Maui - Feb 10-14, 2010
Tips for traveling in Feb: The weather can get chilly at night, so don't forget to bring light a light jacket.
Hawaii is one of my favorite vacation spots. In fact, I've been going back every year for the past 7 years. This year is no different. I picked mid February because it's a low season and right in the middle of the whale season (mid December to mid April). I just love watching the humpbacks breached and splashed
Having been to Maui several times and did most of the recommended touristy stuff, I took it easy this trip, mostly just enjoy the sun, the pool, and the food.
Maui at a glance:
As the locals said it "Maui No Ka Oi" - Maui is the best. From its Mt. Haleakala at just over 10,000 feet above sea level, to the sunny beaches, to the lush rainforest, to the golf courses and amazing restaurants, Maui has a lot to offer.
In my opinion, Maui has the right balance of remoteness and busyness of a small town. Oahu used to be my favorite island in Hawaii, but now it's a toss up between Maui and Oahu. It is definitely growing on me.
When visiting Maui, I'd like to stay on the north western side of the island - Kaanapali/Kapalua area. This is a beautiful touristy area with lots of resorts options, nice beaches, golf courses, stores and restaurants, and a short drive to Lahaina town. During the Whale Season (late December to mid April), you can see whales splashing and breaching from the beach.
Lahaina is a lively town adorn with ocean front restaurants, galleries, shops (souvenir, high end jewelry, clothing shops, tours) and night clubs.
Front Street is the main thoroughfare of Lahaina, where the actions are.
The best way to get around Maui is by renting a car. When staying at the Kaanapali/Kapalua area, I would recommend that you stop by Safeway or other local grocery stores to stock up on bottled waters, snacks, food to cook if you are staying at one of those condos with bbq grills and kitchens. Safeway is located in Lahaina Cannery Mall (1221 Honoapiilani Highway) that also houses Longs Drug Store, Starbucks, food court, fashion/accessories shops, dive shop, and island crafts shop.
HOTEL:
This time I stayed at Hyatt Regency Maui
(tips: check Travelzoo or hyatt.com for the best rate, if you have AAA, the rate is usually the lowest with breakfast for two ($30per person) included) , $15 resort fee additional
Pros:
- Location: beach front, access to uncrowded public beach at the end of the hotel, 20 min walk to Whalers Village
- Hotel ground/pool: beautiful grounds with residents penguins, parrots, and exotic birds, big pool with waterfalls, separate pool for kids with water fountains and slide, nice and lush open lobby with resort feel, beach towel has a sleeve that goes over the top of the lounge chair and the length of the towel perfectly covered the entire lounge chair, fitness center was one of the best I’ve seen, it was facing the water and had variety of equipments, loved the cold towels provided for after workout
- Room: room was pretty spacious and clean
Cons:
- Hot Tub: only 1 hot tub by the kiddy pool, kids were in the hot tub splashing water around, filled with sand all over the floor, and the water temperature wasn’t hot enough
- Room: room was a bit outdated, and just to nitpick, the faucet had rust ring around it, the faucet handle came off at one point, I had to screw it back in, there was a ½ inch gap between the room door and the floor, so I could hear traffic noise from outside.
- Bathroom: smelled a little
PAST HOTELS I'VE STAYED AT:
Sheraton Maui in Kaanapali.
(Tip: go to starwoodhotels.com for the best rate, if you have AAA, the rate is usually the lowest. You can also check travelzoo.com to see if there's any deals with this hotel)
Pros: Great location, by the beach, walking distance to Whalers Village, nice pools (kiddy pool is separated so adults who don't want to be bother with kids screaming and running around can have their own space), plenty of pool chairs, great bar service (each drink order comes with spicy mix chips), cliff diving ceremony nightly.
Cons: Hotel room is on the small side, no work desk, just a small table in the corner of the room. The room that I stayed at had ants problem. A few calls were made to the guest services regarding the ants problem only to be told that "It is Hawaii".
Westin Kaanapali Resort Villas
This is a timeshare condos/villas that we can rent. Each unit has a kitchen and laundry room. It's located in the beautiful Kaanapali North Beach.
Pros: nice beach (the best beach in Kaanapali area), nice pools, clean room, kitchen and laundry room
Cons: The position of the A/C in the studio room (the air blows to the top of the bed, giving me a headache)
My story: I stayed here as part of the timeshare introductory offer. The offer was $500 for 5 nights plus AVIS rental car for the entire stay. The only catch was that I had to participate in the 90 minute timeshare presentation but it was well worth it. I didn't buy any units although I was very tempted.
Westin Maui
Pros: Great location, by the beach, walking distance to Whalers Village, nice pools, Heavenly bed.
Cons: Nothing I can think of.
My story: In 2006, I participated in Maui Half Marathon, and being the sponsor, this hotel offered special rate for the participants. The Maui half Marathon started from the front of the hotel, so it was very convenient.
