Napili Surf Beach Resort — Hotel in Maui

We stayed at this resort for 9 days and overall I had numerous pros and cons during our stay. The 1st con was when my boyfriend went to the front desk to ask for more hand towels, the gentleman at the receptionist desk rolled his eyes and seemed very annoyed and dismissively said someone would stop by our room. Not the biggest deal, but took us off guard since the request was very simple and wasn’t urgent. The 2nd con was my retainer was thrown away by the housekeeping staff. I brought it with me and took it off in the middle of the night to take a Tylenol and placed it on a napkin on the wooden headboard above our bed. Not realizing the next morning was a housekeeping visit, I didn’t put it in my case and it was tossed in the trash. I’ve alerted a representative of the resort and they of course said their staff couldn’t recall throwing it away and that I should recheck my bags when I got home (of course I checked and it wasn’t there like I thought). This is really unfortunate because replacing a top and bottom retainer costed me $400, which I provided proof of the receipt to a representative of the resort named Paul upon my return home. In my opinion, it would’ve been smarter for the management team to AT LEAST offer a voucher to compensate for our financial loss. That would have appeased me a little, provided a better customer service experience, and guaranteed them future revenue by incentivizing a future stay at their resort. The 3rd con was in the beach bag that was provided in our room, we found an old, obviously previously worn pair of Women’s underwear in the zipper part of the beach bag that we unfortunately put our phones in. It’s not a pleasant feeling to reach for your phone to realize you’re touching someone else’s dirty nasty underwear. We threw the underwear in the trash near the Sea House restaurant and quickly washed our hands. This incident showed that the beach bag wasn’t inspected from a prior visit, and our hands paid the cost. The 4th con was we didn’t have cellphone service or cable tv access for 2 days because of a modem issue. It was later resolved by a nice lady at the front desk, but was inconvenient nonetheless. The 5th con was there were two days where the housekeeping staff did not empty the trash cans (kitchen area and bathroom) which I thought was weird being that it was full. I had to take the bags out of their cans and place it by the front door for pick up, which you don’t expect to have to do on vacation (pictures attached). The final con was there were two incidents where I began showering to realize there was someone’s else hair embedded in the thread of the towels (hair wasn’t mine, picture attached). My biggest pet peeve is hair on towels that aren’t mine, so that was icky. Pros are the room was stocked with everything you need (though I would recommend providing an iron), the sheets were clean, and I loved the fans in each room. There’s plenty of lighting throughout and I loved the full kitchen complete with a dishwasher. The quick access to the beach was wonderful and it was nice of the resort to provide plentiful beach towels, beach tubes/noodles, etc. The resort is also conveniently walking distance from a restaurant called Kitchen 5315 that had excellent food! We all enjoyed the one complimentary breakfast, coconut demonstration, and Mai Tai event during the week as well. The room also had a nice patio area near the pool and I really liked how pool hooks were on the patio, so you could hang your wet swimwear to air dry. Overall, I would recommend this place as most of the cons listed could be resolved with more careful inspection/awareness. Really wish the retainer situation would’ve been resolved with more courtesy. Accidents happen, but it wouldn’t have hurt them in any way financially to provide either a reimbursement (most places have insurance that covers such issues) or...

