Embassy Suites or the Marriott?
 

Five of us, including two teens and a 23 year old, will be traveling next summer to Maui and the prevailing opinion in the family is a resort atmosphere. A few years ago we stayed at the Marriott and everyone loved the location. Last time we stayed at the Outrigger and while everyone loved the hotel, only Mom and Dad loved the location. :) ( no night life). Next summer we will definately stay in or near Kaanapali. We can get two rooms at the Marriott, which is basically walking distance to everything or we can stay at the Embassy Suites with 5 of us in a 1 bedroom, breakfast included, and it looks like its a two mile walk to Black Rock and they have shuttles, etc available. I found a very good rate on Aloha Airline's link for $291/ night, pre paid. The Marriott would cost us twice that. Any opinions?

The Embassy Suites is now a timeshare operated by West Maui Partners.
People who enjoy it go in knowing that it's not a 5 star resort, the beach isn't good there, it's a family resort (lots of kids, lots of people staying there because they want the free breakfast and extra space in the rooms for several people), and people who don't like it often go in thinking it's going to be a luxury resort (more like the Kea Lani, which is also all suites), with good quality food and service.
If the above description is in line with your goals and needs, you may find it's a great value.
It was built as one of the more luxurious Embassy Suites hotels back in the late 1980's. Rooms are large. Service is adequate but not like at a higher end resort. Just depends on what you want.

Rwilliams, thank you for your response. I did note that on Expedia, Wizard Pub, etc, it received four stars as compared to the Marriott's three. Any idea why there is a discrepancy?

I'm going to stay off my soapbox except to say that those star ratings are very close to worthless.
They're trying to sell you something.
Who's doing the rating? (The seller is).
All the star systems at Priceline, Expedia, etc etc are gross generalizations at best.
If those star systems included the best hotels in the world for comparison, you'd have to take 1-2 stars off most of their ratings.

Embassy Suites is very seperate from the main Kaanapali area. You could walk over all the time but do you really want to? We took our little ones over to play the rooftop mini golf and I gotta tel you, the place is kinda run down, Lots of pale pink and light green ala 80's, peeling paint, smelly elevators, dirty walkway...I could go on and on. I had briefly considered staying there a few years ago and I am really glad I didn't. The layout felt crowded, the pool was nice with a little waterfall/rockery accent but it was so full of people I am sure I would have tired of it easily. This resort really feels like it is on it's own little section of the west. I would try very hard to get as many pictures and as much info regarding this property before making a final plan.

Aloha Mom, Thanks for your insight. I will take your advice.

we stayed at the maui marriot and absolutely loved it - one of our most favorite hotels ever! get a ocean view, you will not forget it. i've used "travelaxe.com" (it's a download) but you will find amazing prices on it (it searches tons of websites)
enjoy yourselves!

Sofun1, Thanks for the info on Travelaxe. What a convenient site. Question; Which rooms are larger, the ones at the Marriott or the Westin. I notice that both rooms are priced the same for the nights we want to go.

DawnCt, and you might cross-check what you find on "TripAdvisor.com" which gives all the ratings & collection of reviews from various sites.

either way, sounds like a wonderful time. enjoy yourselves!