rex

ttt... still seeking gyppielou!

CaliNurse

"Not doubting the sincerity of your advice CaliNurse, but MauiRevealed - - on the wizardpub.com website - - says this about the Royal Kahana... (excerpt)"

Yes, Rex, Outrigger Royal Kahana IS the hotel I meant. Gee, I'm glad you're not doubting my sincerity. Do you think I'd get on this forum of people who merely desire to give others a small benefit of their experience, and recommend a place that I would NOT go to, or NOT send my family and friends to? Since I, family, and friends have all enjoyed this hotel condo, i feel quite comfortabel recommending it on this forum, especially because it represents something that is sometimes hard to find in Hawaii--great location for reasonable price.
LOL!! If you could have seen the ocean view from my condo, 915,. WOW!! Yes. there were a few palm trees in the view . That is supposed to ruin it??? Pulleaze.The authors of "Maui Revealed" know perfectly well that there is a difference in this or any other hotel between ocean VIEW and ocean FRONT--as I too explained on my erlier post
NEVER have I seen or noticed "smelly seaweed" on the beach at Kahana town or along the coat there, including in front of Royal Kahana or other nearby condos...but I HAVE seen/smelled it just north at Napili Bay, which is why I would not stay there. Just shows--many different experiences, and different strokes for different vacationing folks. Incidentally, this is a good example (and yes, i read this Maui Revealed review once--it's been in the book for several editions) of why I think the "Blue Bibles" are vastly overrated. I disagree often with their restaurant recommendations (or non recommendations) and hotel reviews in every one of their island books. These are merely two people, who have waaayyy too much influence, IMHO. This topic has been covered on Fodors Talk before.
Anyway, wherever you chose, have a great time and Happy New Year celebration!
Aloha.

Brian_in_Charlotte

Posts like the one above are why this forum is so valuable. I'll now strike Napili Bay off our list.

Don't lose patience with Rex - I'm sure he's just as confused and frustrated in his Hawaii research as I am.

While there is a decent population of opinions on where to stay, often they're split - my unscientific poll has the West side of Maui running about even with the South side. I'm thinking of flipping a coin.

rex

Well, I must say that discovering MauiRevealed has turned this process into quite a hornet's nest - - on one hand, they do defend themselves by pointing out that their remarks are relative - - that even "less wonderful" places on Maui are still on Maui! and likely to offer a fantastic experience.

And it does seem that there are some awfully sharp and divided views of what is "yuck!" and what is nice on the Maui beaches, both west and south. "Blue" seems to disparage pretty much all of Kihei - - to the north they complain about the pond(s?) behind S. Kihei Rd and the curse of "midges" (or smell), and to the south, they rant about the seaweed. Then, north of Lahaina, there eem to be some strong anti-Ka'anpali voices here!

And on the flip side - - on another thread - - I seem to have created a firestorm wondering if "they" (MauiRevealed) are TOO glowing about Aloha Pualani (and two other sources as well, including gyppielou here).

Probably over-stressing about this - - I just want reassurance... and probably trying way too hard to get the "perfect" combination of location, price and features during this very peak time - - and for only two nights to boot.

So, right now... here are my leading choices

Village by the Sea - - cheapest of the on-beach choices; perhaps for good reason

Outrigger Royal Kahana - - $189, 209 or 249 - with the obvious strong endorsement from CaliNurse; nuff said

Aloha Pualani - - at $295 for the honeymoon suite, about the most expensive place I am considering; worth it for little or no view? but otherwise "wonderful"? verifiable? why then, do they have no bookings for New Year's weekend (but of course, it's only September)?

Clarita's Upcountry Cottages - - $110 for the honeymoon suite - looks very nice, but go to Maui and not be able to see the sun set into the ocean!? yikes - - or stay there one night only? (rather crazy to move during 41 hours on Maui)

Mauiguesthouse.com - - in Lahaina; one block (+)? from beach; looks like good value; they only have Jan 1, and they will take us for the one night (but as above - - move? really?)

Mana Kai - not confirmed that they will take us for two nights

Napili Bay condo(s) - unit 207 - $235 + $75 cleaning, and not confirmed that they will take us for two nights; photos look rather "midgrade"; likely not a match for Aloha Pualani nor Clarita's in terms of the room.