Mixed Experience at a Beautiful Location||We booked Castle Napili Surf because Napili Bay is one of my favorite beaches, and we were excited about the idea of staying right on the water. The location really is stunning, and you can’t beat the proximity to the beach. That said, there were several aspects of our stay that fell short of expectations.||First, be aware that if you arrive after 5 p.m., there’s no front desk staff available. We weren’t informed ahead of time that we needed an access code sent via email—we never received it, nor did we get a phone call. When we arrived, I had a brief panic because the office was closed and we had no way to get in. Thankfully, a kind staff member on-call was able to help us and print out our code.||Our room was located in the back building—not ideal, but it was still a short walk to the beach. The room itself was dark and didn’t stay very cool. The small portable A/C unit couldn’t get the temperature below 74°F, and the bathroom remained hot and humid the entire stay. There’s no daily housekeeping, and no charging stations with USB ports, so be sure to bring all your own charging blocks.||We also learned that the resort doesn’t provide beach gear (chairs, snorkels, umbrellas, etc.), so you’ll need to arrange rentals elsewhere in advance.||When I called on the second day to request extra towels for our group of four (we only had four total for the entire week), the staff member I spoke with—Jackie—came off as irritated. While she eventually helped, her tone was unwelcoming, which made a simple request feel awkward.||Thankfully, we had a lovely interaction with another staff member, Pauline, toward the end of our stay. She was friendly, accommodating, and gave us a late checkout since our flight was at 11 p.m.||Things took a stressful turn on our departure day July 29, 2025 when tsunami warning sirens went off. We evacuated as advised and received texts from Pauline with updates. After things settled, I messaged her asking about extending our stay, as our flight was canceled. She kindly offered to extend our room access until noon the next day and said we could discuss a “distress rate” in the morning.||We didn’t return that night—out of caution, we stayed inland with friends. The next morning, I called the front desk to inquire about staying longer. Jackie answered and, again, seemed annoyed. She claimed to be unaware of the distress rate and sounded skeptical that we hadn’t stayed in the room. She mentioned checking the code logs and suggested we’d owe for an extra night and we’d now owe an additional cleaning fee if we rebooked—even though Pauline had said the unit was available until noon. Her entire tone was accusatory and unhelpful, which was especially frustrating given the circumstances.||Ultimately, we chose to book the remainder of our stay at the Hyatt Vacation Club, which was significantly more expensive but provided a much better guest experience.||In summary: the location of Castle Napili Surf is unbeatable, and we appreciated Pauline’s kindness. But customer service—particularly with Jackie—left a lot to be desired. With better communication, a more welcoming attitude, and a bit more flexibility in unique situations, this place could offer...

If you are wondering about the renovations at Napili Surf as I was, rest assured...it is still great...just better! Tano and his staff have done a wonderful job. We just returned from an August 2018 trip with our two boys (12 and 15). Some of the nice updates include: recessed lighting throughout, new ceiling fans/lights throughout, new kitchens and appliances, new bathrooms and tiles, portable a/c in each room with tower fans available to circulate air throughout, and new tvs/cable/wifi. Same great views and reliable daily cleaning service. The staff is willing to help in any way and can offer tips during your stay. The new expanded outdoor patio area is a nice addition. There are three large grills with utensils available for use with a tremendous ocean/sunset view. There are also four tables available for outdoor dining use. There are other upgrades to operational things such as solar energy, etc.

The bottom line: it is still a spectacular spot to spend your time on Maui steps away from Napili Bay. The landscaping is immaculate.

They still have the weekly breakfast on Friday mornings. Maybe you will be lucky enough to be there for Tano's demonstration/talk regarding coconuts and their various uses. They also still do the cocktail hour on Tuesday night with mai tais, beer, etc. They host a pretty impressive hula/ traditional dance show on the second Tuesday of the month.

I have to say that Napili Surf is still a slice of paradise. You are steps away from the pool, beach, or just a lawn chair under the tree overlooking the ocean.We loved falling asleep to the sound of the ocean each night.I wouldn't want to stay anywhere else on Maui.

The start of the Kapalua Coastal Trail (which runs into the Mahana Ridge Trail) is about a 5 min walk. It is an amazing way to start the day! Napili Surf is close to Honolua Bay, Kapalua, Kaanapali, and Lahaina. It is within driving distance of pretty much anywhere you want to go on the island. There is also a bus stop within walking distance. Daily sea turtle sightings and great snorkeling steps away. Also, don't miss the truly spectacular sunsets. Must see nightly viewing! Straight out of a postcard.

Counting the days until we can return. If you had reservations about the updates, relax and enjoy the newly updated Napili Surf for many years to come.

Another tip: The Slack Key Guitar show at Napili Kai on Wednesday nights is a short 5-10 min. walk from Napili Surf. It is fabulous if you are looking for a fun night with some traditional slack key guitar and ukulele from the masters! They begin tuning up and...