Westin Maui Resort & Spa is Heaven on Earth
Written: Nov 20 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Prime location on Ka'anapali Beach. Great pool.
Cons: $18 daily resort fee which covers 2 water bottles, internet, and gym.
The Bottom Line: The hotel is amazing, the location is perfect, the staff was incredible. What more could you want?
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| merlot's Full Review: The Westin Maui Resort & Spa |
When my husband and I began planning our Hawaiian vacation we knew we wanted to stay in a hotel that would offer plenty to do for the kids. We knew the kids would play on the beach, but the majority of swimming would be at the hotel pool. We wanted a hotel with a big swimming pool that could entertain us for hours. The Maui Westin wasn't our first choice, actually the Marriott Maui Ocean Club was, but since they are strictly a time share property Westin won!
Reservations
We booked our trip through www.expedia.com because it was one of the only online travel sites that offered rooms at the Maui Westin. Booking through expedia saved us a bundle since we booked air/hotel/car in one package.
There were several different options for rooms at the Westin Maui. The standard room is just a garden view. You can also upgrade to a mountain view, partial ocean view, or a deluxe ocean view room. Expedia didn't have any deluxe ocean view rooms available so we booked the partial ocean view room.
I also checked reservations through Westin and their Starwood Preferred Guest program, but the deal I got with Expedia was still far less....far, far less!
Check In
We arrived at the hotel at approximately 2 PM. We were greeted by the Bellhops who immediately took our luggage. While my husband parked the car my daughters and I were ushered in for a lei greeting.
The woman was so sweet and friendly, later in the week I told her she'd be coming home as my souvenir. She gave my daughters and I a lei greeting and then showed us some elixirs they had on a table. There were 3 elixirs to choose from. Pineapple Vanilla, Berry, and Lemongrass Ginger. They were basically water infused with fruit flavor. They were very refreshing.
She also showed us some cool, wet washcloths that were scented with lemon and lavender to cool our faces. It was heavenly and just what we needed after a hot ride to the hotel and being on a crowded airplane for 6 hours.
Once my husband arrived we made our way to the check in counter. A lovely woman, Brandy, assisted with our check in. It took a little bit of time because she was busy searching for a room that was ready since we were about an hour early for check in. She found us a deluxe ocean view room upgrade at no charge.
We got our key and made our way up to our room.
The Room
Our room had a gorgeous view of the ocean. There were coconut trees, lush vegetation, waterfalls, ponds, and many other sites to see from our room. We also had a small view of the pool, but it was still a distance away. There was no sound from the pool, which closes at dusk, due to the waterfalls that are on the property. We listened to the waterfalls every day and it was so peaceful.
The room had two double beds, which is one of my few complaints. These rooms are small so there isn't room for bigger beds, but it would have been nice to have bigger beds or at least one King bed and a double.
The room is also equiped with a desk, with high speed internet service, one nightstand, and an armoire for your clothing with 2 deep drawers. The armoire also contained the TV. There is not a closet, nor is there a lot of space for hanging clothing. They do provide more hangers than any other hotel I've ever stayed in. The lack of a closet didn't bother us. It's Hawaii and we were mostly in bathing suits, shorts, and cotton shirts, all of which are fine folded in a drawer.
The room is also equipped with a safe, small refrigerator, iron, ironing board, coffee maker, and blow dryer.
While the room was small it fit our needs perfectly. We weren't in the room for long periods of time so it was just fine.
Our bags arrived about 5 minutes after we arrived in the room. I should also note that the room was very clean and well kept.
The Property
The property here is absolutely gorgeous. I've already mentioned the ponds and waterfalls. The ponds are stocked with koi fish, flamingos, and ducks. You can take several paths around the property and find peaceful places for photos. There is a gazebo on site that is the perfect spot for a romantic wedding, in fact a wedding took place while we were there.
The hotel lobby is beautiful. It's an open air lobby so there are no doors or windows anywhere. You walk from inside to outside without barely noticing. You can sit along the wall of the lobby, or in one of several little alcoves, and watch the ducks and flamingoes while being inside and outside. It's wonderful.
The hotel boasts 5 swimming pools and 2 water slides. There is one big slide, where they have daily water slide races, and one smaller slide. There is also an adult pool, hottub, and bar area if you want to get away from the families. There are a couple of waterfalls that flow into the pool, a swim through waterfall that leads to a small little pool with seats, it's fairly private and quiet. Not very many people seemed to find this spot when we were there, maybe they didn't realize you could swim through the pool.
