Lori

Has anyone stayed at the Maui Prince Hotel? I'm getting conflicting reports as to whether this hotel is actually on the beach, or not. What are the rooms like, etc.? My husband and I were thinking something along the lines of a second honeymoon. We stayed at the Kea Lani our last time in Maui, and liked it a great deal. This is the only hotel choice offered on the south (quiet) side of the island (which we prefer) with an air/hotel package that we're looking into.

annemarie

We also stayed at the Kea Lani on our last trip to Hawaii. Went down to the Prince when the guys did the catamaran thing over to Molokini so had the opportunity to check it out. Wasn't very impressed with it...property is more spartanly furnished...maybe the oriental touch?? Pool area was very small and the beach was okay. It really didn't do much for me. Maybe someone else can come on and give you more info on the rooms. Are there any other spots you can go to??

Cam

The Prince is not really a 'first tier' hotel in my opinion. Rooms are rather stark, simply furnished. Beach is small (but nice) and sits across a berm from the property. Yes, technically the Prince is "on the beach".
It's never taken off to profitability the way the original owners hoped due to its somewhat isolated location, nothing unusually outstanding about it, and the Asian economic downturn (the hotel was built to cater to Asian tastes) which nearly coincided with Prince's opening.

greg

Lori,
It is "at" the beach, but in order to get benefit which you think a beach side hotel "should" have, you need to upgrade to a premium room to have a view. This is because unlike other Wailea area hotels, this one has a big mound separating the hotel from the beach blocking the ocean view. I actually booked this hotel, but ended up cancelling at the last minutes because of my work conflict. I talked in length with the reservation lady because I also had difficult time understand why the rooms had lousy ocean views. Now that I have visited the hotel, while staying at Kea Lani, I understand fully what she meant. I believe it had something to do the the permit required to build the hotel to have that mound. As others posted, the pools are so so. We had dinner at one of the restaurant and we were disappointed, not in the same class as Grand Wailea or Kea Lani.

Cat

My husband and I have stayed at the Maui Prince four times and love it. It may not be as flashy as some of the huge resorts in Wailea or Kaanapalli, but that's not why we go to Hawaii. It's very quiet and secluded -- you really feel like you're away from it all. There is a beach in front of the hotel. It's not huge, but only people from the hotel really use it so it's never that crowded. There's great snorkeling in front of the hotel. Last year, my husband and I swam in about six feet of water with a sea turtle. The service at the hotel is also very good and the sushi bar is amazing! There's also a very nice Japanese garden and koi pond in the middle of the hotel. In my opinion, it's a good value for the money. I hope this helps.