Maui Trip Report
 

Back from Maui and here's my .02

Stayed at Four Seasons Wailea and had a great time. Highly recommend this resort. I've stayed at some great hotels and this is definitely one of the more memorable stays. Let me first say we went with our 7 month year old son and they really went out of the way to accomodate us from spelling his name with sponges shaped like individual letters when we first arrived, to providing us with not just a crib but also a
high chair and refridgerator, to putting padding around all the furniture (not even necessary) to sending up milk and cookies for
him when we checked in (also not necessary, he doesn't even have teeth yet!). Just a great hotel with top notch service. We spent most of our time at the hotel pool and beach and here too they really went out of their way to make you feel at home and pamper you.
The poolside massages were great. We also never had a problem getting a cabana at any time of day even though they closed about a
fourth of the pool deck for restoration while we were there. We will definitely go back
especially when our son is older and he can take part in their onsite day care service.

I will also add that we decided to extend our trip 3 more days. We had to leave our parial oceanfront room which was a great room on the 4th floor with a garden as part of our terrace. I would recommend asking for a room on this floor btw since all rooms have these types of terraces unlike the standard balconies many rooms seem to have there. Anyway, we thought we were going to be downgraded because we opted for a mountainview room when they actually upgraded
us to an ocean front room at the last minute as a nice surprise. Just another example of how they go out of the way to please you here.

We didn't do much in the way of excursions except for a morning trip to Molokini. All I can say is don't bother. It's a waste of time and money. I'm sure this was a great spot a long time ago but it's seen it's best days. The coral has been trampled and is lifeless. The same can be said of the marine life there, or should I say wasn't there.
If anything I felt like part of the problem after snorkeling there. That spot needs to be closed off for a while so it can regenerate again. I will say, the snorkeling off the beach at the Four Seasons was actually pretty good and you can snorkel there regardless if you are a guest or not. I swam out twice and managed to see some great marine life including several schools of beautiful fish, a few moray eels and an octopus.

As for restaurants we found the restaurants in Wailea to be average and overpriced. The better food was actually in Kihea. Here's where I would rank where we ate at:

Excellent

Mama's Fish House - Ate lunch here and while it's definitely pricey the food was very good as was the service and the location. It also had alot of character and charm. Book in advance since this place is clearly very popular.

Hirohachi - This was my favorite dining experience to be honest. Moderately priced, nothing fancy in terms of ambience but the best sushi I've ever eaten - and we love our sushi here in the Pacific Northwest. They even had Toro which is something I've been dying to try. Yum. Ate here twice.

Pu Pu Lounge - I'm not sure about the food in general here but I had lunch here twice and the seared Ahi tuna with a mango sauce was simply awesome! You could tell the fish was literally right off the boat both times.

Very Good

Alexanders Fish and Chips - Have to say, this place is cheap and serves great fish and chips!!

Tastings Restaurant - I actually read about this restaurant on the Fodors board. Thanks to the poster who recommended it btw. We weren't blown away but I think it's worth visiting for the wide array of pu pus they serve. Also they have a pretty good wine selection and are very generous with the tastings.

Roys Kihei - I've eaten at Roys before at other locations and I think it's a great all around restaurant. Great service too.

Good

Nicks Fish Market - Expensive, great service,
great wine list, romantic spot but not worth going to in my opinion if you are looking for great food.

Joe's Bar and Grill - same as above but its not a romantic spot.

Pacific Grill - this is one of the Four Seasons restaurants. We ordered dinner from
room service one night. Again, like everything else in Wilea it's expensive. Unfortunately the food was nothing special but it was bonus dining on our deck and not having to leave the room.

Ferraros- Also a Four Seasons restaurant. We had lunch here several times because it was convenient and it's also the food the serve by the pool. Decent hamburgers and pizza if you don't mind spending $20, but only because it was convenient when we were feeling lazy.

That's everything I can think of. Hope this is useful to others visiting Maui soon.

Cheers.

Thanks so much for the trip report. We are thinking of staying at the FS in the spring, so it is good to hear how accomodating they were with your child. We will be bringing our little guy for his 3rd Hawaii trip in as many years.

i agree with your opinion of Molokini. i was really expecting something similar to diving into an aquarium. instead we saw....other people! no fish, no coral, no nothing. over snorkeled absolutely!
we were going to cancel the day before until someone at our hotel convinced us that it was "fantastic". he was obviously remembering better days.

Thanks alot! We're heading to the FS Maui in Sept and will take you advice on restaurants.

Steve
Maryland

Thanks wonder. We're going there for a weekend in a couple weeks.

I was thinking of booking the garden view. If you had a chance to wander the grounds, what do you think of the garden view rooms as opposed to mountain or partial ocean view?

I also just returned from 4S and loved it. We were upgraded to partial ocean view from garden view when we arrived. If I were to go back, I would book the mountain view. While the ocean view was nice, I found that we spent very little time in our room during the day. It gets dark pretty early, hence we didn't have a "view" during most of the time we were actually in our room. Even though the mountain view rooms overlook the parking lot and the mountain, they are a good value compared to the other room classes. All of the rooms, regardless of level, are the same size.
Have a great trip.

Thanks rebelyeller - that's exactly what we're going to do, book the Mtnview room for their $425 rate as it comes with the $30 p/p breakfast and a rental car. Not bad for a FS rate... With the $100 a night we're saving over partial OV or Garden we're doing Nick's, Mama's, Sansei, Spago, etc each respective evening. :o) Life is good.

Steve
Maryland