Thinking of going to maui this fall. Where are the nicest places to stay?

Hotel Hana Maui. Hana is VERY low key and is a nice place for three to five days. Hotel Hana Maui is under new management and is spectacular. The ocean view/front bungalows are nice and worth the cost. I like the Napili area a lot. The condos/hotels are very modest and not fancy, but the bay/beach is wonderful.

Hey Sara,

I would highly recommend the Four Seasons in Wailea. Was there as part of my honeymoon this past February. It is a beautiful hotel and, as is traditional 4S, the service is impeccable. And if you're a beach lover, it rests along one of the nicest beaches on the island. It is not cheap, but to me it's well worth it.

Also, if you do look into staying at the Hotel Hana Maui or any other place in the Hana area for that matter, just be forewarned. The town of Hana, while quaint, is VERY, VERY, VERY low key (if I may added a couple of very's to what bsquarre said). If that's what you're looking for, great. If not, I would not recommend staying there. Hana is also very isolated from the rest of island....it takes a good 2.5-3 hours to get to other towns you might be interested in seeing (e.g. Wailea, Lahaina, ...). I personally wouldn't stay in the Hana area for more than a nite, and that would only be to split up the Road to Hana trip over 2 days.

Just my opinion.....

I would say it depends on what you are looking for. 4 Seasons is the best overall. The service cant be matched. If you have kids and it is a family trip the Grand Wailea with it's pool and other activities cant be beat.

If you like upscale with more activities consider the Hyatt in Kaanapali. Many activities, shopping and restaurants are within walking (my Favorite)

Wouldnt consider the Ritz since it is too far from the beach. Also would not like Hana since you are very limited in dining and other activities.

Check out this web site. It is updated about may every year.
http://hometown.aol.com/Derm1/index.html

Faimont Kea Lani is also a fantastic hotel. Grand Waliea has the best pool I have ever seen. Four seasons is also very good. Kapaula Bay hotel is also nice(but way far away). I have never been to the Hana hotel - but if you do stay there - you will be cut off from the rest of the island(2-3 hour drive) - but some people want this. If you don't stay there there I would still recommend making the drive - it is bueatiful.

In my opionion the Best place to stay is one the Waliea side - The most sun,very good beaches - and larger resorts.

Sara,
We have stayed at Napili Kai Beach Resort( http://www.napilikai.com ) at Kapalua the last few times we were in Maui, and LOVED it. We thought it was wonderful. Gorgeous beach, away from the crowds of Kaanapauli, yet close enough for night life. We usually take our two daughters (11 & 13) with us and they love it also. I would highly recommend this resort. They do have kitchenette's, which is nice for preparing your morning Papaya!!!

A lot depends on your desire for activity or non activity. For activity the Hyatt, Sheraton, Alii, Westin, and whaler, are located in a village called Whalers Village Kaamapalli and it is very nice, with good snorkleing at black rock, and shopping at the open air village and great food from high end to grills on the beach.

The other side of the coin are the other hotels listed by others. Now dont get me wrong there is plenty of activities at most resorts and all listed are great. It is just that whalers village is hard to beat for activity and the hyatt is the nicest hotel in whalers village, not on the island, by far there are better. So read other posts and make you choice. nick

Hands down either the Ritz Carlton Kapalua or the Four Seasons Wailea. Both located in beautiful and private settings with luxury all the way.

What I found researching hotels on Maui is that there are several "nice" hotels..but it comes down to your personal style and what you want/plan to do. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the big names...the Ritz, 4S, Grand Wailea, The Fairmont or Kapalua Bay Hotel. There are also some nice hotels on Kannapali beach, but that is a very crowded and busy area...we looked into the Hyatt there but heard from several people that the beach isn't nice, not swimable.

IMO, the 4S and the Ritz are a little over the top for our style...and the Grand Wailea looked like Disney/Vegas and seems to be popular with families and kids.

We chose the Kapalua Bay Hotel because of it's beautiful setting, good beach, small capacity (I think it has less than 200 rooms), understated yet luxury atmosphere, and you can use all the facilities at the Ritz. Bad weather was a concern at first, then we realized if it's THAT bad we can drive to another part of the island. It's more lush and beautiful there because of the greater amounts of rain.
good luck with your decision!

