and VERY busy and the setup is a bit awkward. This hotel isn't a romance hotel by any means, so keep that in mind! There are a lot of kids and with kids comes chaos, especially when mom and dad have checked out to be in 'vaca' mode. And at the pool is no different. You will get splashed at unexpected times, you will hear laughing and goofing off and you will see kids... The kiddie area is really a great area for kids under 5. Above that, they'll get bored fast. Also, there is only 1 hot tub, located right NEXT to the kiddie area...don't know who's idea that was... They offer free pool classes and snuba (scuba/snorkel) demos daily which are neat little perks. They let my 9 yr old son do it multiple times; we didn't buy the trip as it is pretty pricey...but he did enjoy it a lot in the pool.
There is staff everywhere at this hotel, always cleaning, picking up, etc, so I was pretty surprised to see some slack in the cleanliness. I kinda felt like their thoughts at the hotel was to clean what's seen but leave the unseen uncleaned. For instance, in our room, there looked to be maybe soda spray by our bed/lamp that was not caused by us, and was not removed/cleaned the whole stay. Or, the sand collected in my kids shoes was never vacuumed up from the corner I pushed it into during our entire stay. And the little nooks and crannies that kids find in hotels, those areas were in need of some tlc. This said, the hotel did not lack in clean open spaces that people frequent, just makes me wonder...
Food-wise, only ate at Umalu's 2 times, during lunchtime next to the poolside via poolside service, which is AWESOME, but yes, expensive, get over it! You don't have to order! My family loved the garlic fries, biggest basket of fries I've ever seen! And I absolutely adored the Chop Chop Salad. It's the best salad I've EVER eaten in my entire life.
Parking...it's been said, I don't have much more to say. Yes, you have to pay. Yes, the parking is limited. Yes, they are tiny spaces. This is ALWAYS the case in Hawaii...ALWAYS.
f you're going to enjoy anything on the island, try The Pacific Whale Foundation's activities. They are top notch, respecting the ocean, and everything goes to help the ocean life. We enjoyed our whale excursion a lot and will remember it forever. Amazing.
Had a great great great time AGAIN, cannot wait to go back soon.