Hotel Review: Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Part 2. Activities & Amenities

The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point is a delightful property on the west coast of Florida where we enjoyed spring break this year.  I’ve already reviewed the rooms and club lounge, so this post will focus on the various activities on property.  The list is pretty darn long, almost cruise ship long.  We didn’t get to try everything but I’ll be happy to share my thoughts on the activities we participated in and on one really nice surprise for families.

Beach

If you like the outdoors, this property has plenty to offer and the beach is just the start.  From the bottom floor of the hotel, it’s a short walk past the pools down a boardwalk to a dock where you can board a boat for a private island about 10 minutes away.  It’s a nice ride and a change of pace the kids enjoyed.

One note of caution.  We almost didn’t make the boat ride due to a pretty decent crowd waiting to board.  There’s a clipboard on the dock that’s not very well-marked.  They read down the list of people signed up on the clipboard to determine who gets on board if the boat is full.  Make sure you sign up when you get there.

The island is shared by the Hyatt and one other resort.  It was a 30-second walk to the beach where there were a ton of umbrellas and chairs.  There’s no food service on the island but the hotel will pack up a cooler for you or you can bring your own.  There’s a sizable bathroom facility on the island.  The beach has pretty smooth sand as does the ocean.  The boats were running about every 45 minutes when we were there, so plan your day accordingly.

Resort Pools

This is the easiest of the 3 options to get to if you’re staying in the main hotel.  Located right out the back door of the hotel, there are 3 pools.  There’s a shallow pool with a waterfall near the a sunbathing area and the hammocks.  There’s also an adults-only pool off to one side with a bit of seclusion.  And, finally, there’s a large pool with a zero-entry for young kids and two water slides.  One slide is for fairly small kids while the other is a pretty awesome twisty slide your kids will love.  There are just a handful of cabanas at this pool.

There’s a recreation desk not far from the large pool where you can pick up towels and borrow games, etc.  They also have a large slate of activities planned out on a daily basis for kids to participate in.

As an aside, they had a sunscreen booth, which seemed like a pretty smart idea to me.  No idea how long they’ve been around, but for a couple of dollars you can ensure a full coat of sunscreen.

Hyatt Vacation Club Pool

There’s an old-fashioned trolley that runs between the hotel, the boat landing and the Hyatt Vacation Club property that’s located less than 5 minutes away.  The trolley leaves about every 30 minutes from the hotel and all hotel guests are permitted to use the pool at the Vacation Club, with a few exception days (the Saturday of spring break week while we were there was one of them).

There are a handful of games and a nice lobby area to hang out in at the Vacation Club property.  You can take a tour to qualify for some free Gold Passport points, like most standard timeshare presentations.  We debated it, but since it required both parents to participate we didn’t feel like making the kids hang out inside for 90 minutes.

The pool complex is pretty nice at the Vacation Club, with another infinity pool and plenty of space to enjoy time in the pool.  There’s a waterfall area for the kids to hang out under as well.  But, the thing our kids were most attracted to was the lazy river.  The hotel provides plenty of tubes to float and the lazy river covers a pretty decent distance with 2 different entry/exit areas.

On top of the pools, there’s a sizable playground area for the kids, a bunch of hammocks and a private cabana area.  The Vacation Club also does periodic activities for the kids like snow cones, tie-dye t-shirt making, etc.  And, there’s a couple of bars and poolside waiters to bring food and drink.

Everything Else

Both the resort hotel and the Vacation Club property have fitness centers.  They’re both well-equipped, though I think the equipment at the Vacation Club is better.  When I visited both fitness centers there wasn’t a single person in either one.

Both properties have game rooms geared towards kids.  There’s also a robust kids club.  We haven’t figured out how to convince our kids we’re boring enough for them to be interested in a kids club, so we don’t have any first-hand experience.  There’s a large grassy area beside the pools.  There are hammocks, an oversized Jenga set and the biggest Connect 4 I’ve ever seen.  I was upset I never got a chance to use the climbing wall.

At night, there’s plenty of space at the fire pit to roast marshmallows and make s’mores.  And, if the fire pit nearest the hotel is full, there’s another large one near the climbing wall which was empty each night.

Oh, And That Surprise

We saw a sign in the lobby that caught both of our kids’ attention.  It explained why we saw a few bulldozers in between the hotel and the Vacation Club property.  There’s currently a large expansion of the pool area going on, complete with more slides and a new lazy river for the resort hotel.  It’s supposed to be open around Thanksgiving this year.

Bottom Line It For Me, Ed

Our kids never really did the same activity twice (other than hitting the lazy river hard) and still never came close to doing everything in our 5 full days on property.  With the huge expansion of the pool area, this hotel will essentially have their own water park.  Considering that the pool wasn’t completely packed (though busy) while we were there at the peak of spring break, I would imagine the extra space will make this an even more enjoyable hotel for families.

The hotel is a Category 4 in the Hyatt Gold Passport program, which translates to 15,000 points per night.  And, because it’s a category 4 it means you can use the free night you receive as an annual benefit of the Hyatt credit card at this hotel.  Stay tuned for a rundown on the restaurants.