Beach Views at the Grand Hyatt Resort in Kauaʻi
Palm Trees and Beaches
For our 2018 trip to Kauaʻi, we decided to stay at the Grand Hyatt Resort and Spa in Poʻipū. This decision came from our travel agent friend Melissa, based on some of her family members who had been there. We knew it would not be bad, but we were not quite prepared for just how great it was.
One of the things that made it great for us was the amazing view of the beach from just about anywhere on the hotel grounds. The grounds themselves were very well manicured, but they looked even better with the white-capped blue waters of the Pacific Ocean behind them. And the palm trees were just icing on the cake.
So many times when were were walking from one place to another, I had to stop and take a photo of the view, because it was so nice. That is how the above photo came to be. I was not necessarily looking for a good photo location. But good photo locations presented themselves around every turn. I donʻt even mind the thatched roof in the foreground. It reminds me of being there, too.
Another View
Here is another view. This one does not have a thatched roof in the foreground, but rather some trees that block the view of the beach slightly. But that is okay. Also partly visible here are the hotel’s saltwater lagoon pool and its own sandy beach filled with beach chairs. Yes, if you did not want to go out into the actual ocean, you could just enjoy the hotel’s own man-made beach. The best of both worlds!
This was definitely the kind of place that we hated to leave when our time there was over. We quickly got used to the beach views. We knew not to take them for granted because we do not have a nice view of the beach like that at home. So we tried to enjoy it just as much as we could for as long as we could.
The Grand Hyatt was a great place to stay for our 25th anniversary. Now maybe we can think of another celebration-worthy occasion to go back sometime!
Home?
We really enjoyed staying there for a week. But that did not make it our home. Home is where you belong, more than just where you stay. Of course, you can always move your home to somewhere else. But even then it is still more than just where you stay.
Sometimes staying in other places makes me appreciate our home even more. Even with staying in a place as nice as the Grand Hyatt, it was still nice to be home when our time was up.
At times, that longing for home is difficult to explain. But you can still feel it when you are away, and you can feel that comfort when you return home. Once we leave wherever we are staying, I feel that longing to be home even more. Traveling somewhere is fun, but traveling home seems to take a little longer just because you want to be home.
There is nothing wrong at all with that. Appreciate and enjoy your home. It is a good place to be.
Bible Verse
Help me stay on the path of Your commands, for I take pleasure in it. - Psalm 119:35
About the Photos
As was mentioned above, both of these photos were taken as we were walking from one place to the next. No big elaborate set-ups were involved here. I just stopped walking long enough to quickly compose the photo and press the shutter button. Of course, it helps to have the camera set to at least something close to the settings that you would want to use, if possible. That makes these quick photos even easier.
I probably did more processing on these than was actually necessary, because the views were pretty good without any help from me. Just some contrast adjustments and a slight increase in color saturation were the main things I did here. And looking at these photos makes me want to go back again, too! Not that there is anything wrong with our home, of course.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus M.Zukio 25mm f1.8 and Olympus 14-42mm IIR
Date: July 8 and 9, 2018
Location: Grand Hyatt Resort, Poʻipū, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Note: No compensation was provided by Grand Hyatt for this post. We paid for our stay with our own money.
