fjs08

Kapalua, Kaanapali, or Wailea??
sun , beach, Restaurants, some shopping.
Not interested in sight seeing st all. Plop me down and relax.
Suggestions on which area and specific resorts.
Thx

AustinTraveler

Napili.

tomfuller

How many days? How many people? What month? Do you want golf or snorkleing nearby? My DW and I stayed at a small condo in Kehei across the street from a public beach. It had quite a few restaurants within 2 miles.

sf7307

We just did this in late September. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Kaanapali for 5 nights and the Ekahi condos in Wailea for 3 (supposed to be 4 but we had to cut trip a day short). On past trips, we've visited Napili, Kapalua and other areas.

We love Kaanapali (although not the Hyatt so much). It's the right level of "busy-ness" for us. We love being able to walk on the beach path (6 miles round trip if you go all the way up to Honua Kai and back). The beach is nice, there are restaurants, it's very close to Lahaina, it's got a very "tropical" (if also manufactured) feel -- lots of palm trees and chaise lounges. The issue with the Hyatt was the crowds - the kind of place where if you don't get a chaise by 8 a.m. you might not get one at all. On our walks, we noticed that simply wasn't true of the other resorts.

We moved to Ekahi for the last part of our trip and loved both the quiet and the area. Also has nice walking, much less developed on the beach than Kaanapali - great hotels as well as all levels of condos. I can't say I like it better than Kaanapali - at the right hotel/condo, I might still like Kaanapali better for stay/shop/eat.

Depending on your budget, and whether you're interested in hotels or condos, I'd look at the Marriott in Kaanapali (former hotel, now timeshare, but the newer villas (NOT the ones that were the former hotel rooms) are gorgeous, the grounds are great. For a simpler condominium, Kaanapali Alii. For something not as upscale, The Whaler. In Wailea, there are a lot of great hotels - again depends on your budget - the Four Seasons, the Andaz, the Fairmont, etc. There are also much more "downscale" condos.

I am not a fan of Kihei although many are. The beaches are very nice, it just doesn't have that "tropical vacation" feel I want when I go to Hawaii. Good food, though.

Napili is beautiful, but quite a bit farther from any town/shopping/restaurants than the other areas.

jamie99

It's a personal preference, I liked West Maui better as it seemed greener and more tropical. We stayed in a condo in Honokawai but drove up daily to swim and snorkel at Kapalua and really also liked the Napili area.
Many others prefer South Maui.

Odin

We really like Napili and have stayed there twice. The beach is beautiful and there are plenty of condos to choose from. We had a car so getting to shops/restaurants in Ka'anapali or Lahaina etc wasn't an issue for us.

fjs08

Thx for all the replies.
Tomfuller, 2 weeks, 2 seniors, no golf although we do play a lot.... well, maybe golf <hee hee>.. but I doubt she'd go for it...
I read the best time to go is between Easter and summer vacation... That's when we'd go. Also Labor Day to Thanksgiving.
We are retired, so not on a time schedule.

fjs08

sf7307,
Do the new Marriott units have a name to look for??
I found Maui Ocean Club. Is that what I am looking for??
Have stayed at Westin and Sheraton Black Rock in the past and liked them both. Sheraton more so.
Liked Grand Wailea also, but all of this was early 2000's. Wailea seemed to get cloudy early in the day.
Loved Kaanapali.
Never stayed at Kapalua. Looks very nice, but I read it rains a lot because of its position on the island. Thinking of trying it, but again the weather is he key.

tom42

I've only ever stayed in Kaanapali and Kapalua. Depends what you're looking for -something more secluded (Kapalua) or something more developed (Kaanapali). I like Kaanapali for all the reasons sf7307 mentioned. In Kapalua we stayed at the Ritz Carlton (this was quite a few years ago) and also liked that area and hotel a lot (although we went in February and caught a storm that wouldn't move away for four straight days). In fact, just the other night we booked 7 nights there for next September.

sf7307

Sorry for the confusion - I guess it's all called Ocean Club, but the nicer (MUCH nicer) units are in the Lahaina and Napili Towers - up to 3 bedrooms. The units that were converted in the old hotel (Molokai, Maui and Lanai Towers) building aren't nearly as nice. If you go into marriott's website and type in Maui as your destination, you'll see them as two separate listings.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hote...napili-towers/

ChiSue

May is nice most everywhere. September is HOT, and all of autumn has also been hot of late. NW Maui (Napili/Kapalua) can feel too windy in winter; breezes are a plus the rest of the year.

Kaanapali, Kapalua and Wailea are Maui's three 'tourist destination resort areas'. Kihei is a beach town with typical Amerian small town stuff -- not 'groomed'. There are with nice condos for tourists in South Kihei near Wailea, at the Kamaole Beach Parks and Keawakapu Beach.

Wailea has five top tier hotels along a beach path: Marriott Beach Resort, Grand Wailea, Hyatt Andaz, Four Seasons, Fairmont Kea Lani. The mall is upscale Shops At Wailea. Hotel Wailea (no kids) is above the beaches with cart and set-up service to them.

Kaanapali dates to the late sixties -- with some newer condos. Whalers Village mall. Lahaina's Front Street has ye shoppes, restaurants, bars, etc.

Kapalua has the excellent Montage and the huge Honua Kai with more condos than some hotels have single rooms.

sf7307

Slight correction - Honua Kai is at the very north part of Kaanapali (above Black Rock) before you get to even Kahana or Napili. It’s not in Kapalua.