Aloha Aku Inn & Suites — Hotel in Maui

Just spent an amazing week in the Ohana Suite. I need to start by saying that the suite itself, the property, and the hospitality were outstanding! The location was remarkable just a few steps across the beautifully maintained lawn to the beach and only a slightly longer walk to stores and restaurants! ||The things we all want to know first: ||The Ohana Suite is spacious, larger than it looks in the pictures, well furnished, and very clean. The kitchen was well set up and stocked with all the necessities and then some. The living room was comfortable and felt like home right away. The covered patio almost doubles the comfortable living space and is a lovely place to spend the morning with a cup of coffee listening to the birds. The bathrooms were spacious and well stocked with towels, robes, and toiletries. There were no unexpected surprises, everything (appliances, lights, A/C, etc.) was in great working order. The owner’s while living onsite are friendly and welcoming and totally unintrusive. Throughout our stay we rarely crossed paths and when we did it was hard to distinguish them from any other of the few guests vacationing. ||Now for the extras: ||The Aloha Aku is a phenomenal place to stay. The owner’s have truly gone above and beyond to make vacationing here feel like showing up at your own beach house ready to relax with. They have provided so many little well thought out details like big beach towels, coolers tucked into the closet, outdoor towel racks for hanging wet swim clothes and towels to dry, and flashlights available for nighttime exploring. That’s before we even step out of our own unit to the beautifully landscaped property, every inch of this property is beautifully cultivated, maintained and is gorgeous. The long tree lined driveway and the lagoon makes the space feel very secluded despite it being super close to grocery stores, restaurants and other conveniences in the S. Kihei area. The property amenities were also outstanding, which feels like an understatement. The common area has a great book collection, some very nice gym equipment along with portable exercise stuff and an office set up with computer access and a printer available, but wait there’s more! There are plenty of beach bags, umbrellas, coolers, beach chairs and snorkel gear stocked, and let’s talk about the sports locker area. There are numerous paddle boards, kayaks, body boards, all in great condition with life jackets and paddles easily stored for guest access. There are a variety of water toys and fun floaties and a small fleet of very nice cruiser style bicycles. We literally couldn’t wanted anything that the owner’s hadn’t already thought of and had available. The water toys and bikes really added both value and awesome fun to our trip! ||The wildlife was unbelievable. We saw numerous sea turtles in the calm waters off of the beach and sleeping on the beaches at night, lots of shiny schools of small fish in the shallow waters, and WHALES. Our wintertime visit coincided with thousands of humpback whales who migrate to this area. The whale activity we saw from the beach alone was mind blowing, and even more unbelievable from a kayak. (cheers to the owners for that wonderful sports locker again) The birds and waterfowl throughout the property were also a real treat, there is nothing like waking up to the sound of the sea and so many bird calls. ||Overall the hospitality, attention to details, beautiful landscape, through the roof amenities and super convenient location make the Aloha Aku one of our favorite places we have ever vacationed. We will absolutely be back to enjoy that slice of paradise again. Well done Gary & Charlene your place is a dream, thank you so much...

This is a difficult review to write because it truly is a review of two opposites. The property is gorgeous—directly on a beautiful quiet (seemingly) private beach. The entire property is landscaped and maintained exquisitely. There is even a library of well over 1,000 titles to borrow while you’re there. It’s downright heavenly! ||||And since we had a fabulous time, it is difficult to tell others that the Ohana suite was below par. I did read the positive reviews of it prior to booking ... but it did not fulfill the promise. Let me tell you why.||||The stairway to the suite, as well as the lanai, is covered with what seems to be a decades old carpet that hasn’t’ been vacuumed in at least that long. I should mention that it is semi-exposed to the elements, but none-the-less it was filthy and should have been at least vacuumed prior to a guest’s arrival. That was my first impression of the Ohana Suite and I was really surprised.....||||Walk in and the living area is huge! Simple, not fancy, not new, not exceptionally comfortable furniture in both the dining and living areas. So nothing special there...everything is just “ok” and certainly livable.||||But the larger of the two bedrooms, which we stayed in, was very small. There was no where to open our luggage, and only two drawers to store clothing. We were constantly lifting our suitcases from floor to bed and back, then navigating around them on the floor in the middle of the night. Very little walking space. ||||Since I like natural light, I tried to open the shade - broken. So never mind that. Reading lights - don’t exist in the bedroom. ||||Now the bathroom, which was the real problem. The shower and toilet area have 3/4 walls. If bathroom noises bother you, you’ll go nuts. Enough said.||||The final thing: the Ohana Suite is Not on the water nor does it have a view of any kind. While that is said “up front” in the description don’t underestimate how much you will miss it when all the other suites have it.||||We never saw the owners of the property, although they have a cool email system if you need to touch base with them or the manager....||||We will not stay in the Ohana Suite again, although we may give one of the other suites a try at another time. ||||Like I said:...

This place was magical. Talk about unspoiled beauty. The driveway into the place was a distance from the road so it made it feel even more secluded. The wetlands next to the unit we stayed in were filled with fish and beautiful birds. Made it feel so much more tropical. The entire property was well taken care of. The workers were friendly and helpful. The property manager was quick to answer my many questions about places to eat, snorkel, and hike. The view from the kitchen area to the beach was breathtaking. The sunsets and morning walks on the empty beach were another perk. Saw turtles sleeping on the sand most mornings.

There was a supply of beach items like rafts, water shoes, bikes, towels, kayaks, paddleboards, chairs, and more! They thought of everything. The community fridge with frequently needed items while on vacation was so helpful as well. I felt so much better leaving my organic meat and produce in the hopes of someone else using instead of just pitching it when we had to fly out. They also had a community cabinet of toiletry items as well that I could see would be very helpful in a pinch. I ended up needed some gauze for a nasty fall on a hike and they had it.

Missing Maui so much and this place especially! Great job to all involved in this wonderful experience. Wouldn't mind coming...