Whaler, Kaanapali Villas, or Aston Mahana?
Jul 23rd, 2002, 08:32 AM
#1
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Whaler, Kaanapali Villas, or Aston Mahana?
Hi,
Me and my boyfriend are going to Maui for the first time(in November). We will be staying in the Kaanapali area for a few days before heading over to Wailea.
Deciding between The Whaler, Kaanapali Villas, and Mahana.
1. Which property has the smallest/largest/nicest pool?
2. Been reading that the Mahana and Whaler have basically no grounds to speak of. Is this true in your opinion? Which of the 3 properties has the nicest grounds?
3. Which unit is on the best part of the beach?
4. I know that both The Whaler and Kaanapali Villas offer oceanview rooms. Whose ocean views are better? I don't want to get there and find out that the oceanview room I booked is actually a PARTIAL ov. (I left The Mahana out of this one cause I know they are all oceanfront)
Any additional info on the Villas would be great. This is the property we are leaning towards.
I know it's a lot of questions. Believe me, we really appreciate your input. We have found this board to be an invaluable source of information for Maui.
Thanks!
Me and my boyfriend are going to Maui for the first time(in November). We will be staying in the Kaanapali area for a few days before heading over to Wailea.
Deciding between The Whaler, Kaanapali Villas, and Mahana.
1. Which property has the smallest/largest/nicest pool?
2. Been reading that the Mahana and Whaler have basically no grounds to speak of. Is this true in your opinion? Which of the 3 properties has the nicest grounds?
3. Which unit is on the best part of the beach?
4. I know that both The Whaler and Kaanapali Villas offer oceanview rooms. Whose ocean views are better? I don't want to get there and find out that the oceanview room I booked is actually a PARTIAL ov. (I left The Mahana out of this one cause I know they are all oceanfront)
Any additional info on the Villas would be great. This is the property we are leaning towards.
I know it's a lot of questions. Believe me, we really appreciate your input. We have found this board to be an invaluable source of information for Maui.
Thanks!
Jul 23rd, 2002, 08:54 AM
#2
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Katie,
We've stayed at all 3 of these!
The Whaler has a small pool but a nice beach area. The grounds are just what is around the pool, nothing extensive. Location wise it's great, you can walk next door to Whaler's Village (several places to eat, convenience stores, shops, etc) or you can walk down the beachwalk to the Westin, Hyatt. Of the 3 it's the most central location. We had a one bedroom, 2 bath unit with a wrap around terrace so we had side views and dead on ocean!! It was quite lovely. You need to ask if the unit they give you has been recently updated tho, some have not. The Whaler is set closer to the beach so I'd say it has better views from it's ocean front units then Kaanapali Villas. The beach in front is pretty nice and fairly wide. The units facing inward would have ocean views if you look off to the side but they are not ocean front by any means.
Kaanapoli Villas has a lot of grassy areas, plants & bushes (but it's not elaborate, just functional grass, etc.) The pool is medium size, nothing exciting (no waterfalls, just a pool). There are a couple of two story bldgs. set closer to the beach (where you can open sliding glass doors and walk across the grass to the sand) but the main buildings are set quite far back. You will not get a good ocean view if you are way back there. The beach is really very good in front of the hotel tho, and you can walk way along the beach (we did) in both directions. The biggest disadvantage here is that the main bldg. is far back from the beach so if you are there you won't see much (or anything really).
The Mahana is our favorite because all units face the ocean and it's set very close to the ocean. We have liked the idea that we did not have to worry about the view as in most places! The grounds are small, just a strip of grass in front before you go to the beach. The beach is narrow but it widens out to the left. The pool is small, just a square one. We've been very lucky and in 4 stays there got recently remodeled condos 3 times (the one that wasn't was not too bad, just a little outdated). You can ask to see it before you take your luggage up, we have). There are washer & dryers in all the units, and a/c too. Views are marvelous from the higher floors (we've been on 8, 9, 10 & 11).
I'm trying to think about the Villas and aside from the grassy areas and it being back from the beach the best thing about it was the beach area was wide. We did not have an ocean view (different from ocean front for sure) that I recall, seems like we saw mostly bushes, grass.
Personally we prefer the Kaanapoli area over Wailea, because it is more "tropical" looking and much closer to Lahaina - it's fun to go into town in the evening and poke around and/or eat without driving 45 min.
I'm sure you will have a nice time no matter where you stay...it's pretty hard not to enjoy Maui.
We've stayed at all 3 of these!
The Whaler has a small pool but a nice beach area. The grounds are just what is around the pool, nothing extensive. Location wise it's great, you can walk next door to Whaler's Village (several places to eat, convenience stores, shops, etc) or you can walk down the beachwalk to the Westin, Hyatt. Of the 3 it's the most central location. We had a one bedroom, 2 bath unit with a wrap around terrace so we had side views and dead on ocean!! It was quite lovely. You need to ask if the unit they give you has been recently updated tho, some have not. The Whaler is set closer to the beach so I'd say it has better views from it's ocean front units then Kaanapali Villas. The beach in front is pretty nice and fairly wide. The units facing inward would have ocean views if you look off to the side but they are not ocean front by any means.
Kaanapoli Villas has a lot of grassy areas, plants & bushes (but it's not elaborate, just functional grass, etc.) The pool is medium size, nothing exciting (no waterfalls, just a pool). There are a couple of two story bldgs. set closer to the beach (where you can open sliding glass doors and walk across the grass to the sand) but the main buildings are set quite far back. You will not get a good ocean view if you are way back there. The beach is really very good in front of the hotel tho, and you can walk way along the beach (we did) in both directions. The biggest disadvantage here is that the main bldg. is far back from the beach so if you are there you won't see much (or anything really).
The Mahana is our favorite because all units face the ocean and it's set very close to the ocean. We have liked the idea that we did not have to worry about the view as in most places! The grounds are small, just a strip of grass in front before you go to the beach. The beach is narrow but it widens out to the left. The pool is small, just a square one. We've been very lucky and in 4 stays there got recently remodeled condos 3 times (the one that wasn't was not too bad, just a little outdated). You can ask to see it before you take your luggage up, we have). There are washer & dryers in all the units, and a/c too. Views are marvelous from the higher floors (we've been on 8, 9, 10 & 11).
I'm trying to think about the Villas and aside from the grassy areas and it being back from the beach the best thing about it was the beach area was wide. We did not have an ocean view (different from ocean front for sure) that I recall, seems like we saw mostly bushes, grass.
Personally we prefer the Kaanapoli area over Wailea, because it is more "tropical" looking and much closer to Lahaina - it's fun to go into town in the evening and poke around and/or eat without driving 45 min.
I'm sure you will have a nice time no matter where you stay...it's pretty hard not to enjoy Maui.
Jul 23rd, 2002, 09:09 AM
#4
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we split our time (10 days) between Kaan. and Wailea too. Good move. We stayed at the Westin and loved it, then over to the 4S. Lahaina/Kaan. is the "happening" part of Maui, plenty to do and see. Great happy hours, et al. Wailea is more laid back with nicer beaches. Make sure you pick a place with a good pool in Kaan, because the beaches are too wiiiiindy!
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