Wailea Beach Marriott
Pros: Resort feel with its open air lobby and tile flooring in the rooms, clean, nice size room.
Cons: Location in Wailea which is somewhat secluded, small pool, I saw a cockroach by the front desk and when I asked for assurance that there wouldn’t be any cockroaches in the rooms, I was given the "It IS Hawaii. They can go into the rooms from outside." Not a good assurance, wasn't it? But the room was clean, free of any bugs.
RESTAURANTS RECOMMENDATIONS
Cheeseburger in Paradise in Lahaina
This restaurant is my favorite for casual dining. With its water front location in the heart of Lahaina downtown, this is the perfect place for lunch or casual dinner. The burgers are all very good and so are the drinks and the other dishes. The service is consistently good. A definite 5 out of 5 stars for casual dining.
Sansei in Kapalua
This is my favorite restaurant in Maui. It's Japanese cuisine with modern twist. You'll have to make a reservation if you want to dine here, but you can get away with hanging out at the bar and just order the food there. If you find a bartender named Michael, you can ask him to make you a Relaxer (pina colada with chocolate liquor). It used to be on the menu, but if you asked for it, the bartender will gladly make you one. Some dishes that are a-must: Miso Butter fish and Foie Gras Sushi. They are delish!! The dishes are high quality and tasty. The raw fish are very fresh too. And the service is excellent.
Hula Grill at Whalers' Village
Barefoot bar has a nice seating area where you can sink your toes in the sand. This restaurant overall has good food and drinks. I don't think you can go wrong with your menu choices. The service is good and it's a good place to people watch and sunset watch.
L&L Hawaiian BBQ at Lahaina Cannery Mall
This Hawaiian fastfood joint has pretty decent food. So if you need a quick Hawaiian food fix, this is the place to go.
Mala Ocean Tavern in Lahaina
Located ocean front, near Mala Wharf, this restaurant boasts organic ingredients, whole grains, no hydrogenated oils, no preservatives and everything in proportion. Dining at the patio is recommended. You can see turtles popping up their heads while enjoying the sunset. For the food choices, I would recommend the brussel sprouts as appetizers (even if you don't like brussel sprouts, this dish will change your mind). I've heard that the Seared Ahi Bruschetta is good too, although I haven't tried it personally. For entree, I've only tried the Whole Wok Fried Fish. This dish is for two people and please bear in mind that this dish comes with the whole fish, including head and all, so it could be quite a work. It was pretty tasty though. The service is good, the servers are pretty attentive.
I’O in Lahaina
This is Pacific O sister restaurant. It’s located beachfront between Pacific O and Feast of Lele (dinner entertainment featuring 5 different tribes dances/songs). The food was tasty and the service was great. I ordered two apps: Grilled Calamari and Seared Tuna with some spicy sauce. Both were very good. For entrée, I ordered trio I’O sampler of filet mignon, fish, and lamb chop. They were all delish, especially the lamb chop, very tasty and just perfectly cooked.
Five Palms in Kihei
This is an oceant front restaurant inside Mana Kai resort in Kihei. I was there to on a special occasion so I asked to be seated at their best table. From their best table, I enjoyed the beautiful sunset, the Hawaiian music with hula dancers on the resort ground, and the delicious food and drink. The service was very good too.
Aloha Mixed plate in Lahaina (NOT Recommended)
This ocean front restaurant offers typical Hawaiian food. There's an ocean- front deck area where alcohol is not allowed, so if you are not consuming any alcohol during your meal, you can ask to be seated there. I’ve been to this restaurant multiple times, but my last experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The entrée that I ordered, the Ali'i mixed plate (that includes a tradtional Lau Lau , Kalua Pork, Lomi Lomi Salmon, Poi, Macaroni Salad, Rice and Haupia for dessert) was served cold. It seemed like that the Hawaiian dishes like lau lau and kalua pork were precooked (which was fine since it took times to cook them) but they didn’t bother to warm them up before serving. Even the Haupia (coconut pudding) wasn’t good, it was dry. I guess the key was to get a stir fry or something like that which required them to cook when ordered, unlike the Lau Lau and Kalua pork that was precook. One thing that was good was the Furikake Garlic Fries.
I've also tried their Chow Mein (stir fried noodle), but I wasn't a big fan.
Service had improved a little bit, but that also depends on who your server is, some just friendlier than others.
Kobe in Lahaina (NOT recommended)
This is a Japanese restaurant with a small sushi bar and some teppan-yaki tables. I didn't actually dine in this restaurant because the service was so bad that I decided to leave. The hostess was rude and let the people came in after me to be seated first. We waited for a table at the bar only to be served by a rude bartender who kept complaining that he was putting in overtime. We checked with the hostess a few times only to be ignored. The hostess didn't smile or make eye contact with me. So we left and took our business to.... you guessed it... Cheeseburger in Paradise, heh!
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