Hi everyone-

Hubby is turning 40 in January and we are considering a trip to Maui. It will be my first time in Hawaii and my hubby hasn't been since he was a teen.

Anyway, we have narrowed hotels to the Grand Wailea and the Four Seasons. Am hoping Fodorites can share their pros/cons of each and which one they prefer.

We are planning on a week stay, sans toddler (yippee!). We love going out to great restaurants, some beach time, but mostly, are active vacationers.

Any help is appreciated!

Haven't stayed at GW so can't help there. Spent a week at FS (a few years ago) and thought it was typical FS - great food, very attentive service, had great room, beautiful accommodations and public areas, very lush setting with pool and beach.

We did have one incident which was sufficiently serious for my wife to leave a note at the front desk for the manager. Within 15 min, he was in our room. He apologized and stayed almost 30 minutes and actually had a very nice conversation. At the end, he also said he was comping our room for 3 nights as a further gesture. We hadn't ask for anything, but thought the situation was handled very well and promptly. IMO most places wouldn't have done the same.

If you are leaving the toddler at home, i'd stay at the FS. I don't think the GW can even compare to the FS, but it had more of a kid feel (water slides, etc) to it than the FS. You'll love the FS, we went on our honeymoon and loved every minute of it.

no kids, four seasons

Thank you everyone! We were leaning to the FS but just wanted other opinions.

Dfr4848-- not sure what your incident was but would it keep you from going back to that FS?

jreichert - absolutely wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Incident - Our then 4-yr old daughter accidently locked herself in the toilet annex in the bathroom and couldn't figure out how to unlock it. She panicked and we were concerned something serious could happen. It took maintenance almost 30 min to get there which we thought was too long under the circumstances.

As I said, the general manager was at our room within minutes after leaving a note. We thought he addressed the issues very well. It was the sort of response you hope to get/expect from places like the FS.

BTW - we thought the hotel was quite child friendly. Ex. - every night (both before and after this incident) the housekeeping staff left a kid friendly trinket on her pillow every night rather than the usual chocolate mint treat.

Thanks dfr for clarifying. Yes- that would be scary to have your 4 yr old locked in for 30 minutes!! Definitely worth following up on and I'm glad that they addressed it so promptly and courteously.

We are not neccessarily looking for kid friendly since our 2 year old will be at home but it's good to know for future reference. We're not ready to fly with her for that long of a trip quite yet (flying from Minneapolis).

Thanks again!

jreichert - We thought they did handle it well. As the manager said, you pay for service at FS and when you don't get it, it's not acceptable. It is a beautiful property.

You've got a special occasion and 2 is probably a little young. We flew from Houston so it was a LONG trip. My wife seems to have a knack with finding ways to keep her entertained so we survived.

BTW - my wife's brother and his family live in Plymonth and she has lots of cousins in the MSP area. And her sister has a house on one of the lakes. We love to visit the area.

dfr-

how funny- I'm a Texas transplant here in Mpls. I grew up in Dallas and went to college in San Antonio. I've been in Mpls for about 10 years but I still miss "home." Minn is nice but give me the Lone Star State anytime-- well, maybe not is summer My parents said this year has been brutal!

jreichert - it has been brutal. If I can ever retire, we're buying a place on the North Shore and spending the summers there!

If you're ever interested in the Big Island, check out the Mauna Lani. On the same level as FS and great for kids. Even has a separate beach on one of the lagoons for kids, complete with miniature picnic tables, chairs, etc with very shallow water.

Enjoy your trip!