The last day

This was a sad wake up- it was our last day in this paradise. And we ended it at the most lovely place- the Four Seasons Maui at Wailea.

We had booked a few spa treatments as a treat. It's been awhile, so I can't give you much detail- other than the massages were good and the facility even better. The changeroom was so lovely and well equipped. This was our checkout day, so before we went to the spa, we packed up and stored our luggage. Since most flights leave in the evening to go to the mainland, the hotel welcomes you to use the pool all day and provides a hospitality suite to freshen up before you depart. Wonderful perk that gave us a glorious bonus day in Maui.

 We spent the whole day by the pool. We were able to score a cabana (free but must get early in the day) and my partner enjoyed a foot massage (around $30 for 20ish minutes).

We used the hospitality room to change and prepare to head to the airport. It was equipped with couches, a big TV, free Nespresso drinks, showers, bottled water and towels.  A truly high end, valuable and appreciated perk.

This hotel was my favourite, though for the length of time we were on Maui, I appreciated the space at the Kea Lani.

Overall thoughts....

• gorgeous, posh hotel with a high end clientele (I felt a bit....not high end...but that's my issue, not the hotels'). 
• Restaurants with beautiful and delicious food, but very expensive (better value that Grand Wailea restaurants though)
•  A good value because of the freebies- free cabana (we paid over $150 for the cabana at the Kea Lani), free snorkeling, free water toys and other things that make this hotel a good value among the three
• Lovely hula and guitar in lobby
• Big, spacious, elegantly furnished rooms
• nice staff, attentive service
• Beautiful pool area and incredible beach. 

An episode of Modern Family was filmed at the hotel- I highly recommend watching! It gives you an excellent idea of the hotel. 

On to the Four Seasons Wailea!

Again, this is now two years late. I am writing this from memory, with the assistance of some notes and reviews that I wrote.

To recap, we had spent 6 nights at the Fairmont Kea Lani, and two nights at the Grand Wailea. This was our 9th and final night in Maui on a well-researched and long anticipated trip.

I really wanted to stay at the Four Seasons because I love hotels, especially nice hotels. I was excited to check this one out, but also sad because it meant we were on the home stretch of this trip.

We checked out of the GW fairly early (around 11) because we kind of wanted to get out of there. We were early to check in the the FS, but hadn't had breakfast/lunch yet, so decided to get lunch before we checked in.

We went to Ferraro's, the restaurant off the pool area and overlooking the beach. The food was completely delicious, and the service lovely and competent.

What a beautiful cocktail- oh I could go for one of those right now!

After our wonderful lunch (and with a wee buzz on) we went to the lobby to check in.

The lobby is stunning, huge with massive slabs of marble and an open air view of the ocean. Some large art pieces are a focal point.

On the way, I stopped for this money shot. Writing this now, 2 and a half year later, is really hard- because I'd like to go back right now!

We had a smooth and pleasant check in. Again, I had booked this hotel through Whatahotel.com and it came with an upgrade (if available), breakfast, and resort credit.

Although the hotel was not full (it was obvious), we were walked to out room and found that, though lovely and spacious and luxurious, it faced the parking garage (cleverly but not completely disguised by slats of wood). So, the view was of nothing really- a wall of tasteful wooden slats. We were terribly disappointed and decided to call the front desk. We explained that it was our last night of a dream vacation, that we would soon be returning to cold and snow, and that we desperately wanted to be able to see a sliver of ocean from our room. Graciously, they immediately arranged to give us an ocean view room (I booked standard view). It was tucked away at the far end of the resort, but again was a lovely, big, luxurious room with a walk out patio.

 This was the view from the room, which was sold as an ocean view room. If you like a better view, I think anything higher than the first floor would be desirable.

We went to the pool area, which was large and simple but tasteful. Our daughter and her friend spent a few hours playing around the massive fountain in the middle of the pool- seriously, we had just come from the GW, which is basically a water park, and they can't get enough of this fountain. We sunned, and checked out the adult pool, which was beautiful but seemed a bit....I don't know....snotty? I didn't feel super comfortable there, I am not sure why.

The beach at the Four Seasons is perfect. We went down to watch the sunset and there was a very small wedding (about 6 people) happening. Wow, it was beautiful! Earlier in the day, I had snorkeled for first time (free 1 hour use of equipment) and fell in love with that (though I have done it since, in
other places, and realize that snorkeling for the first time in Maui has probably ruined me for snorkeling many other places!).

We set our girls up with room service for dinner and headed to the lobby, where there was a slack guitar player with a hula dancer. Ah, that was heaven. A few strong (super expensive) cocktails and hula, with the soft scented ocean air surrounding us (the lobby has few walls)... a beautiful memory that I will never forget.

We must have had dinner! I can't remember...might have been those drinks!

The beginning

When I first started researching a possible trip to Hawaii, it took me a long time to decide on an island. To be honest, I ended up choosing Maui because I was flying on Air Canada Aeroplan reward miles, and the connections were kindest. Once I started really getting into my research, though, I determined that Maui was  the perfect choice- natural beauty, posh neighbourhoods, exceptional hotels, good food- all things I like when I am traveling.

A little background about me- I love hotels. In a way that is almost worrisome. I love five stars, four stars, and I'll do the odd three star. Not crazy about bare bones hotels- what's the point? I can camp for that. I spend time daily on sites like TripAdvisor, Hotel Chatter, FlyerTalk, and Oyster. I like looking at hotels in places I may never visit. I like looking at strangers' hotel pictures on blogs and Tripadvisor. I stay in hotels 25-30 nights a year, strictly for pleasure- I don't travel for work. I belong to every hotel loyalty program and collect points aggressively. I consider hotels a hobby. I put up with occasional ribbing from my family and friends, but I always make sure we have a nice place to stay, so I know it is ultimately appreciated. I know that I am not alone- check out a few travel forums and you will find lots of people like me. So I ventured into my trip to Maui with a bit of hotel saavy.

Once I committed to Maui, I had to commit to a location. I found myself completely overwhelmed- Maui is a very popular destination, with diverse towns/neighbourhoods that have loyal fans. After scouring all the forums I could, I decided that the pretty, high end town of Wailea seemed like the best fit- kind of like staying in Beverly Hills when you go to LA.

Wailea is home to a handful of hotels and several groups of condos. For this trip, I was only interested in hotels- but I certainly will consider a condo for the next trip. The hotels in Wailea are The Fairmont Kea Lani, Hotel Wailea, The Grand Wailea (A Waldorf-Astoria Hotel), The Four Seasons and the Marriott Wailea. The Fairmont, Grand Wailea and the Four Seasons are directly on sandy beaches.

All of the hotels in Wailea are top-end, beautiful and expensive. Our trip fell on Canadian March Break (typically high season) and was 10 days in length. I decided on three hotels: The Fairmont Kea Lani, The Grand Wailea, and the Four Seasons. All were within a few minutes of each other- in fact, we did not move more than a few miles during the course of ten days (except, of course, to explore the island!)

Since I read lots and lots of great blogs to prepare for my holiday, I suspect there are others who are considering one or all of these hotels and are looking for an honest opinion, which is why I decided to write this blog. Read on for opinions (which are, of course, very personal! My feelings about a hotel may be very different from yours!) about each of these hotels. I will try to stay away from facts- you can find those on the hotels own website, and I really dislike blogs that sound like travel magazines. To the hotel lovers, travel over-planners, detail addicts- welcome and I hope you find something interesting here!