The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka'anapali — Hotel in Maui

This is a 4.5 star review, but we all know half stars aren't a thing. I'm being as detailed as possible since the hotel is undergoing major renovation. As of 1/19/20, the only things incomplete are the oceanfront restaurant and the spa. Both look like they will be stunning!

We booked our stay as part of a package and fully understood that construction was underway. Recent reviews had us nervous, but we went into it with open (and hopeful) minds. Our stay far exceeded our expectations!

LOCATION

Kaanapali is one of the main resort areas, but for first timers, know this is about 45 mins from the airport. AWESOME beach right out front that has decent snorkeling. Right next door is Whalers Village with several upscale shops and three great restaurants, all with a daily happy hour and oceanfront realty. The hotel has a shuttle that runs between other Marriott properties and into nearby Lahaina.

ROOM

The hotel's airport shuttle picked us up and that went smoothly. We were greeted with shell leis and check-in was a breeze. We were in room 507, facing the ocean and above the pools with a fantastic view. We watched whales from our lanai! I saw many reviews about the rooms being small and oddly-shaped, but we did not find that at all. Ours was a king, and we had a spacious desk/work area, large dresser, closet, bathroom, and separate wash area with a dual-sided mirror, which was awesome to get ready at the same time. The lanai had two chairs and a table.

POOLS/GROUNDS

When we checked in, the adult pool and plunge pool (there are 6 pools total) were being finished and they were completed a couple days later. They're all great with something for everyone - romantic grottos, waterslides and spray pads for kids, quieter lounge pools, and tons and tons of chairs and "pods"/cabanas. The pools are all very busy, but we never felt that they were noisy at all, even with our lanai door wide open.

The grounds are gorgeous, with tropical birds, waterfalls, and greenery everywhere. They also offered crafts, island orientations, kids' activities, and other things each day outside.

SERVICE

Service we received from every single staff member was phenomenal. At check in we were asked if we were celebrating anything (we were, an anniversary) and that evening a bottle of chilled champagne and glasses were sent up. That was a great start to our trip! The couple of times we asked for something (an extra robe, bottles of water), they were brought immediately, and every person we encountered was friendly and helpful.

We were especially impressed by a few things from the staff:

We asked about the complimentary shuttle once, and the concierge went into detail about our options and made absolutely certain we knew where to go and when.

The valet guys ask where you're headed to and how your day was, and offer guidance on your next adventure.

Checkout was at 11, but our flight wasn't until 10pm. Not only did the bell desk hold our luggage, but we were able to use a courtesy suite that night for 30 minutes just before the hotel shuttle took us to the airport. Lifesaver!

FOOD/BARS

We had heard food was subpar here, but we were actually very happy. We ate dinner at both the poolside bar and the Happy Hours Lounge (the current full-service restaurant), and the breakfast buffet once. We loved the pool bar, the bartenders make fantastic mai tais (try them!) and their menu leans more toward contemporary pub fare. The crispy cauliflower app and poke bowl are awesome! The breakfast buffet is pricey at $33/each, but it's expansive with a TON of choices, including a fresh omelet bar and another station making fresh loco moco and eggs (not sure if that rotates, as we only tried the buffet once). In the full service restaurant, they have food trucks now, but we found it a little confusing because you still order centrally. It seems they are more for show until the new restaurant opens? Two nights a week the hotel has a luau and on those nights...