The pool is 4-5 feet deep which brings me to my second complaint. A hotel that boasts such an amazing water area surely must be marketing towards families yet there isn't an area for children/toddlers. They do allow floaties, rafts, intertubes, etc in the pool, but an area meant for children who might not be strong swimmers would have been nice. Our 6 year old definitely could have used an area where she could stand up.
We did walk up the Marriott Maui Ocean Club since that was where we wanted to stay originally. I thought we'd check out that pool. That pool had lots of 3 foot areas and a pirate ship for kids to play on. It was much more small child friendly than the Westin.
There is a fitness center that is rather large at the Westin. It looks out over the pool. There were some classes offered that are held on a balcony that overlooks the pool on one side and the ocean on the other. It was very nice. The fitness center closes at 8 PM. My husband was wishing it was open longer.
Dining
There are 3 restaurants on site. Tropica which overlooks the ocean. ONO Cafe, ONO means delicious in Hawaiian, where the breakfast buffet is served near the pool. And Sea Dogs which is the poolside cafe service.
We did not eat at Tropica because it wasn't somewhere the kids would like and the prices were quite high.
We did have the breakfast buffet at ONO cafe and it was delicious. Kids eat free with a paying adult, which is good because the breakfast buffet is $23.75 per person. The selection was amazing. Bagels, lox, fruit, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, omelet bar, eggs, pastries, as well as a whole section devoted to Japanese guests that included fish and rice. The pastries are presented in beautiful boxes and the presentation was very nice here.
We did get shaved ice from Sea Dogs as well as a $9 Tuna Sandwich one afternoon. The Tuna Sandwich was listed as being served on whole grain bread and it just sounded delicious. In fact it was basically tuna on wheat with sprouts, lettuce, and tomato on the side. It came with a bag of chips and was nothing more spectacular than I would make at home. They also have popcorn, ice cream and a few other treats.
Concierge Service
We stopped by the Concierge desk several times. Finding a concierge in this hotel is not difficult. There are several desks where you will find someone willing to help you. All the concierge's seemed to be knowledgeable and friendly.
I do want to mention that the Westin has built some time share's on Ka'anapali beach. When you receive a card for a free gift in your room you will go to the concierge desk and they will tell you about the time shares. They told us that we could attend the 90 minute presentation with or without the kids and be compensated with a $100 Westin gift card to use at the hotel. She also mentioned that if we opted to send the kids to Keiki Kamp at the hotel they would cover that also for the morning. We told her we'd mull it over and she left it at that, no pressure.
We did book the kids in Keiki Kamp one day. When we made that reservation we were once again told that we could go to the time share presentation and get that paid for. We told the concierge we weren't interested and it was left at that.
I had heard that they will pressure you constantly. That everytime you pass the concierge or the time share center they will hound you. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was a little worried about this, but that worry was unnecesary.
Keiki Kamp
This is the area for kids and no parents. We put the kids in Keiki Kamp on Sunday morning from 9-12:45. It was $30 per child. They were given lunch, did activities, learned to hula, and made flower leis. They had a ball and we got to go snorkeling just the two of us.
They also have an all day program and an evening program. They offer lots of different activities such as lawn games, net fishing, hula dancing, sand castle contests, and swimming. Check the daily schedule for what days interest your child the most.
The Area
The Westin Maui is located on one of Hawaii's best beaches, Ka'anapali Beach. It is steps away from the hotel and is the perfect place to hang out for a few hours.
The pool desk offers towels and cabana's for rent. The cabana's are $50 for 1/2 day, umbrella's are $25. We didn't rent these as we only played for a couple of hours in the morning and then headed to the pool.
There is a walkway which runs the entire length of the Ka'anapali resort area. It's a great walkway to take an evening or morning stroll. It goes down to the Sheraton at Black Rock where they have a nightly cliff diving ceremony. It also goes to Whalers Village which is a fun shopping area you can explore.
The hotel is about 10 minutes away from the town of Lahaina. There you can do your shopping for souvenirs, get a meal, visit the Banyan tree and many other sights. There are also boat tours and other activities that leave from Lahaina.
You can head up the coast towards Napili Bay, which is 7 minutes away. Or down the coast towards Wailea which is about 40 minutes away. Either way you are close to some of the most beautiful sights on earth.
Recommendations
I highly recommend the Maui Westin. We had an incredible 7 night stay at this resort and my kids cried when we left. My daughter wanted to live here. It was absolutely beautiful.
I hesitate to post their rack rates, which are over $300/night, because I think you can find amazing deals booking through Expedia or elsewhere. They also offer package deals, but again our deal through Expedia was far less and we still had all the benefits.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
merlot
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