Maui - Wailea or Kihei Condos?
 

If we can stay at a condo in either Wailea or a condo in Kihei, is there a benefit one over the other? The condo in Kihei is called Kihei Akahi. Anyone have stayed there before? thanks.

My two cents - Wailea is much nicer than Kihei. And you can always drive over there (very close) for inexpensive food and shopping.

Wailea is an upscale resort area so it can be quite expensive. Some friends stayed at Kihei Akahi and it was just fine. You can walk to restaurants and shops and the beautiful beach is right across the street. Driving from Kihei Akahi to Wailea will take about 5 minutes.

My general experience is that Kihei is more congested with traffic and noisier. Wailea is certainly more upscale and generally quieter. It probably depends on the individual units, so check them out carefully. The general rule is the farther south, the quieter and more expensive the condo.

Wailea and Kihei - though very close together - are 2 very different places. Both have wonderful beaches, but Wailea is a planned resort area, with wide tree-lined streets and very expensive restaurants and shops. To me it's Maui's equivalent of Beverly Hills (very very upscale). Kihei on the other hand is generally less expensive and is simply an unplanned beach town, similar in many ways to most any beach town anywhere in the USA. It's a sprawling collection of strip malls, fast food joins, and condo complexes strung along a collection of pretty beaches (the best of which are those at the south end - Kamaole 1,2 &3). Not a bad place - and much more lively than Wailea, with lots of young people - but not nearly the "destination" that Wailea is. In my opinion, both are terrific places, depending of course on your budget and expectations. While compared to Wailea, Kihei comes up short, the fact is almost anywhere will do the same against such an upscale location. We stayed in Kihei in a very nice condo for under $100/night and enjoyed ourselves very much. We were not on the water, but had a nice garden setting and could walk across the lawn, cross the street and we were at a terrific beach park (Kamaole Beach Park 3). Have not stayed at the Kihei Akahi, so can't comment about it except to note that it is across the street from Kamaole Beach Park 2 - which is a good beach, not far from where we were.

Ken

If the price is the same, the next consideration is location. Akahi is right across the street from the beach and is an ok place. almost anything in Wailea will be more upscale, but some places can be set farther away from the beach. I'd do Wailea, given the druthers, and hit Kihei for restaurants, groceries, snorkel rental, etc.