Bonita Springs, FL

In September 2005, we  spent a week at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa. This hotel is just WONDERFUL. We were looking for a relaxing vacation with not much to do, and we were also looking for a hotel that would be fun for our "water-baby" (meaning great pools). The Hyatt certainly delivered.

HOTEL: The hotel itself is a tall, pale yellow structure. Nothing about it will make you say "wow" at first glance. Once inside, you'll find a huge, beautiful lobby with several sitting areas. Very classy and well decorated. The grounds are beautifully landscaped. 

ROOM: Standard Hyatt room. Nice, average size, clean of course. My husband thought the bed was too soft. I thought it was fine. The bathroom had 2 sinks. In-room safe. We had a balcony with 2 chairs and table, with a view of Estero Bay. Unfortunately, it was too hot during our stay to enjoy the balcony. Being with a little one, we really liked having an empty mini-fridge and a DVD player. The hotel also has a DVD library. We didn't check it out so we don't know what they offer (We actually travel with a portable DVD for our son and his favorite DVDs, but we obviously didn't have to use the player at all on this trip).

POOLS: There are several of them. Our favorite was the lagoon pool. It has a gradual beach-like entry on one side. There's a 140-foot winding slide. My husband and I tried it a few times. So much fun!! We weren't comfortable letting our son try it because it was a long, windy, fast ride down. The hotel won't allow tandem rides :-( .  There's also an adult lap pool and another pool with a waterfall feature. There are lots of pool chairs all around the pools, with some umbrellas here and there for shade. The GREAT thing about all these pools is that the varying depths are CLEARLY marked (from a few inches to 6 feet). 

 

THE OTHER POOLS: I'm talking about the ones at the Hyatt Coconut Plantation. This is the Hyatt Regency's sister property next door. People staying at either place can use the other place's facilities. The highlight of the Hyatt Coconut Plantation is its lazy river pool. It is FABULOUS and NOT TO BE MISSED. I'm serious. Don't miss it. Without actually timing it, I think it takes 8 to 10 minutes to do the entire river pool on a floaty ring. There are plenty of floaty rings for everyone's use at the entrance of the river pool (Please return the rings to the entrance when you're done using them instead of letting them float down the river! a little pet peeve of ours...).  The ride down the river pool is so relaxing and more than enjoyable. Jurassic park-like sounds and birds chirping are piped through speakers along the river pool (yes, kinda cheesy). The deepest depth is 3 feet. There's also an adult pool, as well as 2 other pools with waterfall features and a beach-like entry on one side. There's a great kiddie pool with spraying jets. Lots of pool chairs available and the varying depths are clearly marked in those pools too. There's also a nice little playground with a slide for the little ones. 

HYATT STAFF: Everyone was great, starting with the bellhop who was so nice to our son. He had him hop on the luggage cart, press the elevator button and wheeled him up to our room along with our luggage. Our son thoroughly enjoyed that. 

HYATT SPA: It is BEAUTIFUL. I did do the 50-minute stillwater relaxation massage therapy for $100. Very nice.  Anything under $100 will only buy you a 25-minute service. Most everything else costs between $100-$215.

FOOD/PRICES: The food was pricey. It was a good thing we rented a car for our entire stay. We got some groceries and ate at nearby restaurants (unfortunately not near enough to walk). There's free parking at the hotel. Overall, we thought the hotel food was good. Depending on what we had, we thought some foods were better than others. Nothing was awful but nothing was exceptional either. We never ate breakfast at the hotel. There's an IHOP nearby which we went to several times. We did the math. Our total IHOP breakfast cost us $24 (including taxes). Having the same breakfast at the Hyatt would have cost us $49 (not including taxes). Room service was always fast. Less than 30 minutes. There was barely anyone at the resort during our entire stay so that was probably why the service was so amazingly fast. There's a $3 delivery charge, an 18% service charge, plus taxes.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We had no interest in going to the hotel's beach, Big Hickory Island Beach, so we didn't. Regarding the timeshare folks, we were asked a couple of times (nicely) and we declined (nicely). No big deal. In conclusion, this is a great hotel that we'd recommend.