Half of my wife’s family is from Maui, and she grew up going to Wailea Beach with her mom and brother. Unlike many beaches in Hawai’i, Wailea gradually drops off into the water, making it a terrific place for younger kids, which is why her Mom took them there.
The Grand Wailea (then a brand-new Hyatt) and its cascading tiers of pools provided the backdrop for Wailea Beach from about the time my wife was in middle school. She and her younger brother would stare at the pools longingly during their beach visits, wondering what magical secrets were ensconced in the watery world behind the security guard and entrance ropes.
The Grand Wailea is now a part of Hilton and is branded as a Waldorf Astoria. I’ve been to Wailea Beach with my wife’s family dozens of times over the year, and sold wine to the restaurants, but I had never spent the night there. Last year, over the Holidays, my wife and I used an expiring free night certificate as the ideal reason to check it out.
Grand Wailea Bottom Line Review
The Grand Wailea is an easy place to like, and my wife and I had a great time there. The grounds are beautiful from the entrance to the beach, the room was spacious with a terrific lanai, the pools are world-class, and the beach is one of our favorites on the island. What’s not to like? The prices, that’s what. This place is expensive. The nightly awards are now 160K/night, and the restaurant prices are so high you won’t be able to tell if you’re laughing or crying. I’d have a very hard time paying the cash or points required to stay here, but it’s a very appealing place to use a free night certificate. Thumbs Up
- Price: During our dates, awards were priced at 120,000 pts/night, while cash prices for standard rooms were ~$900/night. We used a free night certificate from one of our Hilton Honors Aspire cards to cover the stay. Since then, Hilton has increased the upper cap on its most expensive awards several times, and now the cheapest rate for a standard room at the Grand Wailea is an incredible 160,000 points/night.
- Value: Despite the ridiculous points price, it’s usually a decent deal if comparing it to our reasonable redemption value for Hilton Honors points of 0.41 cents each.
- Location: The Grand Wailea is located right behind Wailea Beach, one of the most desirable beaches on Maui. It’s a short drive from the resort to all of the myriad restaurants and bars of Wailea and Kihei.
- Room: We booked a standard king room and were upgraded to an Ocean View King upon arrival. The room was spacious at 640 square feet, had a nice-sized sofa, and a massive bathroom. Our private lanai had a beautiful view of the grounds, wedding chapel, and distant ocean. The room is starting to feel a tad dated, but it was lovely nonetheless.
- Parking: Valet parking is an astonishing $75/night + tax. I’ve heard that members of the US Military are able to get that waived if they ask at check-in. For the rest of us, if you’re willing to walk a bit, there is consistently available free parking on Kaukahi Street on the south side of the Fairmont Kea Lani here. You can take the Wailea Oceanfront Boardwalk directly from the water side of the Grand Wailea all the way there. It takes ~15-18 minutes on foot, not a big deal for an overnight, but something that might get irritating over several days for some folks.
- Resort/Destination Fee: $55/night. This price ostensibly includes several “experiences,” none of which we partook in:
- A private photography session
- Outdoor fitness classes
- Hula and ukulele lessons
- A scuba clinic
- Beach cruiser bikes
- Internet: Excellent throughout the property.
- Service: Given the cost of staying here, not quite as polished as you might hope. Maui’s demand for hospitality jobs quickly overwhelms the supply of superlative candidates, and it’s a challenge to staff the many huge properties here. The Grand Wailea is well-run and maintained, and the staff is efficient and professional. Just don’t expect much beyond that.
- Turndown service: Nightly.
- Dining: Maui is an expensive place to go out to eat…but the restaurants at the Grand Wailea take it to another level. Assuming you have a car, do yourself and your wallet a favor: don’t eat at the resort for every meal. There are terrific restaurants within a few minutes’ drive that are half the price.
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Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa: The hotel’s flagship restaurant, floating on a beachfront, waterfall-lined lagoon. It’s famous for having a bartop that’s an actual aquarium. From what I’ve heard, the food is delicious, but the prices have to be seen to be believed. Open for breakfast buffet from 7 am to 10 am ($60++ per person); dinner from 5 pm to 9 pm.
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Olivine: Casual, Italian-ish restaurant further away from the water, but with good sunset views. The TVs behind the bar playing sports give an idea of what the atmosphere is like. Open for lunch daily from 11 am to 3 pm; dinner from 5 pm – 9 pm.
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Nobu: Massive Maui outpost of the restaurant named after the Japanese Chef, Nobu Matsuhisa. The menu is similar to the chain’s other 50+ restaurants around the world, but even more expensive because, you know, Maui. Open for dinner daily from 5 pm to 9 pm.
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Botero Lounge: Bar and lounge in an attractive setting; seemingly suspended in the middle of the main atrium. Cocktails are excellent and pricey. Open daily from 4 pm to 11 pm, with live music from 6 pm to 9 pm.
