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Umalu Review: The Poolside Grill That Quietly Cost $1,000+

Umalu review from four paid visits at the Hyatt Regency Maui — nothing outrageous on its own, $1,000+ all-in, and one $397 “lunch.” How to budget it.

By Sean · Updated · 1 min read
Restaurant
Umalu, Hyatt Regency Maui, Kāʻanapali, Maui
Visited
August 2026 · 4 visits
Paid
$1,000+ · four visits, two people
Verdict
Fine food, real money. Budget pool days like restaurant days, because they are.

Umalu is the poolside grill at the Hyatt Regency Maui. Nothing on the menu is outrageous. That's exactly how it ends up as the biggest dining line of the trip.

How it happens

You're already at the pool. The cabana is booked. Lunch becomes lunch plus drinks, drinks become a second round, and a $397 "lunch" appears on a folio where the drinks did the heavy lifting. Individually reasonable, cumulatively real.

The food

Good poolside food — it does what a grill twenty steps from your chair should. This review isn't a complaint about the kitchen. It's about the line item.

How we'd do it next time

A cooler of snacks and one real order a day would have halved this without dimming the trip. Treat the pool day as a restaurant day when you plan the budget, because on the folio it is one.

Verdict

Fine food, real money. It belongs on the list — just not four times. The rest of the resort's dining, with receipts, is in Hyatt Regency Maui dining, honestly; the folio it landed on is in the hotel review.

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