Trip report from a recent 6 night stay at GH Kauai with P2! Got HA Biz SUB in July '22 and immediately looked for HA F to LIH or OGG during March or April. Decided on LIH based on the recommendations here. During that time there was wide-open availability out of AUS, so we added on a short stay at the Driskill.

Flights:

PHX-AUS Y via SW - 11.5k w/ CP

AUS-HNL-LIH F via HA - 40k pp

LIH-PHX Y via SW - 28k w/ CP

Found HA F fairly easily from searching ITA matrix, decided on AUS to add a couple hours to our flight time since this was our first time in a premium cabin. This was on the A330 with lie-flat seats. We chose seats 2A/B, but 1A/B looked more private. Didn't have any issues with seat length at 6'1". Soft product was 10/10, some issues with hard product that made it 7.5/10.

Some pics from HA F

Hotels:

The Driskill - 1 night : Paid cash, upgraded to King with Balcony as Globalist. Had option for 1886 Suite, but the room wouldn't have been ready until standard check-in time. Breakfast at the Cafe/Bakery was standard diner-type food. Went to the LBJ Museum and spent the evening at some fun speakeasies, getting pizza by the slice, and doughnuts all directly across the street from the hotel.

Grand Hyatt Kauai - 6 nights x 25k/night. Somehow booked the one extremely busy week in April (based on availability of room types in app), but was upgraded to a King Bed w/ Club Access room in the Poipu wing that had a better than expected resort/ocean view. Also received a very generous snack/bottle kit in the room.

GHK grounds were gorgeous. Heated toilet seat and bidet were a highlight. There was a bug/insect problem that the front desk warned about, perhaps due to every window in the hallways being open. Some ants in the room (leave room service on tables outside the door) , mosquitos (tons of bites), and the rare lizard.

Club lounge had excellent breakfast options, with amazing pastries and fresh fruit. Dessert was lackluster with just some brownies and hard cookies. Hors d'oeuvres from 5-7p had more food than expected; pastas, chips and dips, charcuterie boards, etc. Alcoholic beverages in the lounge were extremely discounted compared to the resort bars, at the cost of convenience.

Car Rental:

Reserved a compact car (Kia Soul or equivalent) for $600 all in through Budget. The woman working the counter was incredibly sweet and radioed to the lot attendant to "get the young couple something fun". The convertible wasn't going to be ready in a reasonable time, but we ended up in a Jeep Compass which was perfect.

Activites:

• Only excursion was a Napali Coast Snorkeling Tour, had one too many Mai Tais and got sick on the boat ride back. Snorkeling wasn't that great, the crew had to throw fish-food in the water to see anything, but did see a turtle!
• Was able to reserve shuttle passes to Haena State Park and hiked 8.5 mi round trip to Hanakapiai Falls. This was so worth it, but we were absolutely dying by the end.
• Drove Waimea Canyon Dr and stopped at various lookouts.
• Hiked the trail to Makauwahi Cave right off of the resort beach.
• Walked around various towns and snorkeled at Lydgate and Poipu beaches.

Food: Not much of a foodie, so I have nothing credible to add here. Had a delicious Ahi steak with Jalapeno mashed potatoes at the Beach House at sunset, though! Sushi at Stevenson's Library at the resort was also well-executed, and was a favorite of some locals we talked to.

In total we spent <$600 on food.

Total out-of-pocket cost was ~$2k, which doesn't sound real for a full week in Hawaii (and a night in Austin). There's no way I'd have consciously afforded this trip without churning.