A few years later, overall feeling about the Grand Wailea.

These are the things I remember about the Grand Wailea, a few years on (a benefit, I guess, of waiting a few years to finish a review/blog):

• Huge, just huge. Distances from room to pool, room to lobby, room to restaurants are long! Really far. 
• Impersonal. So big it's more like a Disney or Vegas property- those aren't usually warm and fuzzy either. In fact, the Grand Wailea reminds a lot of a Disney property, especially a luxury one- lovely on the surface, but incomparable to a true five star. 
• A truly stunning pool area, which I think of frequently and fondly. Grateful that we experienced it. But..
• Intense pool chair rules!  And wristband rules! By nature, I am a rule follower, but I was feeling a little chastised here. 
• EXPENSIVE. $5.99 cappucino, $20 sandwiches.
• My overall memory is that this hotel was frosty. Cold, robotic, without any care or concern for the guest beyond a very scripted welcome and goodbye. 

I'm glad we spent some time at the GW, but I wish it was one night, so we could have had two nights at the Four Seasons Wailea. 

The Grand Luau at Honua'ula

We had purchased tickets to this luau before we left Canada. I am now writing this a few years after this vacation (Ooops! Forgot about this project!) but I believe the tickets were in the high $80s with a small discount for the kids. We chose this Luau even after hearing that it was not the best on Maui because it was close and we wanted to drink- not drive.

The food was really quite good, and the setting spectacular.

Room at Grand Wailea

I picked up our keys and went to the room while the rest of the family dried off and gathered up from the pool. We were on the 7th floor of the Molokini wing- very far from the lobby- facing south. The room was pretty standard- two queen beds, a desk and a chair. There were sliding doors out to the lanai, which had a table and two nice chairs with pads. The balcony juts out from the building a bit and is not very private. The view (no upgrade- I was disappointed) was of the Four Seasons next door, the loading dock area, the well-disguised parking garage, the ocean to the right and Haleakala to the left. Since we were up so high, we actually had a nice view. The room was ok- it seemed small after the Kea Lani, but was still quite luxurious and nicely furnished.

I am sorry- I didn't take any photos of the room. This is a courtyard between two wings of the building. There are little paths and streams and so many flowers. Stunning.

Grand Wailea #2 (lots of pictures)

Without a doubt, the lobby and common areas of the Grand Wailea are beautiful. 

The lounge in the lobby.

Indoor/outdoor lobby with lots of water and art.

The lobby is all interconnected walkways around fountains and pools (reflecting, not swimming.)

 We walked a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG way to the pool area. In order to sit on the pool deck area, you must have a wristband. You get the wristbands from the activity centre in the middle of the the pool complex, which involves going up and down, over bridges and under caverns. The pool complex is extremely elaborate- much more themed and extravagant than most Disney resorts I have visited. We lined up for our wristbands and getting one require a computer check and a phone call. We all needed to give our names and they were matched with the code on the wristband and entered into the computer. I get that they are trying to protect against pool usage by non-guests, but this was some high security stuff! At the activity centre, they had some craft tables that looked a little worse for wear (I think it was tie dye t-shirts one day- for $25) and they also sold shave ice ($7.00!). We decided to have lunch at the poolside cafe. Our server was actually quite amazing- she had been there for 17 years, and seemed to totally love her job. She was good at her job, too, because we were all talked into refillable plastic pineapples to hold our cocktails and smoothies ($22, refills of boozy drink- $15).  The food at this restaurant is served in plastic and is all pre-made. I had sushi, it was fine. For four lunch dishes (one sushi and 3 sandwiches) and four refillable cocktail glasses (2 non-alcoholic) plus two cocktail refills, the bill was $220.00. Yeehaw! Thank goodness those cocktails were boozy. 

After our lunch, we sat on some loungers around the pool while the kids swam. The loungers are packed very tightly around the pool- touching, with no space at all in between. We had to climb up from the bottom to sit on them. We waited, and waited, as the lunch buzz wore off and the clock ticked. I went and checked on our room again at 3:00, explaining again that we had (very expensive) luau tickets on the property and wanted to change before it began. I was reminded by another robot (oops, I mean front desk clerk!) that check in is not guaranteed until 4:30. I expressed my disappointment and went back to our seat around the pool. Finally, around four, our cell phone rang and we were told we could come get our room keys.  

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!