First time to Maui. Wanted a brand hotel that I recognized that I knew I would be comfortable and safe.|The hotel is big and we went during spring break. Many kids were in the area Of the hotel.|First – the room|We had a suite, room 288 and it was great and phenomenal and very expensive. The views were astronomical from the deck that we had to the porch overlooking the ocean. This suite had a walk-in shower, bathtub or whirlpool on the deck outside of the room, a fire pit And a six person table on the deck. Overlooked the kids pool and was on top of the bar. The only issue that I saw and heard was the music from the bar would come into the room at night time until the music was stopped, either I think 10 or 11. In the morning, you would hear the kids early at the pool that would wake you up. In the middle of the night, it was beautiful. Sounds of the ocean splashing on the beach. For two people, the suite is over abundant, and we had a feeling that we had to spend our time there due to optimizing the suite. There was only one room with a king bed and two big couches that could sleep a few kids on it if need be. The suite was more For entertaining others that we’re not staying in the room|The concierge at the hotel was very good and abundant. Usually two or three on duty at all times. I wanted A snorkel tour for turtles And to watch whales. I did not want to be With a large group of people in the concierge had a great suggestion and found a boat that had six passengers total that took us Snorkeling for turtles and had a phenomenal view of the whales migrating. The whales were literally within 5 feet of the boat splashing and playing. Highly suggest the concierge service.|It seemed like majority of the restaurants are outsourced. All of them were very good. You can have only so many Poké bowls in a week and I wanted at the end of the vacation more meat than anything else and that was an option at these restaurants.|There is an adult pool that is mediocre size, but wasn’t really too crowded either with a bar a few feet away.|We did the luau at the Westin and it was a great experience with good food and a great show.|It’s a catch 22 with the Westin due to you do get discounts for Shows like the luau and others when there. If you reserve them ahead of time, you may not get those discounts so be aware of those options.|The staff was very Gracious all the way around from the front desk to the bellhops to the cleaning people to the bartenders to the White staff. Did not have an issue with any of them.|It would’ve been nice to have a car, but it was so freaking expensive for parking that we opted not to, but I may have spent that amount in Uber in in the long run. So a vehicle may not be a bad idea.|The beach is gorgeous and plenty of room on it.|Highly suggest not being stupid like me and getting fried the first day there and was truly unable to enjoy the full options of the resort due to my sunburn. Was there for seven days and peeled like an onion after my second day and still am and I’ve been back almost a week now|The resort is situated near a A high-end shopping center with some very good restaurants.|There’s also a great tattoo shop called Banyan tree tattooing not far at all from there. Schedule things ahead of time and make reservations at these restaurants ahead of time and if you’re in no hurry, you could walk up go to the bar have a drink and wait an hour or so For the table.|Everything in Maui is expensive. A breakfast for two is anywhere between 60 and $80. Dinner is anywhere between $120-$200.|Did you get a batch of laundry done midway through the trip and it cost me 220 Dollars for a medium amount of laundry. FYI, they dry...

First time to Maui. Wanted a brand hotel that I recognized that I knew I would be comfortable and safe.|The hotel is big and we went during spring break. Many kids were in the area Of the hotel.|First – the room|We had a suite, room 288 and it was great and phenomenal and very expensive. The views were astronomical from the deck that we had to the porch overlooking the ocean. This suite had a walk-in shower, bathtub or whirlpool on the deck outside of the room, a fire pit And a six person table on the deck. Overlooked the kids pool and was on top of the bar. The only issue that I saw and heard was the music from the bar would come into the room at night time until the music was stopped, either I think 10 or 11. In the morning, you would hear the kids early at the pool that would wake you up. In the middle of the night, it was beautiful. Sounds of the ocean splashing on the beach. For two people, the suite is over abundant, and we had a feeling that we had to spend our time there due to optimizing the suite. There was only one room with a king bed and two big couches that could sleep a few kids on it if need be. The suite was more For entertaining others that we’re not staying in the room|The concierge at the hotel was very good and abundant. Usually two or three on duty at all times. I wanted A snorkel tour for turtles And to watch whales. I did not want to be With a large group of people in the concierge had a great suggestion and found a boat that had six passengers total that took us Snorkeling for turtles and had a phenomenal view of the whales migrating. The whales were literally within 5 feet of the boat splashing and playing. Highly suggest the concierge service.|It seemed like majority of the restaurants are outsourced. All of them were very good. You can have only so many Poké bowls in a week and I wanted at the end of the vacation more meat than anything else and that was an option at these restaurants.|There is an adult pool that is mediocre size, but wasn’t really too crowded either with a bar a few feet away.|We did the luau at the Westin and it was a great experience with good food and a great show.|It’s a catch 22 with the Westin due to you do get discounts for Shows like the luau and others when there. If you reserve them ahead of time, you may not get those discounts so be aware of those options.|The staff was very Gracious all the way around from the front desk to the bellhops to the cleaning people to the bartenders to the White staff. Did not have an issue with any of them.|It would’ve been nice to have a car, but it was so freaking expensive for parking that we opted not to, but I may have spent that amount in Uber in in the long run. So a vehicle may not be a bad idea.|The beach is gorgeous and plenty of room on it.|Highly suggest not being stupid like me and getting fried the first day there and was truly unable to enjoy the full options of the resort due to my sunburn. Was there for seven days and peeled like an onion after my second day and still am and I’ve been back almost a week now|The resort is situated near a A high-end shopping center with some very good restaurants.|There’s also a great tattoo shop called Banyan tree tattooing not far at all from there. Schedule things ahead of time and make reservations at these restaurants ahead of time and if you’re in no hurry, you could walk up go to the bar have a drink and wait an hour or so For the table.|Everything in Maui is expensive. A breakfast for two is anywhere between 60 and $80. Dinner is anywhere between $120-$200.|Did you get a batch of laundry done midway through the trip and it cost me 220 Dollars for a medium amount of laundry. FYI, they dry...