Oyster Hotel Reviews for Kid & Budget Friendly Travel Options

Last fall we were in beautiful Kauai after my brother competed in his second Ironman World Championship and I find myself longing to head to the island again. For me, Kauai is pure relaxation. Not only is the scenery absolutely breathtaking with pristine beaches and the bluest skies you have ever seen, but the pace of life is just slower. Unfortunately flights to any of the Hawaiian islands aren’t cheap and the cost of accommodations can be sky high.

What’s a family to do when trying to plan a family vacation to a destination like Hawaii while staying on a budget?

As someone who likes to always get the most from her money, I was surfing around and found Oyster Hotel Reviews, a new hotel review site that sends reports undercover to report and write hotel reviews. I like that they have roundups of the best kid friendly hotels, best value hotels for Kauai and best values for the rest of the Islands. I thought I’d check out their reviews as I continue dreaming about our next Hawaiian getaway.

The most highly rated kid friendly hotel is the gorgeous Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa. Having strolled on to the grounds of the Grand Hyatt during both trips to Kauai, this property is absolutely stunning but at $370/night, it is anything but wallet friendly. While wandering around and pretending that I could afford a Hawaiian vacay at this amazing resort I know that the Grand Hyatt is perfectly manicured with has amazing pools, a lazy river, gorgeous koi ponds, wildlife featured throughout the grounds but the beach is only ok. The rough waves on the dedicated beach makes me nervous with two small children. I suppose I could walk to nearby Poipu Beach where we have usually stayed to play on their free pristine horseshoe beach that protects the little ones from rough waves but then why would I pay $370/night to go elsewhere? For that kind of money I want perfection!

Moving on, there were other options that seemed worthy of considering like the Marriott Kauai Resort and Beach Club. For $210/night the Oyster.com reviewer raved about the beach having soft sand, gentle waves, but still excellent surfing.

Going cheaper, I found the Castle Kiahuna Plantation Beach Bungalows for $175/night. Located on the Poipu that we know and love, these little bungalows are actually condos with full kitchens and barbecues. Staying in a condo would help make our trip a little more budget friendly since we wouldn’t have to rely on eating out all the time and could easily stop at the grocery store in town to pick up breakfast items and snack food to have on hand for the kids.

The most budget friendly hotel that was also kid friendly was the Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation ($162/night) which is owned by the same management company as the Castle Kiahuna Plantation Beach Bungalows mentioned above and also on Poipu.

So many choices! What would I choose for our next Hawaiian vacation?

Besides spend some time on Maui, I’d definitely go back to Oyster Hotel Reviews and use their honest and undercover reviews to find a great value on a kid-friendly place that would leave some money left over. Sure, I’d love to stay at the Grand Hyatt but until I win the lottery, Oyster.com presented me with some feasible options that also ensure that I’d have some extra money in my budget to eat my savings in extra orders of poke and plate lunches from the Koloa Fish Market in town!

This is a TravelingMom dedicated post. Neither the verbage nor the opinion of the post was sponsored by the client, however, the post creation was not purely organic and I was compensated for this post.

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