Thanks again everyone for the wonderful information.

I will get some choices narrowed down and then wait until January to see if any discounts are available for the resorts and make a decision from there.

If anyone has anything else to add, I would love to hear about it

I've stayed here with my kids - it's a great beach and really nice to have a kitchen.
http://napilisurf.com/

I suggest you consider Puamana condos near Lahaina. Very reasonable, great location and very safe grounds for kids to play.

We were at the Kamaole Sands in Kihei this past September in a 2/bed 2/ba and loved it.

We also stopped by the Maui Prince because I wanted to see their beach again. I had stayed there in 1988. I remember having loved my stay at the Prince. I was looking for a particular reef. I didn't find it.

In any case, for the money and feel, I still prefer the condo. Ours was completely remodeled with all the beach accessories too. Umbrella, boogie boards, chairs, etc.

It felt like a home away from home. I liked brewing fresh coffee in the morning. I liked having a fridge for my cereal and our fresh fruit. And of course my 6 pack of beer. I loved having a safe, uncrowded beach with excellent snorkeling across the road. We had a cyber cafe a couple of blocks away that we enjoyed. All in all doing the condo thing was very relaxing.

h0b0 - thanks for the link but that is on the opposite side of where we want to be. Looks like a nice place though

wantagig - where did you rent your condo through?

ga9497: Through vrbo.com.

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals...aui/kihei#5908

wantagig

The link just brought me to the general page. I couldn't find #5908 if this is what is on the link

Do you have the link to the exact condo?

Thanks

Sheraton Maui was great. It was clean. They have an awesome beach, pool, walking distance(on the Beach path) to the Whalers Village, & good food. The staff went above & beyond to please. There is also bus transportation to local places(Lahaina). It was wonderful when we stayed there in July for 1 week. We would definitely go back.

Thanks Candy

I have been going crazy looking for places and will make a final decision in January. Even though we want to be close to our friends in Wailea, I think that we need to start looking at Kaanapali. I did get a good price at the Sheraton so it is nice to see a good recommendation for it. We also got a good price at the Westin Ocean resort villas. Anyone stayed there?

we stayed in this one:

http://www.vrbo.com/35136

thank you to everyone that helped with my questions

We changed our dates to late August and we were able to use FF miles so we are now staying at the Grand Wailea and was able to get a rate of $365 per night

We are also staying at 3 nights in Waikiki at the Moana Surfrider with Starwood points

I am sure I will have many more questions as I start the actual planning of what to do

Wow! How did you get such a good rate at the Grand Wailea? The lowest price I see on their website is $395. per night for a terrace room king bed.

crazy4hawaii

I actually got that rate by calling them on the phone. The August prices weren't coming up on the website so I called. That is for a Terrace room with two queen beds

We just got back last nite and always stay at the Maui Prince.We spent 2 nights at the 4 seasons and were so releaved to return to the Prince. (We won a contest for 2 nites at the 4 Seasons at $660 a nite!) Fancier room, but we don't stay in the room!
They also have a web site that you can register and get better deals:
www.PrincePreferred.com
they also own the Hapuna and Mauna Kea on the big island (Hawaii) and a hotel in Honolulu, plus a bunch in Japan.
The hotel is a classic and scheduled for redecorating, but definitely not a dump.The beach is the best as it doesn't share with any other hotel or development and the sea life is fantastic for snorkling. The expensive snorkle trips anchor off the reef to the left, known as "Turtle Town" and on the 16th hole of Makena South... a fun course, if you like challenges!
The restaurants are fantastic, especially Hapuna, the Japanese restaurant. If you sit at the sushi bar, ask for Ivan and have him make you an "Ivan Roll". He's so nice and really knows sushi.They have luaus several nites a week and the show is great.
Aloha!

Your plans already sound set, but do consider condos in Wailea - they are lovely, have a lot more room, and are substantially cheaper. We have done it annually for 20 years. Try www.mauiownercondos.com. Those are great units.

Yeah, what's wrong with a home away from home with a price tag of 70% less than a fancy hotel?!

plus, 10 nights for a family of 4--wouldn't you rather have a living room, dining room, kitchen, and separate bedrooms?!

Sylvia we did look at condos, and seriously considered them but we are more resort people

The other thing with condos is that a lot of them didn't have air conditioning in all the rooms. Being there in August I know that will be an issue.

We are still considering them but at this time did put a deposit on the hotel. Some of the condos had non refundable deposits or non refundable cleaning fees. So until I am absolutely sure that I want a particular location I don't want to part with the money that I may not be able to get back

The other reason is that some of the condos that we really liked weren't on the beach or didn't have a pool or were $250-$300 per night anyway

I also considered staying in two places.

A condo for 6 nights and the Grand Wailea for the last 3 nights but hubby doesn't like to pack and unpack

When we were in Maui last (a long time ago) we stayed at the Embassy suites even though hubby wanted to stay at the Grand Wailea (was a Hyatt then). When we toured the hotel we were kicking ourselves for not staying there.

I don't want to feel that way again

I have never stayed in the Wailea area, but our friends stayed at the Four Seasons and we visited them there....it was really nice, but very pricey. I will be at the Prince for 5 nights in Feb, if you still haven't booked I will give you my impression of it after the trip. We are staying at the Kaanapali Beach hotel for the first 4 nights because everyone says the Prince is so remote, and we wanted to be closer to Lahaina for a few nights, and we love being by Whaler's Village.