Our friends have stayed at Kea Lani twice. They just got back and raved.
So, we are going in about a month.
Not that this matters, but when our friends were there, they saw Harrison Ford, Britney Spears, Kevin Bacon and Will Smith, all staying there.
If it is good enough for all of them, it is good enough for me!

Gee, I don't know if I want to lay out on the beach next to Brittney, or having Harrison compare me to Callista!!!

Mary2Go, I'm sure your bod is better than Calista's!:-d

Thanks Bonnie! Thank God for MiracleSuits and Weight Watchers! My husband agrees with you and that's all that counts!

BB, where are you hearing that the Renaissance is closing? It was sold in 2003, and is being rebranded, but I have heard nothing about them actually closing. I have friends who are staying there in February, or at least they have reservations for Feb. I'd hope the Renaissance would let them know if they were closing so they could make other plans.

I would not let any of the hotel sales be a concern, because nearly all of the resorts in Wailea have changed hands in the past year--Michael Dell bought the Four Seasons, Marriott the Kea Lani, someone else who escapes me at the moment purchased the Outrigger.

Here_today, I had read that it would "probably" close in a business article that I just tried to "google up" again. When I couldn't find it, I just called the hotel, talked to two different people, at the desk and in reservations. They told me that the last day as a Renaissance hotel would be March 31, and they do not know what will happen after that, whether or not they will close (one thought maybe, one thought not), but they have no further information on the change-over. (Surely, if they were going to close, they'd give the employees plenty of notice???) I really, really hope they will not change it too much ....... I love so much about the place. I think, for the money, you can't beat it!

Oh, forgot one thing! When my sister, at one point, tried to make reservations on line for February or March, she could not! So we assumed the "probably will close" was definite.... but obviously, we assumed wrong. Don't know why she wasn't able to...... you can now.

I have stayed at both the W.R. and the Kea Lani - for a special occasion, the Kea Lani wins hands down.

The W.R. is a nice hotel, and for a hotel, the grounds are pretty nice, too. But the Kea Lani is more of a resort - the grounds are much more extensive.

All the rooms at the Kea Lani are suites - very large and quite luxurious. The rooms at the W.R. resemble run of the mill hotel rooms.

Stayed at the Renaissance about 20 years ago. It was Hawaii and I was 12 so it was great! Went back for my honeymoon in 2000 and stayed at the Kea Lani, WOW! It was fantastic!
Rooms: spectacular
Service: first class
Pool was great. It was October, so not many kids. However, be advised that California has year round school, so you never know when they are on break. There is more than one pool at the hotel. The one with the swim up bar was full of adults. The only kids I saw in 5 days at that pool were babies. You can even take the slide down to the big pool (where mostly families were) to use the bathroom, it is located right next to the base of the slide, very convenient. We were there before it was sold, and at this particular pool, waiters came around with cold, wet, lemon scented towels to cool off and the next round would be chilled pineapple, it was fantastic, very luxurious.

The beach was great, we even fell asleep under the stars one night. Nicks is a must if you stay there. Although expensive, it was worth every penny. Concierge was so helpful, booked our snorkeling trip & bike down Haleakala (sp?).

First room was on a lower floor and was a little musty. We informed them right away and they upgraded us to an ocean view room for most of our stay. When they needed the room back, they put us in the room we had paid for, it overlooked the parking lot, but was still nice and they moved our stuff both times. I can't say enough about the service!

We went to the Renaissance to eat lunch at the Maui Onion, when it hit me that is where we stayed on my first trip to Hawaii. The food at the onion was very good. We then snorkeled right off the beach there and saw beautiful fish and 3 BIG turtles. It was the best snorkeling we did in Maui, and we paid to go on a snorkel trip that was a HUGE let down.
Have a great time, and I am glad to know I can use AMEX points for the Kea Lani, I have a bunch and would love to go back.

Mary, the Kea Lani if FANTASTIC!!! I've stayed at all the major resorts in Hawaii, and next to the Lodge At Koele and Mauna Lani, this one is the best.

Really splurge and get yourself on the side of the buildings facing the ocean. Beautiful sunsets!!!

WORD OF CAUTION: If you get a room facing the mountains, ask them to make sure it's not in the wing overlooking the AC equipment. IT IS NOISY!!!!

Hi All,

I'm facing the exact same decision right now myself! We'll be in Maui Valentine's Day week for my brother's wedding. They'll be staying at the Kea Lani.

Since the lowest level room at the Renaissance is pricing at about $900 cheaper than the lowest level suite at the Kea Lani, I made us a reservation there so we could save some money.

I've been completely torn on this decision since I've always wanted to stay at the Kea Lani and I know if we come back to Hawaii, it will be to the other islands and a while before we return to Maui.

Would staying in a moderate suite (which means not just limited, but no view) vs. a terrace view at the Renaissance (mountain view) be worth the extra $?

I would SO appreciate objective advice and informed opinions from you folks on my specific situation. You all sound like you know what you're talking about!

p.s. My boyfriend and I generally like to staying at nicer, luxurious resorts when we go on vacation--we're just not used to these coming at a Maui pricetag! :)

The Rennaissance is going thru a hand over to the W Hotel group the first of next year and will be completely renovated. Parts of it is going condo.
So much for good deals.
Kei Lani is nice, but lots of reports lately that the rooms needed upgrading as well.
We love the Maui Prince for the beach.
The best in Wailea. The rooms are ok-nice, but we are not concerned with the room even if you are spending $200= a night, how good should the room be in the dark!? Uh huh!
The restaurants there are the best and if you play golf, you are in the center of GOLF WORLD ---MAKENA AND WAILEA COURSES! Check it out and if you think you are interested in the Prince, they have a "Prince Club" that discounts and upgrades rooms.

Stayed at the Kea Lani a couple of years ago. very nice rooms pools and beach. You won't go wrong if you stay. The food was excellent and they have an adult only pool. Haven't stayed at the Renaissance.

You won't be disappointed staying at the Kea Lani. It is wonderful!! We have stayed there several times. While, we were there last March we were told they were starting to update the rooms which I was a bit surprised by as I didn't think that was totally necessary. But I guess they want to stay ahead of the game, which is the sign of a great resort!!

Thanks all for the input! If anyone has had a good or bad experience staying in a moderate suite at the Kea Lani - would love to hear your thoughts....

Hi!

I am the original poster and since then we stayed at the Kea Lani for five days in September in a mountain view "Fairmont" suite. It was very nice, on the third floor overlooking a side street that faced south. We could see the mountains and a bit of the ocean from the balcony. The bathroom was huge and beautiful and there was a small wet bar with sink, coffee maker, microwave and refrigerator. The furniture & carpet in the room was showing a little wear, but it was off-white so may have been more apparent. They are in the process of remodeling, it looked like they are starting on the top floors and working their way down. The beach was really nice and so were the pools, there is an all adult pool if that is important to you. We hung out at the regular pool even though we didn't have kids, it was more fun! They have a waterslide there that was very entertaining. We were treated very well and they knew it was our 25th wedding Anniversary and acknowledged it at check in and left a pretty frame in our room.I don't know anything about the Renaissance to make a comparison but I can't imagine anyone being unhappy at the Fairmont. Check out the latest reviews on TripAdvisor.com to see if there are more recent comments for both places. Have a wonderful trip!

TravelDiva,
You mentioned in a post that you'll be in Maui over Valentine's Day. I'm coordinating a management conference at the Kea Lani during that time, and I have a couple extra rooms there that I'm trying to get "rid" of. Email me at [email protected] if you'd like more info.