A studio in a cottage in the 2000 Kehei area, "400 feet?" from the beach - http://www.vrbo.com/45784 - 4 night minimum, and only $125; they will take us if we pay three nights /(actually stay two) + $50 cleaning fee, makes for $213 price to us, doing it that way

And last... originally recommended by Brian in Charlotte, waiola.com (on the basis of their website only); two block from Ka'anpali; looks very attractive, very affordable, but I have not really even checked availability yet (would I become suspicious if they were wide open? LOL)

Wow, I am really driving myself crazy, huh? Good thing I like doing all this!

Thanks for all the sincere and - - no kidding - - really useful input from everyone.

cruisin_tigger

Thought I would add in my two cents. We stayed at Kihei Surfside in 2003. It was wonderful. All the units face the ocean and west Maui, so absolutely gorgeous sunset views. Its right at the edge of Kihei, start of Wailea, so very quiet, but walkable to the beach right next door. Here's a site with some pics: http://www.greathawaiivacations.com/.../MAI59CPG.HTML Kihei Surfside is the curved building facing the ocean, and at the upper edge of the photo where it gets cut off is a very nice beach, lots of smooth sand. But as you can see, you can snorkel right in front of Surfside. If interested, I would do a search 'cause you can rent from many places.

rex

Appreciate the endorsement... I'll call them, but they say 4 night minimum (or cleaning fee - - so that's a maybe)...

rex

Since I've received an e-mail inquiry about our final decision and the experience we had on our (WAY TOO SHORT) two-night stay on Maui, Dec 31 and January 1 of this past (2005-2006) year, I need to post some follow-up here.

I have reported a certain number of details about our trip on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34727555 so I will chiefly focus on the Aloha Pualani itself.

There are essentially no negatives, but perhaps just a few minor words of caution.

For starters, as I detailed on the aforementioned thread, the innkeeper, Sherry is the hostess with the mostest - - and no doubt, much of the raving about this place has to do with her. Of course, we were only there a very short time, but she certainly bent over backwards (and we were only two nights revenue for her during peak season) to make sure that everything was perfect for us.

Now the (maybe) bad news... she is selling the Aloha Pualani - - this has been public news for quire a while. Half in jest, we asked what it would take to buy the place, and she informed us that the real estate purchase contract was already in escrow. Of course, a deal is not a deal in real estate until the check is in the seller's hand - - but in all likelihood, she will be gone if you are staying there later in 2006 or beyond.

Not that one should expect a disaster... again... in any other publicly available info, she has been quoted as saying that creating (i.e., remodeling? decorating?) the Aloha Pualani was a dream come true for her - - and she will be leaving it in immaculate and beautiful condition. I can not think of a single thing to criticize about the decor or anything you see on her website. Now having said that, these realities should be borne in mind: the property is NOT "beachfront"... it is a (less than 100 yards) walk across the (South Kihei) road to the beach; it has no restaurant or other amenities; you will want a car for groceries and/or other exploring (but short of a major resort, wouldn't that be true anywhere?); we had the very best room of the property (the Orchid suite) - - so I cannot personally vouch for the other rooms; similarly, we did not personally use the LOVELY outdoor (poolside) kitchen.

The room was slightly smaller than I expected, based on the photographs, but you will not feel cramped in the slightest - - assuming you are a party of two (though it would not be a disaster to have a sofa-sleeper additional guest downstairs). And the closest thing to an actual negative is already out in the open: this property has an expensive nightly rate - - but then again not nearly as bad as a big glamorous resort hotel... and I think you get what you pay for, in life.

I will equate it to a deluxe gourmet breakfast that costs $16.00 (and keep in mind that $25 breakfasts are not rare in Hawaii's nicest hotels) - - have I had better bargains before? well, yes maybe - - but was there anything that could be done to improve the quality of our stay there? No.

Oh, well wait one little minute. We used the pool only once - - briefly - - and clearly the chlorine was way too strong. We told Sherry and I'm sure she was mortified and calling her pool guy immediately. Naturally, she has a service that takes care of the pool (which by the way is GORGEOUS) - - I assume it's a simple and fixable mistake - - but I include the detail to be 100% honest and complete.

As "Maui Revealed" says... it's a gem - - I hope it stays that way - - and since they're still not really fully "discovered", nor phenomenally booked (I think this is partly because Sherry just doesn't care about current continuing income stream - - so she isn't doing any further promoting, nor offering "come-on" discount deals) - - maybe the new owners will actually even try some introductory price drops for you... for a while.

Thanks to all who helped us choose... and especially gyppielou.