Napili Kai - Beachfront or Oceanview?
 

Hello experts!

We are booked at the Napili Kai resort on Maui for mid-February (holiday week). We have a choice of staying either in a beachfront unit or an oceanview unit (the Lani II building, I think). I love the idea of staying beachfront, but worry about lots of kids arounds and maybe not the best view. The Lani II building offers an oceanview, but it looks (at least on their website) like you would be looking at the roof of the building just below it. Has anyone been there that can tell me which location would offer the best view along with some privacy? Pricewise, they are about the same.

Thanks so much for any info!

Hi, I'm no expert, but I've stayed at Napili Kai a couple of times and loved it. We stayed in Lani 2 and the view of the ocean was great. Its a tiered property, so you can see over the lower rooftops. You still see them, but our ocean view was not blocked at all. Not sure if all their units are the same, but if you pay for "ocean view", you'll probably have something similar to what we had. I'm not sure exactly what the "oceanfront" rooms are, but they probably overlook the putting green. They're set back from the beach, not sure if noise will be a problem, but if you're on the ground floor privacy might be a problem. But, overall, Napili Kai is beautiful, the beach is great, and the Sea Lodge is a nice place to eat. HOWEVER, you are very close to the greatest breakfast place in all of Maui, The Gazebo. Its located on the other side of Napili Bay at the Napili Shores. Overlooking the ocean, they have a bell to ring when whales are spotted, and they're famous for their macadamia, banana pancakes, but all the food is good. We always get the fried rice with scrambled eggs on it. The lines are always long, and the wait is always worth it.

have a fantastic trip!

The beachfront units in Lahaina and Honoloa, and the OV units in Keaka I,II,III are lower, will have more kids on the grass areas and beach. For you, ocean view in Aloha, or better yet, Lani II (upstairs) will be more private and good ocean views. Just a few more sreps to the beach, but no big deal.

Thanks so much for your repolies. I just emailed the Napili Kai to see if we could change our reservation to oceanview studio.

Although they have some available, here's the deal with getting a specific building and/or unit: you have to pay an additional onetime premium of $350.00 in order to specify the building and floor.

what do you think? should I take my chances that we will get a room in the Aloha or Lani II buildings or pay the extra premium? (At this point, if I factor the cost of the premium with the price of the room, it comes out to over $400 night!) I'm thinking I might take my chances, but I know I would be disappointed if we were in the Keaka buidlings. We're coming in on a Monday and leaving on Friday, so I'm guessing that folks that arrive on Saturday (for a full 7-day week) would get preference).

This Hawaii trip is high stress so far!

Let me know what you think about the premium.

Beachfront resorts are like buying real estate--it's location, location, location. In the scheme of your whole trip, a premium to get the right location may be worth it. The views from Aloha and esp. Lani II are broader.

P.S. It's almost as close to walk next door to the north to the more secluded Kapalua Bay Beach (with excellent snorkeling). It's the beach showing on the upper left of Napili Kai's homepage.

xkenx, you have me sold. In the grand scheme of things, it's important to me that we have as good a location as possible. So, premium will be worth it. Even at close to $400, it's still less expensive than staying at a high rise chain resort and (I'm hoping) will be much more relaxing in this location. Thanks for the advice/encouragement.

Curious, if location is that important (which I believe it is), you'd be paying more in a chain hotel, too, for oceanfront vs. oceanview (which might be a sliver of ocean if you lean out far enough on the balcony LOL)or garden view. We recently stayed at the Marriott Waiohai on a "deal" and our first view was of the parking lot!!! Yes, the balcony actually overlooked the parking lot. Only consistent complaints about the fact that the internet didn't work in our room persuaded them to move us. Even though the second room wasn't the best view in the place, it did overlook the gorgeous landscaping and made all the difference in how pleasant our vacation was. I can't imagine having had that parking-lot view for 5 nights. In fact, I think Marriott is doing themselves a disservice by having even constructed that property with parking behind the building.