Hi all. I have found this message board so helpful while planning my honeymoon to Hawaii in May '05. So far, we are spending 5 nts at the Grand Wailea on Maui, and then 3 nts at the Waterfalls Inn in Hilo on BI. Now I need to pick where to spend the last 4 nts of our trip --- Hapuna Prince (216/nt incl. bfst) or Mauna Lani (264/nt). I like that Hapuna is cheaper and on such an excellent beach, but the rooms on the webiste look so unremarkable, I think I'd be disappointed in them. The rooms at Mauna Lani look better --- are they? Is it worth the $30 more to be at the Mauna Lani? All opinions are appreciated.

I can't speak to the Mauna Lani, but we did spend part of our honeymoon at the Hapuna Prince this past August.

The grounds are beautiful, if a bit sparsely decorated. The pool area is lovely...it's a gorgeous infinity-edged pool overlooking the ocean. The beach there is just fantastic...probably the best beach we saw while on 3 different islands. The rooms are fine, nothing over the top luxurious, but comfortable and spacious. The lanais are large and furnished with 2 regular chairs and a table, and a lounge chair. The bathrooms were awesome...very big with a separate tub and shower stall, separate room with toilet, double sinks, and all marble. The one thing that we didn't like about the rooms were the t.v.'s. Strange, I know, but it was much smaller than any other hotel I've stayed at.

The service was discreet and polite. They upgraded our room and gave us champagne for being on our honeymoon. The resort is isolated, though, so make sure you rent a car!

One pays more for the Mauna Lani because of the differences in resort amenities, not room quality. The ML has better spa facilities, restaurants and two pools as opposed to the HBP's one. But as far as rooms go, the HBP's are larger (600 sq. ft. compared to ML's 450), have much larger bathrooms and are IMO better furnished. About the only two things ML rooms have that the HBP's don't are ceiling fans (not really an issue since both have central a/c) and mini bars.

If beach is important, HP wins hands down. Some people on here complain about the stark or emtpy feeling about HP. We on the other hand enjoyed to the quiet & peaceful atmosphere (we're in our 30's).

The Hapuna is nicer in my opinion. We stayed at The Hapuna and had a beautiful room. It is one of the nicest hotel rooms that I have ever stayed in.

The beach is really, really nice at the Hapuna.

In addition, you have privelages at the Mauna Kea Hotel across the street (it is the sister hotel) They have a comp. shuttle that runs there. We ate at the Mauna Kea and the Hapuna and thought that it was really, really nice.

We also got upgraded at the Hapuna. It is nice, and I would recommend it.

We thought the Hapuna Prince was a wonderful hotel. I can see why some people think it's sparse but we really loved it. It is very sweeping and open. Even though there were a lot of people there we were not aware of them, except towards the afternoon around the wonderful pool. The rooms were large and lovely, and the bathrooms were even better. You can go through a path to the Mauna Kea beach where the snorkleing is pretty good.

The Mauna Lani is AWFULLY nice. We certainly enjoyed our stay there several years ago. Go to wizardpro.com and click on Big Island Revealed. The password is HR3454 to look at the aerial views and reviews. I would say the beach is nicer at Hapuna but the resort is a little more upscale at ML. You'll love the Grand Wailea!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest the Mauna Kea, where I stayed in September. Rather than rehash it here, I have lots of details in my trip report here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34542623

It's very serene on a fantastic beach and they have anniversary specials right now. Let me know if you have any questions!

love
roxy