I haven't been to Maui in over 10 years. Plan to return this August with my husband and our two girls (4 and 9) for about 7-10 days. We'd like a luxury resort, but the prices at the top contenders are over $500 per night (really wanted the Fairmont, but so pricey). Any suggestions. Should I consider the condos or timeshares and if so, any ideas which ones are the nicest. I remember Kannapali being the nicest beach. Our main interests are a nice beach we can enjoy with the kids, spacious rooms, nice pool, good food, activities available. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

You should be able to get a room at a Kaanapali hotel for much cheaper than 500/night. Try the Hyatt, Sheraton or Westin.

Also, you might be able to rent a timeshare. We toured the Embassy which is now a time share and it is quite nice. I don't know what the rates are but I'm sure its available somewhere on the net.

We love Napili, less crowded, and the beach is perfect, especially for your age children. It is also very safe. We stay at Napili Kai Beach Resort. You can rent a studio, which has a kitchenete. Also check the whaler, at vbro.com. Mahalo, Nancy

I would for sure try to find a condo on www.vrbo.com, you will want a kitchen/kitchenette with the kids. We loved the Embassy Suites on Kannapalli Beach, but it's a hotel room, with a condo you have bigger space and more options, try to find one with a pool.

One of my good friends stayed in Napili at One Napili Way, and really liked it. I liked Lahaina Shores.

If you're not married to a particular Ka'anapali hotel, check Hotwire. You can narrow it down to a beachfront resort in Ka'anapali (or any 'hood) and sort by star rating, but I know I've seen 4-stars for around $200. You don't know where you're staying, but I think the Sheraton is one that comes up a lot.

I would agree that if you're taking kids a condo is a better bet, particularly if they are older. Condos, particularly a two bedroom two bath condo have more room, the ability to prepare some meals without going out, washer and dryers in the room and on and on. Most Condo's don't have the elaborate pool areas, swim up bars, on property resturants etc so its a trade off.

We've done mostly Condo's both with and without our kids, and generally prefer not having to eat every meal in a resturant, particularly during longer stays. Also, having kids and having to use shared laundry facilities would be a major inconvenience.

We've stayed in the Napili Kai twice, and it is a very nice property, though when we were there about 10 years ago, it was needing a facelift. The Mahana is very nice and reasonably priced, as is the Sugar Beach Resort in Keihi. Keihi is a bit off of the beaten track, but has the longest white sand beach on Maui.

The Aston Kannapali Shores is nice but the Ocean View rooms are a ways away from the beach and close to the road, so you get a fair amount of traffic noise at night (I prefer the sound of the surf).

Kannapali Beach, in front of the big resorts gets very crowded and the water gets a bit murky, there are certainly better places to spend beach time, unless you like lots of people.

I have found that the condominium connection is a very helpful website and has a good "comparison" page to help in looking at the various amenities Condo's have to offer.

I was able to get the Grand Wailea for the first week in June through Hotwire for 267.00 a night...Ed

I agree that Napili Beach is wonderful for children. Napili Kai is nice - so is Napili Surf.

thanks so much for all the helpful replies. Ed-- I was wondering how you knew it was the Grand Wailea that you got for $267 per night as opposed to another hotel?

Hi My hausband adn I stayed at Napili Kai Beach Resort just last year and really enjoyed it. Napili Bayu is beautiful and the beach and surf are great to swim in. We saw lots of kids on the beach the whole time we were there. The Napili area is more quiet and laid back than other areas on the island.

Napili Kai was nice and quiet. We had a studio with a kitchenette which was nice. Not fancy mind you but clean and with not maintenance probelms and at a great price. The staff was very accomodating to us.

We have a trip report and lots of pictures of Napili just email me at [email protected] if you would like the link.

Kay

tlaw, What I did was to price a Hotel/Car Package on Hotwire first(they tell you the names of the properties and star level as well as give the hotel description and the list of hotel features with the little icons). I then opened another window with the Hotwire site and pulled up just the hotel request. When I was able to see the actual list of hotel names, there was only 2 five-star hotels listed. So I compared the description and hotel features with the little icons to the five-star it pulled up without the hotel name and matched them up. I was 90% sure it was the Grand Wailea. I did a search just now and it looks like it is pricing at about 271.00 a night...Hope that helps...Ed

I got the Sheraton in Kaanapali for $225/night for 7 nights in late March on Priceline.

Just stayed at the Hyatt on Kaanapali and it was GREAT! Don't know what price range you're looking to stay in but I know we got it for a lot less than $500 per night. The beach area directly in front isn't considered the absolute best on Kaanapali, but is just a short walk down the beach walk. The pool, beautiful grounds and food more than made up for it. The breakfast buffet at the Swan Terrace was the greatest.

We loved the Maui Sheraton last year. We got a great deal for hotel, car rental, & free breakfast buffet. We had booked through Liberty Travel. Hoipe this helps. It was clean and had a great pool & beach.

You can get an awesome 2 bdrm Makena Surf oceanfront condo for much less than some of the prices being thrown around. Much nicer with children--naps, snacks, food, all more relaxed!