The Fairmont Kea Lani is an incredible hotel. Every room is a suite. It's a beautiful place with outstanding amenities and excellent service. Regardless of where you stay, make sure you have dinner at Nick's Fishmarket at the Kea Lani. The food was excellent and it was the best service I've ever experienced. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't stay in Hana. Stay somewhere on the West coast of Maui, i.e. Wailea, Kapalua, Kanapali, etc. Lots more to do in those areas and you will be able to see every sunset. Have a safe trip.

Am I the only one who has had no problem swimming at Hyatt's beach?? Bogart's last post saying "the beach isn't nice, not swimable" has finally propelled me into action.

It was relatively narrow, but not so narrow we couldn't have quite a game of beach volleyball and we all swam. This was a Hyatt General Manager's meeting and there was quite a gaggle of us there. With your back to the hotel the beach we used was to the left side of the property. There was no coral, it was wide enough for a good volleyball game and then some. We swam, body surfed and generally had a great time. The ONLY thing that bothered me about the beach was the size of the waves. There were a couple of awesome ones, but nothing we couldn't handle with some care. Our son is there now on his honeymoon. I've told him where we swam, after reading past comments here, and trust he can fill me in if there has been a change in what it had been! We loved it and I'm not a pool person, beach and beach only!

Of all the hotels mentioned, the only ones that really belong in a discussion of Maui's "nicest" hotels are the Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Kea Lani and Grand Wailea. And within that group alone, there's a good deal of disparity.

The Kapalua Bay is old and tired looking inside the rooms. It was the first of the big (210 rooms) luxury hotels built in the 1970's. Its setting is very beautiful, but its past its prime.
The Hotel Hana is also nice, but more 'ranch-y', casual and also a bit dated. Its strongest suit is its secluded location. And while nice, it doesn't fit most people's definition of a Hawaiian luxury hotel, unless they're turned off by more modern interpretations of luxury.

Whomever stated that the Four Seasons was "over the top" caught me by surprise. The FS is very understated in its elegance. It stands in sharp contradistinction to most Four Seasons city hotels by being very casual and unstuffy, in the spirit of the islands.
The Grand Wailea is over the top IMO. It would fit right in in Las Vegas.

I apologize if I reported misinformation about the Hyatt...I was just going by what a few friends had told us and what I read on here...and being that the beach is VERY important for us, we decided not to risk it.

Also, I should have re-read my post...sometimes I type too fast for my brain to catch up. From what I have read and seen the Grand Wailea is over the top, and the Ritz is too formal for our tastes. Perhaps I should not have included the 4S...I just always assumed it was on the more formal side as well. I know people that have stayed at both the Ritz and the 4S and have loved it...it's just not our bag.

sorry for any confusion.

We stayed at the Renaissance in Wailea. I've stayed in the Kapalua area and we were just looking for something with a bit less traffic. We really liked the Renaissance - and their service was excellent.

Actually we had our honeymoon at the Renaissance in Wailea. and it was awesome. But - it is not the Most luxuriest hotel in waliea, how could it be when you have to contend with the Four Seasons, Fairmont, and Grand Waliea. But it is very nice. as I mentioned before - this is a fantatstic area - not crowded, less rain and unbeliveable beaches!!!( always swimable) In the morning the ocean on this side of the island is very calm - I rented a kayak once and paddled straight out for over a mile into the ocean accross calm waters then turned around to see one the best views of halaeka I have ever seen. You can't do that around Kannapali

Bogart, I'm really only wondering if things have changed, and beaches do, every day to some degree, or if perhaps people aren't aware of the section that is good? You aren't the first to talk about their beach and I've always wondered what it was about. We were directed to that one section for all our activities, and it really was fine--wide enough for competitive games and the water free of obstructions.

I've read some reports here of the beach being full of coral, but believe me, with the body surfing we were doing, if it had been in that section too, we'd have found it and would still be skinless today with those waves! gt; I would think however, that if one section of the beach was more swimmable than another, the hotel would somehow let all guests know about it.

There was a path that paralleled the beach heading off to the left which we took to get to our section (still within the hotel property but not what you'd hit if you walked straight out from the hotel). Has anyone else found it?

I've stayed a couple of times at the Hyatt on Maui and still theink it is a very nice hotel. In Nov we had a special deal at the Marriott and strolled down to visit the Hyatt, once again we thought it was the best hotel in Kaanapali. We did go down to Wailea for snorkeling and marvelled at the huge resorts there. But they really reminded me more of Palm Springs than of the other Hawaiian Isalnds. Since we haven't stayed in any of the Wailea resorts I would not dispute that many people feel they are among the best. However I do like the Kaanaplai area better and the Hyatt is very nice.