- Loulu: Grab-and-go restaurant and market with some outdoor tables that overlook the grounds. This is where you’ll end up if you want to try and actually get close to a meal with your $50 food and beverage credit. My wife and I had two coffees, a small acai bowl, and a petite “breakfast calzone,” that ended up costing just over $50 all-in. Breakfast from 6 am to 11 am daily, lunch & dinner from 11 am – 9 pm.
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- Spa: No surprise, there’s an extensive, beautiful spa located on-property. Treatments are available every day from 9 am to 7 pm.
- Pools and Beach: I’m adding a special section to this review because these are world-class aspects of the hotel.
- As I mentioned above, Wailea Beach is a beauty, with soft, golden sand, a gentle entry, and great sunset views over West Maui and the offshore islands. There’s a terrific oceanfront boardwalk that winds over the beaches and headlands of Wailea and is an absolute pleasure for walking or running.
- The Grand Wailea’s pools are the best that I’ve encountered in the state, a multi-tiered complex of water, steamy caves, rope bridges, and waterslides. There’s a Tarzan swing, a lava tube slide, a huge activity pool with volleyball nets, and a sandy kiddie pool. It’s terrific. Families can easily entertain themselves for the better part of a day…and do it again tomorrow. For those without kids, there’s a serene adults-only area with hot tubs, pools, cabanas, and grassy lawns with loungers.
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- Fitness Room: There’s a massive and incredibly well-equipped fitness center that will easily allow you to continue whatever fitness routines you normally do at home.
- Hilton Diamond Benefits:
- Room Upgrade: We booked a standard room and were automatically upgraded to a lovely, 640-square-foot Ocean View King.
- Free Breakfast: $25 per person food and beverage credit per night. This will get you a cocktail in the bar, 1/3 of one person’s breakfast buffet tab, or (almost) grab-and-go breakfast at Loulu Cafe. Hilton’s domestic breakfast policy really hurts here.
- Club Lounge: None.
- Late Checkout: We were proactively given a 2 pm checkout.
- Welcome Amenity: A box of chocolate-covered Macadamia Nuts,
- Would I stay again? We had a great time at the Grand Wailea; it’s a marvelous property in many ways. The problem is the cost, both in terms of points and on-property amenities. Would I spend 160,000 Hilton points (Or $800-$1000) per night to stay here? Probably not.
Pros
- The grounds are stunning, front to back.
- Rooms are spacious and have terrific lanais.
- Wailea Beach is one of the best in Maui, especially for families.
- If there’s a better complex of pools in the State of Hawai’i, I haven’t seen it.
- The sunsets here are dynamite.
- Lots of good (and less expensive) restaurants within easy driving distance.
Cons
- Holy Hilton, this place is expensive…and the standard room award rate has gone up 33% since we stayed here last year.
- The food and beverage costs will make your wallet hurt.
- Parking and resort fees will get you to $150/night before even paying for the room (the resort fee is waived on award stays).
- It’s a big property; if you’re looking for low-key intimacy, look elsewhere.
Image Gallery
Grand Wailea Ocean View King Room
Grand Wailea Restaurants
Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
Olivine
Botero Lounge
Loulu
Grand Wailea Pools
Grand Wailea Beach
Grand Wailea Gym
Grand Wailea Public Areas
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Very timely post. Wife and I just returned from Grand Wailea this morning after spending three nights there. Booked 2x nights for 110K points each, and added a 3rd night with a FNC. Checkin said that this was a “points booking” and those folks are placed in the large southern wing the furthest from the beach. I made the booking via a call to the Diamond desk. At check Heck in, the lady offered to see if a better room was available – I said yes please and she got us into a room on the 4th floor, north of the lobby, with a garden view, and literally in the wing behind where you stayed. This room was a double win – nice garden and the ocean view was slighly better than yours given that we were a little higher up the hill.
No macadamia nuts at check in, no late checkout (“at capacity”), but our digital room key was available at 11am. We arriced at 2pm.
Bonus – Room slippers are soft and squishy, but one has to call to get them delivered to the door.
Curious about the differing experience level given we are both Diamond.
We dined at the long fish name floating restaurant and it was the most we’ve ever spent on dinner – $250, for a petite seafood spread, pork chops, two drinks, and a dessert. Would we do it again? Not at our current salary levels, otherwise yes. The place was booked out and busy. And the food was great.
Your wife is lucky to have grown up swimming on Wailea Beach. It’s a 10/10 and I don’t even think that the sand being white would be an upgrade here – the golden sand just didn’t reflect sunlight and blind as much! Turtles swim and eat at the rocks just a good 100 yards north of the beach.
I agree with your review here, and its the best review of this hotel. Wish this was a post 5 months ago when we started planning this.
Also, we plan on returning for 5 nights next year using points and fnc. We liked it that much, and it’s an easy flight from Seattle. I’m still seeing 110K per night point redemption rates. This, I can do.
Fun read. I’ve been following the blog on and off over the past decade – maybe more, and glad to see its still going. It’s thanks to you and a few other great bloggers that I was able to learn the game, and do it well, and have amazing vacations.